Nonbinary gender in fiction: Difference between revisions
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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. | 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=== | |||
* ''Ouran Highschool Host Club'' features the character Haruhi Fujioka, who is assigned female at birth, but "happened to be" dressed in a masculine manner. When their friends discover their sex, they ask, "You're a girl?!" to which they reply, "Biologically, yes." They later state that they do not think a person's gender is important, which many fans see as a sign that Haruhi is [[agender]] or genderblind. They typically are typically referred to using traditionally feminine pronouns such as "she", though Haruhi has shown no preference. | |||
* In ''Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann'', the character Leeron states "I'm both and neither a man and a woman."<ref>''Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann'', episode 2</ref> (Most fans treat Leeron as a gay man.) | |||
===Audio=== | |||
* In the podcast ''The Adventure Zone'', 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.<ref>[https://theadventurezone.wikia.com/wiki/Roswell The Adventure Zone Wiki: Roswell]</ref> | |||
* 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. | |||
===Board and Card Games=== | |||
* “Ashiok” from the popular card game Magic: The Gathering is explicitly referred to as being nongendered. Though some depictions of the character include “he” as a pronoun, a lead designer from the company that makes the game has insisted on numerous occasions that the character is explicitly nongendered.<ref name=dougbeyertaggedashiok>[http://dougbeyermtg.tumblr.com/tagged/ashiok ''A Voice for Vorthos – Posts tagged with “Ashiok”''], Retrieved 29th September 2014, Doug Beyer’s Blog – A Voice for Vorthos.</ref> Even going so far as to write stories which avoid referring to Ashiok using gendered pronouns at all.<ref name=dougbeyerashiokstories>[http://dougbeyermtg.tumblr.com/post/85018556969/ok-so-when-are-we-going-to-learn-more-about-the ''A Voice for Vorthos – Ok so when are we going to learn more about the specifics about Ashiok? Ashiok is not in the first novel at all and nothing is depicted in the cards.'], 7th May 2014, Doug Beyer’s Blog – A Voice for Vorthos.</ref> Ashiok's card can be found [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=373500 here.] | |||
===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]]. | |||
* ''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 [[Pronouns#they|"they" pronouns]]. Chris is in the short stories "Blue Paint, Chocolate and Other Similes" and "Everything In A Name."<ref>K. A. Cook, ''Crooked Words.'' Unpaged.</ref> In "The Differently Animated and Queer Society," the queer-identified characters Pat and Moon go by "[[Pronouns#Ze|ze, hir]]" and "[[Pronouns#Ou|ou]]" pronouns, respectively.<ref>K. A. Cook, "The Differently Animated and Queer Society." ''Crooked Words.'' Unpaged.</ref> In "Misstery Man," the self-described non-binary character Darcy asks to be called by "[[Pronouns#Ey|ey and eir]]" pronouns.<ref>K. A. Cook, "Misstery Man." ''Crooked Words.'' Unpaged.</ref> | |||
* Greg Egan's novel ''Distress'' (1995) includes transgender humans who identify as a specific nonbinary gender they call "asex", called by [[Pronouns#Ve|ve pronouns]].<ref>John McIntosh, "ve, vis, ver." [http://www.urticator.net/essay/0/30.html]</ref> | |||
* 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.<ref>Kameron Hurley, "Beyond He-Man and She-Ra: Writing nonbinary characters." [https://intellectusspeculativus.wordpress.com/2014/09/03/guest-post-beyond-he-man-she-ra-writing-non-binary-characters-by-kameron-hurley/ https://intellectusspeculativus.wordpress.com/2014/09/03/guest-post-beyond-he-man-she-ra-writing-non-binary-characters-by-kameron-hurley/]</ref> | |||
* In a short sci-fi story by Benjanun Sriduangkaew, "[http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/sriduangkaew_12_13/ Silent Bridge, Pale Cascade]" (2013), one of the characters is described as a "[[neutrois]]," and called by "they" pronouns.<ref>Alex Dally MacFarlane, "Post-Binary Gender in SF: ExcitoTech and Non-Binary Pronouns." June 3, 2014. ''Tor.'' [http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/06/post-binary-gender-in-sf-excitotech-and-non-binary-pronouns http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/06/post-binary-gender-in-sf-excitotech-and-non-binary-pronouns]</ref><ref>Benjanun Sriduangkaew, "Silent Bridge, Pale Cascade." ''Clarkesworld Magazine.'' 2013. [http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/sriduangkaew_12_13/ http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/sriduangkaew_12_13/]</ref> | |||
* ''Stone Butch Blues'' by [[Leslie Feinberg]], 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 also identifies as nonbinary. | |||
* 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, | |||
===Webcomics=== | |||
*''[http://erinptah.com/catperson/ 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. | |||
*''[http://chaoslife.findchaos.com 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. | |||
*''[http://www.egscomics.com/ 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. | |||
*''[http://eths-skin.tumblr.com/ Eth's Skin]'' by Sfé R. Monster - Fantasy webcomic featuring a genderqueer protagonist - Eth. Fairly new, but the ''[http://eths-skin.tumblr.com/about 'About' page]'' suggests plans to include more nonbinary characters. Updates weekly. | |||
*''[http://ignitionzero.com/comics/ Ignition Zero]'' by Noel Arthur Heimpel - An urban fantasy webcomic that features a genderqueer character - Neve Copeland - as one of its protagonists. Updates weekly. | |||
*''[http://jobsatisfactioncomic.tumblr.com/ 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. | |||
*''[http://kyleandatticus.tumblr.com/ Kyle & Atticus]'' by Sfé R Monster - Webcomic about the adventures of a genderqueer teenager, Kyle, and their robot friend, Attticus. Currently on hiatus. | |||
*''[http://rainlgbt.smackjeeves.com/comics/ 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. | |||
*''[http://www.robot-hugs.com/ Robot Hugs]'' - 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 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Six_(comics)#New_52 Secret Six] introduces new character Kami / Porcelain, who is genderfluid and has been shown presenting as male, female and androgynously. | |||
*''[http://www.discordcomics.com/shades-cover/ Shades of A (NSFW)]'' by Tab Kimpton - Webcomic that focuses on [[asexuality|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. | |||
* ''[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6]'' Homestuck introduced an androgynous character named Davepetasprite^2 ''[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=009779]'' that was formed by the fusion of Davesprite and Nepetasprite. 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 Calmasis. | |||
;Tapastic webcomics | |||
*''[http://tapastic.com/series/6ses 6ses]'' by Kagome features an agender protagonist. | |||
*''[http://tapastic.com/series/Eri Eri the Cyborg]'' by Ren features an agender protagonist. | |||
*''[http://tapastic.com/episode/40617 Snailed It]'' by SnaiLords, who "identifies with both genders" and described themselves as an "andogynous snail". | |||
*''[https://tapastic.com/episode/212183 Tattoo'd]'' by Antonia Bea features an intersex, genderfluid protagonist. | |||
*''[http://tapastic.com/series/Your-Local-Non-Binary Your Local Non-Binary]'' is written by and features non-binary person Eliot Lime. | |||
===Movies=== | |||
* In "The Kings of Summer," Biaggio asserts that he doesn't see himself as "having a gender." | |||
===TV=== | |||
* The Canadian magical-realism comedy series ''The Switch'' ([https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/theswitchtv/the-switch-a-fantastic-transgender-comedy-0 still in development]) features a non-binary character, Chris, who uses "zie/zir" pronouns, and works as an assassin. | |||
===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. | |||
*"[http://sulmere.tumblr.com Ask Sulmere]" by Draque Thompson is an ongoing ask blog featuring aliens of a race that never evolved sexual dimorphism or the concept of gender. | |||
*''[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdi8HPMwFpYIf3qQlv7A0fg?&ab_channel=Couple-ish 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. | |||
===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. | |||
* ''[https://www.choiceofgames.com/versus-the-lost-ones/ 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. | |||
* 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"<ref>Jesse Tannous, "Read Only Memories Director discusses LGBTQ themes in gaming." June 20, 2015. ''The Examiner.'' https://web.archive.org/web/20151023215026/http://www.examiner.com/article/read-only-memories-director-discusses-lgbtq-themes-gaming</ref>.The game also includes other non-binary characters, including the robot Turing and the protagonist if the player chooses so. [[File: ROM pronouns 1.png|thumb|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 ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nights_into_Dreams... 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.<ref>Mike Taylor, "Interview: Takashi Iizuka Talks NiGHTS" December 5, 2007. ''Nintendo Life'' http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2007/12/interview_takashi_iizuka_talks_nights</ref> | |||
* The dating sim ''The Office Type'' (scheduled for release early 2019) 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.<ref>[https://www.heavythoughtstudios.com/projects/ Heavy Thought Studios - Projects]</ref> | |||
==Undisclosed gender in fiction== | ==Undisclosed gender in fiction== | ||
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* ''The Gods Themselves'' by Isaac Asimov - The 2nd part of this book features an alien species that reproduces by different means than humans, resulting in an alien culture with different gender roles. However, the 3 fictional sexes are ''not'' used as justification for these characters having nonbinary gender identities, as the protagonists are depicted as being gender non-conforming by the standards of their own society. Most notable is Dua, the "emotional"/"mid" member of a triad, who has always struggled to fit in with the others of her sex. She's explicitly non-conforming, exhibiting traits normally associated with the "rational"/"left" sex of her species. As a result, her peers use the slur "left-em" against her, which she would eventually reclaim as her own identity, along with "queer". Would she also qualify as nonbinary (technically non-trinary) transgender? This is open to interpretation by the reader. | * ''The Gods Themselves'' by Isaac Asimov - The 2nd part of this book features an alien species that reproduces by different means than humans, resulting in an alien culture with different gender roles. However, the 3 fictional sexes are ''not'' used as justification for these characters having nonbinary gender identities, as the protagonists are depicted as being gender non-conforming by the standards of their own society. Most notable is Dua, the "emotional"/"mid" member of a triad, who has always struggled to fit in with the others of her sex. She's explicitly non-conforming, exhibiting traits normally associated with the "rational"/"left" sex of her species. As a result, her peers use the slur "left-em" against her, which she would eventually reclaim as her own identity, along with "queer". Would she also qualify as nonbinary (technically non-trinary) transgender? This is open to interpretation by the reader. | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||