Gays In JRPGs - A History and Discussion 

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JRPG characters really woke up and took "be gay, do crimes" a bit too literally

While I get your frustration of making a Sylvando a "sexless eunuch" as you put it, as an ace who frequently comes off as stereotypically gay man, he's a character I personally really liked not having any sexual or romantic inclinations. Not having his interests and personality be tied to his sexuality or lack thereof is refreshing to see as it's something I've had to explain too many times.

The best thing about Sylvando is that canonically he’s the best living swordsman having beaten Henrick once before. I do wish we got the payoff with his dad though. That could have been a massive breakthrough for the series and jrpgs as a whole

You forgot one extremely important set of gay characters: Every single silent protagonist where I entered "David" or "Dave" as the name

With Sylvando. It wasn't due to him not being a good knight, it was due to Sylvando wanting to bring happiness to the world in his own way. He was actually one of the best trained knights and it disappointed his father that he wasn't going to follow in his footsteps. His father thought Sylvando was throwing away a noble tradition. When they reconciled his father realized that Sylvando was pursing a very noble cause and embraced his son's lifestyle. Honestly I found the fact that they didn't make the conflict about Sylvando's sexuality much more inclusive. His father didn't care about that at all, he just wanted his son to take over the order of knights and follow tradition. I'm more impressed that they had Sylvando's father take in the dance troupe and perform with them. It's far more accepting and wholesome imho. I played that game many times over and really enjoyed it tbh

Having lived in Japan, homosexuality is still treated as a joke to this day. Huge culture shock and lots of first-hand experience. Children and grown adults alike still stay "You're gay" to "taunt" one another. I still had to speak about homosexuality in hushed tones. It is still concealed from parents and at times even close friends. This reality is reflected in the almost exclusively silly, mockingly effeminate, and villainous characters in JRPGs, manga, anime, etc. That said, things are improving, albeit quite slowly. Pride events are in larger cities. Retro JRPGs will always be near to my heart, but mainstream manga and anime will always be too on the nose with their open mockery for my tastes. I love you David for your frank discussion of the topic, while keeping your love JRPGs intact. Discussions of representation aren't always as lovely, humorous, and reasonable as yours. You have many straight fans, which you already know. I am one :) Your love of games is focused and infectious. You don't get constantly bogged down in poor representation in the medium, which is but one aspect of JRPGs. (An aspect that needs serious improvement!) またね! ("ma-ta-ne" = See you again!) P.S. Your physique and steady gaming and exercise habits are inspirational! I am a fellow fitness and gaming fan as well.

As a Bisexual man I just wanna say that Kanji from Persona 4, for me, ended up being really positive bi representation. I know they use it as a joke a lot, but I feel like his whole arc of being confused about everything hit really close to home for me. The whole idea of "I like guys? I can't like guys because I like girls, right? Am I gay? No I must be straight because I definitely like girls." It wasn't until my late teens that I realized it was okay to like both and that I was bisexual. A lot of the things Kanji was going through were feelings that I had at 14 as well, and when he continues to show interest in Naoto knowing that she's a girl, but then we still get scenes where he blushes when he's too close to Yosuke. Stuff like that makes me really appreciate him as what I believe to be some of the only good bisexual male representation in gaming! But that's just me haha

You know, I've had a lot of conversations about Sylvando and other "gay" or "queer" characters with other gaymers recently. Although he is over the top flamboyant and can fall into the "flamboyant gay" stereotype, I feel like he challenges quite a few gender norms. He shows that he can be an over the top flamboyant (or femme) gay, but also be an incredibly strong and caring character. So the femme guy = weak trope is challenged in the game. And it further pushes back on masc4masc culture in the gay community. I also feel like we don't need Sylvando to have daddy issues. We've seen that over and over again all over in gay media. His father can be accepting of his sexual identity but be disappointed in him for not following in his footsteps to be a knight. Sylvando is following his own path, and because of that, he is accepted by everyone in the world of DQXI. And through his travels, he takes in people who are "lost" to be a part of his troupe. Almost similar to what House Mothers do in Ballroom Culture. I feel like it's a disservice to him to dismiss him as another stereotype. I feel like some of the characters in the video warrant further exploration.

My favorite Gaymer is at it again. I really appreciate you highlighting this. Representation matters.

Two comentaries: Number 01: A major problem is that we don't have gay writers, so the script and caracterization for lgbt characters are made by straight people. Number 02: Argila from Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2. Heat even says that she is upset because of her girlfriend. And Argila is a awesome character who is not a walking stereotyped lesbian.

Dragon Quest XI was the most fun I’ve had with an RPG since Final Fantasy VI, and a big reason was the characters and their relationships with each other. The best thing about Sylvando is how the other characters accept him for who he is, as an equal, with no reservations; sure, he might be a bit over the top with his flamboyance, but he’s also a skilled swordsman, an honorable warrior, and absolutely dedicated to the party’s mission to save the world and make everyone happy. They all love him as a person, and I personally found him to be the best and deepest character.

Mother 2 (EarthBound) has Tony, who was confirmed by creator to be gay and has the hots for Jeff. It's not stated outright in the game, but I can forgive it since he's clearly closet.

Aside from the great subject matter you’re showcasing, I really appreciate the deep cuts you researched for this. I haven’t heard of some of these games so it’s really cool to be introduced to them through this video.

A little off topic but I grew up in a Christian fundamentalist household so I actually had to "discover" that all people are in fact people, regardless of sexuality and beliefs. The one thing that really stands out in my journey to unbrainwash myself in my early teens in the 90s is clive barker novels. Not only are there gay characters but truly nonbinary ones represented at a time when that was rarely even mentioned in the Midwest. This is why representation is important. Without things like this I would be a completely different person today and would have never given much thought to what I was taught about how the world is. Awesome video man. Hope you have a good new year.

Sylvando was personally my favorite character in DQ11 and I loved just about everything about him. he was certainly an over-the-top effeminate gay man or an "Okama", but I never felt his depiction was negative. He was strong willed, proud of who he was and strove to bring joy to anyone and everyone around him and I felt that the expectation subversion of his relationship with his father was excellently handled. The fact that Sylv was gay didn't matter to Don Rodrigo, his expectation of his son was simply to be a great knight and it was clear he was proud of him for the arguably far more daunting challenge he set upon himself to be a "knight that brings smiles to the world". Wonderful character. I don't think the "Okama" stereotype in japan is nearly as negative in modern times as westernization once made it, though it can seem otherwise with how ridiculous some of the characters are... but most character stereotypes are overblown in japanese produced fiction to sometimes absurd degrees so its kind-of evened out. And because western cultures are finally starting to ease up on the religious and cultural demonization of homosexuality it is going to be reflected in just about any form of media that inevitably finds its way to them.

In terms of early representation, there is the Super Famicom’s Sailor Moon: Another Story. It was Japan only, so I have no idea of the story. But it does have Uranus/Neptune and no US censors to declare them cousins.

Kanji from P4 is the best, the cast is extremely rude to him for zero reason. The guy deeply cares about everyone, friends, family, strangers and don't tolerate injustice. Just for some reason, the game can't decide to take him seriously or not. Also, I feel they missed a big chance of Yosuke coming to terms with his sexuality as well, as he's clearly very insecure, much more than Kanji. The protagonist on another hand, is super confident, for the most part, which is cool. Overall, I think there were lots of hits and misses and P4, I wish they took it further in P5, but meh :(

Your channel has come so far these last twelve months. It's gotten a whole new lease of life. You rock. I hope 2022 gives you the confidence to experiment with even more content ideas.

I've always thought the LGBT reps in persona 4 aren't real, they're more like bait and switch, Kanji is more worried about what people think about him liking cute things and things that are normally liked by women, you'd THINK he's gay but thats not the case. Same with Naoto you'd think they're trans but they only thought like that because they thought they wouldn't be accepted in the police force as a woman, Atlus/the persona devs don't know what being gay or trans is like

This was a very interesting video! I don't know if you know it, but there is actually a gay canon couple in the game "13 Sentinels Aegis Rim" (it's kind of a mix of genres but it's also a jrpg so I think it's worth mentioning). One of them is playable and is a serious, straight-laced, kind of dorky Japanese Imperial Youth soldier and isn't your "stereotypical camp guy" at all, the other one is a bit of a sassy femboy who crosses on occasion to hide his identity for story reasons. It even has a bit of an arc where the former tries to come to terms that he is attracted to a guy while the latter just embraced his attraction and kind of waits for the other to come around. It's not always perfect but it's actually one of the best romantic storylines in that game in my opinion! This is probably more bi-presentation than a straight gay one, but in the game "Zanki Zero" you can essentially hook up everyone with everyone in your cast and there are "aftermath"-scenes for all possible straight, gay and lesbian combinations and from the scenes I have seen all the possible relationships are treated quite normally.

As a gay guy myself, I have to say I really enjoyed Sylvando as a character, mainly because I've known people who aren't that far off from him in real life, who have to deal with some real shit from within the gay community because the straights decided that that's how all gay people are. And I get how frustrating it is for gays who aren't like that to deal with those straight people assumptions, but I've seen far too many of them choose to take it out on the Sylvando-esque gays who are frankly just trying to live their best lives. Even if he is rather sterotypical, I feel like with Sylvando, you have a character who is yes, stereotypical, but also presented without much malice. Instead his great nobility of character and masterful skill with the blade prevent him from being a complete stereotype by defying negative stereotypes associated with effeminate gay men such as weakness and cowardice. In many ways he reminds me of another stereotypical gay character, Hollywood Monstrose from Mannequin. (Let's face it, Sylvando is basically "What if Hollywood Montrose but High Fantasy") Neither character is perfect, and while both are often very funny, they are never presented as objects of derision, but are rather both presented as simultaneously extraordinarily femme but also huge freakin' badasses. Also, frankly, while I know it is a real and present issue affecting lots of gay men, you cannot take a single step in the gay cultural landscape without immediately drowning in an ocean of gay media featuring men with daddy issues related to their homosexuality, so his dad being angry about knight related issues was a pleasant subversion of expectations and a breath of fresh air in my opinion. Honestly, I would have enjoyed it even more had Sylvando been convinced his dad was mad about his gayness, and have the dad tell him he had no problem with that, mainly because it would have made it so that they would openly acknowledge the fact that Sylvando is gay, and it would echo my own experience where some of my close relatives knew I was gay before I came out to them. I absolutely agree with you, though, that Sylvando is not an endgame goal, but a starting point for even better LGBT representation. But I also think the Sylvandos and Hollywood Monstroses of the world are an important tool for flamboyant and fem gays to reclaim their identity from the depths of Straight Stereotype Hell. But yeah, I really like this video and appreciate the effort you took to bring it to fruition. You did a great job discussing the good and bad of a subject that is clearly near and dear to your heart, so good on you.

Excellent discussion here David. I think you hit all of the major ones. I do think Payne from X-2 might have been a gay-coded protagonist, but they were also sexless. The number of gay villains though really is off the charts. There are several I can think of that never got a mention here. I'm pretty surprised we didn't end up going into any of the other ways Japanese RPGs show non-binary men, sometimes as bartenders in drag with stubbly faces and thick make-up. I think Wazy from Trails from Zero is also gay-coded (or maybe bi,) and is at least as far as I've played, a reasonable representation. He does however have a teasing/promiscuous stereotype about him, but far toned down from Olivier's portrayal. In a lot of ways Japan is still 40 years behind the US in terms of gay acceptance. They seem to be making slow progress though, at least. Hopefully they get it in gear soon! :)

You missed Sigurd Harcourt from Xenogears! He's one of my absolute favorites - not a villain, not a stereotype, BOTH a man of color both in appearance and in setting where he's one of the oppressed people, and gay-coded. Even if he is just a supporting character/NPC. Also, there's lots of subtext in the game with other characters (the entire Lacan/Krelian/Sophia love triangle, some bits of dialogue between other characters that can be read in variant ways)- there's a reason it's known for being the gayest comphet game ever once you look past Fei and Elly haha.

Female sadists and male narcissists are very common villain types in japanese media, and I think these characters often come across as gay when they're not, or where it's ambiguous. A female sadist like Shirley in Trails, sexually assaulting another female character is a safer way to create fanservice. They wouldn't get away with it if a guy did it. Note that Shirley show sadistic tendencies in how she interacts with others as well. I don't think we know enough about Shirley to say that she's gay. With Angelica I think the hints are too many to deny it. Japan really loves their exaggerated archetypes though and their games are full of characters with extreme personalities. My interpretation is that Olivier is straight, he's just very effeminate and playful. I think he just wants to make Mueller and Joshua let loose, since they're both so serious, and it's a way to get Mueller off his case so that he can have more freedom. Offense is the best defense. I think his behavior around Joshua was key in Estelle starting to develop feelings for Joshua, and he probably intended to highlight to Estelle that Joshua was a catch. He probably felt bad for Joshua for his childhood and guilty over his father failing him. I played CS 1-2 first, and I think that enabled me to more easily read between the lines and see him how the writers had imagined him.

Great video as always David! Regarding Persona 5, I find it so annoying/disgusting that in the same game that the only gay characters act as predators we are supposed to be fine with the sexualization of the female classmates. Especially Ann, as well as the inappropriate relationship that can be formed with your teacher. I understand it’s a video game and outlandish things can happen, but I feel like it’s a conversation worth having.

Great video. My gaydar went off with Ike and Soren of the Fire Emblem series. Ike has a deep “friendship” with Soren and at the end of the game the two go off together to find new “adventures”. The thought of the strong muscle Ike and the twinky tactical Soren was just too damn good to not be cannon in my head.

Just wanna say that I'm very happy that you're tackling this theme david! Hell yea!

The first Fire Emblem to hit USA shores actually has an interesting localization decision regarding this that you may have heard about. The character, "Lucius" is said to be a man, because their class is, "Priest." They have a very overt romance with the mercenary Raven. In the original JP, they were a woman, but were changed to a man in the USA to not offend Catholics, without having their supports or romances altered. In a similar vein in Fire Emblem Path of Radiance, the character Soren was originally a woman for most of development, but changed to a guy before release. That same thing happened in FFXIII with Fang, but inverted, obviously. As far as the whole villain thing goes, I believe that ties into an earlier era of fiction like theater or cinema. Rules setup for them were that heroes couldn't be portrayed with "problematic" moralities or something like that. The result was writers using the villains as a mouthpiece for nuance, often times making them gay because those were the only characters allowed to be gay, and so it carried into the modern era after becoming a trope. But this also why so many heroes are just flat mouthpieces for concepts like justice or charity. I'd also posit that gays in JRPGs are usually flamboyant, because perhaps the writers themselves haven't got a lot of openly gay friends and aren't gay themselves. So their only experience with LGBT is stereotypes, and they're writing what they know. I'm not trying to excuse them, but not all cultures across the world are as good to LGBT people as the west. I guess the only other thing I have to add, is that I think it will become more open and pronounced in the future. Already in FFXIV. a J-MMORPG, they have made changes to allow male characters to wear female clothing. As a result, a vast amount of players choose to dress male characters in dresses, high heels, fishnets, and skimpy lady's underwear. Of course, player choice isn't exactly developer choice, even if it influences it, but it's a clear sign to me that things are looking up for LGBT in future JRPGs. Though it does also open up the can of worms that is gay fetishization, where straight women get turned on by gay characters, in the same vein as straight men who get turned on by lesbians. On the same topic, but probably less noticeable, what about gay side characters in JRPGs? I played a lot of RPGs growing up, and have a fair amount of memories of side characters or NPCs with lines about being gay. The one that comes to mind most readily is the Fabul stripper/dancer that looks like a lady from behind, but is given the male kung fu fighter sprite when Cecil asks them to dance. There are many others, but my comment's gone on too long now. Have a great day, David!

I think my favorite was Asellus from SaGa Frontier; her relationship with White Rose was very subtle, but it was definitely there. Might be a little biased, though, since she's my spirit animal; her life was eerily similar to my own.

If you like non-Japanese RPGs, Borderlands has TONS of gay, lesbian and bisexual characters. They even had a DLC for Borderlands 3 centered around a wedding between Sir Hammerlock, who talks and dresses like an old-timey British hunter, and his fiancee Wainwright Jacobs, the scion to a major arms company who is old-timey Southern as hell. Also, two of the NPCs, Mad Moxxi and Tiny Tina, are both known for being bisexual, though Tiny Tina wasn't mentioned as being interested in guys until Borderlands 3. Also, Athena and Springs are shown in Tales from the Borderlands as being in a relationship.

While it's a western RPG and not a J-RPG Dorian from Dragon Age Inquisition is one of my favorites in terms of gay characters in games. I love badass oldschool sorcerers in general and his backstory is one of the best well written in my opinion. It never felt ham fisted or forced in like in other media and was just really well done. You have the option to romance him and either way he's just an awesome ally. 👍

As a bisexual man, I cannot more highly recommend you check out the history of queer representation in media on the channel Matt Baume!

I hope we can get to a point where there's less and less "token LBGTQ"-feeling characters. There's some games I've played recently where it feels like the writers went back afterword with, "Oh, we have to make one of these characters LBGTQ". Not all games, but enough to feel like a trend. That said, I am happy to see LGBTQ+ getting more good-faith representation. It's about damn time. I just hope writers continue making it feel more natural & organic. I don't care about the orientation. Even as a hetero male, if Lufia 2's Maxim and Selene were two males, or two females, or MtF & Male, or whatever, I'd still enjoy the hell out of it. It was a good romance and intertwined well with the main plot. If there's going to be sexuality & romance, I don't care about the details of the genders & orientations. I just want it to be important to the story or not be in there at all. I hope developers can try it out.

You can't blame Sephiroth for falling for Cloud...he looks prettier than the actual female characters in the game.

So funnily enough, I never really perceived Flea as gay per se, or even nonbinary or trans. I think he was just someone who was gender nonconforming and totally ok with that. We need more unapologetically gender nonconforming characters in media. The idea that clothes or hair are gendered is ridiculous, and we need to send out the message that people can wear whatever they like and express themselves however they want.

I'm a sucker for Argilla and Jinana in the Digital Devil Saga duology. The only explicit claim they have to having romantic feelings for each other is in the Quantum Devil Saga light novels, but it's still bizarrely sweet to have two girls care for each other, fight to save their teams, and also be cannibals XD

I've noticed that Western RPG's have a better track record by comparison of representing LGBT characters and portraying them as well.. People rather than just their sexuality and JRPG's still have a long way to go. It seemed like the US localisation teams were paranoid and afraid of pissing of the pearl clutching religious right and them having a bitch fit over anything that isn't straight, moral and white, Especially during the 90's and 2000's. It's a bit of a bloody shame that JRPG's still portray them as either villains, perverts, predators, asexual or just a punchline. It's seems like Japan and Korea has a two faced relationship with the LGBT+ community and are still behind on the times in that regard.

Love, love, love this. It's been a long holiday period full of stress, and this was just what I needed. David, you are my saving grace at times.

I’m not gay, but I felt the fact that Sylvando’s dad not being put off by the fact that Sylvando was gay, and it being something else entirely; heartwarming. We all suspected that it was because he was gay, but when you (and even seems like Sylvando himself) realize the real reason his dad’s relationship with him was rocky, it really made me like his dad as opposed to thinking he was a homophobic asshole. It warmed my heart as it seemed his dad supported his son’s lifestyle in the end

Sylvando is one of my favorite characters in any RPG. His humorous side belies how strong and humble he is. He makes leveling up a cinch, has the almighty Oomph spell and Hustle Dance. I throw a knife and shield on him and he's a defensive powerhouse. Throughout the story he did have a way to uplift bad situation in a way that seemed natural.

I love Sylvando! He was a stereotype for sure, but he also was kind-hearted, brave and super strong. Also, in the French translation, the problem with his dad is indeed his sexuality (and implied lack of manliness because of it, and how he couldn't represent the Knights), and it was super refreshing to see such a subject in the game, so I can understand how disappointing it was in English.

Don't worry, David. You're the only gay in RPG's that I need!

The Honey Bee Inn was an absolute joy for me. The closest to normal LGBT options in rpg’s I know of are the American style BioWare titles which is insane considering how translations are censored. It would be nice to see balanced romance options in JRPG’s as well.

My favorite part in the entire 7th Dragon series is in a side quest in 7th Dragon III Code VFD, is when Sakurai a male ISDF soldier is sending love letters to Juliettia (who is bisexual)because he looks like Sakurai's dead boyfriend. The best character in all four games is relegated to a single side quest. 😭

I will never comprehend why in mangas gays are well -represented whereas in jrpgs, lgbtq+ representation is just an afterthought. Take for example Emil from Nier. There was only one scene where the game implied that he is gay. Fans wouldn’t even have known his true feelings for brother Nier hadn’t Yoko Taro confirmed it in an interview !!!

Surprised FFV's Farris is missing. Although their preferences aren't explicitly stated they would fall under transgender. When the party finds out the baddass pirate captain is technically female they're pretty accepting and Faris' crew are also very accepting because Faris is such a good captain (and they new all along but never made a fuss). Sephiroth's strong gay vibes in the remake really feels like fan service. The fangirl part of me squeed but the other part of me that wants a good plot was posting concerns. Never got gay vibes from Ursula. Always thought she was a past lover of King Triton.

Being a straight man i love seeing real people in rpg that are “gay” i have gay friends and they are one of the realest people i have ever meet, they keep it a buck and arnt afraid to put u in check

Regarding the Tales series, I feel like a good example would be Yuri from Tales of Vesperia who’s implied to be bi and in love with Flynn. Not only is the opening confirmed to be about them but Yuri’s Japanese voice actor, Toriumi Kousuke also supports them as a couple and even went off script during 2014’s Tales of Festival to declare I love you to Flynn. He would also shut down the possibility of Yuri and Estelle being a couple whenever someone brought it up, saying that Yuri only sees her as a sister.

Great video, as always with your channel! There’s a character in the .hack//GU games named Endrance that I feel is an overall positive representation, he’s not a villain, not played for laughs, or as a walking stereotype. Definitely one of my favorite characters in that series.

I love how chained echoes came and did a amazing job with representation in jrpgs

Joachim... Everyday normal average person... 🤣 Broooo. He is insane, but that's why I love him! He is more humourous than other characters, but he is a Valentine which are arguably the most fleshed out characters in the series, excluding Yuri. And Makoto didn't turn out evil in Enchanted Arms. He had to play the game to get an opportunity to destroy the oppression and tyrany of the Queen of Ice. If anything, he did more than Atsuma. Great coverage though, I love these older gen games and honestly forgot how well written the inclusion of gay charcters were. I have to admit Pierre and Gerard the Cornelia costume vendors from SH2 will always be my favourite. SH3 is where it got disrespectful for me. Much love from a straight guy!

How did you feel about Sorey and Mikleo in Tales of Zestiria? I felt they were quite positive and neither of them were over the top. Mind you it was never explicitly said in game, but it was heavily implied and the devs confirmed it. Still though, I felt they were good representation which was surprising considering most Tales games went out of their way to mock gay people.

I feel an important addition is Ike from Fire Emblem. He's very heavily implied to be gay but he made it into smash being a main fighter.

I'm glad you finally made this video! It's a definitely an important topic, and LGBT issues have been a hot button topic in Japan for a few years now, and there have been some Japanese games, like A.I. The Somnium Files, that treat LGBT people with respect and dignity in recent years, which is good to see and gives me hope that my favorite genre can catch up to the world around it. As for my personal journey, I had the realization that I was pansexual only a few years ago, and most of my friends are LGBT as well. And being more aware of issues that the community faces now and has faced in the past (as a kid in the 90s and early 00s who thought I was straight, I was just oblivious back then) going to back to some old games and shows has been... kinda uncomfortable

Anybody remember that you can date Barett in FFVII at the golden saucer? It's more on the comical side than a good gay representation but it's here.

My main problem with gay representation in Japan y that is almost always used as fanservice and doesn't feel genuine. Women are almost always sexualized, so lesbians = hot. But JRPGs are targeted to men, so men can't be sexual. They are friends. Very close friends. Or crazy bad people. Think Akechi from Persona 5 or Richard from Tales of Graces.

For a great retrospective series on this for TV and film I recommend Matt baume's video essays. The one about gay villains obviously is a nice companion piece to this vid. There is one line I believe I can paraphrase here: you turn every LGBT character evil and then wonder why we root for the villains?! (Ursula, Kefka, and baby Jane to name a few!)

I remember something being said about Jeff from earthbound and his younger friend being a couple. If so that was such a positive image of a young couple at that time but I just wish they would have done something with it.

I always saw Quina as the token androgynous character, if not female with intentionally ambiguous presentation. The ambiguous part definitely felt intentional. I'm surprised you didn't mention the Magypsies in Mother 3, but as much as I love that game they are nearly the same stereotype as Sylvando. Japan has a habit of doing that with gay or transgendered men, and I've seen this play out in anime as much as in games. (Battle Programmer Shirase comes to mind, and the character in question was once again a villain.) At least there's still the infamous Leon from Fire Emblem Echoes. Even as a straight man I loved his story and representation. He wasn't overtly flamboyant or silly, nor creepy. Leon simply loved his super-manly best friend (who was seemingly oblivious to what was obvious to the audience), and that was it. I was disappointed that's where it ended, but it was a great start to moving away from what the Magypsies and Sylvando have kept going. It's funny how you mention Fire Emblem being the token series that's good about it, and it comes from Nintendo. At least one development team in that company isn't weird about this sort of thing. I always figured that series was locked in Japan because it was far more complicated and difficult than tactical RPGs like Shining Force, but maybe the gay part was also a factor.

Ohmygod soon as you said freaking the dick was that good I cracked up laughing

I noticed that Elder Scrolls online has a few LGBT NPCs especially in Morrowind. I am a straight man and have noticed the over the top behaviors in most RPGs but ES online does it well I think just kinda having it be like a female NPC mentions her wife or a male NPC will talk about how his husband died in the attack.

Great job putting this video out there David. I'm happy for you!

I wish Cold Steel would've dropped the whole dating bonding thing and had the characters get together with each other. Not just all wait on stupid ass Rean to have any real development! I always thought Machias and Jusis would make a good gay couple. I also think Laura dating Fie or even maybe Eliot would be way more interesting. But no all the female characters are for Rean and the male characters got basically crap character development because they couldn't really date Rean. They kind of patched up the male characters in the 4th game giving them some might be girlfriends in the last moment, but that game could have been so much better if they dropped the stupid dating crap!

In digimon hackers memory the best friend of the Mc seems gay, he has an obsession with the male main character and blushes around the mc a lot. And in persona 5 Yusuke comes off as being gay to me since even though he want to draw Ann nude he still says himself that he's not interested in the opposite sex.

As a straight man, I really don't think too much about gay inclusion in games. But now that I think on it, I have to agree that it's annoying when a gay character is added as comic relief/not serious. Gays are just people, man. Gay it up haha. I hope that doesn't come off as insensitive. I'm not good at articulating my thoughts. I think what I mean to say is that jrpgs have such a diverse range of settings, music, mechanics, etc so why not characters? For instance, Sylvando in DQ XI is the bomb. Excellent, honorable man. Selfless, and was a knight at one point. Yeah he's super flamboyant, but also a character to look up to.

Rocky from Front Mission 2 is gay too and confesses his feelings to the main character, Ash. It was quite lovely, though there wasn't any continuation. At the end of the game another character asks Rocky how did things go with Ash, and he answers that he just confessed and there is nothing more to it. Later Rocky asks Ash to go for drinks as friends. I was surprised to see those scenes, the game is about war and military. And it is great that Rocky wasn't made to be a joke or a stereotype. Even though there is no actual answer from the main character and he was surprised to receive a confession out of nowhere (oblivious, but there are bits and pieces in the game that show that Rocky developed a crush), it was good to know they were on good terms after.

Off topic but related I think. As a black man that loves RPGs I've had a similar experience. Any male minority would be portrayed as a literal subhuman or violent ex: Rico and Hammer from xenogears. Deego from rogue Galaxy. Barrett Etc. and Every female is aloof or aggressive sexpot s ex: Lilika again from rogue Galaxy. Or both ex: Fran ff12. Isabella DA2. The only good representative I can recall is Reddas. Just saying I empathize.

I'm not gay, but as a man of roughly the same age as you David, who has the same lifelong love affair with JRPG games, I thought this was really insightful and made me reconsider how I thought of certain characters. Additionally, I was also quite disappointed in how the story with Sylvando ultimately played out.

15:05 I actually liked that, making his main conflict about being a knight give him some variety to his character instead of everything revolving about him being gay. I would have liked to see him doing more knight stuff in the game, He looked really cool in gallopolis when he was teaching the prince about being a knight.

I’m so glad to have found your channel! This was an amazing video.

As a bi woman and a HUGE trails fan, it breaks my heart how they represent queer characters. The best they've done is Wazy, and he's still oversexualized... or Maybelle and Lila, but subtext doesn't really count.

Tony from the Xenosaga games was gay or bi (not sure which) and it was handled in a pretty matter of fact/healthy way from what I can remember.

I'm sometimes torn about the "evil gay" trope. On one hand it's obviously harmful, on the other hand villains are often my favorite characters and I always identifiied with the flamboyant villain characters. Kuja is probably my favorite FF character ever, I think he actually had a lot of depth and even sorta redeemed himself at the end. I also think it's fine to have effeminate gay men in video games, because we exist in real life too, but they shouldn't be treated like mere comic relief characters. That's why I like Sylvando, sure he is SUPER camp but he is also incredibly brave, reliable and honorable - so there is more to him than just the stereotype (but yeah, a love interest would have been cool...). Thank you for making this video btw! It's super great to have people who care about LGBTQ-representation in the JRPG community!

You forgot the drag queen bartender in Persona 5!

You forgot Ovan and Endrance from the .Hack G.U. Series

Being gay in the 90s/ 00s was social suicide so I can understand most old gay characters being the joke or villain. Though modern games don't really have an excuse.

I actually really love Oliver from Trails in the Sky. I aspire to his confidence and social fearlessness. And seeing him get teased by Schera is always entertaining.

Appreciate this video and your channel, David! Over the course of my DQ11 playthrough, I had a lot of feelings about Sylvando's characterization but landed on it being a net positive for gay representation especially during the second and third acts of the game. I agree this could have been a opportunity to do a story about him being gay, but I guess I was thankful he never turned into an excuse for a bunch of "gay panic" nonsense that still seems to be prevalent in Japanese developed games. It also helps he one of the best party members in the game.

Sylvando is badass. He's extremely confident and can back up the talk.

Honestly, Makoto (played it on the 360) and Sylvando were the only ones that came to mind when I saw the video title. I'm glad there have been at least a few more over the years.

Great video, David! Irritating that gay representation often comes down to villains, sexual perverts and/or comic relief.

As a gay guy who loves JRPGs, I always love seeing videos like this! Thank you for making it! One thing that bothers me as a trope in the genre is the "red-blooded male protagonist" where it's assumed that every man wants to see women naked. See: every damn game with a hot spring scene. I finished Tales of Arise not too long ago and it felt super jarring when Dohalim who, up to this point hadn't been explicitly queer coded, but also had never participated in the hetero banter of the rest of the party, provides the means for the guys to peep on the women in hot spring. While on the subject of the Tales series, I'm surprised you didn't mention Cumore from Vesperia. The dude has long, lilac hair, dresses in pink and purple, wears lipstick and eyeshadow, and has a cutout on his chest in the shape of a heart. He's also a cruel, cowardly, 2 faced villain who dies without even getting a boss fight. There's also the issue that not all queer relationships are considered equally. Fire emblem 3 houses had some of the best opportunities for queer relationships...if you were a woman where you had 5 options. In the base game, hope you like Lindhardt because otherwise your only other two S-supports (aka the character your avatar will marry in all other instances in the series) are with taken, explicitly hetero men who you don't even get to have a relationship with. In the DLC at least they made Yuri an option to (kind of) level the playing field. What shocks me (and a lot of other people on the internet) is that Claude isn't romanceable if you're a man. He constantly makes references to being an outsider (and while he has a different reason for it, I think most queer people have felt this way because of their queerness at some point) and invites Byleth to dance at the ball scene regardless of the chosen gender. Plus they didn't have any compunctions about making a house leader a potential gay romance option because Eldelgard is romanceable as a woman. (Also just throwing it out there that there are exclusively hetero characters but there's never been an exclusively homosexual romance option) All this to say that, while I love the genre of games, it's disappointing how consistently there's a lack of positive queer representation.

The groping thing is very common in Japanese games and anime. In anime there is a lot of female characters who like groping other female's I noticed.

Perhaps with fire emblem, most of the characters back stories, perspectives, personalities are in optional support conversations. So maybe it was easier for writers to express themselves and get past certain ratings boards. I wonder if triangle strategy will have LGBT representation?

Forgot the gay dudes in Persona 5 got changed to drag queens in Persona 5 Royal. I found it funny how I would have this discussion with people defending the gay dudes saying, "It's funny." When that scene was universally panned by the fandom. IT got funnier when people cried about censorship in Royal....when the people saying this never played the game.

I thought Kanji was the coolest character in persona 4 - and im not gay at all. I dont know even if he is gay, I lean on bisexual because he is still in love with Naoto when he found out she wasnt a boy but pretending to be one.

Love the video David, a note on Persona 5 though; How do feel about Lala Escargot, the drag queen bar tender you get to hangout with when doing Ohya's Confidant? Personally, she was my favorite part of that confidant story line. Chilln at the bar with her. She was a riot (maybe with a bit of a cliché chain smoking middle age woman voice)

Asellus's quest in SaGa Frontier probably still has the gayest overall cast of a mainstream JRPG; while some may consider some of these disputable, by my count it has one lesbian (Mesarthim), three bisexual women (Asellus, White Rose, and Gina) and two gay men (Ildon and Rastaban). Subaru Kujo from Sakura Wars V is non-binary.

To be fair I don’t think Sephiroth knew he was gay till Cloud ran his sword through him 😂

I was hoping you would go a bit more in depth on your thoughts about Jann in Valkyria Chronicles. He is camp gay, with John DiMaggio gives him a Paul Lynde-inspired voice in the English dub. He makes it clear that he is interested in core cast member Largo, even having a "Largo Lover" potential that buffs him in battle when he's nearby. He does call himself a woman and wears makeup, but he's still a guy. Obviously this is played up for comedy because haha flaming gay in a combat warzone, but I do think he's actually a genuinely great character because the game doesn't call attention to it or make being gay a detriment as a unit in battle.

EDIT: I wanna say I learned SOOOOOOOOO much from this video. I had no idea how far back it went! Also happy that you mentioned Fire Emblem and Valkyria Chronicles. \*KICKS DOOR DOWN* MOTHER 3. THE MAGYPISES. While *yes* they are flamboyant they aren't made fun of or hated. They have beautiful hearts and souls! . . . And yes [SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS] ...sadly they do all die.

Once again, congratulations, this is an excellent video! By the way, it would be really interesting if someone did the same thing with "non-white" characters in JRPGs.

First games that spring to mind where Shadow Hearts and Enchanted Arms. Tbh Jerrard and Pierre (the merchants from Shadow Hearts) appear in both SH2 and 3, but their personality are much better in 2. SH2 is filled to the brill with gay references: the "Stud Card" collection which features muscular men in scantily clad uniforms or outright nude, and there's Yuri's cousin Kurando which is implied to be gay. In Enchanted Arms, Makoto is back at being a good guy by the end of the game, so he's not "the gay villain". There's also another one I love which is Lyude from Baten Kaitos; he isn't outright stated to be gay, he's gay coded and is heavily hinted at being gay with his storyline: being resented by his siblings (which you fight against at some point) and being exiled from his family. He's a gay character done right. Unfortunately nothing is perferct: he's a sexless eunuch.

As far as I know with Quina, they have no set gender as far as I'm concerned. And I've always thought that Kuja is flirting with Garnet a couple of time, but maybe it's me?

Wait, hold up. You’re telling me that Howard Ashman, a gay man from Broadway, made the villain a drag queen on the Little Mermaid? Anyway, great vid. It’s observational videos like this that make me come back. Keep ‘em coming!

I love that you are talking about this topic. I would like to say though, eith makoto that wasn't the impression i got. I've played enchanted arms a lot and when he disappeared. Everytime he came back, it was to help the party, he wasnt evil from what i remember. I was also under the impression that he disappeared because he realized he wasnt strong enough to protect toya and wanted to become stronger. Edit: also i have always wanted a really good gay love story in a jrpg and it has never happened. I want a gay main character with a love story!

I remember the acupuncturist in Shadow Hearts being a character that preyed on all the male characters in a predatory manner, which wasn't the best way to portray a gay character... Additionally, in Shadow Hearts 2: Covenant in order to upgrade Gepetto's doll, you need to get highly sexualized cards that are muscled men with props covering their private parts. So now you have people thinking that all gay people are just out to oogle every male that has two legs and a dick. I think JRPGs still have a ways to go with LGBT representation without making us the butt of the joke...

I’ve always had to basically turn my brain off when it came to LGBT representation in JRPGs. I was “that one” young player who always played and identified with the female characters.

Great video. I would love to see one on black representation in JRPGs. We’re usually comic relief but FF does ok especially FF12.