Nonbinary gender in fiction: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:55, 28 October 2020

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This list of fictional depictions of nonbinary gender is for taking note of all examples of nonbinary gender identity in fiction in any kind of media. The media includes animation, board and card games, books and other literature, comics and graphic novels, movies, performance, TV, webseries, and video games. Since most people don't know that people can have a nonbinary gender identity, the way that nonbinary genders are represented in fiction can be a valuable part of nonbinary visibility and awareness. Fiction can also be an outlet for nonbinary people to explore their identities and the possibilities of society's attitudes toward them. These are reasons why representation matters. It's very rare for fiction to have any real representation of nonbinary gender. It's almost as rare for characters to have an undisclosed gender, or to have a fictional sex, which almost but not really counts as nonbinary representation. They're close enough that they are dealt with on this page and the page Undisclosed gender in fiction.

There is a difference between being born with a physical intersex condition, and having a nonbinary gender identity. Many intersex people identify as just female or male, not nonbinary. Many nonbinary people were not intersex, meaning they were assigned female at birth or assigned male at birth. If a character has a real-life kind of intersex condition, you should still list them on this page only if they also have a nonbinary gender identity.

If you add a piece of media to this list, please tell exactly which character is nonbinary, and how this is told in canon, or your entry will be deleted. Don't include media here that just has a popular "headcanon" (a fan's imaginary interpretation) of a nonbinary character, because this isn't representation. Please give direct quotes from canon that are evidence that the character is nonbinary.

Nonbinary genders in fiction

This section is for the most true-to-life representation of nonbinary gender identities. The story explicitly says that they don't identify as a woman or man, but as a different gender. The characters aren't nonbinary because of having fictional sexes. Their physical sexes and genders assigned at birth are non-intersex or a real-life intersex condition. If their physical sex or gender assigned at birth is undisclosed, their gender identity is still explicitly, specifically labeled as not female or male, but something else. They may or may not take a social or physical transition in their gender expression. They may or may not look androgynous. They may or may not go by gender-neutral pronouns.

Animation

In Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, the character Leeron states "I'm both and neither a man and a woman." ^[1] (Most fans treat Leeron as a gay man.)
Season four of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power introduces the nonbinary character Double Trouble, who uses singular they pronouns and is voiced by nonbinary actor Jacob Tobia.
Milo, from the Danger & Eggs animated series, is a minor nonbinary character played by the agender voice actor Tyler Ford.^[2]
Shep in Steven Universe Future is a human nonbinary character (as opposed to the Gems who are nonhuman, see Fictional sexes section of this page). Shep uses singular they and is voiced by Indya Moore.
In Nickelodeon's Middle School Moguls, one of the teachers, Wren, is nonbinary.^[3]
Envy from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is genderless and uses they/them pronouns

Animation
Which character(s) are nonbinary	Proof of nonbinary status	Character Role	Title	Showrunner(s) / Creator(s)	Air Dates	Publisher(s)	Genre(s)	Content Warning	Notes
Leeron Littner	Littner states "I'm both and neither a man and a woman."	Protagonist - Supporting	Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann	Hiroyuki Imaishi and Kazuki Nakashima	04/01/2007 - 09/30/2007	Aniplex, Konami	Adventure, Mecha	Many major characters die in the series, but not Leeron.	Most fans treat Leeron as a gay man.
Double Trouble	uses singular they pronouns	Side character	She-Ra and the Princesses of Power	Noelle Stevenson	04/2016 - now	Dreamworks Animation Television	Adventure		Double Trouble is voiced by nonbinary actor Jacob Tobia.
Envy	uses singular they pronouns	Secondary Antagonist	Hagane no Renkinjutsushi Furumetaru Arukemisuto	Yasuhiro Irie	04/5/2009 – 07/4/2010	Bones, MBS, Aniplex	Adventure, Dark fantasy, Steampunk	Many hard events in first episodes	In most of translations was used he/him pronouns when mentioning them

Audio

In the podcast The Adventure Zone, there are four characters who are refered to as they/them. In the first season, The Adventure Zone: Balance, a minor character named Roswell (an Earth Elemental made of living clay in a suit of armor, who talks via a small bird) is agender and uses they/them pronouns.^[4]
In the second season, The Adventure Zone: Amnesty, a reoccurring secondary character named Hollis (the leader of a local gang named The Hornets) is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns. ^[5]
In the third season, The Adventure Zone: Graduation, both a gnome student named Mimi and one of the recurring teachers, Festo the faerie, use they/them pronouns.^[6]^[7]
In the podcast series Welcome To Night Vale, there are several non-binary characters who are referred to with "they" pronouns. Recurring non-binary characters include a scientist named Alice and the town's new Sheriff, Sam.
In the podcast The Penumbra Podcast, there are a vast number of non-binary characters. The most prevalent of these is the namesake of the Juno Steel arc, who uses he/him pronouns but is explicitly non-binary and refers to himself as a lady on several occasions.^[8]
In the podcast The Strange Case of Starship Iris, Krejjh uses they/them pronouns, finds the concept of binary genders funny and states "[no pronouns] feel great"
The main character known as "The Runner" in the fantasy podcast And 195 is nonbinary.^[9]

Board and card games

Magic the Gathering features multiple nonbinary characters.
- Ashiok is a character of unknown gender, who explicitly resists categorisation.^[10]^[11]^[12] Though some depictions of the character erroneously use “he” as a pronoun, Ashiok uses no pronouns.^[13]
- Karn is an agender^[14] golem from the plane of Dominaria created by the planeswalker Urza as part of his experiments with time travel. Narration and other characters use he/him pronouns for Karn, though he has no pronoun preference.^[14] Although as a golem he has no sex, he was assigned male at creation.
- Hallar the Firefletcher is an nonbinary elf from the Llanowar forest on the plane of Dominaria. They use an unknown elvish pronoun set which is described as "genderless" and reflecting their "ambiguous identity". The narration refers to them with they/them pronouns.^[15]

Books and other literature

Beyond Binary: Genderqueer and Sexually Fluid Speculative Fiction edited by Brit Mandelo
River of the Gods and Cyberabad Days by Ian McDonald - India, 2050, with interesting subplots about Hijra.
Luna: Wolf Moon and Luna: Moon Rising, also by Ian McDonald, have a nonbinary character named Vidhya Rao.^[16]
Crooked Words by K. A. Cook has several short stories about characters who are explicitly said to be nonbinary. The character Chris cultivates an androgynous appearance, and asks to be called by "they" pronouns. Chris is in the short stories "Blue Paint, Chocolate and Other Similes" and "Everything In A Name."^[17] In "The Differently Animated and Queer Society," the queer-identified characters Pat and Moon go by "ze, hir" and "ou" pronouns, respectively.^[18] In "Misstery Man," the self-described non-binary character Darcy asks to be called by "ey and eir" pronouns.^[19]
Greg Egan's novel Distress (1995) includes transgender humans who transition to a specific gender outside the binary that they call "asex", called by ve pronouns.^[20]
In Kameron Hurley's fantasy novel, Empire Ascendant, all people in a consent culture get to choose which of the five gender roles they identify with. Hurley calls characters who are "ungendered" by singular they pronouns.^[21]
In a short sci-fi story by Benjanun Sriduangkaew, "Silent Bridge, Pale Cascade" (2013), one of the characters is described as a "neutrois," and called by "they" pronouns.^[22]^[23]
Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg, a semi-autobiographical novel about a butch named Jess Goldberg, and the trials and tribulations she faces growing up in the United States before the Stonewall riots. Feinberg defines butch as a gender identity neither female nor male.
Take Me There: Trans and Genderqueer Erotica edited by Tristan Taormino
In Surface Detail, the character Yime Nsokyi is "neuter-gendered" and has an intersex body by choice.
At the end of Freakboy, the main character, Brendan Chase identifies themselves as genderfluid. The book is primarily about their transition, and does end on a depressing note regarding their gender."
In Sam Farren's novel Dragonoak: The Complete History of Kastelir (2015) and its sequel Dragonoak: The Sky Beneath the Sun (2015), several nonbinary characters play important roles. All of them use "they" pronouns and are only described in gender-neutral terms. Their gender is not their defining feature - the novel's fictional society treats nonbinary genders as just as normal as binary ones. The author is a nonbinary lesbian.^[24]
The main character in "Damsel Knight" by Sam Austin spends much of the book gender questioning, and ends questioning but also settled into an identity somewhere between male and female. She eventually chooses female pronouns and a male name.
Alex Fierro is a genderfluid character from the book series Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, by Rick Riordan. Alex switches between she/her and he/him pronouns, although expressing that she normally uses she/her pronouns. Alex first appears in the book The Hammer of Thor, and is the love interest of the main character of the series, Magnus Chase. During The Hammer of Thor, Alex states "I'm gender fluid and transgender" (Riordan 54).
Halfway Human by Carolyn Ives Gilman is from the perspective of Tedla, an adult nonbinary character in a high science fiction setting. It is worth noting that this portrayal deals with the genderless (called "blands") as a sub-class of people.^[25]
Starless by Jacqueline Carey includes a major character who discovers their own identity and unique relationship with gender while travelling all over their world in an effort to prevent an ancient consuming darkness. They encounter a number of different cultural expressions of gender and expected gender roles and eventually find their own place among them.
Min Lee in the Under My Skin series by A. E. Dooland is nonbinary and accepts he/him or she/her pronouns, depending on the situation. Furthermore, the author has said that "She doesn't really like they/them (because she feels in many cases it draws too much attention to her gender), but in an event where someone used those pronouns, she'd prefer you just went along with it, too. [...] Min does typically prefer male-gendered words, such as 'boyfriend' and 'husband' etc."^[26]
A minor character in A Tyranny of Queens by Foz Meadows is nonbinary.
Jules, one of the main characters in Finna by Nino Cipri, is nonbinary and uses singular they.
In Sassafras Lowrey's Roving Pack, the protagonist, named Click, is genderfluid and uses ze/hir pronouns.
Felix Ever After stars a demiboy and was written by Kacen Callender who is a demiboy as well.
Ben De Backer in I Wish You All The Best is nonbinary. (Their sister is accepting but the rest of the family isn't.)^[27] The author, Mason Deaver, is also nonbinary.
In the fantasy books Divided Worlds and The Ascension of Lark, by Jennifer Ridge, the character Lark is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns. There is an author's note at the end of Divided Worlds which specifically describes Lark as "non-binary and androgynous". Note: In The Ascension of Lark there is some misgendering and physical abuse in the flashbacks to Lark's childhood. Their deadname is redacted in the text.
In Blanca & Roja, by Anna-Marie McLemore, the character Page is genderqueer.^[28]
In The Black Tides of Heaven by nonbinary author JY Yang, gender is not assigned at birth and children get to choose at a gender confirmation later in life. One of the characters, Akeha feels at home with the childhood nonbinary designation.^[29]
In The Brilliant Death by Amy Rose Capetta, one of the main characters, Cielo, is nonbinary. (Another main character, who is cis, has to crossdress for a disguise.)^[29]
Long Macchiatos and Monsters, by Alison Evans, is a romance between a trans guy and a genderqueer person.^[29]
An Unkindness of Ghosts, by Rivers Solomon. The author has said "Aster is an intersex butch lesbian, but maybe agender. Theo is a nonbinary trans woman. These are my interpretations, but arguments could certainly be made for other classifiers."^[30]
Lizard Radio by Pat Schmatz has a nonbinary protagonist named Kivali "Lizard" Kerwin.^[29]^[31]
First Spring Grass Fire, by Rae Spoon, tells the story of a nonbinary kid growing up in the 80s and 90s in Calgary, Canada.^[29]
Sal in Mask of Shadows and Ruin of Stars, by Linsey Miller, is genderfluid.
Lelia in The Lost Coast, by Amy Rose Capetta, is a nonbinary gray-asexual, and described as such in the text.
The 2019 YA book In the Silences has many characters who self-define as nonbinary, including the protagonist.^[32]
The novel Somebody Told Me (by bigender author Mia Siegert) has a bigender protagonist who goes by Alexis and/or Aleks.^[33]
Alani Baum, the protagonist of John Elizabeth Stintzi's Vanishing Monuments, is nonbinary. Stintzi realized they themself were nonbinary during the writing of this novel.^[34]
Butterflies, Zebras, Moonbeams, by Ceilidh Michelle, is a coming-of-age novel starring a nonbinary woman.^[35]
The Nap-Away Motel, by Nadja Lubiw-Hazard, has a supporting character named Ori who is nonbinary.^[36]
In The Way of Thorn and Thunder fantasy series (also called The Kynship Chronicles), by Two-Spirit author Daniel Heath Justice, there is a race called the Kyn, who recognize three genders: he-Kyn, she-Kyn and zhe-Kyn. These are specifically genders, not sexes, according to reviewer Bogi Takács.^[37]
Our Bloody Pearl, by D.N. Bryn, features a nonbinary siren named Perle who falls in love with a pirate.^[38]
In the Star Wars novel Aftermath: Life Debt, Eleodie Maracavanya is a human pirate who "is of an undisclosed gender separate from male or female", Eleodie mainly uses zhe/zher pronouns, occasionally using he/him or she/her.^[39]
In the romance novel Unmasked by the Marquess (by Cat Sebastian), one of the main characters (Robin) is nonbinary.^[40]
In What We Left Behind by Robin Talley, Toni is a genderqueer student at Harvard in a long-distance relationship.^[41]
In the 2016 sci-fi thriller novel Zero-G: Book 1 (by William Shatner and Jeff Rovin), Adsila Waters is described multiple times as "pan-gender" (used as both an adjective and a noun in the book). "He" and "she" pronouns are variously used for Adsila. Adsila is also able to shapeshift her sex characteristics to accompany gender switches.
In the fantasy-mystery novel The Last Smile in Sunder City, by Luke Arnold, one of the side characters is "an ageless nonbinary demon historian".^[42]
Symptoms of Being Human stars Riley Cavanaugh, a closeted genderfluid teenager. The book text never uses a gendered pronoun for Riley and never discloses Riley's gender assigned at birth.^[43] Note: the book has some possibly triggering subjects, including child abuse, transphobic violence, bullying, murder, and suicidal thoughts/attempts.^[44]
The protagonist of Baker Thief, by Claudie Arseneault, is bigender and aromantic.^[45]
In The Tiger's Watch by Julia Ember, the protagonist Tashi is genderfluid and uses they/them pronouns. The author notes that "Being misgendered and forced to change their appearance in order to hide is a source of conflict in the novel. It is not the central plot conflict, though."^[46]
In Just Girls by Rachel Gold, the side character Nico is nonbinary and uses various nonstandard pronouns such as per and yo. Note: the main story centers on a cis woman who pretends she is trans in order to protect another woman who actually is trans.^[47]
In Love Spell, by Mia Kerick, the protagonist Chance is out as gay but feels uncertain about their gender identity, "being stuck in the gray area between girl and boy".^[48]
In the mystery-fantasy book Out of Salem by Hal Schrieve, the protagonist Z Chilworth is nonbinary and recently became a zombie. Content note: the story contains body horror, family abuse, suicidal ideation, police violence toward children and marginalized groups, fatphobic and homophobic bullying, and discussion of medical abuse.^[49]
Stranger Skies, by Katje Van Loon, has a planet whose society recognizes five genders: woman, man, agender, trigender, and genderqueer.
Eli/Ellie, the protagonist of Genderfluid: A Cinderella Story (by Bridget Quinones) is, as the title says, genderfluid. Note: story contains transphobic violence and the T-slur.^[50]
Love Yourself: A Genderfluid Romance, by N. R. Blythe, is a sexually explicit romance featuring a genderfluid person who goes by Cora when in girl mode and Corey when in boy mode.
Spin With Me, by Ami Polonsky, is a middle-school novel featuring Ollie who is nonbinary.^[51]
In The Empress of Salt and Fortune, by Nghi Vo, the character Chih is nonbinary.^[52]
In The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass, by Adan Jerreat-Poole, the character Tav is nonbinary.^[53] The author is also nonbinary.^[54]
Down to the Bone, a young-adult book by Mayra Dole, contains a character named Tazer who self-describes as genderqueer and a boi. He/him pronouns are used for Tazer. Another character describes him as "Tazer is a boy and a girl". Note: The main plot involves the protagonist being kicked out of her home because of her sexuality, and there are some LGBT-phobic opinions expressed by characters, as well as use of words that could be triggering to readers, such as "homo", "lesbo", and "dyke".^[55]
Sexarchate: Hot Equations, by Lia Meyers, is a sexually explicit sci-fi with a nonbinary character. From the same publisher (Less Than Three Press), A Party for Lola by Caitlin Ricci and Beginnings by Alexa Black also contain nonbinary characters.^[56] However, these books may be hard to find, as the publisher closed down in 2019.
Rose and Timothy in the Wolf House series by Mary Borsellino are nonbinary, as confirmed by the author, although different identity terminology is used in the text.^[57]
In Jilted by Lilah Suzanne, Link is "a genderqueer artist who lives life by their own rules".^[58]

Comics/Webcomics/Graphic Novels

But I'm A Cat Person by Erin Ptah - Urban fantasy webcomic featuring a bigender character - Timothy/Camellia Mattei - as well as numerous 'Beings' who are able to take on both male and female forms. Also features various LGB characters. Updates three times a week.
Chaos Life by A. Stiffler and K. Copeland - A light-hearted, semi-autobiographical webcomic about the everyday idiosyncrasies of an agender person, their female partner, and their cats. Also covers various issues relating to GSM topics, politics, and mental health. Updates weekly.
El Goonish Shive includes a main character who identifies as genderfluid several years into the comic. Author Dan Shive has said that Tedd, like the author, has always been genderfluid but did not realise there was a word for it or even a concept of being nonbinary until much later in life. The comic also includes various other LGBT characters as well as shapeshifting technology.
Eth's Skin by Sfé R. Monster - Fantasy webcomic featuring a genderqueer protagonist - Eth. Fairly new, but the 'About' page suggests plans to include more nonbinary characters. Updates weekly.
Ignition Zero by Noel Arthur Heimpel - An urban fantasy webcomic that features a genderqueer character - Neve Copeland - as one of its protagonists. Updates weekly.
Job Satisfaction by Jey Barnes - a slice of life webcomic about two queer nonbinary demon summoners - Lemme and Sinh - who live together. The comic is rated PG-13 and updates once a week.
Kyle & Atticus by Sfé R Monster - Webcomic about the adventures of a genderqueer teenager, Kyle, and their robot friend, Attticus. Currently on hiatus.
Nwain: The Knight Who Wandered Dream by Terrana Cliff - Fantasy webcomic with nonbinary main character, a knight from a culture with five genders. Extensively animated. PG-13. Updates when able.
Rain by Jocelyn Samara - A light-hearted high-school webcomic that follows a trans girl and her friends, including Ky(lie), an AFAB genderfluid character who alternates between presenting as male and female. Also features a range of other LGBTQ characters. Updates three times a week.
Robot Hugs - semi-autobiographical webcomic by an author of nonbinary gender, which frequently addresses nonbinary issues and other aspects of gender politics. Also frequently covers the subject of mental health. Updates twice weekly.
The 'New 52' version of Secret Six introduces new character Kami / Porcelain, who is genderfluid and has been shown presenting as male, female and androgynously.
Shades of A (NSFW) by Tab Kimpton - Webcomic that focuses on asexual relationships, as well as exploring various aspects of kink, and features a prominent nonbinary character (JD). Contains nudity and BDSM. Updates twice a week.
Homestuck introduced an androgynous character named Davepetasprite^2 [3] that was formed by the fusion of two other characters. They establish that they are confused about their gender but happy to be what they've become and start using gender neutral pronouns (they/them). It also has other androgynous characters like Calliope.
Phoebe and her Unicorn by Dana Simpson has a minor nonbinary character named Infernus, the Unicorn of Death. Phoebe uses the pronoun "neigh" for Infernus.^[59]
6ses by Kagome features an agender protagonist.
Eri the Cyborg by Ren features an agender protagonist.
Snailed It by SnaiLords, who "identifies with both genders" and described themselves as an "androgynous snail".
Tattoo'd by Antonia Bea features an intersex, genderfluid protagonist.
Your Local Non-Binary is written by and features non-binary person Eliot Lime.
Moonstruck is a comic about fantasy creatures which includes a nonbinary centaur named Chet, who uses they/them pronouns.^[60]^[61]
Heartwood: Non-Binary Tales of Sylvan Fantasy is "the first ever non-binary comics anthology, featuring 22 young adult stories made entirely by cartoonists who identify as a non-binary gender". Some stories have characters discuss being one gender and then the another, others may just refer to a character by 'they' pronouns.
In volume six of Marvel Comics' series The New Warriors, a nonbinary superhero was introduced. Their name "Snowflake" and their brother's name "Safespace" drew widespread backlash.^[62]
On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden has a nonbinary character, Elliot.^[29]^[63]
Main character Mogumo in the manga Love Me for Who I Am is nonbinary.^[64]
Graphic novel The Prince and the Dressmaker, by Jen Wang. The author has said that "To me, Sebastian is someone who identifies with different modes of gender expression and is comfortable alternating between both masculine and feminine. Genderqueer is probably the best descriptor. But I'm also open to readers' interpretations of how they see the character. If a reader feels that this story is just the first step to Sebastian discovering they're trans, or if they feel Sebastian is a cis male that likes to dress up I'm happy with all of that!"^[65]
Creators of the webcomic Mahou Shonen FIGHT! have "confirmed that Raji and Raji's fiancé both identify as gender queer and non-conforming".^[66]
In the graphic novel Open Earth, Franklin, one of the love interests, is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns.^[67]
In the graphic novel Mooncakes, written by Suzanne Walker and illustrated by Wendy Xu, one of the main characters is Tam Lang, a nonbinary werewolf.^[68]
The graphic novel Test, written by Chris Sebela, has a nonbinary main character named Aleph Null. Singular they pronouns are used for Aleph, and in a character bio on them, it says "Gender: Various given."^[69]

Movies

In "The Kings of Summer," Biaggio asserts that he doesn't see himself as "having a gender."
In John Wick 3, the Adjudicator is nonbinary and played by Asia Kate Dillon, who is also nonbinary.^[70]
In "0009: The Sharks Make Contact", although not a single character's gender is ever explicitly mentioned, the characters Raisorshoorkle (the main protagonist), Shoogledocking (the main villain) and the Iki God (the overarching creator, who is named after the director) go by they/them pronouns. The Iki God went by she/her pronouns in the previous movie, "0000: A Shark Odyssey". A sequel titled "0010: The Sharks Make Contact - Part 2", came out in December of 2019.^[71] They will return in the shared universe film "Forevers 2: Age of Teeth" in December of 2020.^[72]
In the 2018 film Upgrade, the hacker does not identify with any gender and wishes to not be called "Jamie".^[73]^[74]
In the 2019 British short film Orin & Anto, Orin specifically says "I don't subscribe to the gender binary, my pronouns are they and them."^[75]
In the 2020 American film Two Eyes, Kate Bornstein plays a nonbinary therapist at a psychiatric center.^[76] In introducing herself to another character, she says, "Me, I am nonbinary trans, and my pronouns are 'she' and 'they'. How about you? What pronouns would make you feel most comfortable?"^[77]
Regarding the 2001 film Hedwig and the Angry Inch, John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig's actor and the movie's writer/director) has said that Hedwig is "more than a woman or a man. She's a gender of one and that is accidentally so beautiful."^[78]

Plays

In Taylor Mac's off-Broadway show Hir, the character Max is genderqueer and transmasculine, using ze/hir pronouns.^[79]
In Rhiannon Collett's play Wasp, the protagonist Wasp is genderqueer and is to be played by only nonbinary actors.^[80]
In the play Wink, written by Neil Koenigsberg, the title character is nonbinary.^[81]^[82]
In the musical Head Over Heels, Pythio is nonbinary and was played by the trans woman Peppermint.^[83]

Table Top Games / Role Playing Games

Faerie Fire a 5e Supplemental, is a D&D 5th edition supplemental. It features queer characters to add to any D&D 5e experience.
- Monarch (non-binary, uses they/them): "The ageless and paint-smeared Monarch has held the seat of fey power ever since the schism. How they inherited the throne is unknown."
- Tallisin Vos (genderfluid, uses he/him): "Tallisin splits his time between two physical forms: a fey man and a vixen, both of which are equally his true identity."

TV (live-action)

The Canadian magical-realism comedy series The Switch features a non-binary character, Chris, who uses "zie/zir" pronouns, and works as an assassin.
The Netflix sci-fi series The Umbrella Academy features Klaus, who according to the actor is "not necessarily a man, he's kind of just this creature that's not bound by traditional societal norms like 'man', 'woman', 'masculinity', 'femininity'. He just sort of… is.” Klaus is played by a cis man and called "he" throughout.^[84]
The Amazon mini-series Good Omens features the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and Pollution (who replaced Pestilence at some point in the past few centuries) is nonbinary, and is referred to as "sir" by another character and with they/them pronouns by the narrator. They are played by Lourdes Faberes.
Taylor Mason in season 2 of Billions is nonbinary and introduces themself with they/them pronouns. They're played by Asia Kate Dillon, who realised they were nonbinary while auditioning for the role.^[85]
Bishop in the Fox drama series Deputy is nonbinary canonically, thanks to a suggestion by the character's actor Bex Taylor-Klaus who is also nonbinary.^[86]
On One Day at a Time, Syd (played by Sheridan Pierce) is the nonbinary romantic partner of Elena. Syd uses singular they pronouns and is uncomfortable with binary-gendered terms such as "girlfriend".^[87]
The comedy-drama miniseries Fucking Adelaide (aka F*!#ing Adelaide) features a genderfluid child, Cleo, played by nonbinary actor Audrey Mason-Hyde.^[88]
In the drama David Makes Man, the character Mx Elijah/Ms Elijah (played by nonbinary actor Travis Coles) is genderqueer and gender nonconforming^[89], and according to Coles, has no pronoun preference.^[90]
The second season of Good Trouble has a nonbinary character named Joey played by Daisy Eagan. Joey, who uses they/them pronouns, is dating the lesbian character Alice, and asks to be called "partner" instead of "girlfriend".^[91]
Mo, a main character on Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, is genderfluid.^[92]
In the fourth season of Degrassi: Next Class, Yael comes out as genderqueer.^[93]
The Brazilian drama series Todxs Nosotrxs (also known as Todxs Nós or He, She, They.) stars Rafa, an 18-year-old pansexual and nonbinary person who decides to leave their unaccepting family and go live with their cousin.^[94]^[95]^[96]
The third season of Star Trek: Discovery introduces a nonbinary character named Adira, played by nonbinary actor Blu del Barrio.^[97]
The sci-fi Netflix series Another Life includes among its characters a nonbinary psychologist named Zayn whose pronouns are ze/hir. Ze is played by nonbinary actor JayR Tinaco.^[98]
In season three of the Netflix series Sex Education, there is a nonbinary student named Cal. Cal is played by nonbinary actor Dua Saleh.^[99]
In Lovecraft Country, there is a Two-Spirit character named Yahima Maraokoti in the episode "A History of Violence". The character is played by a cisgender woman and is soon murdered by one of the main characters.^[100]
In season one, episode seven of the legal drama All Rise (titled "Uncommon Women and Mothers"), Emily's client is a homeless nonbinary youth named Jax, played by transmasculine actor JJ Hawkins.^[101] Jax is misgendered during a court proceeding and their lawyer speaks up in objection, convincing the judge to enforce use of the correct they/them pronouns for Jax.^[102]
In the crime drama Big Sky, Jerrie is a transfeminine nonbinary person played by nonbinary actor Jesse James Keitel.^[77]

Webseries

In Carmilla, the character Lafontaine is nonbinary and goes by they/them/their pronouns. They have been confirmed as nonbinary by the show's creators, and have hinted at it through the series though it has never been a major plot point. They are played by nonbinary actor Kaitlyn Alexander.
Couple-ish, a light-hearted rom-com webseries, features a nonbinary main character (Dee). Dee goes by they/them/their pronouns, and explicitly describes themselves as nonbinary in one episode.
The short webseries These Thems features a genderqueer character named Vero, played by nonbinary actor Vico Ortiz.^[103]
The webseries Dinette is a remake of the 1982 movie Diner, but with a non-male cast instead of the original's all-male cast. The character Jaq is nonbinary and is played by nonbinary writer Jude Dry.^[104]
In School Spirit: An Unlikely Webseries, the character Charley Condomine is demigender.^[105]
I Hear You is a Canadian medical drama following the life of Dr. Alyssa Hartt, a family medicine practitioner. Her patients include nonbinary people.^[106]
In The Adventures of Jamie Watson (and Sherlock Holmes), Sherlock Holmes is demigender and aroace.^[107]
The "Brave House" arc of the webseries The Feels focuses on the polyamorous throuple of genderqueer S (played by Sara Ramirez), transfeminine Nina (Ianne Fields Stewart), and transmasculine Lenny (Shantira Jackson).^[108]
The protagonist of Trans Monogamist is a nonbinary dating columnist.
In the Canadian webseries Babes, one of the protagonists is AJ, a nonbinary man, played by nonbinary man T. Thomason.^[109]^[110]

Video games

In Crypt of the Necrodancer, the game's artist stated that the unlockable character Bolt is genderqueer and uses they/them pronouns; this was further confirmed by the game's official Twitter.
In Transistor, the gender marker for Bailey Gilande in her character file is 'X', commonly used by, or in regards to, non-binary people.
VERSUS: The Lost Ones by Zachary Sergi (published in 2015 by Choice of Games LLC) is a sci-fi interactive novel where it's possible to play a nonbinary character. The player's character, Thomil, comes from a planet where everyone telepathically shares their thoughts and feelings with one another. A couple chapters into the story, the player is asked about their character's gender. They can choose from six options: a cisgender woman, transgender woman, cis man, trans man, intersex, or "I don't subscribe to any gender categories". Choosing the last option sets Thomil's stats to say "Gender: Not Applicable," and brings up these remarks in the narrative: "You are both genders, but you are also neither gender. You believe gender defies categorization, operating on a kind of sliding scale-- one that can change every day. You've come across [foreign planets'] texts about other cultures where such thinking is considered taboo or even sacrilegious, but in a society where everyone can quite literally share their thoughts and experiences, it's fairly impossible not to accept others once you understand who they truly are. Besides, even the most staunchly 'male' or 'female' cisgenders admit that sometimes they feel more 'masculine' or 'feminine' at different times. You just take that kind of thinking to a whole new level." The narration in VERSUS makes clear that this is not an undisclosed gender or a fantasy sex, but a nonbinary gender identity. Though Thomil comes from a sci-fi setting where where this and other transgender identities are accepted, this is a realistic depiction of a nonbinary person.

Gender choice near the beginning of the interactive novel Fallen Hero: Rebirth.

In addition to VERSUS: The Lost Ones, many other interactive novels from Choice of Games allow the player to be be male, female, or nonbinary (as well as often choosing their own pronouns and orientation). Some of these titles include Tally Ho, Empyrean, Kidnapped! A Royal Birthday, Drag Star!, Choice of the Pirate, The Superlatives: Aetherfall, Silverworld, The Hero Project: Redemption Season, Fallen Hero: Rebirth, and Tower Behind the Moon.^[111]^[112]^[113]^[114]^[115]^[116]^[117]^[118]^[119]^[120]
In Long Story Game the character you play use whichever pronouns from 'she/her', 'he/him' and 'them/they', the physical depiction of the character can also be changed to suit the gender of choice.
In Read Only Memories the character TOMCAT uses they/them pronouns. While it is not directly stated in-game that TOMCAT is nonbinary, artist and director John James has stated in an interview that TOMCAT "is gender fluid"^[121].The game also includes other non-binary characters, including the robot Turing and the protagonist if the player chooses so.

A screenshot of pronoun selection in Read Only Memories. Selecting 'more options' allows you to choose from 'ze/zir/, 'xe/xir', or your own custom pronouns.
In NiGHTS into Dreams the character "NiGHTS is neutral, and therefore has no gender. The impressions of the character with regards to gender are totally up to the player" according to Takashi Iizuka, the lead designer of the game.^[122]
The dating sim The Office Type (scheduled for release mid-to-late 2020) has equal numbers of male, female, and nonbinary characters for the player to romance. Every character's bio, even the cis ones, lists their pronouns. The nonbinary characters listed so far are Syl (demiboy), Benny (agender), Cal (demigirl), Toni (aporagender), Ty (anogender), Addie (egogender), Bee (genderfluid), and Mx. Hura Stapleton (bigender). There are also binary trans women and binary trans men among the cast.^[123]
One of the player characters in the 2019 game Borderlands 3, FL4K, is an emergent AI who uses they/them pronouns and wears a pin with the non-binary flag.
In Tokyo Afterschool Summoners, the player can set the protagonist's gender to male, female, or "other", regardless of which appearance they choose. The character Arc is also referred to with they/them pronouns in the official English translation.
In the MMORPG Runescape, there is an NPC who can change the player character's avatar from male to female or female to male, as well as change the player's skin color. The NPC also switches their own avatar's "sex" at 10-second intervals. They are officially called "The Makeover Mage", but in a 2006 letter they wrote "My name is Pete, or Peta, depending on my mood", implying they may be genderfluid, bigender, or some other type of nonbinary.^[124]
In the visual novel Astoria: Fate's Kiss, the romanceable character Alex Cyprin is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns.^[125]
In the visual novel //TODO: today, the protagonist and the main characters Joyce and Phoenix can be male, female, or nonbinary, depending on player's choices.^[126]
In the visual novel When The Night Comes, the romanceable character August is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns.^[127]
In The Oregon Trail 4th Edition, the character Hattie Caulfield identifies as neither a man nor a woman.^{[citation needed]}
In the furry drama video game Goodbye Volcano High (to be released 2021), the protagonist Fang uses they/them pronouns and is voiced by nonbinary actor Lachlan Watson.^[128]

A screenshot of My Cup of Coffee: Earl Grey Forever After with the "gender liberated" option selected, so the game uses ne/nem/nir pronouns.

In Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, the protagonist character can be customized with a "classified" gender, in which case the game's voiced dialogue will refer to the protagonist with singular they pronouns.^[129] The announcement of this drew criticism from many people.^[130]
In the indie romance visual novel My Cup of Coffee: Earl Grey Forever After, the protagonist can be male, female, or "gender free". Choosing gender free results in the game using gender neutral language, ne/nem/nir pronouns, and the Mx title. The player can also choose to "make everyone else gender liberated too", resulting in the protagonist saying things like "Everybody knew about me, the eldest child of the late Gentleperson and Gentleperson Fairfax".
In the fantasy-mystery visual novel Catacomb Prince, one of the romantic options is the nonbinary person Ravi Patel.^[131]
In the sci-fi visual novel Incompatible Species, Chris is nonbinary and uses she/her pronouns, while Pi-zan uses they/them pronouns.^[132]
In the visual novel Butterfly Soup, Min-seo is nonbinary.^[133]
In the simulation game BitLife, since the June 2020 Pride Update, it is possible for characters to come out to you as nonbinary^[134] and in the "Gay Dating App" portion you can select a partner preference from a dropdown list of "Male", "Female", "Genderqueer", "Non-Binary", "Transgender Female", and "Transgender Male".^[135] The player themself can also select whether their character is cisgender, genderqueer, nonbinary, transgender female, and transgender male (after the character reaches age 5). Being non-cis may cause the character to experience gender dysphoria in-game, lowering their Happiness level.^[136]
In the dating sim Repurpose (to be released 2021^[137]), Noel Azulite is genderfluid and asexual, DJ Roadkill is nonbinary and pansexual, Cheri is bigender and omnisexual, and Fayebael Noct is agender and "if we must assign a label, pansexual". Additionally, the player can choose their own pronouns from "he", "she", or "they".^[138]^[139]
In Red Embrace: Hollywood, the player chooses their pronoun from "he", "she", or "they".^[140]
Genderwrecked is a post-apocalyptic horror/gore visual novel about trying to find the meaning of gender. The player can select their pronouns from she/her, they/them, he/him, xe/xir, ze/zir, it/it, or custom pronouns.^[141]

Fictional sexes

Some characters have a nonbinary gender identity only because they have a fictional kind of a physical sex. Their sex is different than female, male, or any kind of real-life intersex condition. For example, a robot that never had a physical sex, and might be correspondingly genderless. Or characters who have the fictional ability to change their sex at will, and might be said to have a corresponding genderfluid identity. Or an alien species that reproduces by different means than humans, resulting in an alien culture with different gender roles. The fictional sexes are used as justification for these characters having nonbinary gender identities. No real nonbinary people have these sexes, and can't use that justification. As such, these kinds of characters don't really count as nonbinary representation.

Audio

In the Doctor Who audio dramas by Big Finish, the character of Zagreus is an alien entity who inhabits various minds and bodies. Zagreus is played by one male actor and one female actress, and changes pronouns depending on each stolen body.

Board and card games

The aetherborn race from Magic the Gathering's Kaladesh setting are sexless and typically agender.^[142] Agender aetherborn use they/them pronouns, including a secondary character for the Kaladesh arc, Yahenni.^[143]

Books and other literature

The Children of the Triad fantasy novel series by Laurie Marks includes a genderless species. The books are Delan the Mislaid (1989), The Moonbane Mage (1990), and Ara's Field (1991). The title character and protagonist of the first book is a member of that species.^[144]
Sayuri Ueda's science fiction novel The Cage of Zeus (2011) is about genetically engineered characters with a fictional sex and non-binary gender.^[145]
Commitment Hour by James Alan Gardner features a culture who switch between male and female sexes once a year until their 21st birthday, when they are asked to choose whether they want to stay forever as male, female, or both.
The Culture series by Iain M. Bank is centred around a postgender civilisation.
- As described in Excession, the humans are able to change sex by just thinking it, and nanomachines alter their anatomy accordingly over a period of a few days. It is described as common for couples to take turns bearing children.
Bone Dance by Emma Bull. Character: the protagonist, Sparrow, is canonically described as "sexless" and "genderless." The exact details of their identity are a matter of debate (spoilers).
M. C. A. Hogarth's science-fiction series about the Jokka, an alien species that can randomly change sex twice at puberty, with three sexes, and three corresponding gender roles: female, male, and neuter. The neuters can't reproduce, but since they're the least vulnerable to succumbing to "mind death" (a kind of stroke that afflicts any member of their species if they exert themselves too hard), their place in society is to do work that requires a hardy body and a good memory. Several main characters don't like the sexes they ended up with, and could be seen as transgender. The main character in the short story "Freedom, Spiced and Drunk" wishes to be neuter; details aren't possible without spoiling the story.
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin is a classic science fiction novel published in 1976 featuring a race of people whose sexes become male or female only briefly for reproduction, and whose genders can be a variety of masculine, feminine, both or neither.
CJ Carter's science fiction novel, Que Será Serees (2011) is about a species of people with a single gender.^[146]^[147]
"In David Lindsay's Voyage to Arcturus (1920) a man from earth meets people on another planet who are neither man nor woman so he invents a new pronoun ae to refer to them."^[148]
Bard Bloom's World Tree is a setting with no human species, and many of the intelligent species in that setting have fictional sexes, such as co-lover, both-female, and so on. This includes the protagonist of a book in that setting, Sythyry's Journal, which was first serialized as a blog starting in 2002. Sythyry is a member of a dragon-like species who are all "hermaphrodites" (and not analogous to real-life intersex conditions), and don't identify as female or male. In World Tree society, species is more important than gender, so same-gender relationships are seen as unremarkable, but cross-species relationships are seen as queer, which is a significant plot element in that book. The setting also has a role-playing game handbook, World Tree: A role playing game of species and civilization (2001). A romance novel in the setting, A Marriage of Insects, deals with the relationships of a group of Herethroy, an insect-like species that has three (arguably four) sexes: male, female, co-lover (a sex necessary for males and females of that species to reproduce), and both-female (a socially unaccepted variant sex, indeterminate between female and co-lover).
In Static, a romance novel by L. A. Witt, there have always been a marginalized minority of humans capable of changing sex instantly and at will, known as "shifters." Shifters are usually, though not always, genderfluid, having different gender identities at different times, including male, female, and other genders. (Though they only have the ability to change between two sexes.) Alex, one of the protagonists and part of the lead romantic pair, is a genderfluid shifter who is the victim of medical assault to force them to remain in one form, but continues to be genderfluid and experience dysphoria.
In the book Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, the character Aziraphale (and A. J. Crowley by extension) are described as man-shaped, sexless beings.
In the Faction Paradox novel This Town Will Never Let Us Go... by Philip Purser-Hallard (a Doctor Who spinoff), there is a species of posthumans who are engineered to change sex from male to female as they mature. Some of these transformations are never completed. One of the main characters, Keth Marrane, is part of this species and has a body with both male and female characteristics. Marrane is fully happy with this body and is referred to as a "hermaphrodite" by other characters; a word without negative connotations in the cultures that are described. Marrane uses "one" pronouns when narrating.
Adam Rex's sci-fi novel, The True Meaning of Smekday (2007), features the Boov, an alien people with seven genders (boy, girl, girlboy, boygirl, boyboy, boyboygirl, and boyboyboyboy) based on their fish-like role in fertilizing an egg after they lay it in a designated part of town. Because of the impersonal way they reproduce, Boov society is egalitarian and aromantic. The sequel, Smek for President (2015), has a girlboy character named Ponch Sandhandler. She-he is addressed as "ladyfellow," and by she-he pronouns. The movie loosely based on the books, Home (2015), doesn't directly mention anything about Boov gender, and only refers to any Boov by he pronouns.
In The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin, the inhabitants of the planet Gethen are referred to as ambisexual, and lack sex characteristics for the majority of the lunar cycle, which they acquire in order to reproduce.
In Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's collaborative novel Good Omens, Neil Gaiman has confirmed that both of the main characters are non-binary, and they present as different genders at times in both the book and the 2019 tv-series (Crowley presenting as female as a nanny, and Aziraphale presenting as female while possessing madame Tracy). The characters usually present as males, and don't show any inclination to correct people on using masculine pronouns, but this is presented more as them not caring, and less them defining themself as males. The book specifically says that all angels and demons in it are neither male nor female, which is the standard belief about angels in Christianity.
In Wyvern, a kids book by Kyle McGiverin, there is a sentient race of beings called wyverns. The wyverns are genderless and use "wy/wym/wys" pronouns.^[149]

Comics and graphic novels

In Cardcaptor Sakura, a manga series by CLAMP, beings who were created by magic are canonically said to be neither female nor male. They're sexless, but may prefer a gender expression that is female, male, or androgynous. This includes some main characters, but it would be spoilers to say who and how. This is also the case in the anime based on the manga, of the same name.
The Sandman by Neil Gaiman and various artists - seminal graphic novel series, as recommended in Kate Bornstein's My New Gender Workbook as having "Lots of good gender play." One character, Desire, is a being who can have any sex or gender.
In The Satrians, a comic by Carlisle Robinson, a satyr-like alien species called Satrians have only one sex, and no concept of gender. They're all called by the pronoun set xe, xyr, xem.^[150]
In Spectra, a science fiction comic by Cori Walters, the main characters are members of an alien species that has one sex, and all people voluntarily choose which of several gender roles they identify with. Outside of the story, Walters said, "They only have one physical sex but they have three socially enforced genders (or four if you count young children, who are seen as genderless until they choose their role in society.) For simplification reasons, in the comic the three main ones are referred to as he, she, and ne. The 'male' role is that of destruction, the 'female' is that of creation, and the third gender is that of preservation." The comic started in 2013 and is still in progress.^[151]

Movies

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), directed by Steven Spielberg. In an interview, Spielberg said that E.T. is a plant-like creature, and is neither male nor female.^[152] The finished movie itself doesn't mention this fact. The finished script refers to E.T. as "he" and "the creature." This fact about E.T. was included in the first draft of the script written by Melissa Mathison.^[153]