@@CosmicCake07 same, serena made me realize I was trans because I wanted to be her, not with her, I wanted to be with Ash even if he's a complete dork and sometimes asshole
I think part of it is also that even in the early generation games pokemon introduced kids to gender-nonconformity. For example, Bugsy: many kids learned was a boy after thinking he was a girl. In gen 5, N was specifically designed to be a sort of bishounen, androgynous man. Tate and Liza look nearly identical despite being different genders. Also some gym leaders like Fantina and Elesa really have a campy look to their designs. Even though Pokemon's protagonists fit into more rigid binaries, the characters you meet often play with gender and loud expression in a way that can easily be read as queer. There's also the tale as old as time of "I'm gonna pick the other gender because I like their design," and many kids' first experiences with same-gender attraction was to pokemon characters. For example, when I was 13 and still learning about myself, I was playing Sun. I saw Lillie's interactions with my protagonist and immediately started reading it as gay. This is not only because of her lines and actions that could be read as flirting, but also the fact that she was this girl who was dictated on how she was supposed to dress and act. She hid a big secret from everyone other than the protagonist (Nebby), and her mother was not accepting of her. She was on the run and you were at her side every step of the way. While I've had a relatively kind queer journey in one of the most queer-accepting states in the US, she still felt relatable to me somehow. A year after I played Pokemon Sun, I came out as a lesbian.
I remember feeling very similarly about the fireworks scene with Shauna in X & Y. Learning that that scene plays out almost exactly the same way with the girl trainer (albeit with a less explicitly romantic connotation) definitely stirred something in me
@@stwbmc98I won't lie, still find it hilarious they give that scene, and then the Butler LITTERALLY hands you Protect(ion). As for Lillie, yeah I definitely agree. And honestly, Selene (female protagonist)x Lililie is probably my favorite ship in the series because of how they write the relationship in game, and how natural and wholesome it feels. And just cute.
@@TheDancingMudkip My dad took it well, but my mom said I was too young to be gay and that when I so much as bought a pride thing I was "shoving it in her face." Luckily over the years she turned around and became more accepting.
@@BookWyrmOnAString You're so right....how COULD I forget pokemon's biggest gay icon?? ORAS in general really was revolutionary for the gays with its redesigns, from Wallace to Maxie and Archie.
As someone who's aroace, I think one of the main reasons why Pokemon was very appealing to me was that it felt as a safe place. In a lot of other series and franchises, sometimes you'll see hints (or very in your face) allonormativity, how the good ending meant that boy and girl were together at the end. You could also stumble upon some misogyny, some clearer than others, when you'd seen women be sidelined and just be there to be an accessory. I don't remember ever feeling that in Pokemon games. Within the Pokemon world there are couples of course, and I'm sure there's bits and pieces that didn't age very well, but I never felt like the Pokemon narrative explicitly leaned into that being "the ideal" or "the only way". I liked that there was talks of love that went beyond just a romantic partner, especially with the bond of a trainer and a Pokemon. It felt like it told me I could be loved in ways that weren't just romantically and still be just as important and fulfilling. That I could go far and beyond with those friends and achieve great things on my own terms, with no need to "settle down" with someone at any point. My connections to others, be it Pokemon or humans, were just as valuable as any other.
Pokémon has never really been about romance. Mostly oneness with nature, comradery, and the human desire to be the very best. Sure, the shipping community is real, and plenty of characters are implied to be a thing, but overall, Pokemon is Pokémon.
Would’ve never noticed this without this comment. It’s so obvious that it totally escaped me. There is something rather aroace about it all, isn’t there?!
HECK YEAH. Also I've always headcanoned Ash as aroace and I saw awhile ago that they actually confirmed it in an interview awhile back YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Yes! You know how in our world everyone is obsessed about the romantic relationship between humans? In the Pokemon world everyone is obsessed about the relationship between humans and pokemon! Me growing up as an aroace in our society felt (and feels!) just like May in the beginning of Advanced saga! Everyone there is so obsessed about how people and pokemon SHOULD get together and love each other that she was so annoyed all time in her life because of that vibes of the environment! That was a true aroace tale. Incredible.
YESSS I FOUND MY PEOPLE i'm aroallo and now that i think about it almost all of my media hyperfixations even since i was itty bitty and didn't know that not being attracted to anyone was even an option have been ones that didn't really have canon romantic relationships involved, at least not with the main characters
It was Lillie that practically made me the way I am. I was just entering my teens when I played Pokémon Sun, and looking back now as a man hitting the 20's, I have Lillie to thank for. She made me learn that you don't need to be living under the expectations your parents set up. You can live to be your own you. My mom was one of those Asian moms who expects nothing but straight As, and while I know she was just looking out for me and my siblings hoping we succeed in life, we won't lie when we told each other how pressuring it is to be straight A students 24/7. Lillie was the one who woke me up it, and I practically became Gladion with my mom during COVID when circumstances made it harder for us to succeed. When Lillie started to talk about her feelings towards the player, I felt like I fell in love with her. So she became that character of "you changed my life, I am literally a fictional character." Then when I was around 17, I noticed people shipped Selene with Lillie more than Elio and Lillie. Was curious to know why, so I looked up dialogue for Lillie when the player is Selene, and sure enough she has the same romantic gestures toward Selene as she does with Elio. While I personally don't actively ship Selene and Lillie, even though I think Pokemon Company well agrees with the ship (GOTCHA), I can say for sure if someone were to ask me Lillie's romantic preference, I'd say "she definitely ain't straight." And then 19 hit...... look who found out they were bi.
Don't forget the scene with Lillie and Olivia, like they were very much implying Lillie wasn't straight there the camera hangs way too long for that not to be the case.
as a transfemme getting to play as the girl trainer was a really emotional experience as a child before i had other ways to express my femininity openly. i swear i damn near cried every time i started a new game
I remember in like 3rd or 4th grade I asked my friend why he always chose the male character in Pokémon, and he said he didn’t really know, he just preferred it. He came out as trans 4 years later.
And then I would always use the excuse... "I picked cuz I thought it'd be funny!!!! I swear I don't like being a girl!!! It's just that I don't want to beat up a girl in battle!!!" Denial at its finest...
@@AllanGuiHaya70 I mean, I’m comfortable with myself and my identity. But you can’t deny that the female characters typically have the better design options.
As an Autistic Person, I kind of read Autism from Nemona because her obsession with battle kind of reflects my obsessions with story writing and Pokémon. She is my favorite Rival because if I did live In Paldea I genuinely think I would battle with her endlessly. My team definitely wouldn't be as strong though LOL the games turn us into unstoppable forces of nature.
YES I LOVE NEMONA she's literally me with Mario Kart, down to being unbeatable to anyone that challenged me and then getting super excited when someone came along who wrecked my shit like 6 times in a row
Shout out to the mystery dungeon games that ask what gender you want to play as (not what gender you are) that literally only affects anything if you’re a pokemon with a gender difference (like Eevee with its tail)
Not quite. In the earlier titles some of the player Pokémon options were gender locked, even if the actual species isn't a single gender. More specifically... In the original Red and Blue rescue team games; Chikorita, Skitty, and Eevee cannot be chosen if the player character is a boy. ...even though Chikorita and Eevee are both way more likely to be male, and Skitty has a 25% chance to be male. And in Time, Darkness, and Sky; Vulpix, Eevee, and Skitty are only available if the player chooses to be a girl, while Shinx, Phanpy, and Riolu are only available if the player character is a boy. ...But both Phanpy and Shinx have a 50/50 gender split, and none of them are a single gender species.
@@CristataArt that's not entirely true. In PMD time/Darkness, all starters can be ether gender, but they had to make some space in the starter roster to include the new options in Sky, as they kept the questions and personalities the same. That's why Meowth and Munchlax are Partner only there and Skitty became female only.
The conclusion of the video reminded me of something that I heard in the video by Jessie Gender about trans/queer representation in Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse, and the fact that even if Gwen didn't have the trans flag in her room queer/trans people would have still connected with her and her experience because the way she is written is highly relatable to us and so it would be a sort of projected representation but would still feel like representation, because it acts on a way deeper level than just having a queer flag showing up on screen. And I think it's similar with what you're saying about pokemon, maybe it is us "making it queer", but just because the starting material itself is very good and we can connect with it on a deeper level even if it's not explicitly queer.
In my opinion, Pokemon is our era's collective diversity. Look at the insane research into things for single pokemon, and they are always respectful and responsible with pretty much all representation. Pokemon is for everyone, and lately especially, is made by everyone. Look into fan games, regions, fakemon, and even the myriad of ways to play official games made by the community. It's a nice reminder that community and collaboration helps us all.
I used Pokemon to escape my traumatic life. Trigger warning I was tortured as a child and I mean that literally, I was also abused in every way. At school I was bullied by the principal several teachers and most of my class. Just because I was gay. Pokemon was my only healthy escape, and it was the only place I could go to be safe without worrying about pain or dying. Edit: Y'all are so sweet, thank you. I am completely safe now other than being in the state I live in lol, but my home life is waaaaaay better and I'm an adult now. I also have a very healthy relationship.
Same here (without the physical abusement, i am sorry for what you’ve experienced). Pokemon is just a cool way of escapism and the diversity of creatures just makes it so everyone can have their gamestyle.
I hope u r in a much safer environment now. My condolences for the suffering u endured. Thank u for sharing ur story, takes guts to talk about that kind of trauma, especially with strangers on the internet. ❤️ I wish every day for u is better than the last
I personally love Gardevoir. They are a powerful, graceful Pokemon that can be male or female, and are valuable in most games they can appear in. Mega Gardevoir is even more amazing, partially because I'm a sucker for poofy dresses. I feel like Elite 4 Karen from Gen 2 said it best: strong or weak doesn't matter; win with your favorites. I think there's ideas, like identity and love, that apply to. Love matters and self matters. Be, and love, as you will.
As an aroace, one of the big things that appeals to me about Pokémon is that there's very little focus on sex (none lmao) and romance (yeah it shows up in the anime, but even the gags aren't that serious/obtrusive). As I got older and the world around me became more and more focused on sex and romance, it's nice to retreat to a world where the only things that matter are how you take care of your Pokémon and how good you are at battling. (And the Ace Trainer jokes I can make.)
I'm personally appreciative that I can simply play Pokemon with my favorite birds and not have to worry about dancing around dialogue or actions that could lock me into romance routes. I had Corviknights and Talonflames to admire, shinies to find, and worlds to save!
I'm queer and autistic, and i adore pokemon with my whole heart. Its my special interest, im super passionate about almost every aspect, I even care about the human characters more than the pokemon. It is kind of a shame that pokemon itself will never acknowledge the coding though. The human and even pokemon characters that are pretty damn queer are amazing and plentiful, there are so many just casual examples of it too. Volo having long hair in a more "feminine" style, Melli being so beautiful and gender neutral, Penny being the most autistic character ive ever seen, Arven being obviously aroace, and stuff like Nemona being so in love with Juliana but not the mc makes me so happy, only for it to never be acknowledged. For example, Cogita. An underrated character that im convinced im the only person to know is a raging divorced lesbian. In an obscure sidequest in a room most people wont know about you take a quest and find a journal in the icelands, guarded by a Froslass. What i noticed is that the author off the journal had a near identical writing style to the Old Verses, another reasonably obscure series of poems that was so obviously written by Cogita. The journal describes Cogita's beloved, someone shes romantically with, as looking like a Froslass. A small queer connection hidden under so many steps that i barely even figured out myself. I love pokemon. I love pokemons queerness. I could go on about the queer characters for hours, but only for them to be forgotten about so easily :((
I think there's something to say about like, how the game mechanics aren't queer but a lot of the designs are. Like, Rika p's popularity with women is not an accident, you know?
15:13 Not in PLA! When I finally was like "Oh shit, I might be a little fruity" I realized I could give my character (originally a boy) all the feminine clothing and hairstyles I wanted!
@@SuspiciousZorua well, they don’t change the pronouns, so if you had picked the boy character, the characters would just be like “hello boy man dude bro”
I will never forget being asked The Question as a kid in Crystal. Not only was it my first time getting to choose the gender of my character, but it actually did make me stop for a moment. Was it okay if I, a boy(at the time), picked the girl character? Was it okay that I *wanted* to? It's stupid, looking back on it, but to my little kid brain, a world quietly started to open up. That started my trend of playing female characters every chance I was given, and when I finally had that moment of accepting myself as who I am, that question ran back through my brain at the end. Really hit me how I made the right choice, all those years ago.
This was really well put together, and the music choices were SOLID. Driftveil City for the intro, and Cynthia's piano coming in at the perfect time to buildup to Cynthia herself showing up.
One of the things I think that helps a lot is the fact that while there are a lot of characters who "flag" being queer including the kalos girl who used to be a fighting king, but for the large part all the queer characters just exist, they are like everyone else just a normal part of the pokemon world. The fact that it's not called out is something I think that helps a lot, since pokemon is first and foremost and escapist fantasy world we can go to for fun and to get away from life.
As someone who aroace, the answer is just simple. It’s fun, I just enjoy the adventure each time with these “monsters”. Every playthrough I grow a bond with them and the memories with them I’ll always cherish. Pokémon can be played casually, competitively, hell even collection shinies. It’s a game for everyone so it makes sense why a lot of queer people play it. I even grew up with the anime, and it’s always been a confront show for me.
Just started the video and just found your channel. For me personally Pokémon holds a special place. Pokémon was the 1st to ask me; "Are you a boy or a girl?". It was pain, it was hope, a dream. Pokémon Crystal helped spark that wish, that dream for a life where I could be a girl. Pokémon was the only place this was true for me for so long. Obviously the Pokémon them self's are so varied in their design and never judged because of who they are or how they look. Being able to express yourself by finding a Pokémon that just speaks to you is special because we all have different reasons. Pokémon Crystal will always hold an incredibly special place in my heart. -Sincerely a Phanpy and Chicorita fan
Pokémon was played by everyone in my middle school, jocks, nerds, boys, girls, I think what makes it so popular is it not being as gender coded as most other kids media. And the pokémon community now has a lot of queer people in it. But it's still a majority cis/straight community seemingly, just because it's so popular that the majority is non-queer by default. What I think makes pokémon appealing, but especially to queer people, is its low emphasis on conflict. In pokémon the evil team usually only causes a catastrophe in the one act before the game's finale. The rest is just a chill be on your way. The pokémon world isn't even that dangerous. And for queer people, who have a rough time out there irl, just exploring a world that is generally positive and safe is a big plus.
I think it helps as well that Pokemon, at least from Gen III (which was my first generation) was the closest thing to a "gender neutral" product that existed, at least in that sphere of popularity. It's easy to forget how viciously gendered the 90s and 00s were, even worse than now - but the only time McDonalds wasn't running "boy toys and girl toys" for their happy meals was when it was Pokemon. I could play Pokemon and (at least from Crystal forward), everyone would happily assume I was playing it the "boy way" - meanwhile, I was picking the female player character ~70% of the time, and always found myself catching the designated "cute Pokemon for girls" every time I could - Skitty in gen 3, Buneary in gen 4 and so on - even though they were often rare, hard to raise and hard to use. I loved Contests, especially Cute Contests for some reason, and decorating Secret Bases with bright baudy colours. The neutrality of Pokemon made it safe refuge for my more feminine or feminised interests, whereas my interests in more overtly girly things like Sailor Moon and other magical girl shows was *ahem* heavily discouraged. I distinctly remember my father and sister explicitly making me promise that I would stop watching our VHS tapes of Sailor Moon on my 9th birthday, which of course didn't stop me, I just did in it secret. But Pokemon didn't *have* to be secret, because it was a "boy thing" - never mind the girl avatar and the pink chintz and fuzzy lil kitty cat. Not to say that Pokemon was unique in this regard - unsurprisingly, Digimon stands out in my memory as holding a similar distinction, although the games were much less popular and not distributed as widely - but I can imagine plenty of people found Pokemon to be an extremely safe entry point to cross-gender behaviour.
I remember my parents lying to McDonald’s saying I was a girl because of this bullshit, I just wanted the other toy lol Edit: to clarify; I am a girl, this was in the past, but that’s unrelated
I like that Pokemon has something for everyone. You like super edgy hardcore designs? We got that. You like super girlypop designs? We gotchu. You just like silly little guys? We gotchu.
I would argue Jessie and James are the origin point of the concept of "Chaotic Bisexuals" as a trope or description. And then you have Penny in SV who is incredibly transcoded as a character based on things I have seen from people who understand this more. And honestly, I can definitely see it
I think a cool video idea is how Inteleon became a trans icon after Cyrus Davis won the 2023 NA International Championship. It was a super reassuring moment for me as a queer pokemon fan to see someone like me at the top of the game at the time.
7:47: i find this argument pretty dang interesting, because that's the EXACT same reason why Splatoon specifically has such a queer/neurodiverse fandom, at least in the western side of it. Except the whole "self-expression" aspects is quite literally one of the serie's direct appeals, i'd even argue it's one of the series thesis statements. That and there's definitely some canon queer characters. (cough cough Pearl and Marina)
I'm glad that you mentioned the gender-neutral designs of most Pokemon. It makes me happy that a huge chunk of Pokemon have no gendered differences, so you can have big fierce monsters or cute tiny creatures that can be female, male, or neither.
I think an important thing is that in both the anime and the games, characters are generally not solely defined by their gender. They have character traits and interests unrelated to gender. Yes, Misty is a girl. Misty is also largely depicted as a strong trainer, compassionate person, and mature counterpoint to Ash. Yes, Brock is a guy. Brock is also largely depicted as goofy and fun, caring, and family-oriented. Jessie and James are both depicted cross-dressing in disguise, but never with an unnecessary line like "I can't wear that, I'm a...". Gender is largely unimportant to how the characters are depicted as people. Many early-series female characters are also often depicted as strong, competent, and representing types that, in the West, might often be associated with men: Sabrina (psychic), Agatha (poison/ghost), Jasmine (steel), Clair (dragon), Janine (poison, and the ninja aesthetic). Many characters (particularly male characters) have been more ambiguously gendered, like Buggsy, Will, Tabitha (original design, later more intentionally masculine), Lucian, Tate & Liza, Burgh, Grusha, and Rika. Many characters are also quite campy, like Wallace and Ortega. I think the most important thing that Pokemon as a whole did that gravitates so many of us to the series is treating characters as people first, and gendered second.
Akari from the 1999 "How I Became a Pokemon Card" Is a trans boy. Blanche from Pokemon Go use they/them pronouns One much older example than the other and not much of a list still but a couple more to add to the list of ones you mentioned in the video.
my first moment ever recognizing myself as feminine or female was on the release of pkmn black/white. I must have been around 10 when the games came out and when I first started I thought the boy character looked kinda lame but I just fell in love with the design of the female character Hilda. Was this my pre-pubescent mind that was just realizing girls were hot speaking? probably! but there was a lot of genuine appreciation for the character, I wanted to be just like her. I remember thinking of a name for her and that name was very special and who I referred to myself as before I knew I was a woman. I use a different name now for the most part but the name Ivy and pkmn b/w will always hold an important place in my queer heart
It's in an old, obscure manga not being made anymore ("How I Became A Pokémon Card.") But there is a character in it that's trans masc/a trans man! His name is Akari. It's over 20 years old which explains why not a lot of people talk about it much. 😭
Also it was never translated, likely due to a mix of the belief at the time that foreigners didn't want to read manga and the difficulty in getting the rights to the TCG images shown in the series (even though they're all by the manga artist)
I mean... I've always read Arven as aro/ase, which is part of why I'm so fond of him. Also, when his mabostiff opened its eyes, I cried like an infant.
I didn’t really perceive until just now how diverse Pokemon characters are, and how gender norms are really non existent. Yes, for the most part player character options exist on a binary, but at least there are no expectations for them. Men and women have completely equal opportunity to be great Pokemon trainers and choose the kind of trainer they want to be. Women can fight tough battles, men can be Pokemon coordinators, and it’s never addressed from a gender perspective. Champions like Cynthia, Iris, and Diantha are hailed as great trainers. Period. Not “strong independent girlbosses” or something corny like that because no one in the Pokémon world would doubt that a woman can do it. All trainers are encouraged to pursue their dreams. Even among your relationships with others characters, you don’t make friends, allies, and rivals among people in your demographic. You are forced to meet and interact with boy and girls your age, kids younger than you, adults older than you, and everyone trusts you to make the right decisions. Therefore, I think that queer people are drawn to Pokémon because the Pokemon world is so kind, accepting, encouraging, and diverse.
I'm not sure if Pokémon has such a queer fanbase because of any queer elements directly; it tries to appeal to everyone, so of course queer people would get into it. Of course, queer-coded characters like James certainly help. However, queer people also tend to be heavily neurodivergent, and whether it's autism or ADHD or something else, one trait we tend to have in common is hyperfixation on the things we find interesting. And Pokémon has something for everyone to look at and focus on. I'm a goth transfemme capoeirista with history of being an outcast, and just look at all the mons I can turn to: Hitmontop, Gengar, Quaquaval, Gardevoir, Gothitelle, Primarina, Chandelure, Darkrai, Mimikyu, and so on. BTW, love your bandeyra. Feliz Orgulho!
I think the reason we see a lot of queer people loving pokemon is because it’s one of the few things that we loved as a kid that’s still acceptable to like as an adult
I think a very important piece that didn't get talked about is that Pokemon is both welcoming and safe as a community even on a higher level. I've been playing in competitive spaces for about two decades, and the number of people in leadership for events is rather striking, especially when you compare it to other games. This past year, the 2023-2023 competitive format had three different organizers for the NA regionals, and two of them are headed by women who have been big names in the competitive sphere for a very long time. It's even reached a point where we even get major side events dedicated to women and gender minorities. I bring this up because it's clear to me at least that Pokemon is led by people who want the community to be as welcoming as possible and are legitimately trying to be more inclusive. And that attitude helps fans feel welcomed in being who they are and interacting with the series in ways that may feel limiting in other series. I also think that Pokemon's presentation of important roles factors into this as well. Not every legendary or mythical Pokemon are big bad dragons that emphasize how cool they are. There's also strong Pokemon like Mew, Cresselia, and Xerneas that give an atypical presentation of power and what it means. And hey, silly moments like the fairy Pokemon 'Sleeping cuties' plushies (ie Gardevoir and Mew) having the trans flag as their tag doesn't hurt either. (Real thing. Look it up. It's amazing)
Why I think Ogerpon should be a trans icon •One of the very few legendaries with a gender •Was shunned by the village when she and her human friend first arrived •Hid her identity with masks •The Loyal Three killed her friend, so she killed them in retaliation, earning her the "dreaded ogre of Kitakami" reputation •People idolized the Loyal Three for laying their lives down to protect Kitakami from the terrifying ogre, who in reality is Just A Little Guy who wants to be accepted •She went in hiding for centuries after nearly dying on that fateful day •People would talk about hoping she would be killed •She has a huge-ass cloak/hoodie •For some reason I get gender envy from her despite being more masculine in my gender •You can't spell "progress" without "ogre"
Aaaa first of all, thank you for using the reply I wrote in the middle of the night while high off my ass in your video! I think this whole project was a really good way to explore the topic-- it's so nuanced, full of so many angles and individual experiences that it would be impossible to conclusively answer. But by looking at all those individual experiences, all those versions of "meaning" and "truth" produced by different people, we can start to faintly see the shape of why this series is so special.
when I was a child playing gen 1 the Celadon gym made me ask "why can't I be a girl?" and also "why can't *I* be a girl?" aside that, an impression I had is that from the very start, although it wasn't *good* at it, pokemon always tried to push the idea that "pokemon is for everyone". boys and girls played together, children and adults, people in suits and cosplay. a reflection of the games where you find a lot of different people being trainers. it was definitely trying to convey a message even back then, even if it wasn't very good at it the pokemon themselves too being in all kinds of shapes and you can just have any you like as a means of expressing yourself, it shows a part of who you are. elegant and rough and stereotypically girly and boyish and weird-looking pokemon, they're all there for you, they say something about you. Even the trainers were kinda like, "these are the many ways you can be, as a person". You can just be a cool girl that likes really weird occultism. You can be a shy and timid girl and your favourite pokemon be a gigantic metal snake. Even if not having a gender selection was a big mistake, I believe it's the trainers what were meant to speak to the player as something to identify with.
The comments about outsiders are spot-on IMO. Queer folks are often marginalized, and marginalized groups tend to become geeks to cope with the isolation, banding together into their niche interest because others reject them. It's not just Pokémon: gaming, anime, and other nerdy shit like furries and programming have high rates of LGBTQ+ people in them.
I guess I never really thought about it, but being able to use clefable and Infernape on the same team, even being encouraged to do something like that, was always really cool and weirdly empowering
@malachiatkinson7245 lost Izalith then i found her... Literally, can say that chaos literally melted my shell, being called sister by the fair lady was the thing that started it
@@EstrogenPnzr I didn't think about the fact that I don't actually know anything about Dark Souls, so I don't know what most of what you said means ): That being said, good on you And yes, the Tapu Lele should have raised some flags
Eu não sabia o quanto eu estava DESESPERADO por um canal com conteúdo Queer e de pokémon, e só melhora por tu ser brasileira. Todo sucesso pra tu e vou acompanhar fielmente
Goh, the closest thing to an autistic gay boy inlove with Ash in the Pokemon series and they're the same age too so it ain't a problematic ship. What a miracle.
It ain't real do what you want. To preempt the ridiculous arguments, Don't take the responsibility away from predators for their actions by putting the blame on literally any tactic and item they may use(and they use way more than "problematic media". Cue the candy, puppies, and white vans stereotype. It sure does come from somewhere).
Happy Pride Month!! I found you from your Amoongus video and I’m loving your content so far. This is another great video! As I’ve gotten older I’ve gotten more and more into the Pokemon fandom and I honestly think, like you said, it’s because we the fans have made it such an inclusive place. 15+ years ago the space was a bit more toxic, or at least a bit more traditionally nerdy (aka male-dominated and slightly hostile to minorities). I remember being so into Black & White when it was originally released and the online vibe of the community was…not great. There was a fair bit of misogyny and toxicity in online fan spaces, and it’s crazy seeing how popular B&W are now when I remember how reviled it was by a large part of the fan base at release lol. I specifically remember being told myself and other “girls” (I was 20 at the time) were the reason the game “sucks so much now” and were why GF added things like the Dream World and a “joke” enemy like Team Plasma. The GameFAQs boards were definitely a mixed bag back then lol. I’ve honestly loved the growth in the community these last years! And folks like you just keep making it better ❤️
I think you find Queer people in every franchise where you get strong personal expression. Pokemom has always been about expressing your identify through your choices in tiny digital monsters and this has onlu expanded as we got more customized mcs. The propondence of queer coded or at the very least generally non normative characters has only helped us feel safe here.
sylveon being basically the trans flag (shiny included) is definetly important hehe also, hello fellow brasilian! i didn't know about the bandeyra so it's great to see it!! love ur videos girl 💕
12:29 This guy right here from The Orange Isles Series was probably my subconscious Queer awakening, either him or Silver from the Manga, cause lets be real; Gold n Silver have a very strong "we argue about hand-holding just so we have an excuse to hold hands" QPR vibe
what a gem of a channel!! i found you through the amoongus video (of course :P) and as an ally whose nerd friends have changed in so many ways without losing their love for the games (a vast majority coming out in various ways!) this definitely speaks to me. im a late life diagnosed adhd/asd pokemon superfan and its such a joy to have such a massive franchise be a bridge to so many other communities! you meet so many likeminded ND folks as well as wonderful trans people in pokemon servers, pokemon go meetups, and everything in between. great little video and enjoy pride!! ❤️
I think to me, pokemon was sort how most video games felt: a way to cross dress without judgement or feel represented in the way I wanted to be represented in my own life. I know I was too young to really know why I wanted to play as the "female character" of pokemon every time, but it definitely came together in the end. It connected with me particularly because it was simply cool, you could kick ass with a team of monsters fighting beside you??? hell yes please sign me up.
I've been a pokemon enthusiast for most of my life, but when I realized I was queer, my interest in pokemon (and everything else I like) became queer too. I'm gonna bring my lived experience everywhere I go, which means I'm going to project my identity onto any fictional character I connect to.
I’m nonbinary and I’ve always loved the genderless pokemon, especially the legendaries. I always love their androgyny and the lack of masculinity and femininity in them. Virizion was actually my true enby awakening! It showed me I could be fem presenting but also nonbinary.
I love how we all seem to just point at Wallace and say: You. Queer. Anyways, I always saw pokemon as a piece of beautiful escapism, and still very much do. Especially with the younger characters, you get a sense of fun and joy and youth. I remember just wishing I had friends like the characters in the adventures manga (pokespe) when I was little, and watching those characters grow up with me primed them to just. I saw them as my friends so I assigned the same sorts of emotions and new senses of community I found to them, and I just feel less alone. Not that I wouldn't have read these characters as queer and neurodivergent if I hadn't grown up with them, I still very much would have, but the way I interpreted these characters became so intrinsically tied to their canon characterization it almost blurred. Even more recently, I was replaying through pokemon Sun and I realized how much I wished I had friends like the other characters that show up at that age. These characters feel like real people, especially to those who grew up with them, so it almost feels natural for someone to flesh out their character in their mind, and see themselves in them. Long-winded explanation aside: Great video! Thanks!
I think one very important part of Pokemon is built around the idea of diversity and acceptance. We naturally accept that these creatures with wildly different types, stats, powers, and abilities are part of the same world. We not only acknowledge that, but are encouraged to learn how they're different so we choose them for our team. Even when we play a game blind, we're happy seeing how a pokemon evolves or learns moves that change how we use them. The game and world is built on learning what makes someone different and wanting to be a part of it. The games and anime want to teach this and make sure that characters who learn to appreciate diversity in pokemon do so in the people around them too.
I remember hearing somewhere that a lot of the staff for S/V were queer in a joke tweet, I hope it's true because there is no heterosexual explanation for the characters
I live in New Orleans, a city with a fairly big queer community, and my partner said they saw more trans fem people at NAIC than at the Pride parade last weekend.
On one hand, very cool to see that diversity at the pokemon event! On the other hand, not cool to see the trans presence at Pride be so small 😕 its rough out there
@@ammarannafi4144 well, most of the people at NAIC were from out of town, so it shouldn't have affected Pride attendance that much. Plus, the pride parade was only one day, while NAIC was 3 days
To me, the appeal of Pokémon is that everyone in their world is equal. It doesn’t matter if you’re a boy or girl, kid or adult, you’re respected as you are. Anyone can be a trainer, which is shown in Pokémon’s wonderfully diverse cast of characters. P.S. my gender awakening was Roark.
i've only recently come to terms with the fact that i'm trans; my only outlet of expression so far has been my online presence, which as you can see entirely revolves around my favorite pokemon lol like idk if i'm just weird or something but i identify with mismagius so much that i'm probably going to be giving myself a name directly inspired by it (mismagius -> mags -> maggie) the weirdest part for me though is that i can't remember how it became my favorite.. i'm pretty sure i never used it as a kid so i've got no idea :P
I want to tell a story here. I was very young when I got into Pokemon. It took me many, many years to discover I am non-binary. As a kid, I just thought I was a boy, and whether I liked it or not there was nothing I could do about it. I always hated “boyish” or “masculine” exclusive hobbies or interests and gravitated more towards things that others would consider “girly” (such as Littlest Pet Shop toys) or (more often) gender neutral. The realm of kid’s toys and hobbies is so heavily gendered that there’s wasn’t much for me to enjoy…but the vague concept of “animals” and being obsessed with animals was a truly gender neutral hobby. Any kid could have an interest in animals and like learning about animals without being judged for doing something “too girly” or “too boyish.” I read so many books about animals and learned so much zoology-related trivia. Fast forward a few years, I start getting into video games, and I’m introduced to a series where you basically get to be an animal trainer for a bunch of magical creatures. It was everything I ever dreamed of. As is mentioned in the video, Pokémon is and always has been marketed as gender neutral; not a “girl thing” or a “boy thing”, but something anyone can enjoy. Fast forward a few more years. I have a large collection of Pokemon games, and I restart the save data on them to replay them often. I usually always chose the male character…but one random day I decide “what if I just play as the female character?” And then I kept doing it. Over and over and over. It was magical, getting to control a female avatar of myself, who people in game called by name. In real life, people always thought of me and referred to me as a boy. But I could escape to a digital world where I got to act out my fantasy of being a girl-a fantasy I didn’t really even know I had. Pokémon was just one catalyst for my queer awakening. There were other factors. But it played a role no doubt. Sorry for the long comment!
It's always so weird to me. If I created a media property I would make it for everyone. Why impose artificial restrictions? Surely that only limits the potential audience.
Eu não poderia estar mais feliz por saber que você cresceu ao ponto de não conseguir mais responder as pessoas 🤧 facilmente minha melhor descoberta do YT nos últimos tempos, merece TODO o sucesso do mundo!
@@nedrostram2360 Not to mention when she terastalizes sylveon she literally says "Shine bright like the starry sky and become who you really want to be!"
I personally, think its a kind of unifier. Everyone loved Pokémon on the playground. For a group who's identity and life has been defined by being othered, having the chance to fit in, ignore our differentness and hang out on the playground was one if the few times a lot of us didn't feel... Wrong.
Late to the party. But i wan´t to add something to the "Are you a boy or a girl" question. Ofc nowadays it is a non queer question. But I was 6 when Red/Blue came out and I had to be a boy in the game. Gold/Silver too. So when I was asked for the first time in my life if I was a boy or a girl that was huge. In the privacy of my handheld that I would never show to anybody I could always be a girl. Ofc with most role playing games you can choose your gender. But being asked the question this way, being able to choose was a big deal for me. So as a child that was a very queer aspect of the game, or rpgs in general. And when i finally realized that I am trans way too many years later, seeing that I always picked female charakters and how much it always meant to me was one little puzzle piece :) Ofc this only applies to a trans girl for that much. But I guess everybody who had to find their own gender identity appreciated having more than one option. Or sitting in front of the question and being like "...I kind of feel neither of those". But you are right, I try to make Pokemon queer and helpful here, when it is problematic at the same time :D
I think it is a mixture of many things said. For the initial games you have a series many kids grew up with that had a lot of self expression. And then the anime had a lot of queerness with James in both the dub and sub. Like he did often crossdress and take on a more traditional feminine role. But I think Jesse and James's success lead to them testing out more designs. Scarlet and Violet was the most queer imo from so many different character designs you could identify with to I think the first time there was hints of gay characters that wasn't flamboyant with brassius and hassel. Plus brassius probably gifting hassel a applin to not only show both their type specialities but also all the extra lore about how gifting one is a super romantic gift is just awwwwww
actually back in the 90s Pokémon did a 1 off manga where they had a trans masc protagonist, the overall message is a bit vague on whether or not its trans positive but i just wanted to point out that there was more than that 1 off Pokémon X trainer
The overall message was that his quest to be more masculine was making him a jerk because he had a very set idea of what men had to be like. Trans men also deal with toxic masculinity so I figure it's a net positive to see him dial that back and realize it doesn't make him less of a man to have a cute pokemon
Muito bom saber que você é brasileira ❤ seus vídeos além de ser bastante informativos, são bem feitos, muito belos, e o roteiro é maravilhoso, tudo flui maravilhosamente bem! ❤
Bede is trans fem to me. -notice that he gets more feminine and also seems happier simultaneously -Opal took one look at him and started ranting how "pink" he is -Ballonlea gym only has woman trainers. Thats all, lol
As a trans man, my biggest thing was the escapism. People didn’t say I was “so inspirational ” for battling monsters to the death like they did for me taking advanced math or science classes. I know Pokémon isn’t the only IP that does that, but it’s big enough to me many people’s first experience with it.
8:56 I feel like this commenter has the right idea. Self expression is super important to me and one of my favourite things about this game is building a team that's cool and unique. I feel like this is a big thing with neurodivergent people as well and there's a lot of neurodivergent people in the queer community. I feel the next one is another big part of it as well. I mean, pokemon being a more inclusive series helps but I feel like these two are more significant as I do feel like a significant proportion of queer pokemon lovers didn't realise they were queer when they actually got into pokemon and I know that was the case with me. I only really began to appreciate the inclusivity of pokemon after I realised I was queer and long after I first fell in love with the series. The one after that is good too, I keep having to update this lol
I also like to think pokemon not as just a product made by a company, but made by workers, and this will of course reflect their visions on the product they made (I'm a social science student, sorry for being to Marxist). Maybe this can also explain these "coded" characters, even tho we can't have a male expressing character wearing a skirt, we can have a short diologue about transition or a trans flag pokemon in game. Just wanted to mention that your channel has been a great discover for myself, the way you speak so confident about repressed feelings of many people is just beautiful, you make me feel like I'm not alone with my thoughts ❤
Just got off a flight and saw this was uploaded! Coming back to watch as soon as I can!!! Ive wanted to see a video on something like this for so long!
Personally - pokémon being queer for me was less about the actual monsters and more about the people living in the world who were following their dreams with their friends by their side. I saw bugsy in crystal as a kid and had never really seen a gender neutral person irl before and I really latched on to them, really confirmed a lot of feelings I had inside as a child. So many great and flamboyant designs for gym leaders too! Definitely had a crush on Erica, Flannery, Winona, Claire, etc etc before I had a crush on anyone in real life or even really knew what a crush was. The gender expression is so diverse it's wonderful. To see people living authentically and be recognized as strong, not for physical prowess but for coordinating and working together as a team is very gay themes imo. Big Themes of found family as well. Thank you for the video 💖
tenho a teoria de que começou simplesmente sendo uma franquia grande e assim atraindo todos os públicos (principalmente os mais excluidos, por ser bem diversa), e que com o tempo a TPC "percebeu" o quão grande era a comunidade queer em Pokémon e começou a fazer mais personagens queercoded e ND-coded. enfim, ótimo video!! conheci esse canal pelo video do amoonguss e automaticamente me apaixonei 💖 definitivamente virou meu canal favorito! :)
I love your analogy of sailing the algorithm that is google, because it feels like I caught a bottle lost out at sea to find such a "me" video when usually RUclips fails to understand my tastes despite aaaall the stolen data to suggest the contrary! Only I got it five months out but STILL! Feels like I caught a message in a bottle!
After finishing the video there is SO much to think about... but, one thing that I think could unite straight and neurotypical people (of which I am not I am as queer and weird as you get) to Pokemon is a simple love of *animals*. People who felt closer to their pets and mistrustful of other people but were otherwise "normies", the pet obsessed normies, would probably also gravitate towards pokemon. I think a lot of pokemon fans like animals more than the typical person, but maybe that is me.
I am someone who is questioning their gender and I exist somewhere on the spectrum of queer sexuality. The RUclips Channel PhilosophyTube made a video a while back that I believe is useful here about "queer temporality", which is the philosophical/sociological/psychological theory that asserts and defends the idea that queer people experience time differently than heterosexual/cis people do. Time is one part the actual literal experience of seconds, but is also a measurement of progress most commonly measured in milestones. When you're young, time might more closely relate to height or maturity or self-determination. As you grow up, however, the milestones more often have to do with your relationship to other people. When you're a young child, your parents are usually your caregiver and they are your primary relationship. By the time you're ten, you might start demonstrating an interest in independence. When you're twelve, your friendships with people you're own age might eclipse the relationships you have to your parents or siblings. By the time you're in high school/secondary school, you are likely to have interests in romantic relationships. At least, this is the expectation. For people who live expected lives, these kinds of milestones might seem mundane, but for those who do not exist in the hetero/cis-normative archetype, you experience time differently. Straight people have media and real-life examples of relationships that they can mirror and aspire to. In the US until very recently, depictions of straight people kissing could be included in movies rated G for general audiences and PG for 'parental guidance', but depictions of gay people kissing would be automatically given a PG-13 (you need to be 13 or have a parent's permission) or R (restricted to those 18 or older without parent's permission). It is only one example, but it goes to show how an understanding of what it means to be queer is usually restricted from younger people. That isn't mentioning how bullying, unsupportive parents, religious beliefs, and legal barriers can affect a queer person's ability to live their authentic life. In the US, gay marriage has only been legal on a national level since 2015. That isn't very long for a queer person to go through a lifetime of self-discovery. Someone who is 30 years old today (and thus was born only a few years before the release of pokemon) would have had less than a decade to be openly queer, compared to more than 15 years for a straight person their age. But how does that relate to pokemon? There are a few ways. First, I would argue that queer people use gaming of all kinds to cope and express themselves. As many testimonies were given in this video, queer life can be hard and a queer childhood can be brutal. My mom knew how I dressed every day until I left for college, but she didn't know that I selected Rosa while playing Pokemon White 2. If I was bound to be an outcast in school because the bullies could clock me before I could clock me, I may as well enjoy myself. Which leads to the second point: I think queer people are less concerned with the normal signifiers of maturity and gender norms. It doesn't bother me as much as it might bother a cis man when someone tells me that a hobby of mine is for girls or for kids. I was never going to have the approval of a guy's guy anyway, so why not spend my time doing what I like to do, regardless of what he might think? In my straight romantic relationships, I hid the fact that I play video games of any kind, but with my partner, I get to geek out about it. This is half of the reason why I think that queer people have so much of an overlap with neurdivergent people- interests as well as ways of dressing and communicating that are not accepted by society can be celebrated within our spaces. So when a straight/cis/neurotypical person would have played pokemon all the same when they were a kid, now that the series is nearly 30 years old, they have been pressured into leaving it behind whereas queer and neurodivergent people don't have the same pressure. Finally, I think that the fact that queer people are a minority (especially when you count how many people are closeted because they cannot or do not want to be out) means that they are more likely to find community on the Internet where minority communities can form without the need for geographic proximity while also having anonymity. I don't think for a second that queer people are the only people who play Pokemon. Just as I don't think that queer people are the only people in theater or any other space where there are significantly more queer people. But I think that a queer person's innate desire toward expression, our fairly common desire to relive a childhood that was taken from us, our foundational value of acceptance, and an abandoning of heteronormative pressures means that queer people pick up pokemon (and other similar things) and are able to stick with it longer. The 30 year old from earlier grew up alongside pokemon, but could not grow up alongside their classmates. Their same-age friends could have been married by the time they could be publicly out. So it makes sense that they want to find community and relationships where they can. Pokemon just-so-happens to be the largest media franchise of all time.
"MY BANDEIRA" When I watched you for the first time on the Amoonguss video, I was absolutely astonished to find a trans woman here in Brazil... that ALSO likes pokemon! It makes me so happy! In fact, it makes me question how was your journey to become so fabulous...
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
When eevee evolved into sylveon every queer came fr fr
I mean... Yeah
The XY anime got me into pokemon when i was a kid and i loved serena and sylveon lol
@@CosmicCake07 same, serena made me realize I was trans because I wanted to be her, not with her, I wanted to be with Ash even if he's a complete dork and sometimes asshole
This was literally me as kid 😭😭
@@axolotl8533 damn same but mine was misty and then iris
When Eevee evolved into Sylveon, we evolved into a new form too :D
I think part of it is also that even in the early generation games pokemon introduced kids to gender-nonconformity. For example, Bugsy: many kids learned was a boy after thinking he was a girl. In gen 5, N was specifically designed to be a sort of bishounen, androgynous man. Tate and Liza look nearly identical despite being different genders. Also some gym leaders like Fantina and Elesa really have a campy look to their designs. Even though Pokemon's protagonists fit into more rigid binaries, the characters you meet often play with gender and loud expression in a way that can easily be read as queer. There's also the tale as old as time of "I'm gonna pick the other gender because I like their design," and many kids' first experiences with same-gender attraction was to pokemon characters.
For example, when I was 13 and still learning about myself, I was playing Sun. I saw Lillie's interactions with my protagonist and immediately started reading it as gay. This is not only because of her lines and actions that could be read as flirting, but also the fact that she was this girl who was dictated on how she was supposed to dress and act. She hid a big secret from everyone other than the protagonist (Nebby), and her mother was not accepting of her. She was on the run and you were at her side every step of the way. While I've had a relatively kind queer journey in one of the most queer-accepting states in the US, she still felt relatable to me somehow.
A year after I played Pokemon Sun, I came out as a lesbian.
I remember feeling very similarly about the fireworks scene with Shauna in X & Y. Learning that that scene plays out almost exactly the same way with the girl trainer (albeit with a less explicitly romantic connotation) definitely stirred something in me
@@stwbmc98I won't lie, still find it hilarious they give that scene, and then the Butler LITTERALLY hands you Protect(ion).
As for Lillie, yeah I definitely agree. And honestly, Selene (female protagonist)x Lililie is probably my favorite ship in the series because of how they write the relationship in game, and how natural and wholesome it feels. And just cute.
@@TheDancingMudkip My dad took it well, but my mom said I was too young to be gay and that when I so much as bought a pride thing I was "shoving it in her face." Luckily over the years she turned around and became more accepting.
How could you forget Wallace
@@BookWyrmOnAString You're so right....how COULD I forget pokemon's biggest gay icon?? ORAS in general really was revolutionary for the gays with its redesigns, from Wallace to Maxie and Archie.
Jessie and James is a friendship between a dom lesbian and a submissive gay man and meowth is the supportive straight friend.
LITERALLY!!
that’s right
@@rafaelandradesantos7883meow that’s right 😭😭
Cute that you think Meowth is straight.
Genuinely think James was genderfluid or at least gender nonconforming
As someone who's aroace, I think one of the main reasons why Pokemon was very appealing to me was that it felt as a safe place. In a lot of other series and franchises, sometimes you'll see hints (or very in your face) allonormativity, how the good ending meant that boy and girl were together at the end. You could also stumble upon some misogyny, some clearer than others, when you'd seen women be sidelined and just be there to be an accessory. I don't remember ever feeling that in Pokemon games.
Within the Pokemon world there are couples of course, and I'm sure there's bits and pieces that didn't age very well, but I never felt like the Pokemon narrative explicitly leaned into that being "the ideal" or "the only way". I liked that there was talks of love that went beyond just a romantic partner, especially with the bond of a trainer and a Pokemon. It felt like it told me I could be loved in ways that weren't just romantically and still be just as important and fulfilling. That I could go far and beyond with those friends and achieve great things on my own terms, with no need to "settle down" with someone at any point. My connections to others, be it Pokemon or humans, were just as valuable as any other.
Pokémon has never really been about romance. Mostly oneness with nature, comradery, and the human desire to be the very best. Sure, the shipping community is real, and plenty of characters are implied to be a thing, but overall, Pokemon is Pokémon.
Would’ve never noticed this without this comment. It’s so obvious that it totally escaped me. There is something rather aroace about it all, isn’t there?!
HECK YEAH. Also I've always headcanoned Ash as aroace and I saw awhile ago that they actually confirmed it in an interview awhile back YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Yes! You know how in our world everyone is obsessed about the romantic relationship between humans? In the Pokemon world everyone is obsessed about the relationship between humans and pokemon!
Me growing up as an aroace in our society felt (and feels!) just like May in the beginning of Advanced saga! Everyone there is so obsessed about how people and pokemon SHOULD get together and love each other that she was so annoyed all time in her life because of that vibes of the environment! That was a true aroace tale. Incredible.
YESSS I FOUND MY PEOPLE i'm aroallo and now that i think about it almost all of my media hyperfixations even since i was itty bitty and didn't know that not being attracted to anyone was even an option have been ones that didn't really have canon romantic relationships involved, at least not with the main characters
Is it queer?
Queer people: Yes
Thats the answer
It was Lillie that practically made me the way I am.
I was just entering my teens when I played Pokémon Sun, and looking back now as a man hitting the 20's, I have Lillie to thank for. She made me learn that you don't need to be living under the expectations your parents set up. You can live to be your own you. My mom was one of those Asian moms who expects nothing but straight As, and while I know she was just looking out for me and my siblings hoping we succeed in life, we won't lie when we told each other how pressuring it is to be straight A students 24/7. Lillie was the one who woke me up it, and I practically became Gladion with my mom during COVID when circumstances made it harder for us to succeed. When Lillie started to talk about her feelings towards the player, I felt like I fell in love with her. So she became that character of "you changed my life, I am literally a fictional character."
Then when I was around 17, I noticed people shipped Selene with Lillie more than Elio and Lillie. Was curious to know why, so I looked up dialogue for Lillie when the player is Selene, and sure enough she has the same romantic gestures toward Selene as she does with Elio. While I personally don't actively ship Selene and Lillie, even though I think Pokemon Company well agrees with the ship (GOTCHA), I can say for sure if someone were to ask me Lillie's romantic preference, I'd say "she definitely ain't straight."
And then 19 hit...... look who found out they were bi.
Don't forget the scene with Lillie and Olivia, like they were very much implying Lillie wasn't straight there the camera hangs way too long for that not to be the case.
as a transfemme getting to play as the girl trainer was a really emotional experience as a child before i had other ways to express my femininity openly. i swear i damn near cried every time i started a new game
I remember in like 3rd or 4th grade I asked my friend why he always chose the male character in Pokémon, and he said he didn’t really know, he just preferred it. He came out as trans 4 years later.
And then I would always use the excuse... "I picked cuz I thought it'd be funny!!!! I swear I don't like being a girl!!! It's just that I don't want to beat up a girl in battle!!!"
Denial at its finest...
How many transfemme’s first trans experience was playing as the girl in Pokémon as a child? ✋
@@AllanGuiHaya70 I mean, I’m comfortable with myself and my identity. But you can’t deny that the female characters typically have the better design options.
@@sistybomb23 Reporting for duty ma'am! 🙋♀
As an Autistic Person, I kind of read Autism from Nemona because her obsession with battle kind of reflects my obsessions with story writing and Pokémon. She is my favorite Rival because if I did live In Paldea I genuinely think I would battle with her endlessly. My team definitely wouldn't be as strong though LOL the games turn us into unstoppable forces of nature.
Nemona is totally autistic.
YES I LOVE NEMONA she's literally me with Mario Kart, down to being unbeatable to anyone that challenged me and then getting super excited when someone came along who wrecked my shit like 6 times in a row
As a trans woman, seeing mega absol when they were officially revealed in 2013 awakened something within me
Shout out to the mystery dungeon games that ask what gender you want to play as (not what gender you are) that literally only affects anything if you’re a pokemon with a gender difference (like Eevee with its tail)
Not quite. In the earlier titles some of the player Pokémon options were gender locked, even if the actual species isn't a single gender.
More specifically...
In the original Red and Blue rescue team games; Chikorita, Skitty, and Eevee cannot be chosen if the player character is a boy.
...even though Chikorita and Eevee are both way more likely to be male, and Skitty has a 25% chance to be male.
And in Time, Darkness, and Sky; Vulpix, Eevee, and Skitty are only available if the player chooses to be a girl, while Shinx, Phanpy, and Riolu are only available if the player character is a boy.
...But both Phanpy and Shinx have a 50/50 gender split, and none of them are a single gender species.
@@CristataArt that's not entirely true. In PMD time/Darkness, all starters can be ether gender, but they had to make some space in the starter roster to include the new options in Sky, as they kept the questions and personalities the same. That's why Meowth and Munchlax are Partner only there and Skitty became female only.
The conclusion of the video reminded me of something that I heard in the video by Jessie Gender about trans/queer representation in Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse, and the fact that even if Gwen didn't have the trans flag in her room queer/trans people would have still connected with her and her experience because the way she is written is highly relatable to us and so it would be a sort of projected representation but would still feel like representation, because it acts on a way deeper level than just having a queer flag showing up on screen. And I think it's similar with what you're saying about pokemon, maybe it is us "making it queer", but just because the starting material itself is very good and we can connect with it on a deeper level even if it's not explicitly queer.
In my opinion, Pokemon is our era's collective diversity. Look at the insane research into things for single pokemon, and they are always respectful and responsible with pretty much all representation.
Pokemon is for everyone, and lately especially, is made by everyone. Look into fan games, regions, fakemon, and even the myriad of ways to play official games made by the community.
It's a nice reminder that community and collaboration helps us all.
Although I do think fan games should be their own ip I agree with the rest
@@madnessarcade7447nintendo thinks the fans game should not. just in general
I used Pokemon to escape my traumatic life. Trigger warning
I was tortured as a child and I mean that literally, I was also abused in every way. At school I was bullied by the principal several teachers and most of my class. Just because I was gay. Pokemon was my only healthy escape, and it was the only place I could go to be safe without worrying about pain or dying.
Edit: Y'all are so sweet, thank you. I am completely safe now other than being in the state I live in lol, but my home life is waaaaaay better and I'm an adult now. I also have a very healthy relationship.
🫂
I am so sorry about what happened to you. I hope you are happy and in a better place.
Same here (without the physical abusement, i am sorry for what you’ve experienced). Pokemon is just a cool way of escapism and the diversity of creatures just makes it so everyone can have their gamestyle.
I hope u r in a much safer environment now. My condolences for the suffering u endured. Thank u for sharing ur story, takes guts to talk about that kind of trauma, especially with strangers on the internet. ❤️ I wish every day for u is better than the last
@@T4N7 Well i came out as trans so… it feels better yeah. ☺️
I personally love Gardevoir. They are a powerful, graceful Pokemon that can be male or female, and are valuable in most games they can appear in.
Mega Gardevoir is even more amazing, partially because I'm a sucker for poofy dresses.
I feel like Elite 4 Karen from Gen 2 said it best: strong or weak doesn't matter; win with your favorites.
I think there's ideas, like identity and love, that apply to. Love matters and self matters. Be, and love, as you will.
As an aroace, one of the big things that appeals to me about Pokémon is that there's very little focus on sex (none lmao) and romance (yeah it shows up in the anime, but even the gags aren't that serious/obtrusive). As I got older and the world around me became more and more focused on sex and romance, it's nice to retreat to a world where the only things that matter are how you take care of your Pokémon and how good you are at battling.
(And the Ace Trainer jokes I can make.)
I gagged at the Ace Trainer jokes! haha
"i feel like many queer people are fans of pokemon idk why"
JESSIE AND JAMES i rest my case
Pokémon cracked a lot of eggs, and I'm not talking about breeding
I'm personally appreciative that I can simply play Pokemon with my favorite birds and not have to worry about dancing around dialogue or actions that could lock me into romance routes. I had Corviknights and Talonflames to admire, shinies to find, and worlds to save!
Rika! Pokemon Rika Elite Four Rika from Pokemon! 🥺❤
Came down here to check whether anyone said this! YES!
I generally think I'm cis, but Rika is the only time I've gone 'your gender, gimme'
Ye ye! My sibling LOVES Rika because of her gender expression!
Also Hassel!! His story is literally so queercoded, not to mention whatever was going on between him and Brassius in Art 4
Rika the ultimate tomboy 🛐
Pokémon is a more utopian society so it makes sense that it’s a more inclusive society :)
I'm queer and autistic, and i adore pokemon with my whole heart. Its my special interest, im super passionate about almost every aspect, I even care about the human characters more than the pokemon.
It is kind of a shame that pokemon itself will never acknowledge the coding though. The human and even pokemon characters that are pretty damn queer are amazing and plentiful, there are so many just casual examples of it too. Volo having long hair in a more "feminine" style, Melli being so beautiful and gender neutral, Penny being the most autistic character ive ever seen, Arven being obviously aroace, and stuff like Nemona being so in love with Juliana but not the mc makes me so happy, only for it to never be acknowledged.
For example, Cogita. An underrated character that im convinced im the only person to know is a raging divorced lesbian. In an obscure sidequest in a room most people wont know about you take a quest and find a journal in the icelands, guarded by a Froslass. What i noticed is that the author off the journal had a near identical writing style to the Old Verses, another reasonably obscure series of poems that was so obviously written by Cogita. The journal describes Cogita's beloved, someone shes romantically with, as looking like a Froslass. A small queer connection hidden under so many steps that i barely even figured out myself.
I love pokemon. I love pokemons queerness. I could go on about the queer characters for hours, but only for them to be forgotten about so easily :((
I think there's something to say about like, how the game mechanics aren't queer but a lot of the designs are. Like, Rika p's popularity with women is not an accident, you know?
Penny, Brassius, Hassel, Saguaro, and Dendra are also queer coded.
Grusha is a 100% a boymoder
@@nedrostram2360Coded? Pretty sure they're very direct about Brassius and Hassel.
My brain reading “Why do queer Pokémon love people?”
Ask Meowth. I've seen those boss fantasies. There is no heterosexual explanation for him fantasizing about shirtless oiled up Giovanni so often
15:13
Not in PLA! When I finally was like "Oh shit, I might be a little fruity" I realized I could give my character (originally a boy) all the feminine clothing and hairstyles I wanted!
this is how i find out i picked the girl character for no reason this time 💔
@@SuspiciousZorua well, they don’t change the pronouns, so if you had picked the boy character, the characters would just be like “hello boy man dude bro”
@@Uggnog exactly
wake up honey, cecilily uploaded a video about Pokémon and queer people ❤️🔥
I will never forget being asked The Question as a kid in Crystal. Not only was it my first time getting to choose the gender of my character, but it actually did make me stop for a moment.
Was it okay if I, a boy(at the time), picked the girl character? Was it okay that I *wanted* to? It's stupid, looking back on it, but to my little kid brain, a world quietly started to open up.
That started my trend of playing female characters every chance I was given, and when I finally had that moment of accepting myself as who I am, that question ran back through my brain at the end. Really hit me how I made the right choice, all those years ago.
I love that there isn't one single answer as to why queer people love Pokemon.
Because the answers are as diverse as we are.
This was really well put together, and the music choices were SOLID. Driftveil City for the intro, and Cynthia's piano coming in at the perfect time to buildup to Cynthia herself showing up.
One of the things I think that helps a lot is the fact that while there are a lot of characters who "flag" being queer including the kalos girl who used to be a fighting king, but for the large part all the queer characters just exist, they are like everyone else just a normal part of the pokemon world. The fact that it's not called out is something I think that helps a lot, since pokemon is first and foremost and escapist fantasy world we can go to for fun and to get away from life.
Forgot that the James in the thumbnail is an actual anime screenshot and was like "YOOOOOOOO Weedle Twineedle cameo?!"
As someone who aroace, the answer is just simple. It’s fun, I just enjoy the adventure each time with these “monsters”. Every playthrough I grow a bond with them and the memories with them I’ll always cherish. Pokémon can be played casually, competitively, hell even collection shinies. It’s a game for everyone so it makes sense why a lot of queer people play it. I even grew up with the anime, and it’s always been a confront show for me.
Just started the video and just found your channel.
For me personally Pokémon holds a special place. Pokémon was the 1st to ask me; "Are you a boy or a girl?".
It was pain, it was hope, a dream. Pokémon Crystal helped spark that wish, that dream for a life where I could be a girl. Pokémon was the only place this was true for me for so long. Obviously the Pokémon them self's are so varied in their design and never judged because of who they are or how they look. Being able to express yourself by finding a Pokémon that just speaks to you is special because we all have different reasons.
Pokémon Crystal will always hold an incredibly special place in my heart.
-Sincerely a Phanpy and Chicorita fan
Pokémon was played by everyone in my middle school, jocks, nerds, boys, girls, I think what makes it so popular is it not being as gender coded as most other kids media. And the pokémon community now has a lot of queer people in it. But it's still a majority cis/straight community seemingly, just because it's so popular that the majority is non-queer by default. What I think makes pokémon appealing, but especially to queer people, is its low emphasis on conflict. In pokémon the evil team usually only causes a catastrophe in the one act before the game's finale. The rest is just a chill be on your way. The pokémon world isn't even that dangerous. And for queer people, who have a rough time out there irl, just exploring a world that is generally positive and safe is a big plus.
I think it helps as well that Pokemon, at least from Gen III (which was my first generation) was the closest thing to a "gender neutral" product that existed, at least in that sphere of popularity. It's easy to forget how viciously gendered the 90s and 00s were, even worse than now - but the only time McDonalds wasn't running "boy toys and girl toys" for their happy meals was when it was Pokemon. I could play Pokemon and (at least from Crystal forward), everyone would happily assume I was playing it the "boy way" - meanwhile, I was picking the female player character ~70% of the time, and always found myself catching the designated "cute Pokemon for girls" every time I could - Skitty in gen 3, Buneary in gen 4 and so on - even though they were often rare, hard to raise and hard to use. I loved Contests, especially Cute Contests for some reason, and decorating Secret Bases with bright baudy colours. The neutrality of Pokemon made it safe refuge for my more feminine or feminised interests, whereas my interests in more overtly girly things like Sailor Moon and other magical girl shows was *ahem* heavily discouraged. I distinctly remember my father and sister explicitly making me promise that I would stop watching our VHS tapes of Sailor Moon on my 9th birthday, which of course didn't stop me, I just did in it secret. But Pokemon didn't *have* to be secret, because it was a "boy thing" - never mind the girl avatar and the pink chintz and fuzzy lil kitty cat.
Not to say that Pokemon was unique in this regard - unsurprisingly, Digimon stands out in my memory as holding a similar distinction, although the games were much less popular and not distributed as widely - but I can imagine plenty of people found Pokemon to be an extremely safe entry point to cross-gender behaviour.
I remember my parents lying to McDonald’s saying I was a girl because of this bullshit, I just wanted the other toy lol
Edit: to clarify; I am a girl, this was in the past, but that’s unrelated
I like that Pokemon has something for everyone. You like super edgy hardcore designs? We got that. You like super girlypop designs? We gotchu. You just like silly little guys? We gotchu.
Then there is the Tinkaton line which is all three at once
I would argue Jessie and James are the origin point of the concept of "Chaotic Bisexuals" as a trope or description.
And then you have Penny in SV who is incredibly transcoded as a character based on things I have seen from people who understand this more. And honestly, I can definitely see it
Penny's ace being a Sylveon and talking about revealing the true self when Terastalizing it is a huge sign
she's good with coding and hacking. we all know transwomen are the programmers... /j
I think a cool video idea is how Inteleon became a trans icon after Cyrus Davis won the 2023 NA International Championship. It was a super reassuring moment for me as a queer pokemon fan to see someone like me at the top of the game at the time.
7:47: i find this argument pretty dang interesting, because that's the EXACT same reason why Splatoon specifically has such a queer/neurodiverse fandom, at least in the western side of it. Except the whole "self-expression" aspects is quite literally one of the serie's direct appeals, i'd even argue it's one of the series thesis statements.
That and there's definitely some canon queer characters. (cough cough Pearl and Marina)
They literally removed pronouns so everyone would feel included
They even removed the words boy and girl referring to your character
I'm glad that you mentioned the gender-neutral designs of most Pokemon. It makes me happy that a huge chunk of Pokemon have no gendered differences, so you can have big fierce monsters or cute tiny creatures that can be female, male, or neither.
I think an important thing is that in both the anime and the games, characters are generally not solely defined by their gender. They have character traits and interests unrelated to gender.
Yes, Misty is a girl. Misty is also largely depicted as a strong trainer, compassionate person, and mature counterpoint to Ash.
Yes, Brock is a guy. Brock is also largely depicted as goofy and fun, caring, and family-oriented.
Jessie and James are both depicted cross-dressing in disguise, but never with an unnecessary line like "I can't wear that, I'm a...".
Gender is largely unimportant to how the characters are depicted as people. Many early-series female characters are also often depicted as strong, competent, and representing types that, in the West, might often be associated with men: Sabrina (psychic), Agatha (poison/ghost), Jasmine (steel), Clair (dragon), Janine (poison, and the ninja aesthetic).
Many characters (particularly male characters) have been more ambiguously gendered, like Buggsy, Will, Tabitha (original design, later more intentionally masculine), Lucian, Tate & Liza, Burgh, Grusha, and Rika.
Many characters are also quite campy, like Wallace and Ortega.
I think the most important thing that Pokemon as a whole did that gravitates so many of us to the series is treating characters as people first, and gendered second.
Akari from the 1999 "How I Became a Pokemon Card" Is a trans boy.
Blanche from Pokemon Go use they/them pronouns
One much older example than the other and not much of a list still but a couple more to add to the list of ones you mentioned in the video.
Blanche is the best
my first moment ever recognizing myself as feminine or female was on the release of pkmn black/white. I must have been around 10 when the games came out and when I first started I thought the boy character looked kinda lame but I just fell in love with the design of the female character Hilda. Was this my pre-pubescent mind that was just realizing girls were hot speaking? probably! but there was a lot of genuine appreciation for the character, I wanted to be just like her. I remember thinking of a name for her and that name was very special and who I referred to myself as before I knew I was a woman. I use a different name now for the most part but the name Ivy and pkmn b/w will always hold an important place in my queer heart
It's in an old, obscure manga not being made anymore ("How I Became A Pokémon Card.") But there is a character in it that's trans masc/a trans man! His name is Akari. It's over 20 years old which explains why not a lot of people talk about it much. 😭
Also it was never translated, likely due to a mix of the belief at the time that foreigners didn't want to read manga and the difficulty in getting the rights to the TCG images shown in the series (even though they're all by the manga artist)
I mean... I've always read Arven as aro/ase, which is part of why I'm so fond of him. Also, when his mabostiff opened its eyes, I cried like an infant.
"Oh don't worry, I know it looks dire, but we'd never kill off Arven's *dog*..."
“Okay but what are you INTO, dude!”
“Right now basil, I know it’s kind of basic but I just don’t think food tastes as good without it!”
@@RealCryptoTest I've always been more of a rosemary guy but he's so real for that
I didn’t really perceive until just now how diverse Pokemon characters are, and how gender norms are really non existent. Yes, for the most part player character options exist on a binary, but at least there are no expectations for them.
Men and women have completely equal opportunity to be great Pokemon trainers and choose the kind of trainer they want to be. Women can fight tough battles, men can be Pokemon coordinators, and it’s never addressed from a gender perspective.
Champions like Cynthia, Iris, and Diantha are hailed as great trainers. Period. Not “strong independent girlbosses” or something corny like that because no one in the Pokémon world would doubt that a woman can do it. All trainers are encouraged to pursue their dreams.
Even among your relationships with others characters, you don’t make friends, allies, and rivals among people in your demographic. You are forced to meet and interact with boy and girls your age, kids younger than you, adults older than you, and everyone trusts you to make the right decisions.
Therefore, I think that queer people are drawn to Pokémon because the Pokemon world is so kind, accepting, encouraging, and diverse.
I'm not sure if Pokémon has such a queer fanbase because of any queer elements directly; it tries to appeal to everyone, so of course queer people would get into it. Of course, queer-coded characters like James certainly help. However, queer people also tend to be heavily neurodivergent, and whether it's autism or ADHD or something else, one trait we tend to have in common is hyperfixation on the things we find interesting. And Pokémon has something for everyone to look at and focus on. I'm a goth transfemme capoeirista with history of being an outcast, and just look at all the mons I can turn to: Hitmontop, Gengar, Quaquaval, Gardevoir, Gothitelle, Primarina, Chandelure, Darkrai, Mimikyu, and so on.
BTW, love your bandeyra. Feliz Orgulho!
I think the reason we see a lot of queer people loving pokemon is because it’s one of the few things that we loved as a kid that’s still acceptable to like as an adult
I think a very important piece that didn't get talked about is that Pokemon is both welcoming and safe as a community even on a higher level.
I've been playing in competitive spaces for about two decades, and the number of people in leadership for events is rather striking, especially when you compare it to other games. This past year, the 2023-2023 competitive format had three different organizers for the NA regionals, and two of them are headed by women who have been big names in the competitive sphere for a very long time.
It's even reached a point where we even get major side events dedicated to women and gender minorities.
I bring this up because it's clear to me at least that Pokemon is led by people who want the community to be as welcoming as possible and are legitimately trying to be more inclusive. And that attitude helps fans feel welcomed in being who they are and interacting with the series in ways that may feel limiting in other series.
I also think that Pokemon's presentation of important roles factors into this as well. Not every legendary or mythical Pokemon are big bad dragons that emphasize how cool they are. There's also strong Pokemon like Mew, Cresselia, and Xerneas that give an atypical presentation of power and what it means.
And hey, silly moments like the fairy Pokemon 'Sleeping cuties' plushies (ie Gardevoir and Mew) having the trans flag as their tag doesn't hurt either. (Real thing. Look it up. It's amazing)
Why I think Ogerpon should be a trans icon
•One of the very few legendaries with a gender
•Was shunned by the village when she and her human friend first arrived
•Hid her identity with masks
•The Loyal Three killed her friend, so she killed them in retaliation, earning her the "dreaded ogre of Kitakami" reputation
•People idolized the Loyal Three for laying their lives down to protect Kitakami from the terrifying ogre, who in reality is Just A Little Guy who wants to be accepted
•She went in hiding for centuries after nearly dying on that fateful day
•People would talk about hoping she would be killed
•She has a huge-ass cloak/hoodie
•For some reason I get gender envy from her despite being more masculine in my gender
•You can't spell "progress" without "ogre"
Aaaa first of all, thank you for using the reply I wrote in the middle of the night while high off my ass in your video! I think this whole project was a really good way to explore the topic-- it's so nuanced, full of so many angles and individual experiences that it would be impossible to conclusively answer. But by looking at all those individual experiences, all those versions of "meaning" and "truth" produced by different people, we can start to faintly see the shape of why this series is so special.
Scarlet and Violet has so many implied and outright confirmed queer characters, its great
Yeah I feel like she overlooked the Nemona music video
Nothing makes me smile like an edit of Quaquaval dancing to "katrina! katrina! katrina!"
when I was a child playing gen 1 the Celadon gym made me ask "why can't I be a girl?" and also "why can't *I* be a girl?"
aside that, an impression I had is that from the very start, although it wasn't *good* at it, pokemon always tried to push the idea that "pokemon is for everyone". boys and girls played together, children and adults, people in suits and cosplay. a reflection of the games where you find a lot of different people being trainers. it was definitely trying to convey a message even back then, even if it wasn't very good at it
the pokemon themselves too being in all kinds of shapes and you can just have any you like as a means of expressing yourself, it shows a part of who you are. elegant and rough and stereotypically girly and boyish and weird-looking pokemon, they're all there for you, they say something about you.
Even the trainers were kinda like, "these are the many ways you can be, as a person". You can just be a cool girl that likes really weird occultism. You can be a shy and timid girl and your favourite pokemon be a gigantic metal snake.
Even if not having a gender selection was a big mistake, I believe it's the trainers what were meant to speak to the player as something to identify with.
The comments about outsiders are spot-on IMO. Queer folks are often marginalized, and marginalized groups tend to become geeks to cope with the isolation, banding together into their niche interest because others reject them. It's not just Pokémon: gaming, anime, and other nerdy shit like furries and programming have high rates of LGBTQ+ people in them.
I guess I never really thought about it, but being able to use clefable and Infernape on the same team, even being encouraged to do something like that, was always really cool and weirdly empowering
Pokemon didn't crack my egg, that honor belongs to dark souls, but having a tapu lele on my team should have been a sing
What happens in Dark Souls that transed your gender?
@malachiatkinson7245 lost Izalith then i found her... Literally, can say that chaos literally melted my shell, being called sister by the fair lady was the thing that started it
@@EstrogenPnzr I didn't think about the fact that I don't actually know anything about Dark Souls, so I don't know what most of what you said means ):
That being said, good on you
And yes, the Tapu Lele should have raised some flags
@malachiatkinson7245 big spider girl called me sister
@EstrogenPnzr I would put a thumbs up emoji but RUclips won't let me, so: Thumbs Up!
So obsessed with this channel. Can’t wait to see you blow up!! ❤
Eu não sabia o quanto eu estava DESESPERADO por um canal com conteúdo Queer e de pokémon, e só melhora por tu ser brasileira. Todo sucesso pra tu e vou acompanhar fielmente
As a gay guy I think it’s wholesome and accepting of differences as a franchise that it makes us feel good
Jesse and James probably opened a lot of kids' eyes on subverting gender norms.
Goh, the closest thing to an autistic gay boy inlove with Ash in the Pokemon series and they're the same age too so it ain't a problematic ship. What a miracle.
It ain't real do what you want.
To preempt the ridiculous arguments, Don't take the responsibility away from predators for their actions by putting the blame on literally any tactic and item they may use(and they use way more than "problematic media". Cue the candy, puppies, and white vans stereotype. It sure does come from somewhere).
Happy Pride Month!! I found you from your Amoongus video and I’m loving your content so far. This is another great video! As I’ve gotten older I’ve gotten more and more into the Pokemon fandom and I honestly think, like you said, it’s because we the fans have made it such an inclusive place. 15+ years ago the space was a bit more toxic, or at least a bit more traditionally nerdy (aka male-dominated and slightly hostile to minorities). I remember being so into Black & White when it was originally released and the online vibe of the community was…not great. There was a fair bit of misogyny and toxicity in online fan spaces, and it’s crazy seeing how popular B&W are now when I remember how reviled it was by a large part of the fan base at release lol. I specifically remember being told myself and other “girls” (I was 20 at the time) were the reason the game “sucks so much now” and were why GF added things like the Dream World and a “joke” enemy like Team Plasma. The GameFAQs boards were definitely a mixed bag back then lol. I’ve honestly loved the growth in the community these last years! And folks like you just keep making it better ❤️
I think you find Queer people in every franchise where you get strong personal expression.
Pokemom has always been about expressing your identify through your choices in tiny digital monsters and this has onlu expanded as we got more customized mcs. The propondence of queer coded or at the very least generally non normative characters has only helped us feel safe here.
sylveon being basically the trans flag (shiny included) is definetly important hehe
also, hello fellow brasilian! i didn't know about the bandeyra so it's great to see it!! love ur videos girl 💕
12:29 This guy right here from The Orange Isles Series was probably my subconscious Queer awakening, either him or Silver from the Manga, cause lets be real; Gold n Silver have a very strong "we argue about hand-holding just so we have an excuse to hold hands" QPR vibe
what a gem of a channel!! i found you through the amoongus video (of course :P) and as an ally whose nerd friends have changed in so many ways without losing their love for the games (a vast majority coming out in various ways!) this definitely speaks to me. im a late life diagnosed adhd/asd pokemon superfan and its such a joy to have such a massive franchise be a bridge to so many other communities! you meet so many likeminded ND folks as well as wonderful trans people in pokemon servers, pokemon go meetups, and everything in between. great little video and enjoy pride!! ❤️
I think to me, pokemon was sort how most video games felt: a way to cross dress without judgement or feel represented in the way I wanted to be represented in my own life. I know I was too young to really know why I wanted to play as the "female character" of pokemon every time, but it definitely came together in the end. It connected with me particularly because it was simply cool, you could kick ass with a team of monsters fighting beside you??? hell yes please sign me up.
I've been a pokemon enthusiast for most of my life, but when I realized I was queer, my interest in pokemon (and everything else I like) became queer too. I'm gonna bring my lived experience everywhere I go, which means I'm going to project my identity onto any fictional character I connect to.
I’m nonbinary and I’ve always loved the genderless pokemon, especially the legendaries. I always love their androgyny and the lack of masculinity and femininity in them. Virizion was actually my true enby awakening! It showed me I could be fem presenting but also nonbinary.
It's funny because it's based on a male literary character but it was translated to a non binary form
@@BJGvideos transfem virizion??? 😮
@@NotDoingThatGreat Sure!
I love how we all seem to just point at Wallace and say: You. Queer. Anyways, I always saw pokemon as a piece of beautiful escapism, and still very much do. Especially with the younger characters, you get a sense of fun and joy and youth. I remember just wishing I had friends like the characters in the adventures manga (pokespe) when I was little, and watching those characters grow up with me primed them to just. I saw them as my friends so I assigned the same sorts of emotions and new senses of community I found to them, and I just feel less alone. Not that I wouldn't have read these characters as queer and neurodivergent if I hadn't grown up with them, I still very much would have, but the way I interpreted these characters became so intrinsically tied to their canon characterization it almost blurred. Even more recently, I was replaying through pokemon Sun and I realized how much I wished I had friends like the other characters that show up at that age. These characters feel like real people, especially to those who grew up with them, so it almost feels natural for someone to flesh out their character in their mind, and see themselves in them. Long-winded explanation aside: Great video! Thanks!
I think one very important part of Pokemon is built around the idea of diversity and acceptance. We naturally accept that these creatures with wildly different types, stats, powers, and abilities are part of the same world. We not only acknowledge that, but are encouraged to learn how they're different so we choose them for our team. Even when we play a game blind, we're happy seeing how a pokemon evolves or learns moves that change how we use them. The game and world is built on learning what makes someone different and wanting to be a part of it. The games and anime want to teach this and make sure that characters who learn to appreciate diversity in pokemon do so in the people around them too.
Transgenders like me feel strongly about Pokémon because we also evolve like them
I remember hearing somewhere that a lot of the staff for S/V were queer in a joke tweet, I hope it's true because there is no heterosexual explanation for the characters
I live in New Orleans, a city with a fairly big queer community, and my partner said they saw more trans fem people at NAIC than at the Pride parade last weekend.
On one hand, very cool to see that diversity at the pokemon event! On the other hand, not cool to see the trans presence at Pride be so small 😕 its rough out there
@@loura246They're too busy at the NAIC to be at the other event probably.
@@ammarannafi4144 well, most of the people at NAIC were from out of town, so it shouldn't have affected Pride attendance that much. Plus, the pride parade was only one day, while NAIC was 3 days
@@loura246Air conditioned building would win for me honestly.
To me, the appeal of Pokémon is that everyone in their world is equal. It doesn’t matter if you’re a boy or girl, kid or adult, you’re respected as you are. Anyone can be a trainer, which is shown in Pokémon’s wonderfully diverse cast of characters.
P.S. my gender awakening was Roark.
i've only recently come to terms with the fact that i'm trans; my only outlet of expression so far has been my online presence, which as you can see entirely revolves around my favorite pokemon lol
like idk if i'm just weird or something but i identify with mismagius so much that i'm probably going to be giving myself a name directly inspired by it (mismagius -> mags -> maggie)
the weirdest part for me though is that i can't remember how it became my favorite.. i'm pretty sure i never used it as a kid so i've got no idea :P
seus vídeos são incríveis, nunca pare de postar, vc é muito necessária pra comunidade
@@arichagas6474 obrigada meu amor!!
I want to tell a story here. I was very young when I got into Pokemon. It took me many, many years to discover I am non-binary. As a kid, I just thought I was a boy, and whether I liked it or not there was nothing I could do about it. I always hated “boyish” or “masculine” exclusive hobbies or interests and gravitated more towards things that others would consider “girly” (such as Littlest Pet Shop toys) or (more often) gender neutral. The realm of kid’s toys and hobbies is so heavily gendered that there’s wasn’t much for me to enjoy…but the vague concept of “animals” and being obsessed with animals was a truly gender neutral hobby. Any kid could have an interest in animals and like learning about animals without being judged for doing something “too girly” or “too boyish.” I read so many books about animals and learned so much zoology-related trivia. Fast forward a few years, I start getting into video games, and I’m introduced to a series where you basically get to be an animal trainer for a bunch of magical creatures. It was everything I ever dreamed of. As is mentioned in the video, Pokémon is and always has been marketed as gender neutral; not a “girl thing” or a “boy thing”, but something anyone can enjoy.
Fast forward a few more years. I have a large collection of Pokemon games, and I restart the save data on them to replay them often. I usually always chose the male character…but one random day I decide “what if I just play as the female character?” And then I kept doing it. Over and over and over. It was magical, getting to control a female avatar of myself, who people in game called by name. In real life, people always thought of me and referred to me as a boy. But I could escape to a digital world where I got to act out my fantasy of being a girl-a fantasy I didn’t really even know I had.
Pokémon was just one catalyst for my queer awakening. There were other factors. But it played a role no doubt.
Sorry for the long comment!
It's always so weird to me. If I created a media property I would make it for everyone. Why impose artificial restrictions? Surely that only limits the potential audience.
Eu não poderia estar mais feliz por saber que você cresceu ao ponto de não conseguir mais responder as pessoas 🤧 facilmente minha melhor descoberta do YT nos últimos tempos, merece TODO o sucesso do mundo!
Nossa simm! Eu conheci o canal dela agora a pouco e eu to apaixonada, ela merece todo sucesso do mundo!
Yes, being ace totally makes you immediately into Pokemon.
Shoutout to Bug Type enjoyers, gotta be one of my favorite genders fr
Tulip to me comes off as an incredibly trans-coded character, no cis woman is THAT high femme and makes it work 💅
They do exist but it isn’t socially acceptable for them to show it because of how trans women are associated with it
Penny also came off as a trans-coded character, especially with how she starts off with a male Umbreon and ends with a female Sylveon.
@@nedrostram2360 Not to mention when she terastalizes sylveon she literally says "Shine bright like the starry sky and become who you really want to be!"
id love to see a video like this about animal crossing, considering the freedom of expression that new horizons gives the player
I personally, think its a kind of unifier. Everyone loved Pokémon on the playground. For a group who's identity and life has been defined by being othered, having the chance to fit in, ignore our differentness and hang out on the playground was one if the few times a lot of us didn't feel... Wrong.
Late to the party. But i wan´t to add something to the "Are you a boy or a girl" question. Ofc nowadays it is a non queer question. But I was 6 when Red/Blue came out and I had to be a boy in the game. Gold/Silver too. So when I was asked for the first time in my life if I was a boy or a girl that was huge. In the privacy of my handheld that I would never show to anybody I could always be a girl. Ofc with most role playing games you can choose your gender. But being asked the question this way, being able to choose was a big deal for me. So as a child that was a very queer aspect of the game, or rpgs in general. And when i finally realized that I am trans way too many years later, seeing that I always picked female charakters and how much it always meant to me was one little puzzle piece :) Ofc this only applies to a trans girl for that much. But I guess everybody who had to find their own gender identity appreciated having more than one option. Or sitting in front of the question and being like "...I kind of feel neither of those". But you are right, I try to make Pokemon queer and helpful here, when it is problematic at the same time :D
I think it is a mixture of many things said. For the initial games you have a series many kids grew up with that had a lot of self expression. And then the anime had a lot of queerness with James in both the dub and sub. Like he did often crossdress and take on a more traditional feminine role. But I think Jesse and James's success lead to them testing out more designs. Scarlet and Violet was the most queer imo from so many different character designs you could identify with to I think the first time there was hints of gay characters that wasn't flamboyant with brassius and hassel. Plus brassius probably gifting hassel a applin to not only show both their type specialities but also all the extra lore about how gifting one is a super romantic gift is just awwwwww
actually back in the 90s Pokémon did a 1 off manga where they had a trans masc protagonist, the overall message is a bit vague on whether or not its trans positive but i just wanted to point out that there was more than that 1 off Pokémon X trainer
The overall message was that his quest to be more masculine was making him a jerk because he had a very set idea of what men had to be like. Trans men also deal with toxic masculinity so I figure it's a net positive to see him dial that back and realize it doesn't make him less of a man to have a cute pokemon
Muito bom saber que você é brasileira ❤ seus vídeos além de ser bastante informativos, são bem feitos, muito belos, e o roteiro é maravilhoso, tudo flui maravilhosamente bem! ❤
Bede is trans fem to me.
-notice that he gets more feminine and also seems happier simultaneously
-Opal took one look at him and started ranting how "pink" he is
-Ballonlea gym only has woman trainers.
Thats all, lol
Omg I need that 'Welcome to social sciences' slogan I love it
As a trans man, my biggest thing was the escapism. People didn’t say I was “so inspirational ” for battling monsters to the death like they did for me taking advanced math or science classes.
I know Pokémon isn’t the only IP that does that, but it’s big enough to me many people’s first experience with it.
Advanced math is inspirational?
@@BJGvideos two of my mom’s three sisters didn’t graduate high school due to teen pregnancy, doing calculus in high school was basically unheard of
@@cat21860 Wait are those statements connected?
8:56 I feel like this commenter has the right idea. Self expression is super important to me and one of my favourite things about this game is building a team that's cool and unique. I feel like this is a big thing with neurodivergent people as well and there's a lot of neurodivergent people in the queer community.
I feel the next one is another big part of it as well. I mean, pokemon being a more inclusive series helps but I feel like these two are more significant as I do feel like a significant proportion of queer pokemon lovers didn't realise they were queer when they actually got into pokemon and I know that was the case with me. I only really began to appreciate the inclusivity of pokemon after I realised I was queer and long after I first fell in love with the series.
The one after that is good too, I keep having to update this lol
I also like to think pokemon not as just a product made by a company, but made by workers, and this will of course reflect their visions on the product they made (I'm a social science student, sorry for being to Marxist). Maybe this can also explain these "coded" characters, even tho we can't have a male expressing character wearing a skirt, we can have a short diologue about transition or a trans flag pokemon in game.
Just wanted to mention that your channel has been a great discover for myself, the way you speak so confident about repressed feelings of many people is just beautiful, you make me feel like I'm not alone with my thoughts ❤
I LOVE the marxist take actually! it's a super cool angle! thanks for the sweet comment!
Just got off a flight and saw this was uploaded! Coming back to watch as soon as I can!!! Ive wanted to see a video on something like this for so long!
Personally - pokémon being queer for me was less about the actual monsters and more about the people living in the world who were following their dreams with their friends by their side. I saw bugsy in crystal as a kid and had never really seen a gender neutral person irl before and I really latched on to them, really confirmed a lot of feelings I had inside as a child.
So many great and flamboyant designs for gym leaders too! Definitely had a crush on Erica, Flannery, Winona, Claire, etc etc before I had a crush on anyone in real life or even really knew what a crush was. The gender expression is so diverse it's wonderful.
To see people living authentically and be recognized as strong, not for physical prowess but for coordinating and working together as a team is very gay themes imo. Big Themes of found family as well. Thank you for the video 💖
tenho a teoria de que começou simplesmente sendo uma franquia grande e assim atraindo todos os públicos (principalmente os mais excluidos, por ser bem diversa), e que com o tempo a TPC "percebeu" o quão grande era a comunidade queer em Pokémon e começou a fazer mais personagens queercoded e ND-coded.
enfim, ótimo video!! conheci esse canal pelo video do amoonguss e automaticamente me apaixonei 💖 definitivamente virou meu canal favorito! :)
I love your analogy of sailing the algorithm that is google, because it feels like I caught a bottle lost out at sea to find such a "me" video when usually RUclips fails to understand my tastes despite aaaall the stolen data to suggest the contrary!
Only I got it five months out but STILL! Feels like I caught a message in a bottle!
After finishing the video there is SO much to think about... but, one thing that I think could unite straight and neurotypical people (of which I am not I am as queer and weird as you get) to Pokemon is a simple love of *animals*. People who felt closer to their pets and mistrustful of other people but were otherwise "normies", the pet obsessed normies, would probably also gravitate towards pokemon. I think a lot of pokemon fans like animals more than the typical person, but maybe that is me.
I am someone who is questioning their gender and I exist somewhere on the spectrum of queer sexuality. The RUclips Channel PhilosophyTube made a video a while back that I believe is useful here about "queer temporality", which is the philosophical/sociological/psychological theory that asserts and defends the idea that queer people experience time differently than heterosexual/cis people do. Time is one part the actual literal experience of seconds, but is also a measurement of progress most commonly measured in milestones. When you're young, time might more closely relate to height or maturity or self-determination. As you grow up, however, the milestones more often have to do with your relationship to other people. When you're a young child, your parents are usually your caregiver and they are your primary relationship. By the time you're ten, you might start demonstrating an interest in independence. When you're twelve, your friendships with people you're own age might eclipse the relationships you have to your parents or siblings. By the time you're in high school/secondary school, you are likely to have interests in romantic relationships.
At least, this is the expectation. For people who live expected lives, these kinds of milestones might seem mundane, but for those who do not exist in the hetero/cis-normative archetype, you experience time differently. Straight people have media and real-life examples of relationships that they can mirror and aspire to. In the US until very recently, depictions of straight people kissing could be included in movies rated G for general audiences and PG for 'parental guidance', but depictions of gay people kissing would be automatically given a PG-13 (you need to be 13 or have a parent's permission) or R (restricted to those 18 or older without parent's permission). It is only one example, but it goes to show how an understanding of what it means to be queer is usually restricted from younger people. That isn't mentioning how bullying, unsupportive parents, religious beliefs, and legal barriers can affect a queer person's ability to live their authentic life. In the US, gay marriage has only been legal on a national level since 2015. That isn't very long for a queer person to go through a lifetime of self-discovery. Someone who is 30 years old today (and thus was born only a few years before the release of pokemon) would have had less than a decade to be openly queer, compared to more than 15 years for a straight person their age.
But how does that relate to pokemon? There are a few ways. First, I would argue that queer people use gaming of all kinds to cope and express themselves. As many testimonies were given in this video, queer life can be hard and a queer childhood can be brutal. My mom knew how I dressed every day until I left for college, but she didn't know that I selected Rosa while playing Pokemon White 2. If I was bound to be an outcast in school because the bullies could clock me before I could clock me, I may as well enjoy myself. Which leads to the second point: I think queer people are less concerned with the normal signifiers of maturity and gender norms. It doesn't bother me as much as it might bother a cis man when someone tells me that a hobby of mine is for girls or for kids. I was never going to have the approval of a guy's guy anyway, so why not spend my time doing what I like to do, regardless of what he might think? In my straight romantic relationships, I hid the fact that I play video games of any kind, but with my partner, I get to geek out about it. This is half of the reason why I think that queer people have so much of an overlap with neurdivergent people- interests as well as ways of dressing and communicating that are not accepted by society can be celebrated within our spaces. So when a straight/cis/neurotypical person would have played pokemon all the same when they were a kid, now that the series is nearly 30 years old, they have been pressured into leaving it behind whereas queer and neurodivergent people don't have the same pressure. Finally, I think that the fact that queer people are a minority (especially when you count how many people are closeted because they cannot or do not want to be out) means that they are more likely to find community on the Internet where minority communities can form without the need for geographic proximity while also having anonymity.
I don't think for a second that queer people are the only people who play Pokemon. Just as I don't think that queer people are the only people in theater or any other space where there are significantly more queer people. But I think that a queer person's innate desire toward expression, our fairly common desire to relive a childhood that was taken from us, our foundational value of acceptance, and an abandoning of heteronormative pressures means that queer people pick up pokemon (and other similar things) and are able to stick with it longer.
The 30 year old from earlier grew up alongside pokemon, but could not grow up alongside their classmates. Their same-age friends could have been married by the time they could be publicly out. So it makes sense that they want to find community and relationships where they can. Pokemon just-so-happens to be the largest media franchise of all time.
This is a cool comment, thank you
what's the animation that starts around 11:15? it's soooo pretty
Anyways, first time watcher here. This was a lovely video, looking forward to more ^^
It's a chinese animated clip called Pokemon - Dreaming of good times (良辰有梦)!
"MY BANDEIRA"
When I watched you for the first time on the Amoonguss video, I was absolutely astonished to find a trans woman here in Brazil... that ALSO likes pokemon! It makes me so happy!
In fact, it makes me question how was your journey to become so fabulous...