How come there are no positive gay or lesbian characters in games?

[Trivun]

i figure their should be at least one gay "action hero"
some guy who rips aliens to pieces and blasts his way through a whole bunch of crap and then at the end grabs his obligatory sidekick and shoves his tongue down his throat.
not even just in games, in movies, tv and literature gays have no action heros. sometimes they get gay sidekicks, but never particularily tough ones. The closest thing to a gay action hero i've ever seen is the cowboys on brokeback mountain. and they wern't action heros at all, just tough guys.

I take it from that comment you've never seen Torchwood? (That said, I don't know what country you live in and Torchwood is a UK series, so you may not know anything about it...).

Anyway, on topic. There are some cases where gay characters are portrayed in a positive light, just not in gaming. That said, some games do have gay characters in some way. It's just a question of whether it is outright or merely implied, and usually it is the latter. It would be nice to see gays portrayed as major protagonists in games, but that should be at the discretion of the developer, and should be there for the purposes of telling a story and approaching the subject in an honest way. It shouldn't just be put in there for the sake of being there. Pandering to people, to anyone, does no favours in the long run. Here's an example.

The UK television show Skins follows a group of teenagers and their day-to-day lives. It's basically a drama with various stereotypes portrayed. In the recent series (3rd series), there was a storyline wherein a character was revealed to be a closet lesbian, fighting her feelings for another female member of the main group. The producers could have approached the subject in a sterotypical way and done it for the sake of having 'controversial' characters. However, they didn't. They approached the subject, in this case teenage sexuality, in a sensitive and mature way and I was really pleased when watching the show that they were so mature in their handling of such a storyline. That said, I was also pleased when the young couple did get together at the end of the series. But that's beside the point.

In short, what I'm saying is, gay characters are just like everybody else, so why not have them in a storyline? Why not have them in a game? All that needs to happen is that the developers approach the subject, and indeed any potentially 'controversial' subject, with maturity and in the right way. That way everybody's happy. Except the ultra-conservative ignorant douches. And who cares about them anyway, eh?

 

[Tech Team FTW!]

It just occurred to me that very few games have gay or lesbian characters.

Did it perhaps occur to you that this may be because there are few gays/lesbians out there?

There aren't many invading alien forces, or post apocalyptic waste lands either

My point is that developers make games tailored to their audience, and the gamer demographic is a tiresomely predictable one. Any game content that strays too far from the proven formula tends to fail miserably, so for now we must put up with the likes of Florian Cravic/Bernie Crane from GTA 4.

 

[IamSARAhearMYgrr]

Because no one wanted to create a game that may possibly offend it's viewers. Alot of people in America view homosexuality as wrong so of course they aren't going to want to play a game with gay people in it... others like myself could care less either way!

 

[high_castle]

It's not that there are NO gay or lesbian characters out there. RPGs and Life Simulators are starting to branch into alternate pathways. Fable and the Sims both allowed gay or bisexual characters. But because those characters were in the hands of the player, someone who was skittish about homosexuality didn't have to pursue those relationship, while someone who wanted a gay main character could go out and create one. That's a positive first step, but still not enough.

Personally, I'd like to see a gay main character in an action or FPS game. For everyone who says sexuality doesn't come into play during these games, how many times has a love interest been jammed down our throats? It might not change the gameplay, but it does change the story. And I'm sick of that particular story. It's been told a million times. Personally, I think some of the indie game makers will be the first to explore the issues, and then gradually it will trickle into mainstream games. It's only a matter of time, really. Homosexuality is gaining broader recognition and acceptance.

On a related note, for a great portrayal of gay and lesbian characters in fiction, check out The Steel Remains by Richard K Morgan. Two out of the three main characters are gay. One is probably the most respected swordsman in the country to boot. The book did a great job of exploring homosexuality in an era of repression. No stereotypes here. The main character could/did kick serious ass in a fight. I think this model would transfer well to gaming, since his sexuality doesn't make him less of a fighter, and in fact gives him something to fight for.

 

[hippykiller]

It just occurred to me that very few games have gay or lesbian characters.
There are one or two exceptions to this, Fable 2 being the only one I can think of off hand, though I don't think this should count, as your character's choices are controlled by the player.
How members of the gay and lesbian community here feel about this?
Do you care?

well besides Fable there are others. like that gay guy from GTA 4 he was positive. but that is all that comes to mind.

Dude, the guys lack of control over his sexual impulses, need to be pampered by his sugar daddy and effeminate disposition served as the main problems for most of your encounters with him. Just being not a villain doesn't automatically make him positive.

well he sure was happy all the time lol.

 

[hippykiller]

It just occurred to me that very few games have gay or lesbian characters.
There are one or two exceptions to this, Fable 2 being the only one I can think of off hand, though I don't think this should count, as your character's choices are controlled by the player.
How members of the gay and lesbian community here feel about this?
Do you care?

well besides Fable there are others. like that gay guy from GTA 4 he was positive. but that is all that comes to mind.

Good point. I liked the fact that guy gave me a freaking Lamborghini.

i know, THAT WAS FREAKING AWESOME! but i got it blown up like ten minutes after i got it lol.

 

[Zombie Badger]

Jade Empire has both, but if you could finish any of the romance subplots you were better at it than me.

 

[Sparrow]

Hmmm. Bernie Crane from GTA IV pops to mind.

Though thats it. Reaver from Fable II is one, but he's a bit of a prick really.

 

[Lord_Ascendant]

becuase the game industry is slightly homophobic

 

[emh204]

k sorry

 

[emh204]

jewpride gets the idea

 

[quack35]

Um... who gives a shit?

Sexuality isn't that important.

 

[Internet Kraken]

There is no reason for a game character to have a same sex relationship.

Unless the relationship is a key part of the plot, then there would be no reason to have the characters be gay. It would be the same as throwing in a straight relationship between two characters when it's not relevant to the games plot.

 

[Internet Kraken]

Um... who gives a shit?

Sexuality isn't that important.

Also, this.

 

[Kyouran]

OK, let me get this straight: if, as most of you keep saying, it "doesn't matter" then why AREN'T there any positive gay/lesbian characters? You just said it doesn't matter either way, so where are they? Stop fudging the issue; what you mean is "it's hard to find a defensible reason to have a gay/lesbian character in a game so it's safer not to chance it".

The simple reason there aren't any is simple: all games developers are either homophobic or scared of getting the homophobes offside. To be fair it's probably more often the latter than the former. Games developers know that if they DID make a game with a notable and positive gay/lesbian character in a major role then the bigoted homophobes in the community would start jumping up and down screaming "BAN THIS SICK UNGODLY FILTH" like a bunch of shaved weasels with tourettes. And frankly, they're too scared of the trouble this will cause them so they don't try it. It's sad and pathetic really, even so-called "controversial" developers like Rockstar are really only interested in seeing how far they can push the envelope in violence, nudity and sex.

I'm just going to kneecap this whole argument by reminding you that Samus Aran is a lesbian.