Gaming

Hogwarts Legacy seemingly introduces Harry Potter's first trans character amid J.K. Rowling controversy

Meet Sirona Ryan, a barkeep at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade.

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Published on February 6, 2023 12:17PM EST

The wizarding world of Harry Potter has introduced its first transgender character in the midst of on-going controversies around author J.K. Rowling's statements about trans people.

Hogwarts Legacy, the hotly anticipated open-world role-playing game set in the world of Harry Potter, features a character called Sirona Ryan, a witch that serves as the owner of the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade village.

The player interacts with Sirona while on a mission involving a goblin named Lodgok. While it's not explicitly stated that the character is trans in the context of the game, Sirona offers a line of dialogue that's highly suggestive.

"I've known [Lodgok] for years. We met when I was waiting tables here as a student — well before I bought the place," Sirona says. "He was cordial enough, but we weren't friends then. His mistrust of wizardkind ran deep... Hadn't seen him in years when he came in a few months ago. But, he recognized me instantly. Which is more than I can say for some of my own classmates. Took them a second to realize I was actually a witch, not a wizard."

EW reached out to a rep for Warner Bros. Games for comment.

Hogwarts Legacy has been a hot-button topic among the Harry Potter fandom in light of Rowling's continued comments about trans people. The creator of the fantasy world has stated in the past that she is not transphobic and supports the trans community, though she regularly spreads rhetoric linked to the TERF movement (trans-exclusionary radical feminists) that LGBTQ organizations have overwhelming decried as harmful.

As a result, Potter fans are deciding whether to purchase Hogwarts Legacy when some of the profits will go back to Rowling. Sebastian Croft, an actor from Heartstopper who provides the masculine voice options for the main character in the game, apologized publicly to anyone hurt by his involvement in the game. "I believe wholeheartedly that trans women are women and trans men are men," he said.

When asked about the situation by IGN, Hogwarts Legacy game director Alan Tew said, "I think for us there are challenges in every game we've worked on. This game has been no different. When we bumped into those challenges, we went back and refocused on the stuff that we really care about. We know our fans fell in love with the Wizarding World, and we believe they fell in love with it for the right reasons. We know that's a diverse audience. For us, it's making sure that the audience, who always dreamed of having this game, had the opportunity to feel welcomed back. That they have a home here and that it's a good place to tell their story."

Other elements to Hogwarts Legacy appear to accommodate gamers who wish to create gender non-conforming characters. When crafting the look of the main character at the beginning of the game, players have the option to choose from a variety of looks that mix and match feminine and masculine characteristics. And no matter the look of the character, players can choose from either masculine- or feminine-sounding voices, which are available in multiple registers.

After playing 13 hours of the game, other characters in Hogwarts Legacy have consistently used the gender-neutral they/them/their when referring to the main character.

Hogwarts Legacy will arrive on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC this Friday.

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