Everyone wants to see a little bit of representation of themselves and their identities in their favorite forms of media, and video games are no exception. For the most part, the inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters at all is more of a recent trend, with transgender characters falling behind even further.
However, there are quite a few games out there that feature transgender characters, though some are more obviously-represented than others. Some are just being themselves and the fact they’re trans is never really brought to the forefront.
10 Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate’s Ned Wynert Lived His Truth By Night
Ned was from a well-to-do family in New York City, where played the part of the dutiful daughter in the day despite the fact he couldn’t stand living as the gender he was assigned at birth. He would sneak out at night presenting as a man and found a more suitable life among the thieves and petty criminals of the world.
Eventually, he became an important businessman and helped Jacob and Evie after they hijacked cargo from the Blighters, a Templar-affiliated organization. That means that the Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate character Ned Wynert is an ally of the protagonists and thus portrayed as of one of the good guys.
9 Baldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear Featured The Healer Mizhena
Mizhena is a dual-classed fighter/cleric priest of Tempus who fights against the Crusade, acting as a mobile healing and restoration unit. Due to the fact that Mizhena was the first and only openly transgender character in the series, her inclusion caused a bit of controversy and friction.
However, she has a similar story as many transgender folks in real life, where she was assigned male at birth and raised as a boy. She eventually transitioned and made her own name, finding meaning in the purest form for herself regardless of what the rest of the world says.
8 Deltarune’s One And Only Kris
The protagonist of the Undertale sequel Deltarune Kris is a human who started out in a regular world and fell into a world of darkness, where their nondescript attire is swapped for a suit of armor and a cape.
The player has control over Kris at nearly every point throughout the game, and their actions dictate the progression of the story, just like in Undertale. It is never explicitly stated that they are transgender, but it’s easy to pick out by way Kris is written; after all, the game only ever uses they/them pronouns for Kris, placing the character outside the conventional gender binary. It’s a nice reprieve from the incessant need to put identity in the forefront of media.
7 The Iron Bull’s Second Krem Leads The Charge In Dragon Age: Inquisition
Cremisius Aclassi, more commonly known as Krem, is a mercenary featured in Dragon Age: Inquisition. He’s the second-in-command of the Iron Bull’s Chargers company, proving he’s one heck of a fighter.
When Krem came of age, his mother pressured him to marry the son of a wealthy merchant in order to save the family from squalor, but Krem had other plans. He bribed a healer to conceal his gender so that he could join the military in Tevinter. Eventually, he was caught and driven from his homeland, but was then picked up by the Iron Bull and clearly, that worked out just fine.
6 Grand Theft Auto V’s Peach Provides Subtle Representation
Peach is another character who’s never explicitly stated to be transgender, but considering that dialing her number in Grand Theft Auto V does nothing, she’s voiced by a male actor, and she cannot be invited back to the player’s apartment, it’s a common fan theory that Peach is a trans woman. The player can interact with Peach at the Vanilla Unicorn club, where she works as a stripper.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with her profession or inclusion, as she’s never shown being forced to do anything and therefore everything is consensual. It’s actually a relief that she exists at all to some very real people in similar positions.
5 Heroes of Dragon Age’s Maevaris Tilani Is A Powerful Mage
Maevaris Tilani is the widow of Thorold, the late cousin of fan favorite Varric Tethras. She is a Tevinter Magister in Heroes of Dragon Age recognized by the Imperial Senate, and she’s been living as a woman since coming out at the age of fifteen. Despite the massive outrage it caused, her father, also a Magister, supported her transition — and paid the price.
Maevaris took her revenge on those who executed her father quietly, but still loudly enough to let the rest of the world know not to mess with her. She worked her way up and is one serious magical powerhouse because of it.
4 If Found… Is Devoted To Its Trans Protagonist Kasio
If Found is an interactive visual novel out for the Nintendo Switch. It follows the life of a trans woman named Kasio, beginning with her destroying her diary as she starts a trip home to Ireland. The game itself takes aspects of real-life Ireland and injects a number of sci-fi elements into the setting, to the point where a black hole is out to destroy the entire world and she has to find a way to stop it.
3 The Last Of Us Part II’s Lev Knows How To Survive
Lev is a deuteragonist of The Last of Us Part II, born with the name Lily. He was a former member of the Seraphites, though he questioned their traditions. When he was denied the right to be a soldier despite his sister being allowed to go, he comes out as a trans man and renames himself Lev.
It ended up not being the smartest choice, as both Lev and his sister Yara were then exiled from the community. At least Abby Anderson picked them up and helped them out.
2 Super Mario And The Iconic Birdo
Birdo first appeared as an enemy in Super Mario Bros. and is arguably one of the first transgender video game characters ever. The game’s own manual explained that Birdo thought that she was female and would spit eggs at the player. She also preferred to go by Birdette, and in her Japanese incarnations was initially called Catherine.
In later appearances in the Mario series, she was just referred to with female pronouns exclusively and is often seen alongside Yoshi.
1 Tell Me Why’s Protagonist Tyler Is A Breath Of Fresh Air
Tell Me Why is a breathtaking game with a pair of identical twins, Alyson and Tyler, as protagonists. The central mystery of the game never really makes a big deal out of Tyler’s gender identity, and that’s great. Instead, it focuses on the family secrets the Ronan twins are trying to untangle.
Tyler himself is polite and outgoing but has some serious trust issues with most people, except his sister. This alone makes him incredibly relatable to transgender individuals from similar situations, where the only real support they received growing up was from a sibling. The game has made waves with its representation of Tyler, and for good reason. He feels so real.
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