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vanilla-inkwell · 5 years

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Expansive (Non-Comprehensive) List of Playable LGBTQ+ Characters in Video Games

Now edited, polished, and added upon!

My rules/criteria are below the cut, along with individual notes/explanations; if a character has an asterisk+number next to them, they have a note down below.

(All characters in the first two sections are explicitly queer, at least by way of word of god confirmation. All characters in the second section are, by the nature of that section, expressed to be queer in-game. The third section is for characters whose queerness is interpretive, but implied at least semi-overtly, and who I feel are notable enough in that regard to warrant mention.)

[Date this version was made: 12/4/23]

Canon

Ellie – The Last of Us: Left Behind, The Last of Us: Part II

lesbian (in-game)

Rivet – Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

trans woman, lesbian *0

Aloy – Horizon: Zero Dawn, Horizon II: Forbidden West, Genshin Impact

bi woman (in-game)

Billie Lurk – Dishonored: Death of the Outsider

bi woman (in-game)

Zagreus – Hades

bi man (in-game)

Bloodhound – Apex Legends

non-binary (in-game)

Makoa Gibraltar – Apex Legends

gay (in-game)

Bangalore | Anita Williams – Apex Legends

wlw (in-game)

Loba Andrade – Apex Legends

bi woman (in-game)

Fuse | Walter Fitzroy – Apex Legends

pan man (in-game)

Valkyrie | Kairi Imahara – Apex Legends

lesbian (in-game)

Seer | Obi Edolasim – Apex Legends

pan man

Catalyst | Tressa Smith – Apex Legends

trans woman

Max Caulfield – Life is Strange

bi girl (in-game)

Chloe Price – Life is Strange: Before the Storm

wlw (in-game)

Sean Diaz – Life is Strange 2

bi boy (in-game)

Alex Chen – Life is Strange: True Colors

bi woman (in-game)

Tracer | Lena Oxton – Overwatch

lesbian (in-game)

Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison – Overwatch

gay (in-game)

Pharah | Fareeha Amari – Overwatch

lesbian (in-game)

Baptiste | Jean-Baptiste Augustin – Overwatch

bi man (in-game)

Lifeweaver | Niran Pruksamanee – Overwatch

pan man (in-game)

Venture – Overwatch

non-binary

Axton – Borderlands 2

bi man (in-game)

Maya – Borderlands 2

ace woman *1

Zer0 – Borderlands 2

non-binary [agender] *2

Athena – Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel

lesbian (in-game) *3

FL4K – Borderlands 3

non-binary, omni (in-game)

Zane – Borderlands 3

pan man

Madeline – Celeste

trans woman (in-game) *4

(Protagonist) – Undertale

non-binary (in-game) *5

Kris – Deltarune

non-binary (in-game) *6

The Knight – Hollow Knight

non-binary [agender] (in-game)

Tyler Ronan – Tell Me Why

trans man, mlm (in-game)

Birdo – Mario Kart (series), Mario Party (series), Mario Sports (series)

trans woman (in-game)

Testament – Guilty Gear (series)

non-binary [agender] (in-game)

Bridget – Guilty Gear (series)

trans girl (in-game)

Harry Du Bois – Disco Elysium

bi man (in-game)

Grace – Stray Gods

wlw (in-game)

Jala – Thirsty Suitors

wlw (in-game)

Ryuji Sakamoto | Skull – Persona 5 (series)

mlm (semi-explicit) *7.2

Aigis – Persona 3 -FES-, Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight, Persona 4: Arena, Persona 4: Arena -Ultimax-

bi girl (in-game)

Elizabeth – Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight, Persona 4: Arena, Persona 4: Arena -Ultimax-

bi woman (in-game)

Kanji Tatsumi – Persona 4 (series)

mlm (in-game)

Barry the Quokka – The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog

non-binary (in-game)

Osa | Anja Janković – Rainbow Six: Siege

trans woman (in-game)

Sens | Néon Ngoma Mutombo – Rainbow Six: Siege

non-binary (in-game)

Flores | Santiago Lucero – Rainbow Six: Siege

gay man (in-game)

Sundance | Emma Rosier – Battlefield 2042

non-binary (in-game)

Vi – League of Legends (series)

wlw

Caitlyn Kiramman – League of Legends (series)

wlw

Malcolm Graves – League of Legends (series)

gay (in-game)

Twisted Fate | Tobias Felix – League of Legends (series)

omni man (in-game)

Diana – League of Legends (series)

lesbian

Leona – League of Legends (series)

wlw

Rell – League of Legends (series)

bi girl

K’Sante – League of Legends (series)

gay

Neeko – League of Legends (series)

lesbian (in-game)

Kung Jin – Mortal Kombat X

gay (in-game)

Mileena – Mortal Kombat (series)

wlw

Tanya – Mortal Kombat (series)

wlw

Mae Borowski – Night in the Woods

pan girl (in-game)

David King – Dead By Daylight

gay (in-game)

Eden – The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

non-binary

Niles – Fire Emblem Warriors

bi man (in-game) *8

Yuri, Linhardt, Jeritza – Fire Emblem: Three Houses

bi men (in-game) *9

Edelgard, Dorothea, Petra, Mercedes, Shamir, Catherine – Fire Emblem: Three Houses

bi women (in-game) *9

Ladiva – Granblue Fantasy Versus

trans woman (in-game)

Jacob Frye – Assassin's Creed: Syndicate

bi man

Oz – Monster Prom (series)

non-binary boy, pan (in-game)

Sawyer, Abby – Monster Camp

non-binary, pan (in-game)

Zoe – Monster Camp, Monster Prom: REVERSE

trans girl, pan (in-game)

Riona – Monster Camp

genderfluid, pan (in-game)

Amira, Vicky, Dahlia, Isis, Susanne, Modeus – Monster Prom (series)

pan girls (in-game)

Brian, Damien, Calculester, Abdu, Jun-Seo, Noodles – Monster Prom (series)

pan boys (in-game)

Alma – Unsighted

lesbian (in-game)

Ann – ANNO: Mutationem

wlw (in-game)

ELSTER – SIGNALIS

wlw (in-game)

Cherry – Cookie Cutter

wlw (in-game)

Catbat – Crash Team Rumble

non-binary

Bolt – Crypt of the Necrodancer

genderqueer

Clementine – The Walking Dead: Season 2, The Walking Dead: The Final Season

bi girl (in-game)

Javier Garcia – The Walking Dead: Season Three

bi man (in-game)

Poison – Street Fighter (series), Final Fight Revenge

trans woman

Marisa – Street Fighter 6

bi woman (in-game)

Sharon – Street Fighter EX (series), Fighting EX Layer

lesbian (in-game)

Raze | Tayane Alves – Valorant

wlw

Killjoy | Klara Böhringer – Valorant

wlw

Wrastor – Rivals of Aether, Rivals 2

mlm

Mollo – Rivals of Aether

trans man

Astarion, Gale, Wyll – Baldur’s Gate III

bi/pan men

Lae’zel, Shadowheart, Karlach – Baldur’s Gate III

bi/pan women

The Bard – Wandersong

non-binary

Caspian – Paladins

pan man

Saati – Paladins

lesbian

Fernando – Paladins

gay

Sam – Last Year

bi girl

Nick – Last Year

gay

El Bastardo – Bleeding Edge

trans man (in-game, semi-explicit) *10

Morgan Yu (Female) – Prey ('17)

lesbian (in-game) *11

Leo Kliesen – Tekken (series)

transmasc non-binary *12

Jill – VA-11 HALL-A

bi woman (in-game)

Nights – Nights into Dreams, Nights: Journey of Dreams

non-binary, genderfluid

April Angelle, Deedee Dawkins, Maegan Mann – 60 Parsecs!

wlw (in-game)

Emmet Ellis, Baby Bronco, Tom Thomson – 60 Parsecs!

mlm (in-game)

(The Entire Roster) – Rolled Out!

trans and/or non-binary *13

(Protagonist) – Dream Daddy

potentially trans; gay or bi/pan man (player-directed, in-game) *14

Player-Determined Canon

Ren Amamiya | Joker – Persona 5 (series), Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

gay or bi/pan boy *7.1

Tatsuya Suou - Persona 2: Innocent Sin

gay or bi/pan boy

Kotone Shiomi – Persona 3 -Portable-, Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth

lesbian or bi/pan girl

Ciri – The Witcher III: Wild Hunt

lesbian or bi/pan woman

The Hunter – Bloodborne

lesbian *15

The Tarnished – Elden Ring

trans/genderfluid; lesbian *15

Corrin – Fire Emblem: Fates, Fire Emblem Warriors, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

gay, lesbian, or bi/pan

Byleth – Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

gay, lesbian, or bi/pan

Alear – Fire Emblem: Engage

gay, lesbian, or bi/pan

Kassandra – Assassin's Creed: Odyssey

lesbian or bi/pan woman

Eivor – Assassin's Creed: Valhalla

lesbian or bi/pan woman

(Protagonist) – Eternights

gay or bi/pan boy

Sol – I Was a Teenage Exocolonist

non-binary; gay, lesbian, or bi/pan

(Protagonist) – Pyre

non-binary

Alys (Protagonist) – 2064: Read Only Memories

non-binary

Warrior of Light – Final Fantasy XIV

gay, lesbian, or bi/pan; trans/genderfluid *16

Tav – Baldur’s Gate III

gay, lesbian, or bi/pan

(Protagonist) – Boyfriend Dungeon

non-binary; gay, lesbian, or bi/pan

Dovahkiin/Dragonborn – The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

gay, lesbian, or bi/pan

The Warden – Dragon Age: Origins

gay, lesbian, or bi/pan

Garret Hawke or Marian Hawke – Dragon Age II

gay, lesbian, or bi/pan

The Inquisitor – Dragon Age: Inquisition

gay, lesbian, or bi/pan

Courier – Fallout: New Vegas

gay, lesbian, or bi/pan

Sole Survivor Nate – Fallout 4

bi/pan man

Sole Survivor Nora – Fallout 4

bi/pan woman

John Shepard or Jane Shepard – Mass Effect (series)

gay, lesbian, or bi/pan

Sara Ryder – Mass Effect: Andromeda

lesbian or bi/pan woman

Scott Ryder – Mass Effect: Andromeda

gay or bi/pan man

The Spacefarer – Starfield

non-binary; gay, lesbian, or bi/pan

Ares – Langrisser: Re:Incarnation Tensei

gay or bi/pan man

(Protagonist) – Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life

mlm or wlw; non-binary

De Sardet – Greedfall

gay, lesbian, or bi/pan

Jimmy Hopkins – Bully

bi/pan boy

(Protagonist) – Temtem

non-binary

(Protagonist) – BattleTech

non-binary

Ambiguously Canon

Alucard – Castlevania (series)

bi man (arguably canon, explicit) *17

Ekko – League of Legends (series)

bi boy (deliberately implicit canon?) *18

Ezreal – League of Legends (series)

bi boy (deliberately implicit canon?) *18

Chloe Price – Life is Strange: Before the Storm

genderfluid (unconfirmed canon, explicit) *19

Ike – Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, Super Smash Bros. (series)

gay (evidently canon, in-game, semi-explicit) *20

Wolf O'Donnell – Star Fox (series), Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

gay (evidently canon, in-game) *21

Eagle – Street Fighter Alpha 3 Upper/MAX, Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001

gay (evidently canon, in-game, semi-explicit) *22

Byleth – Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

non-binary man or non-binary woman (unintentionally canon, in-game, explicit) *23

The Glaive – Final Fantasy XV: Comrades

non-binary man or non-binary woman (unintentionally canon, in-game, explicit) *24

Aether – Genshin Impact

non-binary boy (unintentionally canon, in-game, explicit) *25

Lumine – Genshin Impact

non-binary girl (unintentionally canon, in-game, explicit) *25

Specter Knight – Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment, Shovel Knight Showdown, Brawlhalla

gay (seemingly canon, in-game, semi-explicit) *26

Kat – Gravity Rush, Gravity Rush 2, PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale

bi woman (interpretively canon, in-game) *27

Raven – Gravity Rush 2 [Another Story: The Ark of Time - Raven's Choice]

lesbian (interpretively canon, in-game) *27

Noteworthy Non-Canon

Shovel Knight – Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope

gay/lesbian and/or trans and/or non-binary (in-game, explicit) *28

Alexios – Assassin's Creed: Odyssey

gay or bi/pan man (in-game, explicit) *29

Eivor (Male) – Assassin's Creed: Valhalla

gay or bi/pan man (in-game, explicit) *30

Rules/Criteria

- I’m including directly playable characters only (for RPGs and strategy games, I'm only counting the player-character, not party members who can just be commanded in battle; Three Houses’ characters are sort of an exception). Also, the games listed for each are only the games in which the character is playable, but many appear in other games in non-playable, though still important, capacities. Another thing worth noting is that there may well be other queer characters in any of these games that aren’t playable.

- I’m not counting licensed characters (i.e., Deadpool is pan, and has his own game, but it's a licensed property, so I'm not including it. Clementine and Javier are technically an exception, but that’s due to them being original to the games, as far as I know; obviously Ciri is too, but the Witcher games have such a distinct identity I felt it was fine).

- Sections are arranged by degree of canonicity, but within each list, the order of characters is totally arbitrary.

- “In-game” indicates the queerness is expressed within the game itself, rather than by just word of god. “Explicit” is being counted as the queerness being clear and undeniable (word of god counts, so long as the statement is unambiguous).

- As mentioned up top, an * means there's a note below clarifying something about that inclusion or classification.

- “Series” indicates the character in question has appeared in three or more games under the same brand; worth noting is that these may not necessarily be the games in which the character’s queerness is expressed, even implicitly, but rather the games they are directly playable in.

- I'm separating “trans” and “non-binary” for classification purposes, but it goes without saying that non-binary people are fully valid in identifying as trans; in the context of this list, “trans” refers to binary-gendered trans folks.

- While very nearly any character can be headcanoned as bi, pan, or omni, I'm only classifying a character as potentially bi/pan if the game allows for them to romance more than one gender.

- The difference here between “mlm” and “gay or bi/pan” is that I’m using “mlm” for characters’ whose attraction to other men is certain, but whose specific identity is not, and “gay or bi/pan” for characters who can be unambiguously played as one of those specific identities; the same goes for “wlw” vs “lesbian or bi/pan”.

- Emphasis has been given to mainstream/AAA games for two reasons: because these are the games with the most profile and renown (and thus it is most significant for them to feature playable queer characters), and because these are the genres I'm personally most interested in (I'm well aware there are countless visual novels, dating sims, and various less conventional indie games that all have a plethora of queer characters, and those are certainly valued and appreciated, but save for a couple high-profile exceptions and direct requests, I'm not covering those).

- Send me an ask if you want further details on the confirmation/nature of certain characters' queerness (or if I got one wrong in some way).

Notes/Clarifications/Explanations/Disclaimers

0* - That Rivet is canonically a lesbian was confirmed by one of the lead writers who worked on her; that she’s trans is a little more complicated, but still technically explicit. Way back when the second R&C game, Going Commando, came out, it featured a female Lombax (the same species as Ratchet himself) named Angela Cross, who notably lacked a tail. After seeing tons of theorizing and discourse on various forums and fielding tons of questions on the matter, the devs at Insomniac explained it simply as “female Lombaxes don’t have tails.” It was a word-of-god statement on a seemingly-inconsequential matter, but it was also a *whole thing.* Fast-forward twenty years or so, and we’re introduced to Rivet, the first female Lombax we’ve seen since Angela, and she has a tail. Apparently, the same writer who confirmed Rivet is a lesbian wasn’t aware of the tail’s implications, but she’s also not been with Insomniac that long, and welcomes the interpretation. And even besides the fact that trans/non-binary folks are known to have worked heavily on Rivet’s character, and in the wake of the original trailer, some devs engaged with fans in a way that strongly implied Rivet was intended to be trans, there’s also the simple fact that someone at Insomniac would have remembered the whole tail issue from years ago; someone would have known what the presence of a tail implied, and to my knowledge no acknowledgement of the tail is given in-game. Because it waws specifically established years ago that only AMAB Lombaxes have tails, Rivet having one is essentially both explicit and implicit confirmation of her being trans. (Also, this note is labeled as 0 because it was added well after the fact and I was too lazy to go through and change every one of the note numbers.)

1* - The lead writer of Borderlands 2 and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel has stated that he headcanons Maya as asexual. This particular phrasing adds a slight degree of uncertainty, but there is writing in the game to support it, and of all the people to have a say in the matter, he would be the one who could confirm Maya's orientation.

2* - Zer0 has been repeatedly stated by Borderlands’s writers, albeit outside the games, to be agender and to use they/them pronouns; in-game, though, Zer0 is consistently referred to as he/him, which the lead writer has confirmed is (or, at least, was, at one point) an error and the fault of himself and the other writers for defaulting to cisnormative pronouns. As far as I’m aware, Borderlands 3 continues to have Zer0 referred to with he/him, while current official material outside the game uses they/them or avoids pronouns. I would argue Zer0 could be interpreted as either a) using they/them pronouns exclusively, but for whatever reason not communicating this to others or correcting others when misgendered, or b) that Zer0 simply uses both they/them and he/him (this is the one I prefer). This isn’t a caveat to the character’s canon queer status, it’s just a note I thought relevant.

3* - Although she is not playable in Tales From the Borderlands, Athena is shown even more explicitly to be a lesbian, and in a relationship with another female character, in that game; however, her attraction to women is still unambiguously, if much less prominently, conveyed in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel.

4* - The final chapter of Celeste shows that Madeline has two pride flags sitting on her personal desk, a rainbow gay pride flag (which, of course, also serves as a broader, more general queer pride flag) and a trans pride flag (the colors of which also form the palette of the Summit self-acceptance transitional cutscenes). Additionally, the photo of her on her nightstand shows her at a much younger age, with drastically shorter hair and seemingly boyish look, which aligns with canonical images showing her as being flat-chested in earlier pictures and not in later. Combined with the game’s themes of identity and self-acceptance, and the fact that the game’s creator is trans and non-binary, and the composer is trans, and the devs have liked tweets referring to Madeline as canonically trans, it’s more than safe to say that Celeste’s protagonist is a trans woman. EDIT: I forgot to add this to this post, but yeah, it’s long since explicitly confirmed that Madeline is trans.

5* - Alongside [redacted], Undertale's protagonist is only ever referred to with they/them pronouns and gender-neutral nicknames. While [redacted] being non-binary is more concrete (since [redacted]'s own brother, who knew them best of all, only uses they/them in reference to them), the protagonist being non-binary is sometimes considered slightly more contentious, as some interpret the character as simply androgynous and free for the player to project a gender. However, this has never been stated to be Toby Fox's intent, and a close friend of his has stated that the protagonist is, at least, not a girl; beyond this, they/them pronouns are specifically associated with non-binary gender identity, and thus the protagonist as non-binary is not only valid, but the simplest and most plausible explanation. (Also, regarding the names... yes, I know, I'm very aware. But for the sake of anyone who hasn't played Undertale, I'm simply referring to them here as “the protagonist” and [redacted]; for those who haven't played Undertale, if you want to go without spoilers, I cannot stress enough how important it is to not look up anything, especially not the names of these characters, and when you do play it, just name the fallen human Chara).

6* - Kris is, like Undertale’s protagonist, only referred to with they/them pronouns and gender-neutral terms, including by their family, close friends, and teacher. In addition, given that Undertale's protagonist (and, more importantly, [redacted]) is evidently non-binary, it stands to reason that Deltarune's is as well (this isn’t merely banking on an arbitrary pattern; there’s an in-universe plot point that backs this up, but it’s a slight spoiler). However, I would say the exclusive and increasingly-frequent use of they/them is explicit enough on its own, especially paired with Toby Fox casually, but pointedly, correcting the usage of he/him for Kris to they/them during the Fangamer Undertale 6th Anniversary stream.

7.1* - While negotiating with certain Shadows, Ren may be asked what kinds of girls he likes; among the options is “I like men.” This is non-binding and narratively unacknowledged, and the player can never act on the homosexuality this indicates, but it is nonetheless an explicit, in-game indication of same-gender attraction. Additionally, the dialogue throughout the game never forces the player to have Ren indicate heterosexuality, always giving just enough, and just the right, dialogue options as to skirt around expressing attraction to women (and even, now and then, allowing the player to implicitly indicate attraction to men). On top of this, the anime adaptation, Persona 5: The Animation, features an OVA specifically for the events of Valentine's Day within the story, comprised of 11 different scenarios. One of these (and, arguably, the most viably canon, for several reasons) is the scenario where Ren romances no one, and ends up spending the evening with his best friend, Ryuji. While the vanilla game leaves the full details of the evening unspoken (and Persona 5 Royal features an alternate version that plays out differently, albeit with some teasing), the anime reveals that the two decide to hang out in Ren's room all night, leading to them clearly kissing.

7.2* - The above-mentioned scene in the anime confirms both Ren and Ryuji’s same-gender attraction. As mentioned, it is the most viably canon scenario (in both the game and the anime, for numerous reasons), but technically it’s only canon if the player makes it so by choosing to spend Valentine’s Day evening with Ryuji. However, Ryuji’s orientation is unaffected by how Ren is played; even if the scenario where Ryuji kisses Ren doesn’t occur, that he would is still true either way, and so Ryuji is firmly mlm. Additionally, much of the themes and dialogue of his arc fall heavily in-line with this. (Whether he’s gay, bi, pan, or omni is up to interpretation; personally, I hold him to be gay, because if he is actually attracted to women, that means his more... unsavory behavior is genuine and not just the overexaggerated, performative heterosexuality of a closeted gay boy trying to convince everyone, including himself, that he’s totally straight).

8* - Niles’ bisexuality is evident in Fire Emblem: Fates, but, to my understanding, not in Warriors.

9* - These characters technically meet my criteria of being directly playable (in battle, you can directly control them, even run around as them), but I grouped them together so as to not oversell their “playable character” status, since Byleth is still the only real player-character. Pretty much the same applies to the characters from 60 Parsecs!, who I’m mentioning here instead of in their own note because I’m lazy and adding a new note means renumbering all the subsequent notes.

10* - As you can see here, El Bastardo seems to have top surgery scars. I can’t for the life of me find any other mention of discussion of this, let alone confirmation, but fuck it, I’m counting it ‘cause those are clearly top surgery scars and we are hard-up for trans rep in games.

11* - There is a player-determined element to Morgan's queerness, but it’s merely the gender of the character, chosen at the start of the game. Morgan is only queer if the player plays as the female version.

12* - Similar note to Zer0′s: Leo evidently uses both he/him and they/them pronouns, by which I mean that, due to unclear intent and localization complicating things, it’s not totally apparent what Leo’s specific identity is meant to be, beyond having a gender identity that is queer in some way. However, it is fairly clear he is transmasc to some extent, and I believe the most viable interpretation is that he’s, as I’ve listed him, a transmasc non-binary man.

13* - Rolled Out! is a spiritual successor to Super Monkey Ball, and all eight of its main characters (all adorable semi-anthropomorphic animals rolling around in translucent spheres) are non-binary and use they/them pronouns. There are going to be binary-gendered characters who can be unlocked, all of which are going to be trans. This is bold and powerful as all goddamn get out, and god I wish that type of gameplay was appealing to me (it still looks totally great, even if it’s not my genre).

14* - The Dream Daddy protagonist's queerness is labeled as “player-directed” only because the player has the choice of the nature of his queerness; it should be noted, whatever approach the player takes, the protagonist is a man attracted to men.

15* - For those unaware, there is a Key Item in Bloodborne, obtainable only in Pthumeru Ihyll Root Chalice Dungeons, called the Ring of Betrothal. It is functionally useless (though it provides what is, potentially, extremely significant lore), except that it allows the Hunter to propose to Queen Annalise. She will reject the Hunter no matter what, but the option and interaction are the same regardless of the Hunter's gender. Similarly, Elden Ring allows the player to become consort to Ranni. Additionally, Elden Ring also has a fully diegetic means of re-editing one’s character, with all NPCs still regarding your character as the same individual; as such, changing from a female Tarnished to a male one, for instance, means your Tarnished is explicitly a trans man.

16* - FFXIV has no NPC romance options, but players can marry other players, as well as separate and remarry. This isn’t limited by gender. Additionally, players can change their WoL’s gender at any time via a Phial of Phantasia, a diegetic item which allows full re-customization of your character. Like Elden Ring, NPCs will continue to regard and acknowledge your WoL as the same person, regardless of any new gender, making it functionally explicit that your WoL is trans in such a scenario.

17* - Alucard is explicitly bisexual in the (phenomenal) Castlevania animated series on Netflix. However, that series does not share continuity with the games, leaving it unspecified if he is bi in the games as well. That said, there’s no reason to believe he isn’t, and it’s more than viable to interpret that Alucard being bi is the case in all continuities.

18* - League of Legends features a number of skin lines depicting alternate universes, most of which are fully unconnected to the canon. The Pulsefire universe, however, was conceived as an alternate timeline branching from the main continuity (meaning its versions of these characters are, ostensibly, just extensions of the canon versions), and within this universe, it is very overtly implied something non-platonic developed between Ekko and Ezreal. The writer of the story where this occurred then posted a thread about the difficulty of writing overtly queer stories for a global IP, ending it by linking to Ekko and Ezreal’s Pulsefire story and saying “Anyway, completely unrelated, please enjoy this story about Ezreal and Ekko.” He later further hinted at this when teased about the story’s homoromantic tension.

19* - I’ve put this aspect of Chloe’s identity here instead of the Canon section not because I think it’s particularly likely to be non-canon, but because it’s only been indicated through word-of-god (specifically, this interview with Chloe’s VA, Ashly Burch), and it never comes up in the games or comics. I don’t want to give anyone who sees this and hasn’t played LiS false hope that a main character is explicitly genderfluid.

20* - Ike's relationship with Soren is widely interpreted to be romantic. The pair have an emotionally intimate scene together in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn that is officially referred to as “the moment when their two hearts become one,” as well as an ending in the same game that sees the two set off together with the assertion that their only place is beside each other. Beyond that, their bond possesses a repeatedly emphasized and mutual closeness throughout the Radiance duology, which is, for each character, exclusive to the other. Neither character shows any interest in women, and Japanese-only media has (depending on translation) described Ike as either unaware of or actively uninterested in the affections of women, as well as having love for Soren. Despite all this, however, Ike's queerness is not technically explicit. The most overt evidence relies on translating Japanese text in certain ways; within the games, it's up to interpretation, and while the most viable and sensible interpretation is that he's gay and in love with Soren, it's still not entirely concrete. In other words, Ike is evidently gay, and clearly intentionally so, but not indisputably so.

21* - Wolf is very overtly written and designed to fit the traditional Japanese stereotype of gay men, referred to as Hard Gay: a starkly masculine, muscular, showoff-y, domineering, macho figure. That Wolf is a mildly sadistic, eyeliner-wearing, tsundere leatherboy only adds to the heavy gay-coding (his Super Smash Bros. Brawl look must be mentioned for its unbelievably heavy gay-coding). Much of his dialogue, mainly towards Fox and particularly in Star Fox: Assault, is easily read with homoerotic subtext (much moreso in Japanese but to some extent still in the English localization), and to a degree that, combined with how easily recognized his gay-coding is from an Eastern perspective, makes it unlikely the implied queerness is unintentional. In the same vein as Ike, though, clearly intended queerness is not necessarily explicit queerness, and though it's safe to say Wolf is meant to be gay, it can't be said that he's indisputably gay.

22* - Eagle has a plethora of quotes from the games he's playable in that very overtly allude to him being exclusively attracted to men; like Wolf, however, this is almost entirely relegated to his Japanese dialogue, though it is still somewhat true of his lines in English. This, accompanied by his design rather obviously being an homage to bisexual icon Freddie Mercury, clearly indicates that he is intended to be a gay man. Unfortunately, it has never been commented on officially, and is not technically explicit within the games.

23* - While there’s no deliberately official indication of Byleth being non-binary, Three Houses does quite literally refer to them, both in guide/tutorial text and in-universe via actual dialogue, using singular they/them pronouns, and numerous times, no less. Granted, it’s obvious the intent was just to not have to do two voiceover tracks for those scenes for each gendered version of Byleth; but regardless of intent, what that unequivocally conveys (at least in the English version, where singular gender-neutral pronouns carry a different connotation than in Japanese) is that Byleth canonically uses they/them in addition to either he/him or she/her.

24* - Same as with Byleth, and in fact the player’s Glaive is never referred to with binary pronouns; characters refer to the Glaive with they/them exclusively. Again, assuredly just a byproduct of Japanese language having, as I understand, a more well-established/accepted gender-neutral singular pronoun, while in English they/them is used only for cases of not knowing a person’s pronouns or knowing that they do use they/them. Nonetheless, in the English localization, the player’s Glaive explicitly uses they/them.

25* - Once again, both Traveler siblings in Genshin are regularly referred to with they/them, though in this case it’s weirdly even more explicit, since they’re both intermittently referred to with they/them and he/him or she/her, even by each other. While assuredly the same explanation as Byleth and the Glaive, it still reads overtly as Aether and Lumine both using they/them. (Also, this is currently the only Genshin inclusion on this list because good lord I do not feel like writing the detailed explanations needed to make clear the queerness among Genshin’s playable characters. Suffice to say, there are numerous Genshin characters who are queer in a way that’s almost explicit, but still technically implicit; most occupy a kind of grey area where, to see the full picture of their queerness, you have to consider various scenes, plot points, and lines of dialogue in connection with one another, and read into the implications. There are a few, as well, who are actually outright queer, but I’m not including them because with the way characters in Genshin express affection, I really don’t know where to draw the line of “this is explicit, while this is is technically still interpretative.”)

26* - In Specter of Torment, the closest thing to a romantic element present is Specter Knight being, on several occasions, kissed by a druidic skeleton named Gall, who the devs went out of their way, of their own accord, on Twitter to specify is male. Although Specter Knight is reluctant to kiss Gall, his reason seems purely that it’s specifically a Kiss of Death, a lethal magical technique Gall is practicing and intends to use on heroes (when used on Specter Knight, either he or Gall dies, though obviously only temporarily, since they’re both undead). So, while this is kind of a homoromantic interaction, it’s also kind of not. But, Gall being specified as male seems to indicate that the interaction is meant to confirm Specter Knight is gay; otherwise, I can’t think of any reason why Yacht Club would have bothered specifying. So, I’d say it’s likely Specter Knight is intended to be gay, but not concrete.

27* - Alright, here's my one inclusion that really depends on interpretation. I tried to keep everything strictly canon or official, sticking to cases that didn't require much (or, ideally, any) reading into, but this is one that I feel I have to include, even if it's arguably just a headcanon. Slight spoilers for Gravity Rush 2 ahead: Kat and Raven are two halves of the same soul, split before either was born; cosmically speaking, it could be said they're two halves of the same person, but functionally, they're completely different and distinct from each other. Over the course of the Gravity Rush duology, their bond grows as they end up living together, even sleeping in the same bed, and eventually Raven refers to Kat as half of who she is (though, again whether that's a “soulmates” thing or a “two halves of one soul” thing is up to interpretation, as is whether or not there's a difference between those two things). Indisputably, there's strong affection between the pair, and it's wholly viable to interpret them as a romantic couple, at least by the end of Gravity Rush 2. However, it's far from canon or explicit, and fully unknown what was intended. If you ask me, Kat and Raven are a couple of ultra-powerful cosmic wlw magical girl superheroes, but if you're looking for something official, sadly, that's not this.

28* - Shovel Knight features a function for its original/main campaign, Shovel of Hope, called Body Swap, which allows the player to change the sprites and pronouns (independently) of the main cast of characters. As such, both Shovel Knight and Shield Knight, who are lovers, can be the same gender, and Shovel Knight can have a sprite that is gendered one way (masculine or feminine, though both sprites are fairly androgynous) and pronouns of whichever gender you choose (he/him, she/her, or they/them). However, as neat as this is, it is quite evidently not canon (and it is limited to just Shovel of Hope, which is why I didn’t list the absolute myriad of other games Shovel Knight is playable in).

29* - The novelization of Assassin's Creed: Odyssey (as well as subsequent AC content, and I believe even outright comments by the devs) confirmed Kassandra to be the canon player-character sibling, so while Alexios can also be played as explicitly queer, his canon orientation is not in the player's hands.

30* - The canon gender option for Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla is “Let the Animus Decide.” Simplifying a little, and without going into spoilers, this has Eivor as a woman, which aligns with the prequel comic (there’s no way to explain further without major spoilers; trust me, I’m not erasing any component of the character’s identity). So, like with Alexios, while you can play as a male version of Eivor, he is explicitly not the canon version of the protagonist.

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