Even though Pride Month is over, celebrating inclusion and diversity should never stop. For years, characters in video games are usually whitewashed, but thankfully, recent developers have been great at including more diverse characters. Not only this, but games that have character creations have done a great job at allowing players the freedom at creation, even non-binary options. And those with romance options have made it to where players are allowed to romance the same gender, or like Stardew Valley, platonically live with the sweet creature in the sewers, Krobus.
More and more inclusion has been shown in video games over the recent years, which only brings more players to the video game scene. One of these characters being shown are non-binary, which is someone who doesn’t relate to a specific gender such as male or female. Here are just some characters in the gaming scene that are non-binary.
6 Bloodhound – Apex Legends
The beloved tracker in the battle royale game has been confirmed as non-binary and uses they/them pronouns. Because the studio is filled with a diverse group of people, Respawn wanted their legends to portray this diversity by creating a non-binary legend.
Not only this, but Gibraltar, the support legend, is mentioned to having a boyfriend. For those wanting to play a great battle royale game with inclusion, this is a great choice. The developers are conscious about inclusion and diversity.
5 Primordial Chaos – Hades
Primordial Chaos is one of the entities that players will meet when working through Hades. They are basically a personification of the primordial void, and because they are a personified void, it only makes sense that they are portrayed as neither male nor female.
Chaos can be found when entering Chaos Gates throughout the underworld, and can be befriended by players, being a huge benefactor for players.
4 FL4K – Borderlands 3
Borderlands is no stranger to creating diverse characters, and one example is FL4K. FL4K refers to themselves by using they/them pronouns as well as stating that they are “neither man nor woman”, which seems to b e a choice since most other robots and AI have assigned genders. Another indicator is that on their coat, they have the colors of the non-binary flag, yellow, white, purple and black.
While some fans debated over the bot using they/them pronouns simply because they were a bot, Sam Winkler, Borderlands 3 co-writer did confirm that FL4K was intentionally using they/them pronouns about themselves.
3 Frisk – Undertale
Some players of Undertale caught on quicker than others that Frisk was designed and treated without gender roles, and most assumed it was just so the player could ‘pick’ their gender depending on how they felt, especially since the main character didn’t have a name until later in the story.
Their gender is left ambiguous, however, they are usually referred to with they/them pronouns. While most players believe Frisk is male and even though there is no real confirmation yet, following how they speak to Frisk, it would seem that they are non-binary.
2 Hollow Knight
The knight players control throughout the game is non-binary and uses they/it pronouns. Again, there are some arguments from fans on whether or not the knight is created to put their own spin on the gender, but most agree that they are non-binary because of the pronouns chosen.
While most games like to create gender-neutral protagonists to make the players have their own spin, there are some choices that developers make that shouldn’t be ignored.
1 Sundance – Battlefield 2024
Most shooter games are not seen as inclusive as indie games, however, Battlefield 2024 is the exception. Emma “Sundance” Rosier is the first playable non-binary character and uses they/them pronouns. EA even confirmed this when a fan on twitter asked about their pronouns.
Sundance is one of the 10 specialists that can be chosen, with their own unique loadouts. This is just another example of making great steps in the right direction, and showcasing that even big titles can improve on their diversity and inclusion.