Author: naffmate

The 2010’s really saw an explosion of LGBTQIA+ characters in Entertainment Media, especially Video Games. While this trend is still building upwards, it is sometimes important to look back and see what we have gotten.

This week, I’ll be looking at an article by Aimee Hart from Gayming Magazine and her interview with Voice Actor, Ashly Burch.

Ashly Burch is well known across Gaming and Television as a phenomenal Voice Actor, playing roles in Television such as Sasha Braus from Attack on Titan or Mayuri Shiina from Stein’s Gate. On the Video Game Side of things, Burch has done a plethora of roles such as Chloe Price from Life is Strange, Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn and Tiny Tina from the Borderlands Series.

During her career, Burch has coincidentally been cast as LGBTQIA+ charcters, sometimes without even knowing until a few sessions in. Burch herself saying “I don’t know if it’s sort of a wonderful coincidence, or if I’m being cast with that in mind. But I think the majority of the characters I play at this point are LGBTQIA+.”. I think it’s a little crazy how prominent these characters can be in our society and exposure to media. The fact that Burch mightn’t even know that they are Queer goes to show that these characters don’t have their sexuality as their defining traits, and that they are both deep and interesting to not have to rely on that fact.

Burch goes on to say “these characters can all be funny or sweet or tough on the surface level, but they have deep and complex personal lives that really make them feel like living, breathing people.”. This gives these characters a real way to connect to any given person if they share traits or relate to personal struggles. As a Bisexual man myself I can relate to a lot characters of this sexuality such as Jacob Frye from Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate or Burch’s own character of Tiny Tina from the Borderlands Series. But as stated, it is not their sexuality alone that makes these characters appealing to me.

Speaking strictly about Tiny Tina for a moment, her sexuality is not explicitly stated in Borderlands 2, only hinted at by a writer from the series. She is portrayed as a crazy, explosives obsessed 13 year old, fitting of the series and setting, she is even described by another important character as a “Demolition Expert”. She has faced a multitude of struggles, particularly with losing her biological family at a young age and finding a way to survive in the harsh wasteland the game is set upon. As a 13 year old, she is just at the age to be starting to explore and question her sexuality (not that it’s anywhere near the forefront of her mind).

As for her appearance in Borderlands 3, Tina has made it to 20, age-wise, and is labelled as Bisexual strictly via in game dialogue during side quests, at times mentioning both an ex-boyfriend and an ex-girlfriend. One of which you get to murder for stealing Tina’s pet. But once again, while definitely more at the forefront, Tina’s sexuality is not the defining factor of her character. Her character progression hardly touches this subject in game and is much more focused on her struggle of survival and finding her own Family in recurring Characters, Brick and Mordecai.

Speaking of which, Burch says in the interview with Gayming Magazine that the trope of finding a family of your own is one of her favourites. This is expressed through her character Sam from Afterparty, where Sam struggles to find a home and family for herself amongst her blood family that is in compete tatters.

Burch also loved playing Parvati in The Outer Worlds, an Asexual woman who finds love due to their interactions with the player and embraces her sexuality. While finding happiness is somewhat rare for Queer characters, Burch portrays characters that shine a light on the hope that exists for a happy ending. This makes her, and more specifically these characters, a huge draw for Queer people, or more specifically, Queer women.

It is this diverse line-up of LGBTQIA+ characters in forms of media these days that give people of this nature, someone to look up to and relate to, sometimes even forming a special connection with a character. In recent years exposure to Queer characters has exploded and not all of them have been played by Ashly Burch (surprisingly). Some notable mentions include:

– Tracer (Lena Oxton), a Lesbian/Gay Character from Overwatch
– Sir Hammerlocke, a Gay Character from the Borderlands Series
– Korra, a Bisexual Character from The Legend of Korra
– Trevor Phillips, a Bisexual Character from Grand Theft Auto V
– Birdo, a Transgender Character from the Mario Franchise

The creation and exposure to Queer Characters is growing, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to stop any time soon. Audiences are growing more accustom to and more accepting of these characters. It also seems like Voice Actors themselves are becoming more diverse, with Burch stating “There is an increasing amount of audition sides that have asked specifically for non-binary actors.”, stating that things are certainly changing, and for the better.

Burch also would love to see more diversity in games as a whole. While her role in Horizon Zero Dawn as Aloy was a fantastic one, in both character and performance, she would love to see a similar outing with a Pre-Determined Protagonist being a Person of Colour. Only enhancing the inclusiveness and diversity to these forms of media.

As for me, I certainly won’t complain at more diversity in Video Games and I certainly wouldn’t complain at more characters and stories to be latched onto. I can’t wait for the day where things like this are common place and no longer segregated. I think the world will be a better place at that point.

But that’s it from me for this week, if you want to read the original article featuring the interview with Ashly Burch, you can find it here:

https://gaymingmag.com/2019/12/ashly-burch-on-voice-acting-lgbt-characters-and-how-video-games-are-becoming-more-diverse-2/

I want to say a quick thank you to Gayming Magazine and Aimee Hart for publishing this article and getting my mind thinking on the matter. Thanks for reading this weeks post! I look forward to next week.

Thanks again!
– Nathan “Naff” Hibbert