Upfront, I should note that in terms of identity politics, I am as boring as they come. Older, cismale, white, in a nuclear family with a claim to some Native American ancestry. Completely generic. That being established, I would like to congratulate Blizzard on implementing a queer-coded addition to their world without being obtrusive. I would also like to acknowledge that my understanding of what I am talking about is second-hand, so feel free to correct me where required.
Previous attempts have been hit-or-miss.
Pelagos, for example, was ham-fisted because his transition was completely irrelevant to his character, while simultaneously being the reason why external forces ensured he was the lynchpin of the entire expansion. Not to mention the problematic overtones of his transition itself…
Thiernax and Qadarin were a better example. Their relationship was consequential and relevant. The problem there is that they’re not all that consequential to the greater story and will be forgotten the second the 10.0 patch hits.
Enter the Drac’thyr.
This is a consequential addition that isn’t obtrusive in its message and integrates extremely well with the game’s world:
- The gender-neutral draconic form. This is the only race that is not strictly coded as male or female, that a non-binary individual (or anyone that doesn’t otherwise identify with male or female) may be represented by, assuming that they do not identify wholly with a specific gender. The lack of sexual characteristics and dimorphism in general is unique.
- The ability to conjure a visage. Gender-fluid or transitioning individuals may find something to conceptually relate to here. Like Chromie, regardless of your character’s assigned sex, you can appear as either should you so choose. And a quick trip to the barber shop can have you swapping to the other gender on a whim (being the only racial option that this makes sense in-universe for)!
- The visage form itself. I get strong Mardi Gras / drag vibes from some of the available options. I need to tiptoe here to avoid generalizing, but there is definitely a queer subculture that holds these bold, vibrant and ostentatious colours and accompanying features in high regard.
- The chromatic spellcasting. I mean… the spells you cast have literal rainbow aesthetics. You can’t get more on the nose than this.
The best part is? All of this makes sense from a in-game perspective, leaning on lore that has existed for two decades. None of this is pandering. Not in the slightest. They simply took what already exists and packaged it into something undeniably coded for the queer community without, as some people say, “shoving it in my face.”
I love it. This is representation done right.
As a final example, I would like to recall something a mentor once told me. I worked as a teacher in the past, and while I was carrying out my practicum, I was paired up with an experienced teacher. There was currently a push in the profession to add more Native American content to the classroom material. I asked that mentor if he was doing anything notable to have that material on display. His answer? He wasn’t doing anything to single out that material or place it on a pedestal. He wasn’t going to single out Native American students with “special” material or assignments. He was simply integrating those principles and the content into the rest of the curriculum.
I believe the same principle applies here, with Blizzard’s introduction and integration of a queer-coded race into the game.
I realize that this is a controversial topic, though, so that’s why I posted that wall of text. I don’t want to just throw a title out there and leave it to interpretation. I explained my line of thought.
