BioWare has been hooking up players with non-player character party members in its games for more than a decade, but there’s not been a strictly male-seeking-male option available until Dragon Age Inquisition‘s Dorian.
In a character profile recently posted to the Dragon Age Inquisition website (via Eurogamer), writer David Gaider discussed the sexuality of the outcast mage of the Tevinter Imperium, who’ll be joining the player’s quest when the third game in the series arrives this October.
Dorian is gay — he is, in fact, the first fully gay character I’ve had the opportunity to write. It added an interesting dimension to his back story, considering he comes from a place where “perfection” is the face that every mage puts on and anything that smacks of deviancy is shameful and meant to be hidden. Dorian’s refusal to play along with that façade is seen as stubborn and pointless by his family, which has contributed to his status as a pariah.
In a Twitter conversation yesterday, Gaider clarified that the phrase “fully gay” was not meant as a comment on bisexuality.
Between the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect and Dragon Age franchises, developer BioWare has developed a reputation for romancing. As soon as a new game is announced, the speculation about who can hook up with who begins.
Over the years there have been plenty of hetereosexual and bisexual relationship options presented. 2003’s Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic featured a lesbian romance with the character Juhani (though a bug in early versions allowed players of either gender to woo her). So many choices, but none of them involved a male party member that would only become involved with a male player character.
Now we’ve got Dorian. Thank goodness his hair doesn’t always look like that.
Comments
33 responses to “BioWare’s First Gay Male Party Member Debuts In Dragon Age Inquisition”
Awesome, I just hope he’s not ultra stereotyped.
I agree
A good step in the right direction for equality
Lets hope they don’t undermine their efforts by using a cookie-cutter stereotype
So they made him look like Freddy Mercury.
Freddie Mercury is a badass.. im okay with this
Bow to the queen baby
Besides having a moustache, I don’t really see the resemblance.
(and Freddie’s mo was way more awesome)
Wasn’t whatsisface in Mass Effect 3 a guy on guy only sort of guy? Or am I misremembering?
Maybe your commander shepard perhaps?
You mean Steve? I guess he doesn’t count cause he was only your pilot and not a combat companion.
Yeah, that makes sense. I’d forgotten he wasn’t a combat person, since I can only remember the walking around chatting parts of ME3.
The shuttle pilot, right? I barely even remembered this guy: http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Steve_Cortez
Yeah, but I guess they’re just making the destinction between a gay side-character or a gay main party member.
he wasn’t a party member though.
Lando Calrissian is in Dragon Age Inquisition?
Hello, what have we here?
And no one should care. You want to know why? Because, when it comes down to it, really, it dose not matter if there is a gay or straight or bi or trans character. See, as far as I am concerned, we will never get over sexism or racism or any other ism until people start to IGNORE those aspects of a person. None one should be caring if someone is gay or bi or straight or black or yellow. They should just get over it, and move on. A person should be who they are no matter what. We do not need video games, movies or books to tell us being gay is ok. What we need is people to just get over it, and not care about it. Your opinion of a person should not be based on if there gay or not. It should be based on the type of person they are. Weather there an ass hole or a nice person. Weather you get on with them or not. NOT weather or not they would suck there own dick if they could.
But then, people are stupid, and it will never work like that.
Sorry, my bad.
Sera’s been confirmed for the ladies — if you know what I mean *Mr. Bean face*.
Wasn’t Zevran the elven assassin from Dragon Age Origins gay? I seem to remember him hitting on me. It’s been a while since I played that game though.
That’s what I was thinking…
He did everything.
…EVERYTHING.
Yup, Zevran was gay. Except… he was actually bi. Which, apparently, means he’s ‘less gay’ or something? Maybe some weird LGBT internal politics shit there or something, but this is probably why this comment came up in the article:
Because people will have undoubtedly brought up Zevran and wanted to know why he didn’t count as being ‘the first gay male’, taking that as a commentary on where bisexuality fits into their definition of gay. Which is a very valid question.
So it’s absolutely a comment on their opinion of what counts as gay, but they’re trying to claim that it’s not because they didn’t MEAN it to be.
It’d be a lot like claiming Obama isn’t the first black president because he has a white parent and thus could equally be claimed as ‘white’. Sure, you can SAY that’s ‘not a comment’ on what does or doesn’t define ‘black’ because you don’t want to have to justify your position or have that conversation, but it’s absolutely a fucking comment.
Zevran was also a pretty damn camp stereotype, I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re trying to put that clumsiness behind them.
…so we’re getting another Anders?
and don’t advertise the game with this guy. Drawing attention to his homosexuality goes against the acceptance they’re trying to get by making it stand out.
I think that’s what a lot of folks thought was so awesome about the shuttle pilot in ME3.
It was like… it was no big deal. Here’s a guy, he’s your pilot, lost someone in the war, is gay, he holds his own and quips with the jock, basically just another human being, being a human, normal as anyone else. What else do you want to know?
Unlike Zevran, who almost felt like he was written by someone whose only exposure to homosexuality came from the Footy Show.
I REALLY liked that moment. He just out of the blue says ‘I lost my husband’. And that is that, it’s fact. He has PTSD, he lost his loved one, his husband. Big deal. It’s who he loves, gender had nothing to do with it. That was the sole most responsibly handled, maturely thought out gay representation in a bioware game at this point. Like others have said, if they avoid stereotypes, just have preferring men as part of the characters person, the character is who is he/is who she is and their sexuality is just part of their whole encompassing life, not the focus, then it’ll work.
Unless you make their sexuality the sole focus of their character, then you end up with a joke.
Which is what will happen…
“I’M GAY!”
“Yeah that’s cool and all but like I want to focus on killing this dragon…”
“I LIKE YOU!”
“Okay, but as I said…. Dragon…. over there”
“I ‘LIKE’ LIKE YOU!”
“Not interested… Dragon over there…. Burning villagers… Darkspawn…. So no”
**Player has -10,000 morality points for refusing Biowares shoveled down your throat romance**
What is with you people and the absolute obsession with things being shoved down your throats?
Wow…. You’re touchey about a pretty general turn of phrase.
In Bioware’s defense, they already do that. God knows my brother’s boyfriend was complaining that he very nearly ended up sleeping with some of the companions because he was just trying to be polite.
Exactly… There never seems to be a sorry not interested just want to play game option without a penalty. You cannot politely do it… Not to date anyway.
Romances in Bioware are becoming more of an anchor when it should be about the overall narrative.
And just for @aidan’s peace of mind I used the word “date” in referal to time not as colloquial slang for someones rectum…
What “penalty” are you talking about? It’s not like a measly five rivalry points is that much of a “penalty” anyway. I mean, the whole *point* of rivalry was that you could piss someone off so much that they’d still stick by your side and appreciate your different point of view. Heck, there are different versions of the romances if you go full rivalry.
What? But how does that… I don’t..??
So your suggestion is to ‘promote acceptance’ by purposefully excluding him from marketing materials for the game, because he’s gay?
I mean sure, there’s no need to advertise it as “Dragon Age Inquisition, starring GAY DUDE! (And also you play as someone else too or something)”, but ‘drawing attention’ to him being gay as ONE ASPECT of his character alongside the other aspects of other characters as part of an ENSEMBLE CAST is perfectly reasonable. I mean, Iron Bull is apparently a huge man-ho but nobody cried tears of equality over that.
Would you say the same thing if they used a heterosexual romance in the advertising?
It’s not a bloody romance simulator….
Guess I’m not buying this game.