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How come only boys are allowed to be Master Chief fans? I'm nonbinary and there aren't any nonbinary characters as prominent as Master Chief. Plus he's already a queer icon so why can't I like him as a fellow asexual?
Here's a crazy idea. Maybe videogame characters are separate from you and it doesn't matter if they're male, female, non-binary, etc. I always empathized (or didn't) with characters if I found their problems/feelings relatable. Their sexuality or whatever couldn't be less important.
But also having ones who you can relate to due to their shared characteristics with you is also important.
As a dude, seeing a fictional dude overcome his traumas and become a better person is heartening.
As a member of the queer community, seeing a fictional character who's also a member of the queer community learn who they are and learn to express themselves to others as who they are is inspiring.
Or seeing either of those characters go about their heroes journey while having those traits is also greatly inspirational.
For some people having the characters be more relatable to them in personal traits helps them to put themselves in their shoes. For others it's not that important. Both are are perfectly valid ways of going about it.
Accepting who you are and overcoming obstacles is something that happens to literally everyone. It doesn't have to happen to someone "like you" to empathize with it. Don't you think that's a bit narcissistic?
I empathized and found solace in life is strange and Max is pretty clearly written to be a lesbian. I empathized with the lone traveler in Outer Wilds and I'm not an alien. Same thing for the relationship between Dante and Vergil in DmC (even though my sibling isn't a half-demon) and various characters in TLoU (frank, joel, henry, abby, ellie, etc).
Lastly, Master Chief isn't a "member" of any community (if 343 says he is, that's just because it's hip and it positively affects their bottom line, there's nothing on that topic in the actual games). That's just you projecting and his journey's success has nothing to with being queer, bi o heterosexual so I'm not sure how that's inspirational.
For some people having the characters be more relatable to them in personal traits helps them to put themselves in their shoes. For others it's not that important. Both are are perfectly valid ways of going about it.
One of those options is significantly more narrow-minded than the other.
There used to be some weird elitism that "video games are for boys" or something dumb like that. I'm not sure why maybe it was based on the subjects in video games but it's not as mainstream today as it used to be in the early 2000s, nowadays it's pretty widely accepted that gaming is typically gender neutral, or at least masc-neutral.
Maybe it's because video games used to be expensive and parents wouldn't drop that much money on a girl's toy unless it was traditionally feminine. In a patriarchal society, men have the privilege of gender neutrality
That is true, although in the early days (when they started being a thing in the late 70s) video games were something meant for the whole family, not just for the boys/kids and they were usually marketed to the family.
Never thought about it but it makes sense that he is nb I guess lol never played Halo
Chief isn't enby, he's ace