Harry Potter Will Have Transgender Characters, Despite JK Rowling’s Comments
An upcoming Harry Potter video game will feature transgender characters, despite J.K. Rowling's history of transphobic comments.
In the new Harry Potter video game, Hogwarts Legacy, slated for a 2022 release, it has been revealed that players will be able to customize their character’s voice and body type. They will also have more freedom of options for gender placement for the school’s dormitories, which have a witch’s side and a wizard’s side. In the wake of JK Rowling’s transphobic Twitter posts in 2020, the development team for Hogwarts Legacy fought over what to do moving forward. Ultimately, they decided to make the game more inclusive and allow transgender characters. in the upcoming game.
Making Hogwarts Legacy trans-inclusive is a win for the gaming industry and for Harry Potter fans who want the wizarding world to move away from JK Rowling’s comments. The author of the Harry Potter series has made it clear that despite public pressure, she has no interest in backpedaling on the things she has said. This makes it unlikely that in future stories from the author, audiences will ever see more inclusive content.
Will JK Rowling care about the development at Hogwarts Legacy? As an author responsible for such a large franchise and a huge fortune, Rowling has had a primary say in every decision made for her wizarding world. However, while the author has always maintained a high degree of creative control over her work, it’s unclear what Rowling thinks about this new development in Hogwarts Legacy, which is arguably the biggest video game project set in the Harry Potter universe.
As far back as 2007, JK Rowling sued a small Michigan-based publisher over the Harry Potter Lexicon. When Wizards of the Coast made a card game for Harry Potter, she wrote the words on the cards. Today, she writes the scripts for the Fantastic Beasts movies. With a theme park, films, and plenty of merchandise, Rowling still seems to have the final say on all products based on her property, which has helped the franchise stay consistent.
JK Rowling’s history with transphobic comments stretches far back in her career. While 2020 brought the spotlight to her opinions, it has been an ongoing issue for fans. Traditionally, her transphobia has been considered fairly mundane. This means that while transphobic, she wasn’t aggressive enough to gain a lot of attention in this area. It was something many fans attempted to ignore or were unsure about how to handle.
However, in 2020, the author decided to double down and make sure everyone was clear that she had problems with transgender people having human rights. She continued to tweet her opinions, post blog posts, and fight for her views. Even one of her books under the pen name Robert Galbraith featured a transgender villain. Fans who took comfort in the stories she told were trapped. The actors from her movies came forward to condemn transphobia and show their support for trans rights. It was an issue that touched every part of the franchise.
While the inclusive options in Hogwarts Legacy may seem small, and maybe only a footnote for JK Rowling, they’re a small step forward for a friendlier wizarding world.
