Are There Non-Binary Characters In Video Games? Yes!

In this video I talk about Non-Binary Characters in Video Games, and how video games represent them. As always, make sure you watch the whole video before commenting!

Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:35 Part 1 ~ What is a Non-Binary Person
2:44 Part 2 ~ Examples of Non-Binary Characters
3:10 "Alive Genderless Beings"
5:11 "Gender Ambiguity"
6:41 "Gender Fluidity"
9:51 Part 3 ~ How Games Can Do Representation Well
10:43 Action Items for Designers to Consider
12:09 My Response to Wrong But Loud People
13:17 Outro

Music Used:
Secret of the Forest - Chrono Trigger OST
Armored Titan Theme - Attack on Titan Theme
Destiny - Triangle Strategy
You Will Know Our names - Xenoblade Chronicles OST
Diamonds - Boyfriend Dungeon OST
Planet Popstar - Kirvy 64 and the Crystal Shards OST
Rude Buster - Deltarune OST
Like a Weed, Naturally, as a Matter of Course (Testament Theme) - Guilty Gear Strive OST
Anarchy Rainbow - Splatoon 3 OST
High Maktha Wildwood - Xenoblade Chronicles 3 OST
Godot's Theme, The Fragrance of Dark Coffee - Gyakuten Meets Orchestra
The Price is Rigth Theme
Pursuit ~ The Great Turnabout - The Great Ace Attorney OST
Pursuit ~ Last Promotion Version - Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies OST

#GENDER

[CaptainAstronaut]

Thanks for watching and remember to SUBSCRIBE!!
And remember to drink more water, hydration is important 💧

Also, something I learned immediately after I uploaded, is that every character in Minecraft (including Steve, including the animals), are ALL specifically designed to be Non-Binary

[GlovedGhosts]

Slight side note about Shiver, so far the only person who has said that Shiver is female is an SVP of Nintendo of America, named Nate Bihldorf. The significance of it being him specifically is that he was also on the team responsible for censoring that Vivian the witch in a PURPLE dress from Paper Mario is trans-femme in the NA English localizations

[madelinerei]

As someone who spent several years denying their gender because of assuming that people would "just know" they are trans/NB, I feel like it's important to note that not all trans/NB people are immediately aware of their gender (or lack thereof). If you are questioning your relationship with gender, it's is important to do research on gender and identities to best understand yourself

[kritikalKreznik]

One thing about Shiver and the Binder you mentioned. There's a traditional form of binding a chest in japan that both men and women have did called "Sarashi". It was done by Samurai to resist injury and woman when wearing a Kimono to present a slender figure. I heard from some friends it was sometimes used as basically a Bra.

I wouldn't really call it a Binder personally but it certainly can be used as one. Just thought this trivia was neat and wanted to share it. Have fun with Splatoon 3!

[threes_leaves]

Love that Juniper's gender in the code is literally non-binary.

[justyouraveragetrashbag]

"LET MEN BE HOES!!" is a line full of sheer power.

[justanothergoth]

9:02 Actually Shiver is wearing a sarashi, not a binder. Sarashi is a piece of cloth that's traditionally used when you are going to wear some type of traditional japanese clothing. Nowadays using a Sarashi that's exposed it's usually associated with criminal or rebellious characters.

[ThistleBlue]

The Gender:2 being a great way to store Non-Binary but also not being a Binary digit is a nice touch!

[Celestiallide]

I thought during the Legendary Pokémon part astro was gonna say "Just like Legendary Pokémon, Non-Binary people are rare and legendary"

[Paraster]

Undertale and Deltarune is an odd example because there's actually some debate in the games' fandom over whether the human characters are meant to be gender-ambiguous blank slates or if they are specifically intended to be nonbinary. Proponents for the latter note how these characters start off seeming like standard silent protagonists to project onto, but are later revealed to have their own distinct personality traits and thoughts, so them being nonbinary would serve as a *subversion* of gender-ambiguous blank slates.

[Trashley]

Another thing to note is that non binary people can still use he/him or she/her pronouns, or they can have multiple sets of pronouns they're ok with. So English Kirby could still be nb, just using he/him pronouns.

[felipelemos]

I feel like Apex does diversity in general perfectly. Just like you said near the end of the video, their characters that are part of the LGBTQ community or a minority are never shown off for their gender, sexuality or race. Hell I didn't even know a lot of the characters were gay or non-binary until I looked it up. But the fact I loved the characters without knowing shows that the representation was done right and wasn't something they they used as leverage to improve their character. Just my two cents.

[PeeperSnail]

Honestly Shiver's situation is bizarre because you could make the argument that her being confirmed as cis is yet another way Nintendo of America isn't being true to the original Splatoon localizations. The person that deconfirmed Shiver as some brand of non-binary was just one guy, and allegedy some people have gotten replies from other NoA representatives that claim Shiver IS meant to be non-binary.

It might just be me coping but it's weird that every single localization (barring Portuguese) went out of its way to never refer to Shiver with pronouns or gendered language in her introduction, even in languages like French or Spanish where you REALLY have to put in work to refer to someone with gender ambiguity. If the intent was to always keep her cis all that effort just seems misplaced (and a tad queerbaity.)

All in all though Shiver would look good in purple, I wonder how splatfest colors will look on her.

[MaeIsOkay]

Kris from Deltarune is def nonbinary, because a major point of that games plot is how Kris is their own person, and we as the player are taking control. So all the other characters referring to Kris with they/them pronouns is definitely because those are the pronouns Kris uses, and not because they are meant to be a blank slate character.
Purple

[versok]

A game that has non binary characters would be one called Gnosia, a social deduction game that has two of them. It's a game that works kind of like the usual werewolf or mafia games but it's set in space, got a cool cast and a wacky story.

[Jessica-jzss]

A minor correction, the garment across Shiver's chest is a sarashi wrap, a traditional japanese undergarment, not a binder.

[adrianoctavio]

Pokemon's adamancy on making sure the protagonists have gender has been weird to me, especially in Scarlet and Violet. They wear the same outfit and there isn't a rival with the other protagonist whether yours is wearing orange or purple, but they make sure you know that there are two of them and one is a *boy* and the other is a *girl* .

[ninjapotatolorf]

Random things to note as a person who obsesses over the Xenoblade series:

Xenoblade 2 did also have a seemingly nonbinary character in the form of Roc. Much like Juniper, Roc being neither male nor female is backed up by in-game gender values (which for Roc is set to the number 4). Unfortunately Roc gets barely any focus, let alone character development (because the Blade System leads to bland, one-note characters that can't do anything outside of their Drivers) but hey, at least Roc isn't a walking stereotype.
Roc is Roc. Always has been; always will be.

[Moss_Dude]

Best, most impactful, and most meaningful sentence in this video: "LET MEN BE HOES!"

[pacificnorthwet]

I'm also an enby, and seeing a list of enbies in video games is validating. Kirby and Testament are my favorites on this list. My favorite color is Cyan, specifically aquamarine, but Purple, specifically lavender, is my second favorite color <3