Guilty Gear struts‘s next roster expansion will bring fan-favorite Testament back into the game with an updated design, moveset, and gender.
Testament is now considered by Arc System Works to be an Agender – a non-binary identity classified by its complete separation from all known genders, having previously been denoted by the pronouns “he/him”. This change is reflected in the official Guilty Gear struts site Use of them/them pronouns and was expressly approved by the developers during a current presentation at the Arc Revo America Fighting Games Tournament Finals.
“Agender is the best word,” explained Riku Ozawa, marketing representative for Arc System Works, according to a Third Party Translation. “Neither male nor female. Will is will.”
Testament, who long before presented himself as a highly androgynous Grim Reaper Endeavorwas included in both 1998’s as an unlockable secret boss Guilty gear and 2000s Guilty Gear X before becoming a regular cast member in 2002 Guilty Gear XX. Since then, they’ve appeared in every mainline Guilty gear game (with the exception of Xrd trilogy) and several spin-offs.
“You are androgynous” Guilty gear Godfather Daisuke Ishiwatari reportedly said when asked about will’s gender in a decades-old interview. “In fact, they have transcended human existence. Just like me.”
Testament’s trap-based gameplay made them an infamous part of the old school Guilty gear Competition, and players experienced with Will’s unique brand of gimmicks pessimistically anticipate they’ll be a powerhouse Endeavor even. They are portrayed by Trans voice actor Kayleigh McKeewhose work has appeared in games like Genshin Impact and Hearthstone.
While fighting games still have their issues with diversity, it’s cool to see that genre developers continue to set a standard for the rest of the industry by defying long-held norms in representation. I hated playing against will back then, but we’re a non-binary icon.
