In 2002, players of the popular fighting game series Guilty Gear we met Bridget, an adorable character dressed as a nun and claiming to be not a woman, but a man. 20 years later announced their return in Guilty Gear Strive during EVO 2022 and Bridget’s gender once again became a source of discussion in the community.
But before we get to that, we need to talk about the history of this popular character and how her perception of herself evolved through the games.
What is Bridget’s story in Guilty Gear?
Bridget has a twin brother. When both were born, her parents were terrified. The town in England in which they lived considered that the birth of twins of the same gender was bad luck and required that one of them be killed or exiled. Desperate and not wanting to lose any of her children, they decided to give Bridget a female name and raise her as a girl. Her brother was raised as a boy.
Growing up, Bridget wanted to prove that he was a man and left town to become a bounty hunter. She believed that if she could return the loot she would prove that the belief about the twins was nothing more than a superstition. But the reward turned out to be false and she became convinced that she had to continue living as a woman (Guilty Gear XX).
When he decided to give up the life of a bounty hunter, he pursued a career in entertainment and tried to recruit other game characters for his purposes. But his plans failed and he ended up working at Jam’s restaurant (Guilty Gear XX Accent Core).
Bridget was forced to become a bounty hunter again and gained much renown for it, but she felt that something was missing in her life. For years she had repressed her true feelings in service to others and she believes that it is time to find out who she really is (Guilty Gear Strive).
But then… Is Bridget a man or a woman?
When he was born, he was assigned the male gender. Despite being raised and dressed as a girl, her family always told her that she was a man and that she had to keep it a secret from the rest of the town.. That is why, during his work as a bounty hunter, he feels free to make it clear that he is male to everyone who is confused by his appearance and attitude. He even wore the symbol of Mars on his forehead. This is used to represent the masculine gender.
In Guilty Gear XX, his androgyny only seems to serve to give rise to jokes, some of them in bad taste. Robo Ky tells him that “she can’t fool him because he has x-ray vision”, suggesting that he has used that ability to look at his genitals. During one of his finalsJohnny tries to seduce him, only to be defeated and embarrassed when he discovers that “it was a man”.
Although not completely gone, this homophobic and transphobic sense of humor is becoming less common in a pop culture that places increasing importance on cultural representation of all kinds of people. Of the jokes in bad taste XX, Guilty Gear went on to become quite progressive in Strive.
Some months ago reintroduced Testament to the series revealing that she is a non-binary gender character who uses the neutral pronouns ‘they/them’ in English. We also have exciting new details about Bridget and her story.
During his arcade mode in Guilty Gear StriveBridget has a dialogue with Ky and Goldlewis —to which he initially introduces himself as a boy— in which he confesses that he is running away from something because he is afraid. They both encourage her to be brave and offer her support in the future. So she decides that she won’t lie to herself anymore. Goldlewis, who calls her “cowgirl”, asks if she prefers to be called “cowboy”, Bridget says “cowgirl is fine, because I’m a girl!”
It is true that Bridget previously identified as a man, but the new dialogue suggests that her obsession with being recognized as that gender was causing her internal conflict. Guilty Gear Strive gives a definitive answer to the question of whether it is a man or a woman: Bridget is a trans woman.
Wait… Isn’t Bridget gender non-binary at all? Guilty Gear Strive?
During the first few hours after the character’s announcement at EVO 2022, clues emerged that Bridget was going to identify as gender non-binary like Testament. One of the reasons is that she had replaced the symbol of Mars on his outfit with the symbol of androgyny. This is usually used to represent non-binary gender.
Also, her biography on the game’s official website avoided using pronouns to refer to her.
That rumor quickly died down when players acquired the character and learned about his story and dialogue. These confirmed that Bridget in Guilty Gear Strive is definitely a transsexual woman.
The dilemmas of trans representation in video games
Bridget de Guilty Gear Strive one to one a sadly small list of trans characters we can control in video games in which she is accompanied by Madeline, from Celeste; Tyler, of Tell me Why; and a few others. poison, of Street Fighter/Fatal Fury, and Birdo, from Super Mario Bros.are also widely considered trans, but Capcom and Nintendo have been somewhat cowardly in referring to it for more than jokes.
That community is better represented in the world of supporting characters thanks to Ned, from Assassin’s Creed Syndicate; Live, they The Last of Us Parte II; Erica, from Catherine; and some more, but still not many.
The revelation about Bridget was very well received on social networks. The fans celebrated with memes, mods y regards about the character. This has drowned out the usual criticism from those who believe that this is forced representation, but we have also seen arguments with greater validity. For example, there are those who say that this undoes the previous background of the character. They also argue that translating a character who was forced to dress as a certain gender in their childhood can be problematic.
But regardless of her gender, regardless of whether she was a man before and is now a trans woman, Bridget is a great character with a great design and controlling her in Guilty Gear Strive it’s all a pleasure. We want to see what other characters they will add in the future.
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