Over the years, queer representation in all forms of media has become more and more normalized, and gaming is no exception. At the point we are at now, a game having good queer representation is not really treated as newsworthy, and is usually just expected in games whic꧃h feature multiple romance options or a diverse array of characters.
However, this has not always been the case, and in the early days of gaming this was nowhere near as common. Part of the reason why queer characters are treated less divisively in modern games is because of the foundations set by earlier representation. So, who are the queer characters in older games wꦡho started it all?
8 🐻 Le Crime Du Parking - Paco 🅘
The earliest example of queer representation that is recorded in gaming is the character of Paco in 1985's Le Crime Du Parking. This was a French mystery game, with most of the storytelling being done through text and simple images.
Paco is unfortunately victim to one of the most common tropes when it comes to queer characters in media, being that he is an antagonist. In spite of Paco's potentially flawed representation, at least he is an important character in the narrative of the game, with him being not just the main villain, but a tailor and dealer as well.
7 ⛄ Super Mario Bros▨ 2 - Birdo
One of the much more widely known queer characters in gaming is from a massively mainstream series — 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Bir🌊do, a chℱaracter from the Mario series, who first appeared in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Super Mario Bros 2 in 1988. The representation that Birdo fulfils is unfortunately not shown in the k🍃indest light by Nintendo.
In the manual for the game (a much more common tool for storytelling in gaming's earlier years) Birdo is described as 'thinking he is a girl' and would much rather use the name Birdetta. This shows Birdo as a transgender woman, even if this was done snidely. While Birdo's gender identity has not been acknowledged much in future Mario games, she shows up in plenty of spin-off titles, so at least she hasn't been forgotten.
6 Dracula🐷 Unleashed - Alfred Horner
Dracula Unleashed is a story focused𒐪 PC game that was originally released in 1993. It is another one of the earliest representatio🌱ns of a queer character in gaming, and is notable for Alfred Horner, being the first openly gay character in a game to have a speaking part.
In spite of this achievement, the game's representation of Alfred is not the most forgiving, with him acting incredibly perversely and lusting after the main character. While at least his identity is clear, the stereotypes he perpetuates are unfortunately all too common in early representations of gay men throughout media.
5 ꦰ Phantasmagoria 2 A Puzzle of Flesh - Curtis & Trevor ജ
Phantasmagoria 2 A Puzzle of Flesh is an incredibly controversial horror-themed point-and-click game that launched in 1996. The game was heavi♌ly censored in different territories for its explicit sexual content, and a contributing factor to this is the qu🐠eer content.
The main character of the game is Curtis, who is shown t💯o have a close relationship with his openly gay coworker Trevor. He is shown later in the game to talk to a psychiatrist about his feelings for Trevor, telling him that he thinks he could be bisexual. The two almost share a kiss later on in the story, too. This makes Phantasmagoria 2 the earliest game to feature a playable openly non-heterosexual character.
4 ♛ Star Ocean: The Se💜cond Story
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Star Ocean is a cult classic JRPG series that has maintained its popularity throughout the years. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The second entry in the series launched in 1998, but it has been fre🌱quently remade and ported, including an HD-2D PlayS🐻tation and Switch remake in 2023.
The game gives you the option to play as Claude or Rena. There are different romance options throughout the story no matter who you play as, but Ashton and Precis are both av𓆏ailable no matter which character you choose, making Claude, Rena, Ashton, and Precis all bisexual characters.
3 🅺 Persona 2 - Tatsuya & Jun
Another JRPG series that has gained massive popularity with its more recent entries is Persona. The series' more recent entries have gained some backlash for a lack of queer romance options, with evidence of this being removed found as early as 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Persona 4.
This is ironic considering that the series has already included 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:queer romance options, with Persona 2 having l💃aunched in 1999. The best friend of the main character Tatsuya, Jun, is shown to hav💦e romantic feelings for his friend, and the game gives you the choice for them to have a romantic option later in the game.
2 The Sims
The Sims is perhaps the most successful and long-running life simulation series that h♉as been available in gaming, and one notable aspect of the series is that it has always included queer representation as an option for the characters you create.
The development of the first Sims game, launched in 2000, was arduous, and a long-debated issue with developers was the choice of whether to include queer relationships or not. While it was chosen to be excluded, it was still coded in, and when a live demo at the E3 before the game launched displayed a lesbian kiss, it was too late for the featur💧e to be removed.
1 ꦫ Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic - Juhani ⛎
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The 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Star Wars multimedia franchise has been going for decades; however, the first openly queer character throughout every piece of Star Wa𓄧rs media was not confirmed until 2003.
Juhani is a party member in Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic and while there were bugs in the original game that made her more fluid in her sexuality, after some patches, she was confirmed to be attracted almost exclusively to female characters. This made it simple for a female protagonist to romance the character, but even if they didn't, Juhani is given a heavily implied romance with female NPC Belaya.