I find it funny that the owl house does the opposite of the queer villain bc pretty much all the heroes are queer and then you have Belose who is the opposite in how his excessive hatred caused him to lose all humanity.
@@gryficowaWhat are your thoughts about Chinese queer shows like "The Untamed," "The Master of Diabolism," "Word of Honor," and "Heaven Offical's Blessing"?
Another thing about Himiko Toga. The way people treated her quirk is similar to how some people treat differences in attraction and other personal behaviors. Since her quirk made her crave blood (something she couldn't control), her parents loathed her, encouraging her to act more "normal". Toga was told to suppress her quirk, yet that only made the effects more prominent. In the end, she turned to the League of Villains, who accepted her without seeing her as just her quirk.
I never gave it much thought before but this video makes me think about how one could argue that Megamind is a Queer Coded villain given his flamboyant personality, outfits and him missing Metro Man after seemingly killing him.
Is the correlation/stereotyping of queer culture not...redundant in the context of queer coded villains? These seem to be only in the interpretation of the viewer and not the intention. Its more of a coincidence/ cultural contrivance that many of the traits of villanry are often also used to demean queer culture.
Gonna be real, it always just felt like a super close male friendship, my best friend and I hang out everyday at school, but we never really thought that much of it, but once I had a chest infection that took me out of school for 3 weeks, and we were both so desperate to see each other again just because we became such integral parts of each other’s lives
My favourite portrayal of queers in ancient texts is actually David and Jonathan from the Bible (BEFORE YOU SAY ANYTHING LET ME EXPLAIN) there are numerous moments within the book of Samuel which clearly define David and Jonathan as a little more than Very Good Friends, and the verse Samuel 1:18 states that "And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul." And if you still dont believe me they kissed in Samuel 20:41 "After the boy had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone and bowed down before Jonathan three times, with his face to the ground. Then they kissed each other and wept together-but David wept the most." They were gay your honour
It's also common for a conflict between a hero and a villain to be treated as a "relationship" to which the fight scenes are basically an allegory for, uhh..."intimacy". It's not out of the blue for a villain to get intimate with a hero of the opposite gender, but when the hero and villain are of the same gender, the queer coding is a lot stronger. Perry and Heinz Doofenschmirtz's rivalry is treated as "romance" to the point that certain episodes have them date onscreen (in a "we're totally not gay" way). I remember someone recalling an episode of Phineas and Ferb where Dr. Doof fights a panda agent instead and Perry's reaction to it is very similar to how someone would react to seeing their partner cheating with another person. Even Heinz himself is somewhat queer-coded in certain scenes.
It would be interesting to see a video at some point on how the Queer Coded Villain has intersected with the Bad Boy archetype over the years. When you mentioned monsters, and vampires, and werewolves, and just the general experience of being treated like a volatile outcast, my mind immediately went to Twilight, which is mostly straight but still has themes of forbidden romance and desire. I think there's something to be said about how the Bad Boy generally has to walk the line of appealing to the male gaze while also being the antithesis of the "ideal" male. JD from Heathers is another character that immediately comes to mind here but I'm not exactly sure where he fits into all this.
MHA has gotten a bad rap from quite a few people for being misogynistic, but I think it’s better than quite a few of its predecessors despite the fact that it still has problems. The ending though it didn’t touch on everything it could have still felt cathartic since it payed off so much including every villain with a sympathetic motivation.
I have a friend (cis ally) whose former roommates (they are trans masks) had a multi hour long conversation about how Zuko is a trans mask icon and is really empowering.
I think the funny thing about queer coded villains is that it isn't really defining the villain, but something that gives them flavour and interest. Obviously things about it are *problematic at times,* but if your villain is a bit fruity, you probably have a good villain imo
I honestly did not know how far queer villains went back when it came to media and it’s honestly so shocking how something that has been in media for so long is now only becoming a norm! Speaking of MHA there is two trans-character, a villain named Magne and a hero named Tiger.
As a trans person I like that they were included, but don’t like that Magne died so unceremoniously, though her friends asserting her identity was good.
Happy New Year to you and your cat for being a legend! Honestly, I agree that we need more characters like those (in your video) in media! And yeah, the 80s was not a good decade for an animator to be creative, especially for TV!
I guess the important thing is that being queer can be a central and even part of the defining trait of a character, Villan or HERO, as well as being crucial to the plot, they fail or get weak when it's THE single defining trait. Character is the hero/villain because they are queer. Your example with Nimona was great. She (they?) became the villain because they was shunned by society. Why were they shunned, now we can get into the queer situation, or different in this in world case, as being openly gay does not seem to be an issue. I also like Holt in Brooklyn 99. Being gay and or black is central but not exclusive to the definition of his character, and it can drive plot or be irrelevant depending on the story arc.
@@Talon19she isn't, but from context and especially from what I read about the author there is a lot of symbolism in relation to queer acceptance and lack thereof. Ballister is openly gay, though.
My series broken glass has a primarily queer cast the mc is a lesbian and the main love story is a lesbian relationship. However my main villain carmac is non binary there an alien with w very twisted sense of justice and how the universe should work. Theyre a really interesting character to write. I really want them to stand out their design is a bit on the nose with the non binary colors as their color pallet tho purple and gold is the main color of the show so it fits. Theyre calm a bit sassy at times and have this energy to them that commands respect. But also has a very human side especially when it comes to competition being a bit on competitive. I have a voice for them james spader basically his voice for ultron in the avengers films as it fits carmac so well. I wanna show that queer villians can be as cool if not cooler then your classic hetro villians in media and im really enjoying writing the journey they go on and where theyre story ultimately concludes
I literally do not care because when I watched it, I thought they were setting up Korra with that king dude or whatever from the Earth kingdom (I’m pretty sure) towards the end. I was… not happy. Lol
IDK if my perspective is 100% in line with the topic, but I'd argue that queer coding is prevalent in video games as well. Particularly with characters like roxas from kingdom hearts, kratos from god of war and starkiller from star wars the force unleashed. Their stories center around being molded into something that is to appease the law and it brings them to the point where they finally put their foot down and rebel against their own individual leader/superior/law maker. I.E. Roxas going against organization XIII by choosing to be his own person as opposed to what the organization wants, which is a vessel for the main character sora, kratos slaughtering the greek gods that used him for their bidding and starkiller serving the rebel alliance rather than the empire. Again, my perspective may not be accurate, but I like to think of those stories as allegories for the stonewall riots, where queer people were persecuted to the point where they had no choice but to fight back.
Disney didn't fall, it finally won over the creators who pushed through some of the worst the entertainment industry had to endure, sadly the industry has won out in the end and everything is as it should have been from the start, and that sucks.
A really weird example are also the two killers for hire in Diamonds are forever. They were openly a couple but also very creepy and get killed in the very end of the movie.
I forgot that Draculaura & her human mum in Monster High were named after.. Laura & Carmilla. WHY DID THEY NAME A MOTHER & DAUGHTER AFTER A LESBIAN COUPLE 😭
yeah anime is a interesting in that it does feel far more on the writers opinions on the subject more then Corpo overlords trying to make sure they can sell in china and all, so you do have that range of good representation to flamboyant joke character to harmful stereotypes. Tho I guess that's due to anime usually being adaptations of manga which are usually adaptations of light novels which are usually adaptations of Web Novels which have a very low barrier of entry., it would be like Disney picking up Ao3 writers to fill out Disney Plus.
@@ThePrincessCH never seen them, have been reading Please Bully me, Miss Villainess tho, do love that China's stance/censorship of the subject can't stop the demand/creation of it. Pride is a protest and all that.
@@jarrellfamily1422which in my opinion makes him an entitled chauvinist, but he is way too confident, and is not shunned by the women of the village in general. Edit: Sorry for the double post. For some reason yt didn't show my reply
I personally didn't like Carta and Adora(?). It was set up, yes, but I feel like it was throne in. I don't know how that makes sense because, again, it was kind of set up, but I feel like we didn't need it
Apparently the definition of queer has expanded to include anyone who isn’t a male white, American, straight person (WASP). Hades is queer? Maleficent is queer?
,,,,my dude. My guy. My poor lil sad meow meow. Media literacy is a beautiful thing. She used examples of villain story shifts (aka zuko) to show the EFFECT it had rippling through Queen portrayals. Also queer people can be straight-adjacent (allies/trans people) and just for this Zuko is a transboy. We've claimed him.
@Talon19 dude she literally said, verbatim: "Zuko is not queer. " it's just that his redemption arc changed the trajectory of how villains are viewed in animated media. Which had a byproduct on queer coded villains. That was fionapollos words. And zuko is a trans boy because I say he's a trans boy. 🤣 there are no specifics. Only vibes i see through a magical trans lens. (It's a joke, bro.)
The thing is, the 'queer' villain was still written incredibly well and interestingly. They were treated far more human then they are sadly done today. Queer characters now, are seen as incredibly perfect, incredibly flawless, and how dare you question anything about them? It makes me really sad, especially when you have like Catra, who was not a good person but is treated far more kindly despite that. Also, it is always surprising that Christianity is always the one talked about, but Judaism and Islam have their own issues in regards to homosexuality. These two have also influenced the world drastically when talking about homosexual depictions. I am an ex muslim, and I always find it surprising how ignored these two are in this regard. Look at gay pride month and how largely ignored it is by major brands in the west in the middle east. I want queer characters to be treated like humans and can vary in a variety of ways. Like any other characters you could imagine.
With all due respect I feel it is kind of disingenuous to use ancient literature as an example of a modern trope, Because the ancient Greeks likely had an entirely different outlook on basically everything compared to us, be it relationships, stories etc For example it IS a common, nigh universal trope in Greek mythology that heroes ultimately fall and suffer some tragic or ironic fate, such is the case of Achilles whom earlier in the story of the illiad is posed with a choice between living long and unknown or living a hero but dying young, he chooses the latter and that is why he is slain at the end of the narrative
Wouldn't personally give credit to one piece after its transphobia to be honest.. Other shows you mentioned like steven universe seemed pretty good though
I find it funny that the owl house does the opposite of the queer villain bc pretty much all the heroes are queer and then you have Belose who is the opposite in how his excessive hatred caused him to lose all humanity.
And that's why Disney canceled it... It was too intelligent a series, which also overturned Disney's thinking...
The straight coded villian opposes the explicitly queer heroes.
@@nikacomedawnHow about franchises like "Heaven Offical's Blessing," "The Untamed," "The Master of Diabolism," and "Word of Honor"?
@@gryficowaWhat are your thoughts about Chinese queer shows like "The Untamed," "The Master of Diabolism," "Word of Honor," and "Heaven Offical's Blessing"?
@@ThePrincessCH Never heard of them, sorry. And I only watch pg, occasionally pg 13 shows which judging from the titles I'm guessing those are not.
Another thing about Himiko Toga. The way people treated her quirk is similar to how some people treat differences in attraction and other personal behaviors. Since her quirk made her crave blood (something she couldn't control), her parents loathed her, encouraging her to act more "normal". Toga was told to suppress her quirk, yet that only made the effects more prominent. In the end, she turned to the League of Villains, who accepted her without seeing her as just her quirk.
I never gave it much thought before but this video makes me think about how one could argue that Megamind is a Queer Coded villain given his flamboyant personality, outfits and him missing Metro Man after seemingly killing him.
the bicon we all need
Is the correlation/stereotyping of queer culture not...redundant in the context of queer coded villains? These seem to be only in the interpretation of the viewer and not the intention. Its more of a coincidence/ cultural contrivance that many of the traits of villanry are often also used to demean queer culture.
Gonna be real, it always just felt like a super close male friendship, my best friend and I hang out everyday at school, but we never really thought that much of it, but once I had a chest infection that took me out of school for 3 weeks, and we were both so desperate to see each other again just because we became such integral parts of each other’s lives
@@tristandaries1129 Yeah, putting Megamind in that box feels like erasure of platonic friendship. Not everything needs to be romantic
My favourite portrayal of queers in ancient texts is actually David and Jonathan from the Bible
(BEFORE YOU SAY ANYTHING LET ME EXPLAIN)
there are numerous moments within the book of Samuel which clearly define David and Jonathan as a little more than Very Good Friends, and the verse Samuel 1:18 states that
"And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul."
And if you still dont believe me they kissed in Samuel 20:41
"After the boy had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone and bowed down before Jonathan three times, with his face to the ground. Then they kissed each other and wept together-but David wept the most."
They were gay your honour
😂 dude no
@@92JazzQueen Explain plz
Makes me wonder what other gay stuff was in the Bible before Europeans decided “nuh-uh! 😤” however long ago, lol. They missed one 👍
@@DonutCare564 this is a heretical interpretation
@alliekat1431 🤡
90s villains are still the goat
U right
Yup!
@@FionapolloI really really like you Fiona you’re my best friend ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
@@Fionapolloyou’re awesome and cool I would love to be BFFs
It's also common for a conflict between a hero and a villain to be treated as a "relationship" to which the fight scenes are basically an allegory for, uhh..."intimacy". It's not out of the blue for a villain to get intimate with a hero of the opposite gender, but when the hero and villain are of the same gender, the queer coding is a lot stronger.
Perry and Heinz Doofenschmirtz's rivalry is treated as "romance" to the point that certain episodes have them date onscreen (in a "we're totally not gay" way). I remember someone recalling an episode of Phineas and Ferb where Dr. Doof fights a panda agent instead and Perry's reaction to it is very similar to how someone would react to seeing their partner cheating with another person. Even Heinz himself is somewhat queer-coded in certain scenes.
It would be interesting to see a video at some point on how the Queer Coded Villain has intersected with the Bad Boy archetype over the years. When you mentioned monsters, and vampires, and werewolves, and just the general experience of being treated like a volatile outcast, my mind immediately went to Twilight, which is mostly straight but still has themes of forbidden romance and desire. I think there's something to be said about how the Bad Boy generally has to walk the line of appealing to the male gaze while also being the antithesis of the "ideal" male. JD from Heathers is another character that immediately comes to mind here but I'm not exactly sure where he fits into all this.
Shout-out to Hades for being my favourite queer coded villain in Disney movies. And shout-out to all the Yuri Manga and Anime.
God i wanted to talk abt hades so much but i didn't have tiiiiiiime, he's so sassy afshggk
How is hades queer?
Mannerisms, the way he moves, and the way he speaks. Hate to use the word sassy but that's how he is. If Scar is queer coded then so is Hades
@
Isn’t that just feeding into stereotypes and not actually queer?
That's why it's queer coded and not actually queer.
Your funny character design is very nice looking and makes me want to upgrade my wardrobe again. Super cute!
MHA has gotten a bad rap from quite a few people for being misogynistic, but I think it’s better than quite a few of its predecessors despite the fact that it still has problems. The ending though it didn’t touch on everything it could have still felt cathartic since it payed off so much including every villain with a sympathetic motivation.
WE NEED MORE CAT
THERE WILL BE MORE CAT
YEEEESSS
I have a friend (cis ally) whose former roommates (they are trans masks) had a multi hour long conversation about how Zuko is a trans mask icon and is really empowering.
Zuko???
Dang… I swear, all my favorite characters have daddy issues, die, or have a particularly fruity undertone, or are just, yk, gay.
I think the funny thing about queer coded villains is that it isn't really defining the villain, but something that gives them flavour and interest. Obviously things about it are *problematic at times,* but if your villain is a bit fruity, you probably have a good villain imo
Would you then classify Darth Vader as queer coded?
Another great video! The history of queer characters in media, especially as villains and antiheroes, is so interesting!
I honestly did not know how far queer villains went back when it came to media and it’s honestly so shocking how something that has been in media for so long is now only becoming a norm! Speaking of MHA there is two trans-character, a villain named Magne and a hero named Tiger.
As a trans person I like that they were included, but don’t like that Magne died so unceremoniously, though her friends asserting her identity was good.
Slight correction: while Magne is indeed trans-woman, Tiger is trans-man.
@@EternalKHFan0 OMG i messed up! Thank you for telling me!
@@themythosarchives7520 agree, I wish the story did more with her
@@KiyoshiArtsNo problem.
Glad to see you back Fiomapollo !!!
Happy New Year to you and your cat for being a legend! Honestly, I agree that we need more characters like those (in your video) in media! And yeah, the 80s was not a good decade for an animator to be creative, especially for TV!
I guess the important thing is that being queer can be a central and even part of the defining trait of a character, Villan or HERO, as well as being crucial to the plot, they fail or get weak when it's THE single defining trait.
Character is the hero/villain because they are queer.
Your example with Nimona was great. She (they?) became the villain because they was shunned by society. Why were they shunned, now we can get into the queer situation, or different in this in world case, as being openly gay does not seem to be an issue.
I also like Holt in Brooklyn 99. Being gay and or black is central but not exclusive to the definition of his character, and it can drive plot or be irrelevant depending on the story arc.
How is Nimona explicitly queer?
@@Talon19she isn't, but from context and especially from what I read about the author there is a lot of symbolism in relation to queer acceptance and lack thereof.
Ballister is openly gay, though.
Came for the art commentary, stayed for Fionapollo adoring her cat💖
Now Disney have Scar light-furred and without much personality.
Yipee Appollo vid
Your cat is so cute!
My series broken glass has a primarily queer cast the mc is a lesbian and the main love story is a lesbian relationship. However my main villain carmac is non binary there an alien with w very twisted sense of justice and how the universe should work. Theyre a really interesting character to write. I really want them to stand out their design is a bit on the nose with the non binary colors as their color pallet tho purple and gold is the main color of the show so it fits. Theyre calm a bit sassy at times and have this energy to them that commands respect. But also has a very human side especially when it comes to competition being a bit on competitive. I have a voice for them james spader basically his voice for ultron in the avengers films as it fits carmac so well. I wanna show that queer villians can be as cool if not cooler then your classic hetro villians in media and im really enjoying writing the journey they go on and where theyre story ultimately concludes
I don't like the ship all that much, but Korrasami walked so Catradora could run.
I literally do not care because when I watched it, I thought they were setting up Korra with that king dude or whatever from the Earth kingdom (I’m pretty sure) towards the end. I was… not happy. Lol
Oh my god, SHE LIVES?
I LIIIIIIIIVE
Lovely work and wonderful cat
IDK if my perspective is 100% in line with the topic, but I'd argue that queer coding is prevalent in video games as well. Particularly with characters like roxas from kingdom hearts, kratos from god of war and starkiller from star wars the force unleashed. Their stories center around being molded into something that is to appease the law and it brings them to the point where they finally put their foot down and rebel against their own individual leader/superior/law maker. I.E. Roxas going against organization XIII by choosing to be his own person as opposed to what the organization wants, which is a vessel for the main character sora, kratos slaughtering the greek gods that used him for their bidding and starkiller serving the rebel alliance rather than the empire. Again, my perspective may not be accurate, but I like to think of those stories as allegories for the stonewall riots, where queer people were persecuted to the point where they had no choice but to fight back.
More cat please. Alllll the cat.
What are your thoughts about Chinese queer shows like "The Untamed," "The Master of Diabolism," "Word of Honor," and "Heaven Offical's Blessing"?
I don't actually know much abt queer chinese shows, so I'd need to watch them first & talk to someone who knows a lot in that area to form an opinion
Have you not seen The Owl House, Fiona? I feel like you would want to consider that show in a topic like this
Interesting video...
Disney didn't fall, it finally won over the creators who pushed through some of the worst the entertainment industry had to endure, sadly the industry has won out in the end and everything is as it should have been from the start, and that sucks.
...
That's a annoyingly pessimistic way to look at things.
I love catra raaahhfhghg **foaming at the mouth**
Real ✋😔
21:54 Yooo?? Magnus Archives reference in the wild?? :D
My ace ass projects onto Jon so bad adcvgvbj
@Fionapollo Fellow ace! Hi! I've read some great Jon fics on AO3 about asexuality, it's so cool
Interesting you didn’t touch on Team Rocket Jessie and James since they are obviously very queer-coded villains
What?? Two cishet characters of opposite genders who obviously have romantic feelings for each other are queer-coded?
I mean… James obviously, but Jessie…? I kinda thought she was just a super supportive friend to James, lol
(We miss you Jessie :( )
A really weird example are also the two killers for hire in Diamonds are forever. They were openly a couple but also very creepy and get killed in the very end of the movie.
I forgot that Draculaura & her human mum in Monster High were named after.. Laura & Carmilla. WHY DID THEY NAME A MOTHER & DAUGHTER AFTER A LESBIAN COUPLE 😭
Interesting
yeah anime is a interesting in that it does feel far more on the writers opinions on the subject more then Corpo overlords trying to make sure they can sell in china and all, so you do have that range of good representation to flamboyant joke character to harmful stereotypes.
Tho I guess that's due to anime usually being adaptations of manga which are usually adaptations of light novels which are usually adaptations of Web Novels which have a very low barrier of entry., it would be like Disney picking up Ao3 writers to fill out Disney Plus.
What are your thoughts about Chinese queer shows like "The Untamed," "The Master of Diabolism," "Word of Honor," and "Heaven Offical's Blessing"?
@@ThePrincessCH never seen them, have been reading Please Bully me, Miss Villainess tho, do love that China's stance/censorship of the subject can't stop the demand/creation of it.
Pride is a protest and all that.
Gaston may be queer coded but he's also a incel
Nah, not incel, he can get almost any girl. He is just extremely entitled and narcissistic.
@Hjorth87 gaston is constantly chasing after a woman who doesn't want him & has a jock like personality
@@jarrellfamily1422which makes him entitled and chauvinistic, but incel implies that he can't get laid, like ever.
@@jarrellfamily1422which in my opinion makes him an entitled chauvinist, but he is way too confident, and is not shunned by the women of the village in general.
Edit: Sorry for the double post. For some reason yt didn't show my reply
I personally didn't like Carta and Adora(?). It was set up, yes, but I feel like it was throne in. I don't know how that makes sense because, again, it was kind of set up, but I feel like we didn't need it
Do you do commissions
❤️🏳️🌈❤️😘❤️🥰💚💙💜💔
Apparently the definition of queer has expanded to include anyone who isn’t a male white, American, straight person (WASP). Hades is queer? Maleficent is queer?
I love that you add straight to the prerequisite of not being queer 😅
,,,,my dude. My guy. My poor lil sad meow meow. Media literacy is a beautiful thing.
She used examples of villain story shifts (aka zuko) to show the EFFECT it had rippling through Queen portrayals.
Also queer people can be straight-adjacent (allies/trans people) and just for this Zuko is a transboy. We've claimed him.
@
How is Zuko a trans boy? Specifics please.
Why did you ignore the point of my comment?
@Talon19 dude she literally said, verbatim: "Zuko is not queer. " it's just that his redemption arc changed the trajectory of how villains are viewed in animated media. Which had a byproduct on queer coded villains. That was fionapollos words.
And zuko is a trans boy because I say he's a trans boy. 🤣 there are no specifics. Only vibes i see through a magical trans lens. (It's a joke, bro.)
@
Sarcasm doesn’t work in text.
>mentions Achilles and Patroclus
>doesn't mention Gilgamesh and Enkidu
Greek mythology fans man, suck the history out of everything
The thing is, the 'queer' villain was still written incredibly well and interestingly. They were treated far more human then they are sadly done today. Queer characters now, are seen as incredibly perfect, incredibly flawless, and how dare you question anything about them? It makes me really sad, especially when you have like Catra, who was not a good person but is treated far more kindly despite that. Also, it is always surprising that Christianity is always the one talked about, but Judaism and Islam have their own issues in regards to homosexuality. These two have also influenced the world drastically when talking about homosexual depictions. I am an ex muslim, and I always find it surprising how ignored these two are in this regard. Look at gay pride month and how largely ignored it is by major brands in the west in the middle east.
I want queer characters to be treated like humans and can vary in a variety of ways. Like any other characters you could imagine.
With all due respect I feel it is kind of disingenuous to use ancient literature as an example of a modern trope,
Because the ancient Greeks likely had an entirely different outlook on basically everything compared to us, be it relationships, stories etc
For example it IS a common, nigh universal trope in Greek mythology that heroes ultimately fall and suffer some tragic or ironic fate, such is the case of Achilles whom earlier in the story of the illiad is posed with a choice between living long and unknown or living a hero but dying young, he chooses the latter and that is why he is slain at the end of the narrative
Scar isn’t a villain just a fallen hero
Why is Scar explicitly queer?
@ what do you mean I don’t understand
@@noamsimba8942
Scar is included in queer coded villains. Why? What exclusively-queer characteristics does Scar have?
Wouldn't personally give credit to one piece after its transphobia to be honest.. Other shows you mentioned like steven universe seemed pretty good though