Jump to content

Non-Binary Representation in Media


Recommended Posts

What characters in books, movies, songs, games, mythology, etc. are or seem to be non-binary?  I was inspired by an article about the game Call of Duty:  https://www.yahoo.com/news/call-duty-lets-gamers-play-222947450.html 

I'll also mention my all-time favorite Final Fantasy character--Quina Quen.  240?cb=20170520003214

And Mogumo from Love Me for Who I Am.  58147ccbe47db96b99f14072c00024acee9711ab

Edited by 2 Spirit Cherokee Princess
  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's this really cool character in the Arc of a Scythe series by Neal Shusterman who is genderfluid. The character is a sailor, and they explain how when the light hits them in different ways, they change genders. Personally, it was one of the coolest, most powerful yet subtle ways of introducing a queer character. And it wasn't like this character was discussed once and never heard of again. No, like, this person is decently prominent in the book, and you see the other characters actively change pronouns and gendered terms. It was super cool, I loved it.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's a good topic. Spontaneously I can think of many sci-fi characters that could fit. Some human and some alien. But maybe aliens wouldn't count as representation since they often have more than two sexes?

Edited by Holmbo
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@2 Spirit Cherokee Princess
Yeah I know what you mean.

For example one character that comes to mind is Tak in Becky Chambers book a close and common orbit. Tak is part of a species which has three genders. The third is when someone fluctuates between male and female sex. So they change sex at times. I'm not sure if this could be considered a non-binary character since it confirms with the gender identies their culture has. 

Edited by Holmbo
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

there's Yuu Asuka from Hoshiai no Sora (Stars Align)! they had two little scenes where they talk about their feelings regarding gender with the main character. it was a really small subplot, but it was treated in a very respectful way and took me by surprise. the anime itself has many many flaws, but i'm glad at least these scenes were done nicely.

since most non-binary characters i've seen before are some kind of weird entity or not human (justifying their gender non-conformity), it's kinda refreshing seeing an actual normal person being enby. yuu is just a soft tennis club manager who is questioning their gender.

https://i.redd.it/sap3nqausp241.png (i'm not able to add images for some reason, so i put the image link)

Edited by babo_
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There was a historical moment in Polish translations of the games, because the person who was doing a translation for ’Bugsnax’ decided to keep a nonbinary character (Floofty) as nonbinary. The translator decided to use dukaizm forms for them. Polish is very gendered language and it’s very common that translators are doing ciswashing. There was also a very long discussion about Polish translation of ’She-Ra’ where nonbinarity of Double Trouble was erased. I don’t know if they corrected it or not.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Endrance in .hack//G.U. plays online as a male character with feminine characteristics.  The novel describes Endrance as someone to whom the concept of gender has no meaning.  latest?cb=20171022010457

About .hack//SIGN:  

Spoiler

Tsukasa is gender fluid.  Online Tsukasa is male & even gets a girlfriend.  Offline Ann Shouji is a girl.  An-Shoji-Tsukasa.png

 

Edited by 2 Spirit Cherokee Princess
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Crona from Soul Eater has an undetermined gender.

In the whole Japanese text there is no hint of it. In the translation Crona is given male pronouns, but in the original gender-neutral ones are used.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/17/2020 at 9:02 PM, 2 Spirit Cherokee Princess said:

Endrance in .hack//G.U. plays online as a male character with feminine characteristics.  The novel describes Endrance as someone to whom the concept of gender has no meaning.

About .hack//SIGN:  

  Hide contents

Tsukasa is gender fluid.  Online Tsukasa is male & even gets a girlfriend.  Offline Ann Shouji is a girl.  

 

Wait is this related to the .hack series where people go online into a virtual world and defeat enemies, make friends, and participate in weird competitions? Also, there were some characters named Shugo and Rena.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, MulticulturalFarmer said:

Wait is this related to the .hack series where people go online into a virtual world and defeat enemies, make friends, and participate in weird competitions? Also, there were some characters named Shugo and Rena.

Yes.  Shugo & Rena were the main characters of .hack//LEGEND OF THE TWILIGHT BRACELET, a 3 volume graphic novel that also had a TV series & a music CD.  It's part of the greater .hack multimedia franchise created by Hiroshi "Piros" Matsuyama.  https://dothack.fandom.com/wiki/.hack//Wiki

I've added images to the previous post.

Edited by 2 Spirit Cherokee Princess
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, DeltaV said:

For completeness* sake: FL4K from Borderlands 3, non-binary according to official lore

* FL4K is a robot so duh

Isn't borderlands a playstation game?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, MulticulturalFarmer said:

Isn't borderlands a playstation game?

Multiple platforms, including PS4. Why are you asking? ?

Games ARE allowed:

On 11/18/2020 at 12:05 PM, 2 Spirit Cherokee Princess said:

What characters in books, movies, songs, games, mythology,

From the wiki:

  • One of these [pins which FL4K wears] depicts the binary code of the number 2 crossed out, as well as the colors yellow, white, purple, and black. This may be a reference to the character's gender identity, as the pin itself is a pun on the word "nonbinary", and the colors of the pin are the colors of the nonbinary flag.

The story is the same for all characters but their dialogue differs. But I don't know anything about FL4Ks dialogue and if there are some more references. Played as Moze: very simple, massive firepower and a big mech.

Edited by DeltaV
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/14/2021 at 10:04 AM, DeltaV said:

For completeness* sake: FL4K from Borderlands 3, non-binary according to official lore

* FL4K is a robot so duh

I've always wondered why robots are assigned a gender.  To me the binary only matters in regards to who can have a baby together; if a robot can neither impregnate or give birth, it seems pointless.

A Korean woman author known as Wann explored this concept in the short story Automaton (from the collection 9 Faces of Love published in English by Netcomics).  In a world where robots are implanted with human brainwaves to let them easily move & talk like people, they all look like attractive women (because they're made by men).  2 who were part of the same batch are very attracted to each other & have a secret "lesbian" affair.  

Spoiler

At the end it says the brain patterns they received came from a husband & wife.  A transgendered robot?

 

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/17/2021 at 3:49 AM, 2 Spirit Cherokee Princess said:

I've always wondered why robots are assigned a gender.  To me the binary only matters in regards to who can have a baby together; if a robot can neither impregnate or give birth, it seems pointless.

Don't ask me.

Gender is completely opaque for me. I assume it's something vaguely inspired by biology of sexual reproduction. But does it follow that only beings capable of meiosis and enough self-consciousness can have a gender?

Still I can just cite the official lore about a character's non-binary status.

I'm just unsure that a robot can be cited as "representation" of any group, because for "representation" we have humans in mind. So the character should be a human or at least a very relatable humanoid (e. g. Tolkiensque elves). Therefore I wrote "for completeness sake". Not because I think FL4K cannot be non-binary.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Alex Fierro in the Magnus Chase series is canonically gender-fluid. Alex's default pronouns are she/her, but she wants people to use the pronouns that match whatever her currant gender expression is. She's amab too, which isn't very important but I feel like I see a lot more afab representation so it was refreshing to me ig. The series does mention that she was like kicked out of her house because of her gender fluidity, so maybe be a bit careful if that would be triggering to you. Overall though 10/10 great character great story great author. Magnus Chase and The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan is the first in the series

Spoiler on her character relationships below (not like bad I just don't want to spoil the book for anyone lol)

Spoiler

She gets a boyfriend and when he figures out he likes Alex, his internal monologue is really funny. He's really supportive of her too it's really cute.

 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

One of the earliest sci-fi works to really explore gender identity was Ursula Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness.  It's about a cisgender man from Earth struggling to function as an envoy to a planet where the locals never really got into the whole "gender binary" concept.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

PS: I’m a bit surprised … no reaction for Izana! Nobody knows this manga / anime?

Cause we’re in an aro board. And while Izana isn’t aro what happens to them ihmo seems like a non-binary aro‘s worst nightmare. ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
On 10/1/2021 at 2:53 AM, nonmerci said:

I don't know if a mot of view watch sex education. But in season 3, they added a non binary character in the main characters.

I heard, but I haven't seen Sex Education for fear that it doesn't represent young queer people well.

The character that I say is controversial by some:

Spoiler

Loki, from Loki's series in disney+ came out as genderfluid and it is within the non-binary umbrella

There is discourse since the actor that plays it is believed to be straight (at least he hasnt confirmed nor denied anything) and no action is viewed as "standard" sexuality of straight.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...