Pokemon’s Peony, a Gay Icon?
Pokemon’s new DLC, The Crown Tundra, released early last week and introduced us to some incredible new Pokemon, environments, and the man, the myth, the gay legend himself, Peony.
As Kenneth Shepard from Fanbyte rightfully pointed out, Peony seemingly has quite the status of a gay icon among his fans. But before we delve into that, let’s backtrack a little. Who is Peony anyway, and why is he suddenly a gay icon? What happened?
Introduced in the new DLC, Peony is first encountered by the player after his daughter, Peonia, uses him as a distraction to run off on her own adventure. Peony is a good sport but isn’t all that bright, and so doesn’t realize his daughter’s intentions until we’ve beaten him and his Pokemon. That leaves you in his care and gives you plenty of time to get to know more about him.
You discover more about this steel-loving himbo, particularly his status as a gay legend, when Peony gives you his League Card. On the back of it, it says “Peony is a former Steel-type Gym Leader. His powerful and dynamic battle style meant that anyone stuck on pitch maintenance had their work cut out for them. To this day, he is known as “Steel Peony” and has many fans, especially among men.”
Especially among men, eh?
While naysayers will undoubtedly say that this means nothing, especially as Peony has a wife, let us be blunt: you don’t need to be gay to be a gay icon. Just look at Britney, our beloved queen of Pop. All you need is something that makes you stand out to the gay community, and Peony has that in spades due to his hyperactive, but loving demeanor.
A lot of LGBT+ fans have attached themselves to certain characters in the Sword and Shield, such as Leon and Raihan, as well as Sonia and Nessa, so it isn’t any surprise that Peony has caused a stir. Will there ever be actual canonical LGBT+ representation in Pokemon, though? Only time will tell.
In the meantime, let’s all just get lost in Peony’s eyes.
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