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Undisclosed gender in fiction: Difference between revisions
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== Books and literature == | == 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 | * 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/</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 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 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> | ||
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* In ''Harvest Moon: Magical Melody'', Jamie, your antagonist, is depicted as neither male or female, and the only thing that alludes to their gender is what happens when you marry them. If you play a female character and marry them, they will wear a tuxedo at the ceremony, but if you play a male character and marry them, they will wear a wedding dress. Their pronouns are not stated. | * In ''Harvest Moon: Magical Melody'', Jamie, your antagonist, is depicted as neither male or female, and the only thing that alludes to their gender is what happens when you marry them. If you play a female character and marry them, they will wear a tuxedo at the ceremony, but if you play a male character and marry them, they will wear a wedding dress. Their pronouns are not stated. | ||
* In ''Undertale'', the human protagonist Frisk and the human called Chara are never referred to in binary terms, and are referred to with "they" pronouns. Their gender is never revealed. Some other characters also go by "they" pronouns. | * In ''Undertale'', the human protagonist Frisk and the human called Chara are never referred to in binary terms, and are referred to with "they" pronouns. Their gender is never revealed. Some other characters also go by "they" pronouns. | ||
* In ''Hustle Cat'' the protagonist of this Dating Sim game can be either male, female or | * In ''Hustle Cat'' the protagonist of this Dating Sim game can be either male, female or nonbinary with "they" pronouns (regarding of the chosen sex) and the characters in-game will refer to them with the chosen pronouns. | ||
* In ''Pokémon Go'', Blanche - the leader of Team Mystic - is gender-ambiguous in appearance. Yūsuke Kozaki - the game's character designer - has [https://twitter.com/libbydango/status/762127788891525120 stated on Twitter] that Blanche's gender is "whatever impression or feeling you get from the design". Third-person pronouns are not used in-game to describe any of the team leaders. In addition, the game does not ask the player about their gender, but instead asks them to "choose your style" when creating a character. | * In ''Pokémon Go'', Blanche - the leader of Team Mystic - is gender-ambiguous in appearance. Yūsuke Kozaki - the game's character designer - has [https://twitter.com/libbydango/status/762127788891525120 stated on Twitter] that Blanche's gender is "whatever impression or feeling you get from the design". Third-person pronouns are not used in-game to describe any of the team leaders. In addition, the game does not ask the player about their gender, but instead asks them to "choose your style" when creating a character. | ||
* In ''Dishonored 2'', a noble named Wyman is mentioned several times, being the lover of main character Emily Kaldwin, and is never referred to with any gendered words. Wyman does not appear in-game but does appear in the novels ''Dishonored: The Corroded Man'' and ''Dishonored: The Return of Daud''. The novels' author, Adam Christopher, stated on Twitter that "Wyman is [[gender neutral|gender-neutral]]."<ref>[http://functionalfutch.tumblr.com/post/150874316591/did-you-see-that-the-he-pronoun-in-regards-to Anonymous said: DID YOU SEE that the "he" pronoun in regards to wyman in that book was a typo!]</ref> However, in a Reddit AMA the next month, Adam was more vague, saying "Wyman's gender is purposefully left unsaid, yes. Let your headcanon go wild :)", and also saying that Arkane Studios had the full character details which could not be revealed yet.<ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/dishonored/comments/56zdra/i_am_adam_christopher_novelist_and_comic_writer/ I am Adam Christopher, novelist and comic writer, and author of the new book DISHONORED: THE CORRODED MAN. Ask me anything!]</ref> | * In ''Dishonored 2'', a noble named Wyman is mentioned several times, being the lover of main character Emily Kaldwin, and is never referred to with any gendered words. Wyman does not appear in-game but does appear in the novels ''Dishonored: The Corroded Man'' and ''Dishonored: The Return of Daud''. The novels' author, Adam Christopher, stated on Twitter that "Wyman is [[gender neutral|gender-neutral]]."<ref>[http://functionalfutch.tumblr.com/post/150874316591/did-you-see-that-the-he-pronoun-in-regards-to Anonymous said: DID YOU SEE that the "he" pronoun in regards to wyman in that book was a typo!]</ref> However, in a Reddit AMA the next month, Adam was more vague, saying "Wyman's gender is purposefully left unsaid, yes. Let your headcanon go wild :)", and also saying that Arkane Studios had the full character details which could not be revealed yet.<ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/dishonored/comments/56zdra/i_am_adam_christopher_novelist_and_comic_writer/ I am Adam Christopher, novelist and comic writer, and author of the new book DISHONORED: THE CORRODED MAN. Ask me anything!]</ref> | ||