Gotta post this for posterity: this video was released on June 30 2022, roughly one month and 9 days before Bridget's reveal in Guilty Gear Strive on August 8 2022. As a result, my reading of Bridget in this video does not take into account her new plot direction in Guilty Gear Strive, something that I have discussed at length with my discord and with my friends. I'll repeat the plot points here: I am totally cool with this new plot direction, and I think it really adds some purpose to Bridget's whole journey. Allow me to provide my reading of Bridget's new plot: At some point before the events of Strive, Bridget _does_ manage to achieve what she's been chasing after since XX; to prove her 'manliness', she actually becomes a top-class bounty hunter with tons of money, and is so successful that her village even stops believing in the twins superstition. But she finds that even this doesn't bring her the closure or satisfaction she thought it would. Even though she's far from home and no longer obligated to abide by the superstition, the fact that she has spent her entire bounty hunter career attempting to defy it means that she never truly escaped it in the first place, forcing her to abide by a false expectation that she put on herself. But to lose this identity she has built for herself would mean that she is nothing without it; "I'm afraid of losing what I have", in her own words. It takes a pep talk from Good Dad Ky and Pro-Trans Uncle Goldlewis to learn that her hardship hasn't been for nothing, and she now has the freedom to choose who she wants to be; to be the person that makes her the happiest, not the person she _thinks_ people want her to be. It is actually an extremely common theme in Guilty Gear Strive that characters come to terms with who they are and their place in the world; Testament, Bridget, Baiken, Jack-O', and many more share this theme. A lot of people expressed that this change in identity also takes away from her representation as a transfemme male, but I don't think anything is taken away from the character at all. If you looked up to Bridget as a transfemme icon, you absolutely still can. The important takeaway from the story is that labels aren't as carved in stone as people think they are. People change, learn things about themselves, and sometimes come across bumps in the road. Some people spend their entire lives never knowing who they really are. But Bridget teaches us ultimately that you can choose who you want to be. Not because anyone expects it from you, not to prove yourself to anyone, but because you deserve to be the person who makes you the happiest. Be who you want to be.

I'm far from a Guilty Gear expert but "Sharknado made me realize I'm NB" was not something I was expecting

The people I used to run with back in the day when Guilty was new would always make fun of me for playing a homosexual character. "You know your character is gay right??" for anytime I thought anything was cool about Venom. That shit was so annoying and I'm straight so I can't even imagine what actual gay people had/have to deal with at the time. 22 years later and I just think Venom is cool as hell.

Poison is the epitome of "I'm sexy and I know it". She's sassy, she's powerful, she's hot, she's angry. She's amazing. I love her

Ngl Ladiva not going for a sex change and keeping their body as is but changing their gender identity is kinda wholesome and could def be a nice inspiring and motivating story for people who are in the same boat as her.

Testament's list of hobbies is so funny to me. It's like Daisuke was like 'what do non-binary people like' and then just wrote down every single answer he found.

When I first watched Seth's story mode, what I took away was that he was an exaggerated depiction of gender dysphoria. Literally struggling with your own body because it clashes with your identity. The computer voice in Seth's body even establishes that gender was the incompatible parameter which made his programming not function properly. I agree that it was mostly a botched plot and I see it as basically a display of one of the struggles of being non-cisgender instead of a story about identity

THE GAYEST FIGHTING GAME made me laugh so hard. But jokes aside, Ladiva's backstory is so inspiring, it honestly makes her one of my favourite characters of GBVS

There's a bit in Testament's episode mode where Chipp is baffled that somebody as extraordinary as Testament has a normal day job, to which Testament says "I AM normal" and I think it fucking rules to see a non-binary character say that so loud and proud.

Just a small heads up: normally non-binary identities are considered as part of the T and/or Q in LGBTQ+. It's not to say that anything is the video is worg, just to help disentangle the terminology.

"Anyone can fight and anyone can win. In the ring, we are all equal." That's fighting games in a nutshell, and thats why this genre is so powerful to depict LGBT+ representation. Great, great video, mate.

I like that line from Raiden about "They care where your heart is, not who it belongs to." Or however it went, it's acceptance while also being like "we're warriors, we don't have time to discriminate"

AND NOW BRIDGET IS USING FEMALE PRONOUNS!

> Mentions Bridget because he is a crossdresser. > Monkey paw curls. > She is no longer a crossdresser.

I'm not into Granblue and thought Ladiva was a very bad joke on trans people and all. Now learning about the race dysmorphia this is wholesome as hell. I fucking love Ladiva now.

gotta say, as a Granblue player, the "... And Belial" made me laugh really hard. and honestly, GBVS being the gayest fighting game makes sense when the original game has quite a few characters who could easily be interpreted as gay or bi. Hell, some go beyond subtext to being pretty much text (hi Meg, Grea, and Anne, lol) hell, during Valentines or White day you can change a setting to make it so that the game ignores the gender of your MC, so technically we can make almost everyone bi, LOL... though i say almost, since there are a few who have set relationships who make sure you don't forget about them on those days (hi again, Meg, Grea, and Anne)

Kung Jin is always a difficult one I find since people just leap on to paise how sublet it is when if you have to clarify in a tweet "he's gay" in a fighting game it's too subtle. I'm genuinely tired of folks assuming being open about your sexuality just makes "your entire personality gay" because they never apply that same logic to straight characters they can be straight and a person but a gay guy is always seen as just being gay and thier characteristics are discarded by the audience because they're just that gay guy.

"In the ring, we are all equal." The FGC is the only community I've ever been apart of where that's utterly true. Doesn't matter if it's Ricki Ortiz, SonicFox, Lil' Majin or WhiteBoi Anderson, everyone's hype and trying to learn from each other. Zero social barriers or "proper ways of existing," we're all just trying to have fun and/or win a tournament by learning from ANY stronger player and teaching the learning ones. Got to experience that again at CEO 2022. Because of this, fighting games are the greatest gaming genre to me.

Me before watching the video knowing that Venom is going mentioned: Venom is so fucking cool. Me after watching the Venom segment: Venom is so. Fucking. Cool.

Hey, just wanted to thank you for citing my video in your work. It brought a smile to my face, not just for having my work recognized after all this time - but for seeing someone else go to bat against the too-often perpetuated censorship myth. On a more personal note, as someone who eventually transitioned herself, I appreciate your highlighting and celebrating diversity in a time that sorely needs more of it.

Testament is such a rad redesign. I don't think I've ever seen someone's queer identity so deftly weaved into their plotline. Knowing the struggle Testament went through makes their new presentation so much more gratifying to see. A lot of trans characters in fighting games already WERE trans when they're first introduced, and that's great, but it's cool to see someone come into their own identity over the course of the franchise rather than know who they are out the gate. Threading in their new androgynous presentation with their new outlook is such a fun bit of character work, I think they pulled it off really well.

Ok, have to give GB credit. I have heard the "she's actually 1000 years old" excuse to have a bait loli character in your franchise. But never have I heard "But she's actually an ancient mtf trans alchemist that transfers her soul to the body of a girl" twist to it.

I love Riesbyfe in Melty Blood for just being a massive lesbian flirt whos also a serious knight of the church. These two things are never really brought up as conflicting with each other.

I think Kung Jin was one of the best gay characters because his entire character wasn't "The Cartoonishly Flamboyant Gay Guy" Like some characters end up being outlandish stereotypes. And it's always great when they aren't.

A couple small notes: 1. Another way you could describe Bridget is “gender non-conforming”, a type of gender expression that doesn’t match the expected gender norms 2. Not sure why you mentioned non-binary separately throughout the video, but the T in LGBT covers both binary and non-binary trans identities, in case that wasn’t clear. Still, this video is very much appreciated and I do enjoy seeing the good rep we get in media highlighted. Happy pride! (Note: as of Strive, Bridget is actually a trans woman now)

For a long time i struggled to find a gender identity that would fit me, never knowing if i wanted to transition or not. and then GBVS came out. I didn't know anything about it but I gravitated towards the buff grappler as i usually do and then noticed Ladiva used she/her while having a beard and being muscular and i seriously went "You can do that!?!" i was fascinated by Ladiva, her manerisms and her aesthetics and just... everything really. She made me discover i was non-binary and helped me discover myself. I may still not know much about GB, but i can't thank Ladiva enough for giving me an identity and showing me i could be myself without restrictions

there's a bigger issue here bridget is british

One thing that I feel is worth mentioning about Cagliostro, as someone who's learned about GBF lore primarily through osmosis, is the fact that she's absolutely in love with her body to the point of ocassionally making people uncomfortable. And I feel like its kind of beautiful having a trans character carry around a mirror just to oogle at themselves for achieving their "true form" while being willing to admit that, to many people, that would ne really fucking weird to do anywhere besides the privacy of your own home. But Cag doesn't care. She's adorable and perfect in her eyes, and girl feels obligated to spoil herself at every opportunity, even if it means making people squirm from radiating a manic level of self love.

Lol not me tearing up at hearing Ladiva's reason for not taking that potion. Might give Granblue Fantasy a chance now

This channel, Theory Fighter, Stumblebee, and GekkoSquirrel make fighting game content on a level above the rest! I love your videos!

Note:I wrote this before Bridget was revealed to officially be trans*. Not sure if I should just let it sit as a catalogue of my mistakes or just delete it...Either way I feel like an idiot who now lacks representation. Bridget is a character who could have easily been a joke, but given that Guilty Gear is essentially a heavy metal anime fighting game, he's just another over the top personality in a roster of campy over the top personalities and that's awesome. As a GNC man, he was not necessarily the representation I wanted when I was younger (like goth him up and add some serious occult vibes and that would be perfect), but the representation perhaps I needed. He could go toe to toe with a bunch of badasses without having to sacrifice any of those things that made him stand apart from a lot of other guys. Also, Testament always had a killer design, but this redesign is just next level. I know they're nonbinary, but still as a gender nonconforming guy, that's a look I wish I felt I could pull off.

I LOVE the interpretation of Venom’s hair as a metaphor for “blinding” his judgement, and in his ending when he puts his hair up, it’s him valuing himself and un-clouding his vision. I always took a tactician’s interpretation and thought that his hair was a way to hid his gaze from others, so they can’t see how he will hit the pool balls.

Bridget is the character I want to see being brought back in Strive most. I'm dying to know how he will be portrayed as a more grown up.

18:50, there's a multilayered joke in there somewhere about Venom wanting to express his feelings so much, that he forgot the small detail that his interest is literally blind...

1 month later in a move nobody expected, Bridget may or may not be trans now Aged quicker than anyone could have expected

Still find it hilarious that a person named *Venom* is a _Chef._ Like what-

Poison is probably my favorite Street fighter character and as a trans woman myself I hope to one day have the kind of self-confidence and living my best Life energy that she constantly radiates

The way i interpreted Seth was that the "Doll prototype" was one of the most up to date replacement bodies made for Bison since his preferred choice of body where women (the dolls). When Juri got the body she turned it on to find if it could be programed into a ally or something without knowing that Seth was in it. Getting corrupted from the process broke every sense of identity Seth had made for himself before, drilling into his mind that he is not the leader of S.I.N: the tyrannical weapons manufacturer bent to bring conflict to the world, now he exists only for Bison's sake. So he keeps saying "MY NAME IS SETH!" over and over, telling himself frantically that he still has a identity besides being a spare body for Bison. The fact that his voice and his pronouns are kept as male while in the female body shows that despite having no biological sex (being an android and all) being in a female body don't change the fact he still identifies as male(calling himself king at multiple times), if gender wasn't important for his identity that wouldn't happen, we would just call him "them". Therefore he is trapped: his body and mind in a state he don't identify as himself. It shows how much it sucks to be in a state of self you don't identify as your own At least that's my take on it... Besides, didn't Ryu canonically beat Seth in that SF4 animation? Isn't it canon? In conclusion, i like Seth as a character! Even in SF4: being that featureless bland looking robot who actually has a full fledged personality, personal philosophy and goals, being very human for a robot!

When Testsment was revealed to make it into Strive and I saw their new design I felt such genuine happynes seeing how they were living their best life, it was like reuniting with an old friend after years and seeing that they are doing great. Now I want an extra chapter for the story mode (like they did when Baiken got added) with them on it.

I'M SO HAPPY SOMEONE REMEMBERED JIN AND TANYAAAA AAAAAAAA People Often forget that MK had Jin as the first LGBT character in the franchise and it often frustrates me how often i have to correct my friends on Discord on this fact!

One month. This video had one month before becoming out of date. Goddamn Arc Systems, we do not deserve you.

Funnily enough, my intention was to watch this video to recognise LGBTQ representation in the genre, but you also ended up reinforcing to me why Guilty Gear's characters and narrative is so amazing. I've met a fair deal of people who tell me it's wack, but I've always been hesitant to believe that as it never sat right with me when characters like Venom, Testament and so many other cool characters exist with their own personal struggle and arcs.

Ladiva is basically what I hope for LGBT characters, She is a very respected individual, a good friend and true to herself. the part where she refused Cag "Gender transformation" offer with " I was born this way because of my parent love so I refuse to change my appearance" is beyond base

One thing I've always liked about how fighting games represent characters in these struggles is the good ones weave it in super well. Like I love what they did with Testament because it feels like they are Testament and they are also non binary for lack of a better way to explain it. Their personality shine so much that I love them and when learning they were NB it was like a "oh I'm happy for them moment" and not a feeling of them just slapping it in because they needed a NB character. Its like Sol, I love Sol because of everything he believes in and has done but the fact that he has a wife is a "oh thats cool" moment for me.

Even though I despise Cagliostro's personality (egomaniacal types and bratty kid tropes always rub me the wrong way), I still respect her as a great example of a trans character. Ladiva is the BEST though. Amazing video as always!

Greatest collab ever!!

Very positive video and I'm happy to see something like this getting made. Great job

I honestly like this cross dresser interpretation of Bridget, though I will accept Strive's new transgender interpretation. Still happy as heck for Testament having a happier life.

I love Ladiva. Excellent portryal of a character...and I appreciate that she is so comfortable with being herself that she doesn't need to change anything about herself to be who she is.

I always liked that Blazblue has Mai (a trans woman) and Amane (a crossdresser). I like that it distinguishes between the two since so many people still refuse to do so. I also like that it shows both characters in a generally positive light.

Was not expecting how unfathomably based Ladiva is

That was really wholesome. When I noticed the video ended and was going to press the like button I saw I've already liked it in the beginning because I was already expecting a nice talk coming from you. Love your videos, keep up with the amazing content =) (sorry if something is incoherent, I am a Brazilian fan of yours and my knowledge of English comes only from browsing and gaming on the internet for years)

Thanks for making this video! It means a lot to me to see awesome people talk about this.

Thank you for introducing to Cagliostro to me. I have never had so much in common with a fictional character as I have with her.

I've actaully had a discussion about this recently, this video came in perfect timing! Amazing video, keep up the great work!

Bridgette has the brand of trans vibes where he is a gender non-conforming cis man who’s story feels like a trans man (having to be raised as a girl even though he’s really a boy, wanting to be seen as a man, etc.). He’s technically not trans but he’s just as limited by our world’s gender norms, and it’s inspiring seeing him break free and find himself.

ABI what a beautiful video, thank you so much for this, I was just learning Leo in Tekken and read online that Harada confirmed Leo to be NonB, so I was thinking about this topic yesterday. It's great to see FGs represent our community in wonderful characters like Leo, Ladiva, Poison, Testament, Mileena, Venom and more.

This video slaps!! I honestly wasn’t expecting much given the reputation of fighting games but this was enlightening and an overall interesting watch!! Thank you :)

This was so great. Thank you! The Venom / Zato unpacking was rad.

Well done and a superb video! As a Testament main back during GGX/GGXX, and loving the new design in Strive, your analysis was excellent. I do wish you had time to talk about Shion in KOF XI. Granted, details about him is sparse, but damn, he made such an impression that he stole the thunder away from the actual final boss, Magaki.

You can tell that Kung jin is character and not a token because they didn't hesitate to eliminate him in the next game because he didn't stick with audience at all

you love to see it

I’m so happy you referenced Testament’s theme that I got chills when you did :)

Hi. I just wanted to say that I love your videos, I feel like I learn something new about fighting games(my favorite genre) every time. Great video again and ty for everything

"Granblue Fantasy Versus is THE GAYEST FIGHTING GAME!" Put it on the back of the fucking box. I also have the great mental image of Ladiva just being like "Momma gave me this big muscle body so I could HUG BETTER, DAMNIT!"

It was nice hearing about Bridget, though Gender Identity and Gender Expression are definitely two different things. I see Bridget (and some other characters) as more early attempts at representation but before the understanding/cultural awareness was at a point to have it more clearly. It's more like they're related conceptually though not officially within, I think. Crossdressing is more an expression of gender rather than another identity all to its own. EDIT: BRIDGET IS CANONICALLY TRANSFEM NOW OH FUCK

This video is just amazing, you handled the topic very well!!!

Bridget being on this list 4 months before becoming one of the most popular trans characters in a while is very funny

This is a great video! You did really good, even with things you're not an expert in, your attitude is what counts and its totally awesome

Thank you very much for this one, A.B.I. It... feels really warm being able to see that so much of it is there. The one I can offer to this conversation from Them's Fightin' Herds is that of Cashmere, the venture capitalist reindeer from Rein City, and her unhealthy obsession with Oleander. While not exactly a playable character, Cashmere none the less has some of the most dialogue of any character, given she has dozens and dozens of voiced lines and appearances that regularly cycle as TFH gets new patches. She's Velvet's cousin, but always, ALWAYS puts her trade and devotion to the almighty salt cube before all else. She's shown to be a bit of a snake oil salesdoe, willing to pass off a wad of tinfoil as fashion to an unsuspecting Arizona in story mode in exchange for all of the cow's salt. However, that shrewd taste for stonks goes STRAIGHT out the window when the Champion of the Woodlands ever happens to visit Cap & Cash's Caps for Cash. she becomes outright flirtatious, offering to let the unicorn try on and have selections from her select catalogue. It's only her WInter Sprite partner, Cap, to pull her back to reality and remind her that the store needs to make a profit. Oleander, for what it's worth, has been shown that Cashmere's blatant thirst does at least flatter her a little, as the demon FHTNG teases Oleander about it in a bit of story mode dialogue is Arizona has the tinfoil hat she can buy from Cashmere. Foenum does not seem like a world with any sort of discrimination over same-sex relationships, given there seem to be instances of it in story mode from just general NPCs, so maybe it's more that Cashmere is really about that mono-horn life, but... still, it's there and it makes me smile.

Your videos are super entartaining and are very high quality, thank you for all the work and research that you are doing

I love Cagliostro, her pursuit of ultimate cuteness is something to be admired and it’s something I myself often thought about. When I saw Testament’s i was in genuine shock. And in all honesty I didn’t think much about them in the story, but seeing their growth into accepting themselves and loving the world they once hated, it was such a great way to wrap up their character arc.

To this day, Trans Men are pretty much nonexistent in fighting games.. 😰

It’s great to see this sampler of how inclusive and varied fighting game characters can be, and Ladiva is best wife 💪💖

Love how you presented and explain this theme. It’s good to see this kind of videos.

I'd love to see a sequel video that goes into more detail on some of the characters you didn't get to cover, like the groups from Granblue!

It's so cruel that you put so much work into this video... and a whole section of it about Bridget has been turned on its head just a month later. Great video though! Found the channel and subscribed because of it! Would love to see a video about your thoughts on Bridget and her newfound identity!

The B in A.B.I. Stands for Based.

Thanks for the video. I don't cross into other fighters often as well I barely can be okay at one. It was nice to see more about the chars I had only seen on stage or on the internet and get the context.

Great video!! This was a topic I wanted to hear about :)

Bro, you got a pretty big mistake about Chun Li: she wasnt the first playable female character. That would be Yuki from the 1985 fighter Onna Sansirou - Typhoon Gal, and Star and Fan from _Yie Ar Kung Fu_ released earlier in 1985.

Finally someone has mentioned MegatonStammer's POISON document 💜💜 I mean, every person interested in Poison's history behind The scenes should really watch it since there is a rundown about everything

*”And* Belial!” had me absolutely fucking rolling. Good video, you picked some pretty good ones.

Much appreciated, you allow me to know such wonderful characters I didn't have idea on their backgrounds

Thank you for highlighting this, awesome video m8!

Really love the touch of player the characters music during their section (of course, more noticeable with the arcsys games) and apparently I’ve got one of those nifty gaydars because I suspected a handful of the characters. Or just read correctly with the obvious ones.

I know these videos take a lot of time to make but I think, if it were possible, a part 2 and or 3 would be cool. lots of characters to choose from.

Awesome list would love to see a part 2 haha. Maybe next June :)

A.B.I. liked something from Mortal Kombat? Disliked and unsubscribed.

Love seeing this stuff in games that I like, comforting in a way. And OMG I had no idea Ladiva was that awesome.

I'm glad you made this. Thank you very much. It feels nice to be seen.

Bro. The last line referencing Testaments Theme... I teared up not going to lie. That was so good

I’m glad to see this covered. Hopefully we get more queer characters in SF6 in addition to the eventual return of Poison, with Poison ideally getting a new trans English VA in SF6 (maybe Testament’s VA, Kayleigh McKee, she’s great). That said, I’m pretty sure Seth uses he/they pronouns interchangeably within SFV (Falke refers to Seth as they, while Dan uses he when referring Seth). They’re obviously still non-binary, but I’m just being more specific with the pronoun usage. As for MK, I’m not too big on the Jacqui slander (even though I agree that Kung Jin’s absence in 11 was disappointing).

The brideget part got old so really fast it's funny

we need a pt 2 amazing video as always my g

"Bridget has the least impact on the guilty gear lore"? A.B.A. is like introduced and that was it

Thank you sugar punch, I needed this.

Guilty gear be like : Bridget is a boy, hold my bear. One month latter, bridget : I'm a girl.

Very good job! Very well thought out and informative!

This video made me finish this pride month with a smile, thanks!