Excellent news for those hoping to see more LGBTQ representation in video games: Bioware is going to have its first gay male party member in the upcoming game Dragon Age: Inquisition. That character will be Dorian, a mage from the Tevinter Imperium who forsake his wealthy life to root out corruption. He also sports a nifty mustache.
This will be a first for Bioware. While there have been gay characters in their past, they were not often playable, as in the case of Steve Cortez in Mass Effect 3. Or, it has been argued, that they were females placed there for the male gaze. In an interview David Gaider, the character lead series writer for the game, wanted to point out that this was different from having a bisexual character.
He used the term “fully gay” to illustrate this. Though he received some flak for the term, he quickly apologized by stating that some people would argue that bisexual characters are gay. Gaider wanted to be clear that Dorian was strictly homosexual and not make a comment on bisexuality.
“I suppose this aspect of Dorian will make him controversial in some corners, but I was glad to include it.” David Gaider added, “It made writing Dorian a very personal experience for me, and I’m hopeful that will make him seem like a fully realized character to fans in the end.”
Dragon Age: Inquisition comes out on October 7, 2014 and will be available for PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and the Xbox One.
