Let’s Talk About The Guilty Gear Game One More Time

Last week, the Guilty Gear game confirmed that they would comply with Global Standards, and fans immediately got upset. Although the developers might have been sincere in wanting to change game elements, many fans associate this terminology negatively. To many, Global Standards mean the same as updating your content for a modern audience. Thus, some immediately jumped to conclusions when Guilty Gear announced they would comply with these standards. Although no specific changes have yet been confirmed, people expect the worst.

Today, however, I want to cover another topic. A few days ago, while discussing this story, I brought up Bridget. For those who might not know, she is a popular transgender character within the game. She was initially born male but transitioned. While originally discussing her, I got some facts about her origin wrong, and I want to spend time correcting that. I thought about deleting the old video, but I will make a correction instead.

Guilty Gear has a long-standing place within the fighting game community. They were launched two decades ago, in 1998, and are more popular today than ever. Their latest installment, launched in 2021, sold over 1 million units and won the Fighting Game of the Year award. Despite these impressive accolades, they did not make the news for any of these reasons. Instead, they became a topic of discussion for a completely different reason. In 2002, a character named Bridget was first introduced to the game. Since then, it has been the topic of many online debates. Most of this topic centered around her gender, so let’s talk about it.

The Guilty Gear Bridget Origin

Bridget and her twin brother were born in a very superstitious village. Although they shared the same sex at birth, the villagers believed it was bad luck to have two same-sex babies. Thus, the decision was made to hide Bridget’s identity and point her out as female. Bridget rejected this upbringing in her youth and decided to find herself in the real world. She left the village and reverted to her biological male sex. However, she discovered she did not feel happy as a man into adulthood and reverted to identifying as a female.

This time, though, her transition was different as she was the one who made the choice herself. With this out of the way, there is a lot that we need to understand about this back story. The first primary debate is whether Bridget has always been written as a woman. In my previous video, I stated that the origin of Bridget had changed, similar to when Dumbledore turned gay. Many opposed this analogy, saying I was wrong as the writers always intended for her to be transgender. People stated that I should do more research and be more educated. I accepted the criticism, and after educating myself, I still do not think I was completely wrong.

Although the origin of Bridget tells the story of a transgender girl, it is worth pointing out that a lot of that story was added after the fact. While the writer insists that Bridget has been transgender since 2002, that is untrue. Bridget was not presented in 2002 as transgender. She was introduced as a cross-dresser and identified as male. Despite what people think, these two things are not the same.

Transgender Vs. Cross Dresser

Bridget being presented as a cross-dresser does not prove that she was always meant to be transgender. Her origin states that she presented as a woman due to the village’s superstitions but still identified as male. She did not cross-dress because she felt more comfortable in female clothing. At that point in her life, it was nothing more than a disguise to blend in. Even if she did cross-dress because she liked women’s clothes, that still does not make her transgender. Cross-dressing can be complicated but sometimes has nothing to do with your gender.

Although some cross-dressers can turn out to be transgender, it is essential to note that this is not always the case. Cross-dressing is about your general expression, while being transgender is about your gender expression. While some believe that people are born to cross-dress, official studies are still unclear on this issue. Either way, you can be a cross-dresser and be comfortable with your gender. Being transgender is permanently attached to your gender expression. You do not choose to be transgender. Instead, you are born that way.

A man who puts on a dress and identifies as a man is a cross-dresser. A person who is born male and transitions is now a transgender woman. However, as stated, certain cross-dressers attach their expression to gender and are born that way. As noted, this is a complicated and hotly contested topic. Some believe that gender is a construct and detached from sex. Others believe that sex and gender are intertwined and that there are only two. You have those who think that the terms man and woman are medical discoveries. Others believe that men and women come from the bible and is a religious term.

Does Any Of This Matter

These people believe that in the bible, they stated that in the beginning, god created men and women. Due to this, our understanding of sex comes from religion in a book written over 5 thousand years ago. However, due to religious suppression, scientists and doctors were never free to research sex and gender. This is very similar to the evolution debate. God states that he created the universe in 6 days and rested on the 7th. Science says that there was a big bang. However, we call it a theory because it has yet to be proven.

We have the same debate about evolution. God says he created men and women in his likeness out of his rib and dust. Scientists say we are a species of prime apes that evolved over millions of years. The point is that gender and sex is a hotly contested topic. For some, the terminology is not based on science but rather on a religion that is thousands of years old and, therefore, needs to be disregarded. For others, our current understanding of sex and gender does stem from the medical field and is cemented in years of biological studies. I grew up Christian and am not a doctor, so I do not know.

One thing that I do know is the fact that it is a complicated subject. However, none of these truly matters. If they want to present Bridget as transgender, they are free to do this. I do not think that this should be a problem at all. However, I call bullshit on the idea that this was the writer’s intent since 2002. He meant for her to be a cross-dressing man hiding their identity. He then afterward made the change.

Is Guilty Gear Good Or Bad Representation

By the unlikely off chance that the writer made her transgender from the beginning, I would say this is a horrible way to represent trans people. She was born male, forced to change and percent herself as female, and then become female. Does this mean that the writer believes being transgender is a choice? Do you think that you can trans people by dressing them as female? Can you take a baby boy and put them in a dress, and then they will become transgender? Being transgender is something that you are born as. Not something that you are turned into because of a superstitious village.

Even if Bridget made a choice herself when she was an adult living as a man to go back and identify as a woman, the story still feels like a choice instead of how she was born. But at the end of the day, everyone will read their interpretation. With that, I want to conclude this video with a few disclaimers. This is a hotly contested topic, and I ask that people be respectful in the comment section. If I said something incorrect or that you disagree with, you are welcome to let me know in the comments. I am very open to all criticism and disagreement.

My goal with this community has always been cultivating a diverse audience where we can disagree. We can disagree with each other and also not hate each other. That is how we grow. I watch plenty of content creators while also politically disagreeing with them. However, I still feel I have a place in those communities. I hope to create that here. I am not looking for an eco chamber, but let’s keep it constructive.