More lesbian video game protagonists, please
On International Lesbian Day, it would only be prudent to talk more about lesbian video game protagonists and why we need more of them to grace our screens. After all, more lesbians could never hurt anyone, now could it?
Trying to think of an LGBT protagonist, nevermind a lesbian one, will bring a few characters to mind depending on the individual. For myself, it brings up Hawke in Dragon Age 2, who I played as a lesbian, as well as Ellie from The Last of Us. For others, it may be Commander Shepard or De Sardet from Greedfall.
There’s only one example that stands out from the characters I’ve just mentioned and that’s Ellie. Why? Because Ellie is not a character that is determined by the player, but someone who is just a badass lady that happens to like other women. To put it nice and bluntly: Ellie is gay and while that may not matter in a world gone to hell, it sure as hell matters to players who relate to her.
There are also characters like Sam and Lonnie from Gone Home, a game that puts you in the shoes of the sister of Sam, Katie, who goes through the house to uncover her sister’s relationship, and the following fall-out that occurs.
Both Sam and Ellie are fantastic characters in their own right. Ellie is making waves, particularly as the protagonist of one of the most anticipated games of the next year, but she is a tadpole in a very large pond. In fact, despite a number of people crowing ‘video games are art!’ there is still an absence of art that explores being a lesbian and how it affects real life.
And I don’t just mean the ‘coming out’ experience. While those stories deserve to be told, it’s a tired tale. We need more lesbian protagonists who can kick ass or are soft and gentle, yes. But more than that, we need lesbian protagonists who can be complex and ugly and defiant in the same way that attracted a bucket load of men towards Kratos.
We have Ellie as an icon, yes, but we need more so that new stories outside of cisgender, heteronormativity can be explored.
After all, it’s what the lesbians deserve.
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