New Harry Potter game ‘Hogwarts Legacy’ has a transgender character

A new video game from the wizarding world of Harry Potter features a transgender character, which was reportedly added to quell controversy over the game sparked by JK Rowling’s stance on gender roles.

In the upcoming release of Hogwarts Legacy, which takes place 100 years before the events of the Harry Potter series, players meet a character named Sirona Ryan, who owns the Three Broomsticks pub.

The character tells players that during her time at Hogwarts, classmates took the time to realize that she was “actually a witch, not a wizard.” Players can also customize her avatars to identify as transgender.

Industry insiders claim the character was added to serve as ‘performative bulls**t’ and distract from the controversy surrounding the game, which culminated in calls to boycott it over the stance of Harry Potter creator JK Rowling. , that being transgender should not usurp sexual identity.

Despite the controversies, the division of Warner Bros. that created Hogwarts Legacy has insisted that JK Rowling had no connection to the game’s creation.

In the game, players meet the character of Sirona Ryan when they enter the Three Broomsticks in the magical town of Hogsmead.

Taking a chair at the bar, players strike up a conversation with Sirona, asking her how she knows another character.

“I hadn’t seen him in years when he arrived a few months ago,” she replies, according to GameRevolution. ‘But, he recognized me instantly. Which is more than I can say for some of my own classmates.

“It took them a second to realize that I was actually a witch, not a wizard,” she adds.

The inclusion of Sirona’s character is the first instance of a transgender character appearing in the sprawling Harry Potter universe, which has been plagued with controversy since JK Rowling first took a hardline stance on the transgender community and feminism. in 2020.

‘If the sex is not real, there is no same-sex attraction. If sex is not real, the reality lived by women worldwide is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability for many to meaningfully talk about their lives. It’s not hate to tell the truth,’ she wrote at the time.

‘The idea that women like me, who have been empathetic towards trans people for decades, feeling akin because they are vulnerable in the same way as women, namely to male violence, ‘hate’ trans people because they believe that sex is real. and has lived the consequences, it is nonsense.

She has since doubled down on her stance, leading trans activists, and even many of the actors who starred in the Harry Potter film franchise, to disavow her.

Calls to boycott Hogwarts Legacy began as the game’s release date approached, but have intensified in recent weeks after Rowling responded to a tweet saying “any support for Hogwarts Legacy is harmful.”

“The truly righteous would not only burn their books and movies, but also the local library, anything with an owl on it, and their own dogs,” Rowling replied.

American gamer Will Overgard urged a boycott in a video that has amassed two million views, insisting that “by supporting the title, you’re essentially aligning yourself with some really egregious transphobic values.”

The game’s voiceover cast has also been the subject of backlash. Sebastian Croft, who previously starred in Netflix’s LGBT series Heartstopper, was forced to explain his involvement after backlash from fans.

“I was cast on this project over three years ago, when all Harry Potter was to me was the wizarding world I grew up in,” he said. ‘This was long before I became aware of JK Rowling’s views. I wholeheartedly believe that trans women are women and trans men are men.’

In response to the growing furor over the game, Warner Bros. video game studio Portkey inserted trans elements into the game, according to a person who said a friend worked on the game.

“An old acquaintance did a job on that Hogwarts game,” Twitter user Stephanie Sterling wrote. ‘I was told that they added a trans NPC token to steer the conversation away from JKR. They are barely inside.

Video game expert Liam Robertson, who has a long track record of leaking industry secrets, corroborated those claims from his sources.

‘They also told me this. Some trans representation was added apparently after the initial controversy,” she wrote. ‘I don’t know how it shows up in the final product, but one of the sources I spoke to described it as ‘interpretive bulls’.

Warner Bros. and Portkey attempted to distance themselves from the controversy, posting a message on the game’s website explaining how Rowling was not involved in the game’s creation.

“JK Rowling is not involved in the creation of the game,” the website says. “While staying true to JK Rowling’s original vision, the game developers at Portkey chart new territory by creating new ways for fans to immerse themselves in the Wizarding World.”