EVO 2022 came with a wide variety of hype moments over the weekend, including the most incredible “Cell Yell” I’ve heard since the first season of Dragon Ball FighterZ in 2018. They were also sprinkled throughout the tournament some announcements, such as the welcome reveal. of the fallback network code for more fighting games. But perhaps most exciting was the news that classic fighter Bridget is the next DLC character coming to Guilty Gear Strive. Also, for a day or so, arcade mode footage revealed that Bridget has come out as a trans girl. Talk about a W based!
Bridget was first introduced in 2002’s Guilty Gear XX, presenting himself as a very nice guy who instantly stole the hearts of fans. Although born as one of two twins to a billionaire couple, Bridget’s gender presentation was decidedly female despite the use of male pronouns. (Official reason: complicated anime shit.) However, with Bridget’s official return as a playable character in Strive as part of the game’s $25 ($35) Season 2 pass, ArcSys has given them a moment of “going out” where they announce that they do. , in fact, identify as a girl.
Bridget’s dialogue in Strive, an expert yo-yo user, shows her comfortable expressing her trans identity, telling deuteragonist Ky Kisuke and US Secretary of Defense (lol) Goldlewis Dickinson that: “[calling me] Cowgirl is fine. Because…I’m a girl!”
it’s official!
Bridget is transgender!
you can’t understand how loud I yelled, it’s not intentionally vague, it’s loud and clear and of all the people to show him it’s GOLDLEWIS pic.twitter.com/7kIAOArToH
— moeblob (apoc) (@Marcanthony737) August 8, 2022
Yes, queen, live your truth! We love to see it. In fact, many people online celebrated the reveal with fan art and memes. Someone even made a mod for Bridget that sees them wearing the blue, pink and white colors of the Trans pride flag. It is great!
However, not everyone was thrilled with Bridget’s move, which should come as no surprise in this space. Ready to ditch her identity wholesale, there are a bunch of dirty tweets slamming ArcSys for giving us an actual trans character in Strive. While there’s some nuance to the idea that the studio might be “erasing a character’s previous identity,” as one tweeter put it, most of the negative discourse surrounding Bridget is frames as bad faith arguments about preparation.
Iwliterally am I crying in the EVO Arena rn? my favorite character of all time ;w;
So here’s a drawing I got from Daisuke a few years ago! the Bridget of trans rights pic.twitter.com/gL1LWGYCnL
— sharkparty @ EVO💗 (@sharkpartyqq) August 8, 2022
pointed out to me that Bridget’s habit has a similar symbol but instead of the mars symbol it’s the trans symbol with the male and female branches removed pic.twitter.com/F6RKdWPq90
— Ada Basilisk, Haunted Doll VTuber (@ComfyBasilisk) August 8, 2022
pic.twitter.com/efY0pJghlf
— CHAR @ College Finals (@bennflynt) August 8, 2022
Kotaku has reached out to Arc System Works for comment.
The negative response to Bridget’s exit is puzzling to say the least. At a time when the U.S. government is drafting legislation aimed at attacking the queer experience, getting representation in media, especially in games, should be seen as a boon. It reassures people in our community that it’s okay to be who you are and how you identify is accepted and loved. As a non-binary individual who sees a little bit of myself in the elegant Testament of “The Reaper,” Strive’s first enby character, I’m absolutely living for Bridget to come around.