Undisclosed gender in fiction

== Books and literature ==

* Anne Leckie's science fiction novels ''Ancillary Justice'' (2013) and ''Ancillary Sword'' (2014) were set in a futuristic society that is indifferent to gender, so all the characters are called by [[English neutral pronouns#She|gender-neutral "she" pronouns]], leaving their actual gender and sex undisclosed. Leckie says she had an assumption at the time that gender is binary, so these are likely not nonbinary characters.<ref>Geek's Guide to the Galaxy, "Sci-fi's hottest new writer won't tell you the sex of her characters." October 11, 2014. Wired. http://www.wired.com/2014/10/geeks-guide-ann-leckie/ [https://web.archive.org/web/20230322233347/https://www.wired.com/2014/10/geeks-guide-ann-leckie/ Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref>

* In the ''Choose Your Own Adventure'' series of interactive fiction books, the player's character is always written with no implications about their gender. The idea was that the main character of the book ''was'' the reader, who could be any gender, so the character was described as little as possible. The illustrators were sometimes able to make the player's character look androgynous, such as by showing them in shadows, or wearing costumes that hide their face. This was all intentional. However, in some of the books they simply drew the character as looking like a boy, even though the player's character was still written about in only a gender-neutral way.

* In K. A. Cook's short story "Misstery Man" in ''Crooked Words'', an androgynous-looking superhero by that name has never disclosed their gender, resulting in rude speculation in the local newspapers. This frustrates the unrelated nonbinary main character, Darcy, who thinks it would be easier to come out if only someone famous like that would come out or otherwise make the newspaper gossip stop.<ref>K. A. Cook, "Misstery Man." Crooked Words. Unpaged.</ref>

* In Alastair Reynolds's science fiction novel ''On the Steel Breeze,'' one character is called by gender-neutral [[English neutral pronouns#Ve|"ve" pronouns]]. The novel never gives any exposition about this character's sex, gender, or pronouns, and ver gender-neutrality doesn't influence the plot. The lack of remark gives the impression that a nonbinary gender is unremarkable, but this is also why some readers thought the pronouns were a misprint.<ref>Outis, "Gender-neutral characters and pronouns." November 20, 2013. https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1580481-gender-neutral-characters-and-pronouns [https://web.archive.org/web/20230505214112/https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1580481-gender-neutral-characters-and-pronouns Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref> The lack of discussion about the character's gender also means that this is an example of undisclosed gender, rather than nonbinary representation.

* Atsuko Asano's ''No. 6'' contains many androgynous characters, including Inukashi, who Shion, the main character, is unable to tell their gender due to their long hair and thin body. In the english translation, Inukashi is referred to by male pronouns.

* In Maïa Mazaurette's french novel "Rien ne nous survivra - Le pire est Avenir", one of the main characters called Silence is never called by either male or female pronouns. The whole book managed to avoid gender qualification for this character. (French is a very binary language; even furniture has a gender, so it's quite an accomplishment)

* In ''Pew'', by Catherine Lacey, the citizens of a small town find "a person of indeterminate race and gender" asleep in a church pew. This person, who becomes known as Pew, refuses to speak or identify themself in any way. At first the townspeople are simply curious, but eventually they start to distrust and mistreat Pew.<ref name="Pew">{{Cite web |title=Book Review - Pew by Catherine Lacey |last=Bufferd |first=Lauren |work=BookPage.com |date=August 2020 |access-date=3 October 2020 |url= https://bookpage.com/reviews/25326-catherine-lacey-pew-fiction |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004070720/https://www.bookpage.com/reviews/25326-catherine-lacey-pew-fiction/ |archive-date=17 July 2023 }}</ref>

* ''Brooklyn, Burning'' by Steve Brezenoff tells the story of two homeless teenagers, Kid and Scout. Kid's and Scout's gender and orientation are never specified.<ref name="good_Broo">{{Cite web |title=Brooklyn, Burning |author= |work=goodreads.com |date= |access-date=9 October 2020 |url= https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10628114-brooklyn-burning|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322150829/https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10628114-brooklyn-burning|archive-date=17 July 2023}}</ref>

* ''Written on the Body'', by Jeanette Winterson, is narrated from the point of view of someone with unspecified gender.<ref>https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15054.Written_on_the_Body [https://web.archive.org/web/20230220124223/https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15054.Written_on_the_Body Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref>

* ''Sphinx'', by Anne Garréta, is a romance between the narrator and their lover "A***", which is written entirely without gendering either one of them. It was originally published in [[Gender neutral language in French|French]] in 1986, and an English translation came out in 2015.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_F._Garr%C3%A9ta [https://web.archive.org/web/20220129060853/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_F._Garr%C3%A9ta Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref>

* ''The Cook and the Carpenter: A Novel by the Carpenter'', by June Davis Arnold, is written using na/nan pronouns, and the protagonists' genders are not revealed until near the end.<ref>https://www.amazon.com/Cook-Carpenter-Cutting-Lesbian-Literature/dp/0814706312#customerReviews [https://web.archive.org/web/20130704143357/http://www.amazon.com/Cook-Carpenter-Cutting-Lesbian-Literature/dp/0814706312 Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref>

* ''Hello Now'', by Jenny Valentine, never reveals the gender of Jude.<ref name="good_Esmé">{{Cite web |title=Esmée D'Costa's review of Hello Now |author= |work=goodreads.com |date=3 December 2020 |access-date=12 December 2020 |url=https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3650187212?book_show_action=true |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230721114007/https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3650187212?book_show_action=true |archive-date=21 July 2023 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>

* ''Call Me Tree / Llamame arbol'' (2014) is a bilingual children's book starring a child of unspecified gender.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Call Me Tree / Llamame arbol |author= |work=Mombian |date= |access-date=8 November 2021 |url= https://mombian.com/database/call-me-tree-llamame-arbol/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230429164541/https://mombian.com/database/call-me-tree-llamame-arbol/|archive-date=17 July 2023}}</ref>