My Pokémon Gender Journey 

This is actually funny, cause I was just thinking how, even though I prefer the designs of most female Pokémon protags, I always pick the male character since it feels somewhat dysphoric not to play as one. So I always assumed most other straight/cis males have the same feeling too. I was wondering why some, like you, prefer picking the females, so it's cool that you made a video on the topic.

For a sec thought this was a coming out video haha, but really great video! love the support and info you bring always to other communities! I was DEFINITELY an egg case with picking female characters, though as a teen I also had some crushes on the female characters, so it didn't seem that weird to my peers, but in hindsight? yeaaaaaaa

The female character’s are always much more stylish. Dawn especially That’s cool that you’re open with sharing your experimentation with gender as a cis het man. Really brave and cool to see!

Thanks to the trans community it allowed me to accept and love femininity during my edgy “woman hating” teen years. I looked in the mirror one day, asked genuinely if i was trans, and went “nope” lol. Been a long process of accepting my femininity after that that isnt helped by more…controlling conservative men that would hand around. Its a tricky route to go down of differentiating hating the patriarchy, hating the absolute conformity of gender norms, and hating how society treats women as a whole (and the double standards that go with it), but still coming out the other end enjoying the fact youre female.

Recently, I’ve been getting both copies of each Pokémon game. My initial playthrough has the male character with my name made to look like me. My second playthrough, I use the female character to make it a bit different. Also to see the better clothing options, haha. For that one I’ve been naming and modeling it off of an original character I made a few years ago. For other games, I’ve been doing that as well because they’re not as nicely stylized as Pokémon or I don’t have as much of connection with. There’s one moment that’s stuck with me. I was playing Monster Hunter after some friends suggested I join them and after cycling through all the options on the character creator to represent myself in the game, I was left with the “default settings.” I’m half Mexican and half Syrian, but I still have a light complexion and brown hair, haha. That’s when I decided to start using a female character more often. I always like that you have guests on for topics they can help contribute to, because I end up learning more than I thought I would. Also, I like the look of having the guest video on a Switch.

For me personally, it just came down to what they wear in their base clothes. Even in later gens with clothing costumization, I still think the first impression with a character is everything. I picked Elio in Sun and Moon over Selene because Selene's starting hat is absolute Garbodor and as a person who wears a hat any time I go outside, it was a deal breaker that was thankfully rectified in the Ultra games. Fashion isn't something I'm too worried about IRL, I wear mostly the same thing everyday, but in game I want to be fashionable since it's not an experience I usually have. Sometimes I'll get some nice clothes from a shop but if I don't really want to deal with the money that goes into the purchases in a playthrough, I'd pick the character I think looks the most stylish. This video definitely gave me an interesting look at the different thoughts people might go threw when choosing which protagonist they want to play as.

I appreciate it so much as someone who sometimes does thought experiments as to what I'd be like as the opposite gender, that Molly says "just because you like playing a girl character or you think about being the opposite sex sometimes doesnt necessarily make you trans if you dont see yourself as that" because anytime I talk to people about playing girl characters in video games (because like you brought up, their clothes are more aesthetically pleasing over all) I have a bunch of trans people trying to insist that im actually an egg or try to claim me as trans like im some anime character they can head canon to be trans I wouldnt want to be the opposite gender my entire life, I like being what I am now and I like peeking into the options in fiction that I normally dont get in real life

Okay REALLY long comment but Pokemon and gender are like the two things I could talk about for eternity. For my first ever Pokemon game, I picked the boy and gave him what I would now refer to as my deadname. Professor juniper just asked if I was a boy or a girl and asked what my name was, so I gave what I thought were the honest answers to those questions at the time. Later, I continued playing as the boy, but would give them their canon names, whether that be canon to the games or manga, I kinda flip flopped between the two. Eventually I decided to do this but just, as the girl, and I remember having a lot of fun with that. I definitely played as the boy more often throughout my childhood, but I still played as the girl fairly frequently, especially in x and y cause I heard people say she had more clothing options. I also later started making up my own names for the girl, and saw it as like playing a character, while I'd just name the boy after whatever I was calling myself at the time (around age 10 I realized I didn't like my name but I didn't realize WHY). Around middle school however, I remembered getting teased for playing as the girl, like I was doing it for some weird, sexual reason (ironically I turned out asexual), and I was getting less creative with the name ideas, so I just stopped playing as the girl. Until I started to question my gender a couple years later. I remember two times where I sat at the character selection screen, debating whether or not to try playing as the girl again, but eventually just going with the boy and giving him my deadname. Unfortunately this later led to me deleting a 100 hour Pokemon sword save file once I was more confident in my transness. But for my second playthrough of sword, only a week after my first, and while that previously mentioned save file still existed (I didn't play 100 hours in a week), I tried playing as the girl, and named her robin, a name I was highly considering giving myself, and even had my friends call me for a day. I had a lot of fun with that, but initially saw her as more of a character than myself. But after using my trainer card as my profile picture a lot of places, and just figuring out my gender irl, I eventually cane to accept that I was trans, I was non binary, I was a girl, I was robin, and that this was more self expression than roleplaying. Interestingly, my character customization eventually went from "this looks good, I wouldn't mind looking like this" to "this is what I think I actually look like, or as close as I can get." What's been consistent is me using them as profile pictures though. I also still create and play as characters sometimes, and one of said characters, Jade from my leafgreen generations nuzlocke, probably played a part in me realizing I was more than just non binary and kind of feminine, but actually a GIRL (and still non binary, gender is complicated like that). Playing as characters is also the only reason I've still played as the boy a couple of times post transition. Anyway, that's about all I have to say, congratulations to anyone who actually read all of that. TL;DR throughout my childhood I flip flopped between playing as the boy and girl but the boy was usually just named after myself while with the girl I was playing a character and having more fun tbh. Then I realized I'm trans, and now I play as the girl to be myself, and only play as the boy if I'm playing a character.

I’m a cishet female but my irl wardrobe is actually pretty close to yours. I’ve learned that feminine outfits are just really uncomfortable for me, and even with my earliest Pokémon experience I chose the male character, as almost all the female options had some kind of skirt or dress or otherwise girly aspect. Funnily enough I dressed up as PT Lucas last Halloween and it was incredibly euphoric. I’d love if future protagonists could divert gender norms and go past binary, or at the very least make all styles accessible for both gender options.

Thank you for talking so candidly about this. I've had a fairly long journey with gender myself, and video games definitely played a role in that.

We complain about the national dex, however I’m realizing one of the least immersive features is character customization without facial hair

aaa nunca imaginei que vc fosse brasileiro!! as personagens femininas de pokémon foram meio que uma porta de entrada pra experimentar com meu gênero por um tempão, mesmo antes de eu conhecer as palavras adequadas pra isso. hoje eu sou uma travesti mto feliz e ainda tenho carinho por todas elas, especialmente a da gen 5. obrigada pelo vídeo!!

i'm nonbinary and my experience is that, when i'm choosing a player character for pokemon specifically, i pretty much always go "male" because it's really a matter of picking what incidental pronouns the game will use for me, and while i pretty much only use they/them in real life, given a Hard Call i'd rather the game incorrectly use he/him than she/her. in the pokemon games with outfit customization though, i also just heavily prefer the "guy" outfits to the "girl" outfits because i can come way closer to looking the way i want to, which is a sort of "wearing sweatpants and a weird t-shirt but hey, also i have a cool hoodie on" type of androgyny. i just kind of like having outfits that are fashionable but also look a little like they were just completely thrown together, and pokemon's character customization really just embodies that for me. that said, i'd love if pokemon took the animal crossing approach of just throwing their hands in the air and going "screw it, anyone can wear any of the clothes" because i wouldn't mind having more options just in general!

women are generally more appealing than men. fashion is a good example of it; how women's clothing are varied in comparison to men. 🤷‍♂️

Thumbnail goals 😭😂😂😂

I much prefer to play as a defined character like Geralt of Rivia rather than a blank slate.

love this video and the way you brought in a person who is transgender to chat and educate ❤❤❤

Objectively speaking, most default girl trainers are better designed, unique articles of clothing, better personality, & have more diverse clothing opinions. Much more iconic too.

To me, it's because I've always played as the male character. Upon replay, I want to try new things, build new teams, and use new characters

Happy Holiday UmbreonLibris.

12:32 when I played through SWSH for the first time as a girl (I’m transfem and my egg cracked after SWSH came out so I did it for euphoria lol) and I saw al other more options i was shocked, like, I knew the female player got the better clothes, but I was just like “wait... wait I CAN DO MAKEUP?! OMG YES THIS IS SO AMAZING... WHY DON’T THE GUYS GET THIS THIS IS SO UNFAIR”

Interesting. I always pick the male character because I'm (cis) male, and I like to imagine I'm in the story. Of course, the protagonists are younger, and I can't relate entirely, but they become a version of me I'd like to be in that world (or maybe even irl). For instance, the character in my Alola and Galar playthroughs both started off blond and ended up with pink hair. I'm not that bold for real, but I liked creating that character - or that version of myself. Contrary to what I hear a lot of people say, I actually think there are some good clothing options for the male protagonists, and I think some outfits look really cool or really cute. But maybe that stems from the Tomb Raider point you raised; after all, I'm cis-male, but not cis-het. 🤷‍♂️ Great video, btw. And thanks to Mawly for their contribution. Oh, and how comfortable is your skirt? ☺️👍

This is a great video! I find myself agreeing with so many of these points. I always play as the female protagonist myself because I simply prefer the styles offered, especially in X&Y and beyond. It’s also interesting how beyond customization, playing in this way offers a safe and accessible space to really try new things out. As a cis male, this really made me realize that I owe a lot of my real-life fashion decisions to how I grew up playing in Pokémon, experimenting with my preference towards “girly” or “feminine” presentation, like piercing my ears and nose when I got to college and not caring what others thought for the first time. It’s nice to think that my favorite franchise plays a big part in that.

You are an amazing person and it’s so cool you bring those important conversations on your videos. You handle it so well and manage to spread information in the right way and that’s awesome. For what I recall I only played as the boy on my earlier ages, then I caught myself playing as the girl in every opportunity I could, (being May on Emerald or even Sheva in Resident Evil V). My favorites male characters were the ones that usually could kinda break the “macho” motif and be more sensitive, empathetic and have more feminine or e effeminate characteristics (being androgynous or Bishonen) like, as you might know, Shun from Saint Seiya. While my favorites female characters were, aside all the crushes, the strong models, sometimes tomboyish, but more often than not the ones that have better development (which was something difficult to see in media at the time). Rule of thumb was “does this breaks gender patterns? = I like it”. Turned out to be trans, non binary (specifically genderfluid). One thing I think was confusing was to find out if I’d liked playing as the girl to be represented or bc I like girls hahahha.

Your videos are so thorough and full of research and great guests. Appreciate your work and allyship!!! Also yaaasss Pokémon!!!

Just discovered you from the TrueGreen video you were in! :D This was super intresting - i had never thought about it, but video games are really a nice place for gender exploration! I realized i was non-binary (any pronouns) in my twenties, and looking back i notice that i played the girl characters in most games, but i would try to pick the outfits that looked more "masculine" or gender non-conforming . I remember playing Animal Crossing on DS and going to the hair dressing so many times until i could get a short hair cut in the color i wanted xD Also - when i played Harvest Moon the relief i felt when i realized that "gender" was just a button you could change at will, AND that the characters all refer to you by name instead of pronouns AND that you can date all the bachelors villagers regardless of gender?? unparalleled. Stardew Valley gave me the best non-binary video game experience so far, i could truly see myself in the character fully (down to the green hair lol !) Thank you again for this video, it was wonderful!

É um menino!!! For real tho, thank you for the video, i was needing something like this 👍🏽

I'm transfem nonbinary. When I played Pokemon, up until X I always picked the male character, not because I wanted to or they felt like me, but because I felt like I had to, like the girl character wasn't *for* me, I wasn't allowed to play the girl character. And I never liked it really, I always sort of wanted to play the girl character, but the way the game does it, where it asks if you're a boy or a girl, tells me that, since everyone around me is constantly insisting I'm a boy, I'm supposed to say I'm a boy. If it just asked if I wanted to play as a boy or girl, I might have chosen the girl character years earlier than when I first did, but it didn't, it asked which I am, not which I want. Over the years it kept wearing me down, I didn't like playing as a boy, I wished I could just play as a girl, until in Pokemon X, so late in the game that I was literally on victory road, I just got fed up and decided fuck this, I'm so tired of playing as what I'm supposed to, I just want to play as a girl whether the game wants me to or not, whether I'm allowed to or not. And I restarted. And ever since then, I've played as the girl, up until the newest games, Scarlet and Violet, where none of the clothes and faces and hair options are tied down to gender, and I'm comfortable picking the boy again because they're really not a boy, and the girl really isn't a girl, they're just the character. Far more than in Pokemon X, boy or girl, they're just me. Gen 9 is the first time there's not this rigid binary in customisation and it finally feels like I can just be me while playing it, even with the weird binary of pronouns. Though I do wish the school uniform wasn't mandatory, seeing as I wear almost exclusively black and even the blackest options, like the winter uniform, which are violet exclusive, still include more blues and browns than I would ever wear irl. So I can't quite make my character dress like me, but at least they finally feel like me.

I am a cis woman and I am mostly playing female characters that look nothing like me. I like playing characters that have for example darker skin, unnatural hair colors or clothes I would not wear myself. my sword and shield character looks nothing like me. I think its partly because I might be bisexual or at least bicurious and play a character that looks attractive. But in other cases its just "I wish I would look more like that myself". It's mostly a mix of both. Each time I play a male character, it's because they are good looking. This video was very intresting and I think that skirt looks really good on you.

I rarely get to have conversations about topics like these in video games irl, so it's nice to learn about other's experiences and realizing how much I relate to them.

I love the girls designs for Pokémon they look nice and more alive. But me as a trans man, weirdly feel euphoric when seeing myself in Pokémon as a man and having the other characters referring to me as a man. I don’t always get that in real life because of my appearance. But in the game I am just existing as a man and it makes me feel good. I just try to ignore the bad outfit lol

I get what you mean with being frustrated by the choices available for male playable characters. In my case, there is a unique type of frustration that happens with both genders of protagonists so far, which makes me end up picking male characters anyway. The thing is, in real life, I'm bald and I actually shave my head because of that, but that's rarely an option in most video games, with the closest thing being a crew cut, which I try to dye in a slightly darker color than the skin of the character, so it looks like the shadow left by shaved hair. Since crew cuts are basically a male option in games, I end up defaulting to male anyway, in order to try and replicate that part of myself

I'm nonbinary and finally switched to picking the male protagonist with SwSh. It was such a relief to no longer be called "she" by the game text and not be forced to wear a super feminine outfit (the most masculine options in XY still made me dysphoric, and you have to start out with a skirt). Even if "he" is still technically misgendering, it's not wrong in an upsetting way. That said, I really really hope hair and clothes aren't gender-locked in the next games, because the male ones are still really lacking.

I'm nonbinary, use he/him pronouns, was assigned female at birth, and pursued medically transitioning (I take testosterone, got top surgery and can "pass" as male, beard and all). And after a lifetime of avoiding "female" and "feminine" things, I too wear a skirt pretty much every day. I like makeup. I like cute clothes. I finally can allow myself to love something as simple as the color pink because I'm not bogged down by societal expectations. Watching your video, it also reminded me of watching my (trans) sister constantly play female characters, but not... in the same way I'd seen our cishet brothers play them. Fallout 4 was a huge one because you could get Codsworth to call you by different names, so she tried out a bunch of names that way, as well as ideal appearances through the character customization. I have cishet friends who explored their gender only to come out the other side still firmly cishet, just not ones that adhered to society's strict gender roles and presentation. Sounds like you fall into the latter category to me, more than the trans one, but whatever direction your gender journey takes you I hope you figure yourself out in the end

I think this is a really good video, and I'm super glad it exists, and I wish more people would see it.

I really liked this video, thanks for talking about things that a lot youtubers dont! And i love the skirt

Great Video! I love learning about it as my younger brother is non-binary and I work at a bar where a lot of the local queer community attend to. Additionally my girlfriend is a cis woman but bisexual, and I share a lot of my wardrobe with her. Think she's really beautiful in "man oriented clothing" and with short hair. First time I played Pokémon as the girl was back in gen 3 and the most times I played it was with May. Think the reason was curiosity but also diversity. Picking different genders for your protagonist every other time is like picking a different starter Pokemon. I don't necessarily feel I have to identify myself as the character, so it just in general has to look cool, or interesting in some way.

Plaited Skirts are awesome. Especially cut just above the knee it gives me Gladiator. Classic masculine silhouette.

I think my first experience realizing I was non-binary was playing Pokémon as a kid and getting stumped when Professor Oak asked me "Are you a boy? Or are you a girl?" It took me a long time to answer that!

This is adorable. Thanks for sharing.

Merry Christmas Eve everyonne.

For me, I like picking the girl because I get more clothing options in the later games. I get to put them in dresses which I can't do with myself irl or in game as the guy. As for older games, usually it's for characters. Mainly during my teens, I liked to make my Pokémon playthoughs their own character. With a name, team and origin, then battle my other teams like some sort of crossover. Because of that, even now, I never really see myself in Pokémon avatars, just the character I'm playing in this specific game.

Even when I play with the character of my genser I never play as me. I always name the characters after their official names the first time and after that makes sure that no two of my characters look the same if I can.

Finally got around to watching this and very interesting topic. I personally still identify as male (AMAB) and while I don’t believe I’m trans (I’m pretty comfortable in my body though do want to lose some weight) I do want to explore my femininity a bit more as I’ve gotten a lot lore comfortable with that side of myself. I want to paint my nails and the like. Pokémon (and similar games that give you the option like most of the recent Fire Emblem games and Story of Seasons) allows me to do that more freely so I tend to pick the female characters. I do also think it sorta goes into affection, not so much of the characters but of the aesthetic. My first game was Pokémon Sun and Moon and the tropical setting was definitely one I really enjoyed. I’m still sorta exploring my sexuality IRL and while not completely sure I do believe asexual describes me best though I do still find some people and characters attractive (regardless of their gender) though don’t really have interest in a romantic relationship. Though whenever a game has the option to marry someone I usually still go for it (Married Chrom in FE Awakening, Blaire in Story of Seasons, and planing to marry Edelgard if I ever get around to actually finishing Three Houses just to name a few examples)

You know what,I've been planning to play Pokémon Sword as the girl character for a long time but never REALLY tried it,but this bideo inspired me!I guess I will try it...Thank You!👍

Crystal was my first game and I'm a trans chick, so, even when I didn't realize it I always had a strong connection to playing as Kris. I remember being 4/5 and worrying someone would see me playing as the girl

I really envy your ability to set up a camera and just talk and share so openly! For me, none of the male outfits click for me but I don't care too much about the female outfits because I don't wear clothes like either.

Never really thought about it, but I try to play each gender equally. I always play as Kris in crystal because I can only play as a boy in gold and silver, but since then I just switch it up each time I start a new game. But I do it because I want to experience each game as a whole and sometimes there are differences according to wich gender your character is. I never do it because of self representation though. I might have done it when I was younger in the Sims, but since then I always play games as the game character or, in the case of games with bland player characters such as pokemon, I make up a character and personality. Recently I played as a ghost girl in pokemon moon with ghost monotype rules and a surfer boy in pokemon sun with water monotype. I don't care if I see myself in the player character either way because even if it is my gender, it's a kid. The same way I don't see myself in other games because i'm not a demi god, or a robot, or a civilization (I play stellaris a lot 😅). From my perspective I care more if the game offers me good characters to play with than wether they represent me or not. The same way as when I watch a movie I don't care wich gender, or colour, or whatever the characters are. I care if they're interesting.

black 2 and white 2 are the first mainline pokemon games i can actually remember playing. i dont remember which gender character i picked; but then x and y came around and ever since, i have always played as the girl. i was in highschool and i remember justifying the choice both to myself and others that it was because the girl just looked better and the boy was so plain. i mean, that IS true, but it was mostly because i was egg. (side note, i also played as a girl in skyrim). then, sun and moon came out while i was attending community college. met a good number of lgbt folk there, including a genderfluid individual whom(while i never told anyone this, including them) thanks to me knowing them, helped push me along in my gender exploration because for a bit i thought i was a 'femboy' and then for a bit i thought i was genderfluid. things eventually culminated in me realizing i was trans. but back to when i was playing sun and moon before i realized i was trans. i got so invested in customizing my female character sun and moon. i also LOVED Lillie's story in those games. i was so emotionally invested in her and seeing her open up and become confident in herself. I was moved so much that when i chose my new name, and I eventually landed on wanting some version of the name Lily/Lilly/Lillie/Lilith/Liliana/ect, I decided to go with the spelling 'Lillie' because of her. tldr; pokemon was a huge part of my trans journey and also inspired my chosen name.

For me, picking the female character was the first step of a very very long journey that eventually led to me coming out as non binary. It started as the only way I knew how to express my femenine side. Now I still mainly exclusively pick female characters in video games cus Im generally a femme presenting person

Oddly, Pokemon is the ONE game series where i have the option, but don't play as the female character. I think it's mostly because i use my real name, which makes the game much more immersive for me than playing someone who is not quite like me. I've preferred to play as females in games since it was possible: Ms. Pac-Man over Pac-Man, maining Chun Li, putting the women characters at the head of the parties in Final Fantasy games... Every game with a create a character option, i make female characters. I've never figured out if it was the novelty of playing a female character when i'm old enough to remember when that was never an option, or - as featured in the video - just having a character i like to look at more than other options. Or maybe it is something deeper. I have questioned my own personal gender issues, because i REALLY don't fit society's "this is for girls, this is for boys" standards. I don't fit neatly into any mold, at the same time, i don't feel strongly about it one way or another. Thank you for touching on the clothing subject in this regard! I've always felt that women and girls just have so much more to choose from, and much cooler options, and at some point i gave up the notion of there being a pre-determined gender for one piece of clothing or another. You mentioned the Wonder Woman jacket. I once found a "women's" Batman Returns Catwoman hoodie on a clearance rack a decade ago and it's been my favorite piece of clothing since. Now i wear things like cute cat ear beanies, "women's" sweaters... I even bought a Fallout 4 Vault 111 "women's" hoodie, because it is SO MUCH cooler than all the "men's" options they had available. Because i stopped caring. Who decided clothes are only for specific people? And who decided game characters are for specific people? Not me! Anyway, thanks so much for this video. It's an important subject! I want to share this video around because it explains how i feel about a lot a things, but it says it better than i could. XD

I switch between genders with each new game I play

I myself am a cishet but I personally love playing as the female option because it's like if I'm going to be staring at this for hours and hours I might as well play as someone that looks attractive rather than myself.

I've always wanted to dive in depth and ask my cishet male friends why they regularly choose female avatars. I've never really understood this but it makes sense now

Lowkey I just pick the one that I find aesthetically pleasing

I thought I had seen this video but I hadn't before now. Some arguments were unexpected to say the least. But yay integrity for sure. We have to think about gender in video games a lot to and companies too and come up with interesting solutions without it being overbearing on the start of the game or later-on in the game. Pokemon definitely has a situation where you make yourself as a character of that world so it makes sense that you would have a lot of options. For me though, the idea of playing the typical girls of the Pokemon games is not so much about identifying myself with that character's image and gender, more so just puppeteering this character and picking them just by if I like them in some way. I guess that's a subtle difference. But usually I pick the dude, especially if it's not on emulator. I make myself in Pokemon form in those cases, but later-on, the more I play, that character becomes an entity of their own that has their own character and when there is customization, I will dress them according to what my headcannon of their character is. If there were more dialogue options, I would make more choices that go in line with this idea of the character's character. Btw, I don't at all think that the boy characters look worse, quite the opposite. I guess it;s less so now with the very interchangeable characters, not having a character, being more of a blank canvas, but the early protagonists like Red, Ethan, Brendan, Lucas and Hilbert had a strong fashion sense. They had something that you don't exactly see in the real world even though they were still not too outlandish. I cannot emphasise enough how much these characters influenced my fashion sense as a kid (with horrific results since these styles don't easily work in the real world). And its is actually the opposite, the girl characters always seemed more boring to me. Maybe Krys has a je ne sais quoi, Leaf too with that hat, May is the best and the others I don't much vibe with the boys styles being so much more memorable. But as I said, I usually give up on having my own avatar exactly because of the lack of customization options, so I won't argue that girls don't have it better in that department. However, boys have had a strong variety of styles in the history of Pokemon so I just a situation where we just need them to be implemented and these prior outfits inspire more new outfits. Customization is never enough anyway, but I should at least be able to make characters that vary in style completely, like a nerd, an edgelord, an artsy person, a punk, a buisness oriented fellow etc. instead of just looking like a blank canvas with a bunch of random weird clothing items all the way through. Blank canvas is fine as long as there is a possibility to make it un-blank. For example, PLA had the Galaxy Exploration gear and you do get things later on (like Libris said, locked till post game, so you play as not yourself for most of it) but there was no variation on the Galaxy Exploration outfit at all. You cannot even have the scarf as an accessory for other outfits. This also applies to facial and body features.

I play as whatever i feel like, don't really put much thought into it tbh. And never cared about what others choose to play as....Because it has nothing to do with me. I do agree that games should have more options for those that do care tho. The more options (of any kind really) the better.

As a trans masculine/nonbinary person I grew up picking the girl character but I would give them masculine clothes & features if I could, but if it was Fire Emblem I would play as a boy so I could marry female characters lol. Though sexuality is completely separate from gender identity. Also I love your skirt! Edit: Forgot to add, female characters would usually have enough customization to make me less dysphoric (short hair, pants, “boyish” things) where I’m sure playing as a male wouldn’t give people the same fluidity with their choices!

I think there are a lot of people who chose the gender they are attracted to because you are always looking at your avatar during the game.

To be honest, now that I think about it, I chose Rosa in White 2, for the Yancy and Curtis events, and I had a lot of fun with that play through! Though to be fair, BW2 is my favorite Pokémon game, and also I really like Rosa just in general lol.

This video started a conversation between me and some friends, and we ended it by agreeing that gender representation in games (including enby) needs to improve.

One of the things that made me go "oh yeah maybe i'm not cis." was that, I, like you, have picked the girl characters... ever since i was a kid and at every opportunity. and the main reasons for that do probably fit into the two first categories, I don't really feel like I relate to the female characters at all, but I'm very turned off by the idea of playing as a male character. and so i realised "oh, i don't think i want to be a guy" and I've come out as non-binary for the last year and a half. I"m still not sure exactly... how I want to be identified as but I'm still confident that it's not female and especially not male. But now that i've been fairly well supported by my friends as non-binary, i've gotten less avoidant of playing the male character. There were times before coming out I would pick the female character even when i much prefer the design of the male... because i just didn't want to have to put my name next to a male character and that's not an issue, as much, anymore for me. The rare opportunity a game lets you choose your pronouns, especially they/them pronouns, independantly from your gender/appearance is a blessing, not only is it nice to see a developer making an effort but it really does save me from having to do an entire song and dance where I can be stunlocked by having to make what should be a simple choice for everyone.

As a cis girl, I usually tend to pick the girl character either bcz of their designs or bcz of the wider range of customization options, but if I like the design of a boy character more then I’ll pick him over the girl without really thinking about it (like in HGSS where I love Ethan wayyy more than Lyra, or in B&W where I like both designs equally & tend to switch) That being said, even when I pick the girl, I never really intend for them to represent "me" in the game. I enjoy myself way more when I imagine a whole new character each time and think about how their personalities might influence the clothes they'll wear and the kind of pokemon they’ll pick (that’s why sometimes I take a really long time to choose a fitting name to play under lmao). I’m really into written roleplay and making up OCs & stories so maybe that’s why, but that way, even if its mostly just in my head, each playthrough feels a bit more unique in its own way (+ I get make cool art out of them !) Anyway, here’s my 2cts 5 months later bcz I just found out about this channel lmao, loved the video !

I’m a cishetero female, but I ALWAYS play as the male character in any game where I get the choice. In fact, when online, I often portray myself as male because it just... feels right. I dont think I’m interested in being trans in real life though. I’m also a writer, and I almost exclusively write male characters. I really dont know what if anything this means about my identity, but I wonder if anyone else has this kind of experience. Where you feel like your assigned gender but prefer to use the opposite gender when in a fictitious setting, and not in a “I want to stare at the gender I’m attracted to the whole time” sort of way, if that makes any sense 😅

This was an interesting video. I really enjoyed it. I love the thoughts it's provoked. I admit, I'm like you, wouldn't mind experiencing being female at times, but also comfortably male. But I don't play female characters because weirdly as cute as the female characters are, I don't want to look at a cute girl all game.

2:22 For a second I thought you were gonna say “And yes, I am, in fact, Portuguese”

I used to always play the guy until I decided at one point to play a girl in Ruby. Somehow the game felt more exciting and “alive” when I was playing that way, and I kept doing it. This was one of several things that led me to realize I was actually a trans girl later, and of course I never play as a guy anymore.

Gender is so weird. Video games are just wonderful for letting people explore it in an easy, fun way, and this video explained it really well in a way I haven't seen in many places. Also, that skirt rules, looking good!

WAIT A MINUTE... "É UM MENINO"???

That's a video that takes a lot of courage to post on the internet outside of safe communities. I hope nobody will give you shit about it because it was actually very cool.

I thought it'd be fun to list my personal preferred protagonist from each region. Quick note that these will just be going off their base appearances and not taking customization into account: *Kanto:* Red but mainly just for the icon status. Leaf's not bad. *Kanto (LGPE):* Elaine. Not really much to say here. I just like her more than Chase. *Johto:* Honestly could go either way for both Crystal and the remakes but I'd go with Kris and Lyra if I had to choose one. *Hoenn:* Once again not picky on this one but in general I go Brendan, his hat's the best. *Sinnoh:* Dawn, always Dawn. Words cannot describe how put off I am by Lucas's dumb hat. *Unova:* Hilbert and Hilda have some of the dumbest names but probably the best outfits. In general though, I'd probably lean towards Hilda. *Unova (BW2):* Rosa all the way. She pulls off the visor way better than Nate and his shaggy hair. *Kalos:* Definitely Serena. I like Calem's getup (except maybe the hat) but Serena just really outdid him. *Alola:* Elio for regular SM and Selene for the Ultra games. I just really hated her hat in Sun and Moon. It's worst than Lucas. *Galar:* Gloria. Victor is in the same boat as Calem. Not bad, just outdone.

Wouldn't default settings be female?

For me this doesn't apply very much as I always play as myself when given the option to. For me immersing myself into that world is the point and is what keeps my interest in games that aren't story driven. For games where I HAVE to play as a male character it always feels like another person and I treat that male in game as a whole other entity separate from myself. I will either sweet talk or shit talk him depending on whats going on in the game. Granted I have never encountered a game where the main character convincingly looked like a male version of me

Not me playing as girl characters in games for years and now knowing that I'm trans. Lol. Amazing video...as always!

I'm a female and straight, but I always perfered to play male characters in any game, I just thought their armor looked better 😂

This was a really interesting video! I would describe myself as a cis het male and the only time I've ever actually played a Pokemon game as the opposite gender was when Crystal first came out. That was just for the novelty really, but it's something I might try again the future. Also, on similar lines to your skirt (which looks good, by the way!), I bought a pair of very feminine looking boots when I was about 17. They had quite high heels to them and I only wore them a couple of times due to the negative comments I received from people, but I liked wearing them.

Okay, when the term, "Egg" in the Trans community was described here, I LEGITIMATELY had a sudden burst of realization that that's exactly what I feel like, on a daily basis... There were alot of times in the last two years where I honestly didn't know if I was Transgender or not. However, due to mounting societal pressure, as well as past trauma with a failed "Coming Out" (If I can even call it that), it's made me... scared... to try and experiment with myself 😥 I honestly don't know if I'll ever be able to, tbh...😥😔

Ok that’s super cute, he looks at the camera because he’s actually looking at his wife

As someone who is comfortable with all pronouns, I used to only play as the male character. I just liked the male character designs better until character customization in xy. Ever since then, my first savefile I play as the female character bc there's sooo many more clothing options. I have the option to wear something i typically wear, or completely dress up for the funsies. Blue lip stick? I don't wear makeup but my character will!! Male customization is better since swsh, but itll never be as diverse as the female characters until people stop freaking out when guys wear dresses. I almost want them to ditch male or female entirely and just have better human customization and all clothing options available

I'm doing some catching up on your videos today and I'm so glad I started with this one, I had to leave a comment. As someone who's been "gender questioning" for a couple years now, I think you and Mawly (and your wife!) did a great job here, Libris. You guys covered so much here and hearing this presented as the normal conversation and part of life it is warmed my heart. Thank you for doing this, and not just for getting this discussion further out there in the Pokemon/gaming/RU-vid community-- I was also curious as to why your character was female in the recent Legends Arceus clips, haha. And now I know, and I totally get your reasons! And man, it's not about the gender topics, but I was so glad to hear appreciation for Kris! She'll likely always be my favorite protag in terms of design and I can't lie, so much of that is her blue hair.

I prefer the ladies in Pokémon as a trans person,(they/he) and sometimes I switched the characters to male and female in Pokémon GO,I understand it

honestly? if it's not the current game or it's a repeat playthrough I just go for the female MC because their designs are adorable

Cyber Style is the BEST outfit go and sit on the stairs

In which generation is that you have less to read when you play as girl instead playing as guy? That is used as speedrun strategy.

this reminds me that both in Pokémon and Fire Emblem (the 4 games that have an avatar, anyways) I tend to pick the female character, for reasons very similar to libris's lmao, tho I've been starting to explore my pronouns a bit, since I don't really mind they pronouns ig

cishet wearing a skirt but what about klits tho, common scottish dress attire for men even straight men yet isnt seen as "gay" or transgender sterotype either 🤔

Its weird that many times male protags are forced to have hats its so stupid

Hell, I have lost count how many times I've played as a female when I could choose my gender in a videogame, even though I am a cis hetero male myself.

I'm option three. I was the egg lol for thirty years ffs. But yeah, I often picked boy characters and didn't know why. I still pick girl characters in some things, like for instance mass effect, and that's a looks thing lol if the dude character looks awful I'll pick a girl. Same as for ark. Lol God the men in ark look so bad!

girl cute, i choose girl

This is actually quite helpful, screw the rigid binary stuff! Love your skirt, doesn't change who you are. I'm ha cishet man but I like my nails to look nice!

I'm in the same situation as you, in that my mentality is mostly considered 'feminine' while being happily male Sports, cars and bulking up? Not at all interesting to me Conversating about emotions, I love I used to joke that I might have been born the wrong gender because of it (then hormones hit and I had to admit that I was male 😒) I don't even care about using makeup on myself (I don't care about appearance) even when told 'it's not manly'

One of my earliest memories as a child is that a pair of cops came to the door, they were looking for a missing person The pair of cops Male Female (Based on perception right) And from then on, it was like, just obvious to me that women can be in positions of authority too, I must have been like 3 or so And something in gaming, yeah its a sauge fest, Gale of Darkness and Colosseum where restricted to male leads So I made it a point to even out the female/male leads of when I play So FireRed M Soulsilver F Emerald M COL M XD M Platinum F W F W2 M Y F Sun F US I think I went M BD F But yeah I also go for the " stare at the pretty lady " I'm a guy in real life, I don't want to play as a dude when I play a dude irl And yes women just have better detailed clothing This vid is pretty cool, I can relate a lot lol

Twitter link to Mawly's Twitter?

where's the link to Molly's Twitter thats supposed to be the description?

💖🐣 hehehe. But for real, I'm glad you're comfortable expressing yourself however you want to, regardless of how it's perceived. I love the skirt; it looks awesome.

I was definitely an egg case, aha

How dare you besmirch Lucas's hat!

I'm also a cisgender and heterosexual man and I don't have any interest in using make up, nail polish, skirts, dresses or heels, BUT WHY ON EARTH IS ALL THIS "NORMAL" FOR WOMEN AND NOT FOR MEN? Like, I guess some people are really so terrible they like to keep prejudice in "social rules" to inferiorize others but WHERE DID THIS IDEA GET FROM? It's like if someone once said: "Names that end in vowels are a cat thing, so no dogs should receive it because they'd be weird." and then everyone somehow agreed for no reason.

I'm nonbinary, use he/him pronouns, was assigned female at birth, and pursued medically transitioning (I take testosterone, got top surgery and can "pass" as male, beard and all). And after a lifetime of avoiding "female" and "feminine" things, I too wear a skirt pretty much every day. I like makeup. I like cute clothes. I finally can allow myself to love something as simple as the color pink because I'm not bogged down by societal expectations. Watching your video, it also reminded me of watching my (trans) sister constantly play female characters, but not... in the same way I'd seen our cishet brothers play them. Fallout 4 was a huge one because you could get Codsworth to call you by different names, so she tried out a bunch of names that way, as well as ideal appearances through the character customization. I have cishet friends who explored their gender only to come out the other side still firmly cishet, just not ones that adhered to society's strict gender roles and presentation. Sounds like you fall into the latter category to me, more than the trans one, but whatever direction your gender journey takes you I hope you figure yourself out in the end