KNOWhomo

LGBTQ* Characters in Video Games

Jolly Roger (Nintendo 2000)

From the game Banjo-Tooie, Jolly Roger was a gay bartender created by Nintendo for their game series following the antics of Banjo and Kazooie. Jolly Roger sent the two on a quest to rescue his girlfriend, a cross-dressing amphibian, named Merry Maggie (pictured below).

LGBTQ* Video, Computer and Role-Playing Games

BIRDO —  The first transgender character in mainstream video games.

* Birdo first appeared in Super Mario Bros. 2 as a mini boss

* Nintendo’s first edition game manual read:

   He thinks he is a girl and he spits eggs from his mouth. He’d rather be called ‘Birdetta.’

* Later editions/reprints of the game would go on to drop all mention of gender

—> Games such as Super Mario Bros. Smash and Captian Rainbow still leave Birdo’s gender identity and expression fairly androgynous 

—> In Mario Tennis, Birdo was depicted as Yoshi’s girlfriend (arguably to mute the previous mention of Birdo’s gender and to create a “female” alternative to Yoshi)

(Thank You (!) to MrTwo for his insight. Future posts about POISON, Tekken’s trans* game character, to come at a later date.)

Huffington Post — LGBTQ Rights/Advancement in Video Games

(click image to make larger or go to: http://i.huffpost.com/gen/165024/GAY-RIGHTS-VIDEO-GAMES.jpg )