Harry Potter Now Has Its First Transgender Character
Hogwarts Legacy features a transgender character, Sirona Ryan, a witch and proprietress of The Three Broomsticks.
Warner Bros. Games revealed the first Hogwarts Legacy transgender non-player character with whom players can interact. The reveal comes after the game’s actor has apologized to the LGBTQ fandom over JK Rowling’s views and the developer’s distancing from the now-controversial author of Harry Potter. Rowling’s transphobic comments and the controversy they sparked have created significant problems for the upcoming game.
According to GameRevolution, players can interact with the Hogwarts Legacy transgender character, Sirona Ryan, at the Three Broomsticks. It’s worth noting that this is officially the first transgender character within the Harry Potter universe, and many fans are now using the character’s presence within the game to justify their support for Hogwarts Legacy, stating that the character’s inclusion is proof that the controversial author, who also received death threats, wasn’t involved in the game.
However, there are those who claim that the sole reason for including Hogwarts Legacy‘s transgender character was to subdue the controversy and put it under control. Those close to the insider knowledge about the game have stated that the character was added to appease those calling for the game’s boycott. It’s worth noting that this is only hearsay, but it’s quite possible that some trans representation was added as means to alleviate the tensions caused by the controversies.
Many who claim to support the trans community by boycotting the game are now returning to the consumerism-driven flock, pointing out that the inclusion of Sirona Ryan—a witch and not a wizard who owns Three Broomsticks—is evidence enough that the gaming release and those credited with its development aren’t transphobic. This gives ground to argue that supporting the game doesn’t support the Harry Potter author.
But that may not be entirely true. Sure, she might earn some small percentage, but that’s most likely negligible compared to the wealth JK Rowling earned through her work on Harry Potter. But not supporting the game will likely hurt the team developing it rather than the author herself.
Still, some praise the development team for including the transgender Hogwarts Legacy character in the game as an act of defiance against JK Rowling’s transphobic views and comments. In contrast, others argue that the studio added a “token character” to appease the crowds.
Ultimately, Sirona Ryan isn’t the first or only transgender character in gaming, but she is (if she uses such pronouns) on her way to becoming the most famous one by generating this much heat for the reasons explained above. Unfortunately, time will tell how the fandom will react to the Hogwarts Legacy transgender character once the game releases on February 10, 2023, with early access beginning tomorrow, February 7. The upcoming game takes place some 150 years before the Harry Potter books/films events and introduces a whole new world of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Hogwarts Legacy is scheduled to release on February 10 for PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch—the latter will be arriving on June 25.
