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Do you care what gender you play as?

1,824
Posts
5
Years
  • Age 37
  • Seen Nov 4, 2018
Since the inclusion of male and female protagonists in every game, are you determined to always pick one or do you not care at all?

How do you generally decide?


I go by character designs. For example, I thought the DP male was laughable in design, and the girl was way better (even the anime thought so) so I had no problem playing a girl in those games. Same with the Omega Ruby remake too.

But when I genuinely like the design of a male protagonist, I will generally choose him. I've played male way more than female. Customization plays a big role too and I get much more invested in customizing a male character than a female, like in the case of Y.

I do not self-insert in games, I like playing as set characters or creating one. Never named after myself. That makes gender decisions easier for me too.
 
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OneLuckeyWife

OneLuckeyWife
4
Posts
6
Years
My main game I am always a girl just because I?m a girl. In my second game, I always get both versions, I choose a boy to see if the dialogue is different. Sometimes it different like in ORAS the dialogue was different, not by much, depending on the gender you chose.
 
12,856
Posts
6
Years
  • Age 23
  • Seen yesterday
Male. I usually like pretending the character is me, and also it makes sense because I like giving the character my real name.
 

MudkipBoy

Ruby/Sapphire Veteran
150
Posts
13
Years
  • Seen Feb 15, 2024
I tend to play as male (as I am) but there have been times in which I've played as a girl. I think the choice of male or female is great as so many games don't give players the option.
 

pkmin3033

Guest
0
Posts
I would like to say that I don't care, but when every male from Gen V onwards has basically been a clone of Gen IV's Lucas, it's difficult to really want to play as a male in Pokemon titles. Especially when the female protagonists are always unique by comparison...maybe not well-designed, but at least different.
 
1,824
Posts
5
Years
  • Age 37
  • Seen Nov 4, 2018
I would like to say that I don't care, but when every male from Gen V onwards has basically been a clone of Gen IV's Lucas, it's difficult to really want to play as a male in Pokemon titles. Especially when the female protagonists are always unique by comparison...maybe not well-designed, but at least different.

I didn't get that from the X and Y male; since he was so customizable. Once you get the opportunity, he stops being a clone to me.

You even get quite a few options at the beginning, from what I recall.
 
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Sorvete

Novice
3,129
Posts
5
Years
Usually I play with the boy because I think his design is cooler than the girl, in most games. HG/SS for instance, I rarelly play as Lyra. BW and BW2 are exceptions, both male and female characters are awesome imo.

But no, I don't really care which gender I'll be playing as.
 
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11
Posts
7
Years
  • Age 26
  • Seen Oct 20, 2019
I usually play with the male character because it feels like it's me in the game and I almost always give him the same name as well
 
41,093
Posts
17
Years
Absolutely yes. I want to feel like I myself am playing, so I'll need to use the female avatar. Plus the females tend to have cuter clothing choices (in games where customization is a thing), so that is an added bonus. ? I prefer playing (and being) a female.
 
22
Posts
5
Years
  • Age 25
  • Seen Sep 19, 2018
When customization was not a thing, it was all about the characters, but right now I always go for male ones since I can create my own in-game style. Back then, I had used both Red and Leaf, Ethan, which had my favorite sprite, Dawn, Hilbert. I've chosen the male in my UM playthrough, and now playing as Calem in pokemon Y.
 

TaviTurnip

Artist and Streamer | Also a turnip
96
Posts
5
Years
  • Age 33
  • Seen Mar 21, 2024
I pick at complete random. If the games had four or five genders (or body sizes or races or something) I'd still do random. Although if I picked one last time and am repeating a game, I'll go the opposite next time :P Gotta experience it all.
 
8,973
Posts
18
Years
Much like Janna, I actually want to feel like myself when I'm playing so nine times out of ten I'll play as the female protagonist unless her design is absolute garbage, which hasn't happened since at least BW.

... I don't know what Game Freak was thinking when they came up with Hilda's design. @_@;
 

Mawa

The typo Queen
4,754
Posts
9
Years
I was happy after we had the choice of a gender since I am female. But before we had that choice? I didn't care. Now I can choose, I'll choose the female one. But if I don't have that choice it doesn't change my enjoyment of the game much.
 
50,218
Posts
13
Years
I am female, so I always play as the female when possible. Thankfully the female protagonists tend to have cute designs and starting in 6th Gen, better clothing choices than the males.
 
47
Posts
5
Years
  • Age 33
  • Seen May 28, 2019
I'm female in real life. Before character customization, I always choose to play as a boy, purely because I liked the male trainer designs better. I felt as though many of the girls were overdressed, whilst the male characters looked simplistic and iconic. However in the newer games because we can design our protagonists the way we like, I choose the female to match my gender, because I can get rid of the dorky hats and weird scarf-but-no-pants combos. Still not keen on the pink backpacks and backgrounds though!
 
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Resolve

I have it
1,081
Posts
5
Years
  • Age 23
  • Seen Apr 2, 2020
Not really. I decide by either character designs or flipping a coin.
 
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