Nintendo Characters Break Gender Norms

One of Nintendo’s earlier additions to the LGBT character list, flirty Birdo is transgender. It is stated, not so tastefully, in the Super Mario Bros. 2 manual: “He thinks he is a girl and he spits eggs from his mouth. He’d rather be called ‘birdetta.” In Japan, she prefers to be called Cathy and is often referred to as a he. In America, she is represented and referred to as female with no reference to her transgenderism.

Our gentle shadow side-kick is another of Nintendo’s transgender characters but gets this aspect of their character omitted from the American release. When Goombella uses her tattle on Vivian in the Japanese version, she assesses that: “Of the shadow group, she’s the youngest sister… er, brother.” In the Japanese party menu, Vivian is described as: “One of the Shadow group, Vivian appears to be a girl but is really a boy.” She is made fun of by her sisters for being a boy and a ‘cross-dresser’.

These adorable and mysterious creatures choose the gendered appearance they’d like to portray but are sexless. Producer Hayashida states: “This is maybe a little bit of a strange story, but we never really went out of our way to decide the sex of these characters, even though they have somewhat gendered appearances,”. This species leads a freeing lifestyle not dictated by biological sex.

No, he’s not explicitly gay but it is heavily implied by his outfit and sing-song speech that he could be. At the very least, he’s a male character that presents himself femininely. He breaks the binary by this fact alone.

This character is another case of heavy implications of sexuality. Fans interpret him as gay due to his theatrical and dramatic mannerisms. His confidence and bravado make him a memorable reference for those who wish to stand out no matter their sexual orientation.

Everyone knows this lovely lady. She is a momentous occasion not just for Breath of the Wild but for all of Zelda history. Whether she’s transgender or in drag is ambiguous, but that doesn’t take away from how transparently she’s crushing gender binaries.

Alongside our feminine men is an entire society of masculine and powerful women. These girls are warriors, teachers, lovers, mothers, business owners, adventurers, and leaders. They promote a safe and empowering city where all women are welcome… and Gorons too I guess.

After the first trailer for Breath of the Wild in 2014, rumors speculated that Link would be a girl in the next release due to his feminine like appearance. As we now know, Link remained biologically male. In a ‘Time Magazine’ interview with Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma, he stated, “Back during the Ocarina of Time days, I wanted Link to be gender neutral. I wanted the player to think ‘Maybe Link is a boy or a girl.’ If you saw Link as a guy, he’d have more of a feminine touch. Or vice versa, if you related to Link as a girl, it was with more of a masculine aspect. I really wanted the designer to encompass more of a gender-neutral figure. So I’ve always thought that for either female or male players, I wanted them to be able to relate to Link.”
“During the development of Twilight Princess, I went a different route and created a version of Link that was more masculine. But after Twilight Princess I went back to the drawing board and decided Link should be a more gender-neutral character. Hence, I created the version of Link that you see in Breath of the Wild. As far as gender goes, Link is definitely a male, but I wanted to create a character where anybody would be able to relate to the character.”

Even the sweet anthropomorphic animals of Animal Crossing have their genders altered in the localization process. One of them being Gracie, or in Japan, Grace. According to the Japanese Animal Crossing official website, the fashionista is actually a he. His profile states: “Oh, and just so you know, Grace is a he!”

The roommate of Jeff in Earthbound, who is a young and average gay kid living day to day as best he can. If nothing in the game made his sexual orientation obvious, well that was the intent. In an interview with Itoi, he states: “Well, for example, there’s a gay person in MOTHER 2. A really passionate friend who lives in an England-like place. I designed him to be a gay child. In a normal, real-life society, there are gay children, and I have many gay friends as well. So I thought it would be nice to add one in the game, too.” 

These mystical beings are tied to no physical category. According to Alec, they’re quite indescribable. “They’re neither human nor beast, neither man nor woman. I have absolutely no idea how old they are. That explanation didn’t explain much, did it? Basically, they’re strange.” Their character designs seem to be based off the Japanese stereotypes of a cross-dresser. They all have facial hair, a mix of masculine and feminine presentation, and require make-up for their PSI to work effectively. It’s hard to say whether they’re non-binary, androgynous, intersexual, or a mix of the three.