On the occasion of the Pride Month, the editors of the Last Tavern invite you to familiarize yourself with our favorite LGBT + characters and plots in fantasy. Maybe something will inspire you to reach for a previously unknown title or to return to a long-unread comic book or series.
Fantasy is an infinite number of possibilities, these are more or less likely stories that help to understand the world from different perspectives. These are stories that wonder “what if”.
Fantasy stories have commented on politics and social affairs since proto-fantasy. Fantastyka took up the topics of discrimination and justice, and created images of the future. X-men comics, published since the 1960s, took up the subject of racism (here: mutants discriminated against by humans), just like the popular series about discovering the cosmos – Star Trek. Star Trek commented on the social reality in the US, presented its better version in the world of the future, so barely a year after the legalization of interracial marriages, despite the station’s objections, a scene with an interracial kiss between Lieutenant Uhura and Captain Kirk appeared on TV screens.
No wonder that LGBT + characters and threads appear in fantasy, showing the diversity of people and aliens, different social systems. Lesbians, gays, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, transgender, intersex or otherwise inconsistent with the stereotypes of the appearance and role of (cis) women and (cis) men have long been present in fantasy – as characters and creators.
Haruka Tenoh (Sailor Uranus) and Michiru Kaioh (Sailor Neptune) – Sailor Moon
Powspominajmy. Zapewne spora część naszych Czytelników w niniejszym lub większym stopniu pamięta „dzikie lata 90.” – czasy tuż po transformacji ustrojowej, kiedy to (w ogromnym uproszczeniu) nasz kraj otworzył się na świat, a Polacy mali i duzi niczym gąbka chłonęli kolorowe treści i towary zza Żelaznej Bramy, dotąd całkowicie niedostępne. Kiedy więc w 1995 roku nowy gracz na rodzimym rynku medialnym – Polsat – rozpoczął emisję Czarodziejki z Księżyca, szybko zapanowało sailorkowe szaleństwo; dla pokolenia dorastającego w tej dekadzie okazało się to nie tylko pierwszym kontaktem z „chińskimi bajkami”, ale też istotnym elementem doświadczenia tożsamościowego. A były to treści – zarówno anime, jak i poprzedzająca je manga – pod wieloma względami przełomowe.
Drużyna senshi, z tytułową wojowniczką na czele, walczyła przede wszystkim w imię miłości i sprawiedliwości, stąd też nie powinien dziwić ani inkluzywny charakter opowieści, ani otwartość na przeróżne „tęczowe” motywy*. Przykłady można mnożyć: związek książąt Kunzite i Zoisite, płynną tożsamość płciową Rybiego Oka, insynuowaną biseksualność senshi, czy… w zasadzie wszystko, co dotyczy wątku Sailor Starlights. Postanowiłam jednak wyróżnić wojowniczki z Urana i Neptuna – Harukę i Michiru (bynajmniej nie tylko dlatego, że są to moje ulubione postacie, choć nie jest to bez znaczenia). Choć Uran i Neptun pojawiają się początkowo jako tajemnicze postaci o ambiwalentnych motywacjach i moralności, czasem stając w opozycji do reszty drużyny, innym razem zaś walcząc u ich boku, jedno pozostaje niezmienne: są nierozłączne. Mimo że, jak to w przypadku Sailor Moon bywa, backstory wojowniczek mówi przede wszystkim o astralnym połączeniu, przepowiedniach i przeznaczeniu, głęboka zażyłość Haruki i Michiru manifestuje się też w całkiem przyziemny sposób – widać ją w czułych gestach, spojrzeniach, drobnych zazdrościach i figlarnych przekomarzankach. Ot, najzwyczajniej w świecie – dwie kochające się** kobiety.
* It is worth noting that the issue of sexuality and gender identification was not the only factor that determined the existence of individual characters (as is the case with the so-called “token” representatives and representatives of minorities). However, it was subject to censorship – in many circles, “inconvenient” content was masked by skipping controversial episodes or cutting scenes, changing the content of dialogues, and even … the gender of non-heteronormative characters. Japan was the only country where Sailor Moon was broadcast without the interference of censors.
** No, not my cousins. 😉 – Joanna Biernacik
Orlando – League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Orlando is an extraordinary figure for many reasons. It is modeled mainly on the title character of Virginia Woolf’s novel The Life of Orlando –XVI-wiecznym szlachcicu, który w tajemniczy sposób zmienia płeć, co staje się pretekstem do refleksji nad różnicami w traktowaniu przez społeczeństwo mężczyzn i kobiet. Jak to jednak bywa z postaciami ze świata Ligi…, komiksowa wersja Orlando nawiązuje do wielu różnych dzieł.
It turns out that Orlando not only lived to the present day, but is also well over three thousand years old. Born as Bio, daughter of the bard Tiresias (known for example from Antigone) in ancient Thebes, at the age of ten, she turned into a boy who took the name Bion. From then on, the gender of the hero / heroine changed at irregular intervals. In turn, a bath in the magical spring of youth ensured him / her longevity. Over the centuries, this character took many names and experienced a huge number of adventures in different parts of the world, alongside the greatest heroes, including Beowulf, Siegfried, Sinbad and King Arthur. He also came into possession of the latter’s famous sword, although even the other members of the League found it hard to believe in its authenticity until she used it in her fight against the Antichrist. Orlando is one of the people who were part of the first incarnation of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. His / her courage, fencing and shooting skills and the combat experience gained during numerous wars cannot be underestimated. On the other hand, however, three millennia of life meant that Orlando considers all the conflicts in which he was (a) involved senseless and never felt hesitant to change sides. It is possible that he feels loyalty more than to the League to Mina Murray and Alan Quatermain, with whom he has been in a polyamorous relationship for several decades. It cannot be denied that he is a complicated and complex character whose achievements are equal to his ego and a tendency to confabulate. – that more than to the League, he feels loyal to Mina Murray and Alan Quatermain, with whom he has been in a polyamorous relationship for several decades. It cannot be denied that he is a complicated and complex character whose achievements are equal to his ego and a tendency to confabulate. – that more than to the League, he feels loyal to Mina Murray and Alan Quatermain, with whom he has been in a polyamorous relationship for several decades. It cannot be denied that he is a complicated and complex character whose achievements are equal to his ego and a tendency to confabulate. –Damian „Nox” Lesicki
Ed – Cowboy Bebop
Ed is a child whom little is known about, and at the same time a character without whom the Bebop crew would not be the same. Although she has a girl’s body, she doesn’t seem to pay too much attention to the idea of gender, as well as to other social norms and, in general, to most of what goes on in the fleshy world. Above all, he is a brilliant hacker who spends most of his time in cyberspace, where his real life takes place. He identifies as “Ed” always using the third person singular. – Damian “Nox” Lesicki
Wątki LGBT w serialu animowanym She-Ra i księżniczki mocy
When cartoonist and producer Noelle Stevenson unveiled the first artwork for She-Ry and the Princesses of Power , she was hit by a wave of criticism for how visually it differed in character design from the original 1985 series.
The first episodes (and then the next four seasons) showed that Stevenson and her team thought carefully about how to introduce the title princesses (and Bow!) Not only visual variety, but also their characters, so that as many young viewers as possible could identify with them .
Stevenson did not hesitate to introduce characters who identify themselves in the LGBT + spectrum.
The series features a pair of princesses, Netossa and Spinnerella, who, it turns out in later episodes, are married. It’s a very warm relationship. Both heroines take great care of each other, even in the face of war. However, this does not prevent them from competing with each other on the battlefield in the number of defeated opponents.
Another same-sex married couple shown on the show are Bow fathers, George and Lance.
In season four, the first non-binary character, Double Trouble, was presented, which in the original version uses the pronoun they (in this case it is a singular form, often used by non-binary speakers who speak English). Double Trouble has the ability to change shape into any character, it considers itself an actor and the whole world its stage.
The extremely complicated relationship between Catra and Adora deserves a detailed description in a separate text. With each episode, both characters begin to realize how much they care about each other. And here comes the turn that many fans of the series were waiting for. Noelle Stevenson gives them an ending in which first friends and then rivals find their way to each other and profess love when the world around them begins to fall apart. – Aleksandra Kozłowska
Holiday i Lofty – My Little Pony
The creators of the animated series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic decided to take up the LGBT theme in their production. They did it thanks to the characters of Aunt Lofta and Aunt Holiday – the heroines who form a lesbian relationship. In the episode entitled The Last Crusade, two adult characters look after baby Scootaloo. The news that the new characters are LGBT characters was confirmed by one of the series’ producers – Michael Vogel, who is himself a homosexual – via Twitter and BuzzFeed. Vogel said the idea was born while collaborating with the show’s creators Nicole Dubuc and Josh Haber:
“Nicole and I thought it was a great moment to organically introduce a couple of LGBTQ to our show. We asked Hasbro for permission and got it. My Little Pony has always been about the friendship and acceptance of people (or ponies) who are different from you. So we felt it was something important, something we had to do. ” – Kamil Sawicki
Wolverine and Hercules – the Earth-12025 universe
Over the years, comic book writers are more and more willing to create ethnically diverse characters of virtually any sexual orientation. Unfortunately, completely new and unknown heroes can fall under the pressure of those who have been readers’ favorites for decades. Of course, you can take a mainstream character and make some “modifications” to it, but such treatments are usually criticized by die-hard fans. So what to do to use a common name and rewrite something at the same time? The multiverse comes to the rescue – a collection of virtually infinite alternative versions of the world. An example is the Marvel’s Earth-12025, which is inhabited by the Governor General of Canada James Howlett (i.e. the local version of Wolverine) and Hercules. This world is technologically similar to ours at the end of the 19th century. Here, the British queen banned same-sex relationships, and Zeus forbade his kinsmen to bond with people (of course, this was not the case). So what makes the heroes of this world different from those of Earth-616 (Marvel’s main world)? Well, the aforementioned Howlett and Hercules, forced to hide their orientation, finally reveal themselves in a truly romantic way – with the carcass of the giant dragon they defeated earlier. When news of his son and a mutant from Canada came to him, Zeus was so furious that he sent them both to Tartarus. There, for years, they fought together the souls of the damned, and then began their journey and struggle in various corners of the multiverse. – So what makes the heroes of this world different from those of Earth-616 (Marvel’s main world)? Well, the aforementioned Howlett and Hercules, forced to hide their orientation, finally reveal themselves in a truly romantic way – with the carcass of the giant dragon they defeated earlier. When news of his son and a mutant from Canada came to him, Zeus was so furious that he sent them both to Tartarus. There, for years, they fought together the souls of the damned, and then began their journey and struggle in various corners of the multiverse. – So what makes the heroes of this world different from those of Earth-616 (Marvel’s main world)? Well, the aforementioned Howlett and Hercules, forced to hide their orientation, finally reveal themselves in a truly romantic way – with the carcass of the giant dragon they defeated earlier. When news of his son and a mutant from Canada came to him, Zeus was so furious that he sent them both to Tartarus. There, for years, they fought together the souls of the damned, and then began their journey and struggle in various corners of the multiverse. – There, for years, they fought together the souls of the damned, and then began their journey and struggle in various corners of the multiverse. – There, for years, they fought together the souls of the damned, and then began their journey and struggle in various corners of the multiverse. –Krzysztof Płociński
Theo – Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina series tells the story of a teenage half-witch, half-mortal girl who attends two schools at the same time: a college for witches and an ordinary human high school. He does not want to give up any of these worlds, because he has friends in both of them and identifies himself with both, but also does not want to be negatively assessed through the prism of belonging to one of them. Greendale is clearly not yet ready to live in harmony with witches, witches also do not fully trust mortals, but Sabrina’s closest friends accept the truth over time.
Producenci serialu stworzyli pełnokrwiste postacie, które mają różnorodne pochodzenie, orientację seksualną czy tożsamość jak Roz, Prudence, Ambrose czy Theo Putnam, pozwalając wielu widzom identyfikować się z bohateami. Theo to osoba transpłciowa, w pierwszym sezonie decyduje się powoli wyjść z szafy i żyć w zgodzie ze sobą. Netflix postawił tutaj na autentyczność i w tej roli obsadził Lachlan Watson, jedną z najmłodszych niebinarnych i panseksualnych osób aktorskich w Hollywood. Producenci dali Lachlan dużą wolność w kreowaniu bohatera i pozwolili czerpać ze swych życiowych doświadczeń i. Jego przynależność jest płynna i wciąż ewoluuje. Aktor czasem czuje się bardziej kobietą, a niekiedy mężczyzną. Jest feministą i walczy o równość ludzi. Nie dba o to, jaką kto ma płeć i chce, by ludzie postrzegani byli przez swoją duszę i przez to, jacy są jako osoby, a nie jak wyglądają czy w jaki sposób wyrażają siebie. Bardzo ważne w kontekście reprezentacji osób LGBT+ w kulturze popularnej jest przedstawienie coming outu Theo. Został on wysłuchany i zrozumiany. Theo zaakceptowali nie tylko najbliżsi przyjaciele, ale też nękający go koledzy w szkole i (a może: przede wszystkim) jego ojciec. Dotychczas w innych filmowych i serialowych produkcjach taka reakcja należała do rzadkości. Ujawniające się młode osoby często spotykały się z odrzuceniem, rodzinnymi awanturami, a nawet wyrzuceniem z domu. Ten nowy obraz może dodać odwagi do rozmowy, a także lepszego poznania i akceptacji siebie. – Aga Bot
Ambrose – Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
Ambrose, in turn, is the cousin of the main character of the series and the wizard we meet when he is trapped in a binding spell in the Spellman house after an unsuccessful attempt to blow up the Vatican. He works in his aunts’ factory as a gravedigger, but in the seasons his fate changes. The Sorcerer is an insanely bright, witty and positive character, and above all, he always supports Sabrina – even in the strangest and most dangerous situations. He always serves her advice and becomes the confidant of her secrets.
Spellman willingly takes part in orgies of both sexes, but he bestowed his greatest love on another wizard, Luke Chalfant. Their idyllic relationship was interrupted by Luke’s death. Ambrose also finds himself embroiled in a fleeting relationship with Prudence. – Mateusz Michałek
Jack Harkness – Doktor Who
Doctor Who is an example of a series that has been teaching us tolerance in the broad sense for years, and its creators easily weave well-written and extremely interesting LGBT + characters into the plot. Most of them are perfect examples of how fantasy can tackle such difficult topics without losing the fun of the BBC series.
Jack Harkness, who appeared in the Ninth era, became by far the most popular queer character. The captain appeared in many later episodes, as well as in the spin-off – Torchwood. Jack is a typical action hero, extremely charming and full of personal charm. He is the first openly pansexual character in the series, thanks to which we observe his intimate relationships with men and women throughout the seasons, and his approach to other characters, especially the Doctor, should often be assessed as at least ambiguous. – Mateusz Michałek