Non-binary character design.

[kappapeachie]

This is a werid thread for sure...so recently, I've been on Twitter for awhile now and folks in the past have been requesting a lot More nb representation as of late.

There's a lot of guides for how to write non-binary characters but not as many on non-binary character design. As a character designer myself I wanna portray a wider spectrum of people that aren't just basic slender ladies and buff dudebros. My only fear is the potential of a lot of folks (cishets mostly) to misgender them or deny a character's Nb identity.

Sorry for the werid question btw. I've been thinking about this for a good while now since I have a few non-binary OCs under my belt I haven't gotten around to designing yet. (also my English is terribad lol..)

 

[hyouko]

If you need some inspiration, I feel like Steven Universe has some pretty good non-binary character designs in the form of Stevonnie and Shep.

 

[Video Games Are Dumb]

I can't really answer your question but I'll say this much, that's really dang cool OP.
You're probably going to make a ton of mistakes a long the way but that's the point of trying to do something new.
Representation starts with trying.

 

[Syril]

Star Trip has great character designs and tons of nonbinary characters (also it's a great comic in general)

Star Trip - Cast

Jas is a human taken from her home planet on a trip across the galaxy she will never forget.

www.startripcomic.com

 

[Teenage Fansub]

Here's Marvel's answer (the character on the left)

 

[Ashlette]

Pokemon GO's Blanche is non-binary and a well designed character.

 

[Syril]

Here's Marvel's answer (the character on the left)

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Are you fucking kidding me with those names?

 

[Watchtower]

Here's Marvel's answer (the character on the left)

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The fact that only the one on the left is NB just makes it that much worse.

Make them both NB you cowards.

 

[Ashlette]

Are you fucking kidding me with those names?

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Eeeyup, by giving them those names, Marvel ended up appealing to nobody.

 

[El Bombastico]

Here's Marvel's answer (the character on the left)

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When 50 year-old straight white business executives try to be woke...

 

[andymcc]

nm

 

[fontguy]

I mean there's no better place to start than actual, real life nonbinary people. Examine and consider how they express themselves and, if you know any enby people, definitely talk to them. I bet a conversation about their thoughts and feelings about their experiences and concerns would be hugely informative.

 

[Hoa]

Wasn't Serenade from Megaman Battle Network non-binary?

 

[kappapeachie]

Here's Marvel's answer (the character on the left)

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can you not?

 

[sphagnum]

There's a lot of guides for how to write non-binary characters

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Got any links?

 

[kappapeachie]

Got any links?

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Six tips for writing genderqueer and nonbinary characters

Eris Young's tips for authors writing nonbinary characters

www.scottishbooktrust.com

Writing Non-Binary Characters: A Primer

So you want to include a non-binary trans* character in your writing? That's great! Get some tips for writing them here so you can present an interesting, well-rounded and accurate character.

owlcation.com

Protego in Prose: Writing a Non-Binary Character

by Marina Montenergo (ne/nem/ner)

medium.com

(AvSimple google search has better suggestions but these are the top google results)

 

[Crossing Eden]

She-ra has the answer

 

[Protoman200X]

It goes without saying that the biggest advice that I got for designing LGBTQ characters (while doing a freelance character design job) is to NEVER have the gender they identify with be their sole character trait. In relation to that, talking to real life non-binary people (such as friends or co-workers) with how they express themselves, along with sharing their thoughts and feelings about their personal experiences helps if you hit any potential roadblocks.

Ultimately, the process won't be flawless. You'll make many mistakes along the way. But that's okay, as that's part of the design process. As someone had already mentioned, 'Representation starts with trying.'

 

[Android Sophia]

A character that comes to mind recently is Boogiepop, from the light novel series of the same names. While Boogiepop inhabits a woman (being the alter ego of Touka Miyashita), they are explicitly described as being gender neutral/masculine in expressions. At one point in the series, when asked what gender they are, they rather explicitly say it doesn't matter what they're referred to as. The novel illustration goes out of it's way to try and show that with explicitly neutral and occasionally masculine expressions on their face.

Click to shrink...

 

[Teenage Fansub]

Just remembered Tom Taylor filled his new Suicide Squad run up with a group of original, diverse characters including a winged non-binary character and their girlfriend (front of the boat)

Suicide Squad: Tom Taylor Wants You to Know Anyone Can Die In the Series

CBR talked with writer Tom Taylor about his upcoming Suicide Squad series, the book's new characters and how anyone could die during his run.

www.cbr.com

I can't really speak to how true the characters ring, but it's a good comic!

 

[HustleBun]

I always liked Leeron Littner (Gurren Lagann).

 

[Syril]

I mean there's no better place to start than actual, real life nonbinary people. Examine and consider how they express themselves and, if you know any enby people, definitely talk to them. I bet a conversation about their thoughts and feelings about their experiences and concerns would be hugely informative.

Click to shrink...

So as an actual real life nonbinary person, I feel like one of the most overlooked things about gender in general is the fact that gender identity =/= gender expression. Like, myself, I really want to have long hair and try all sorts of clothes that I had previously perceived as being "off-limits" to me (I am really liking Animal Crossing right now for that reason). But that's just me. My favorite kind of representation is when there are multiple nonbinary characters in the same work who express themselves differently because it emphasizes the fact that there's not any single nonbinary aesthetic, and also because it avoids the scenario of a single character inadvertently having to represent nonbinary people in general to a general audience.

 

[Deleted member 3294]

I'm nonbinary, so I can try to give somewhat of an answer:

I don't really think it's possible to design a nonbinary character who wouldn't easily get misgendered, because real life nonbinary people already do. Nonbinary people can look like anyone. It's possible to look incredibly masculine, feminine, androgynous, or anything in that spectrum and be nonbinary.

I guess to a lot of people (mostly cis people), looking androgynous is associated with being nonbinary. It's not really right to say that being nonbinary means being androgynous though. While not mutually exclusive, they're not the same thing. That doesn't mean a nonbinary character shouldn't look androgynous, but it's worth keeping in mind that a lot of popular nonbinary character designs look androgynous. And that does create this inaccurate view that nonbinary gender = androgyny. Similarly as to what Syril points out above: if you want to put in an androgynous nb character, it might be a good idea to have other nb characters who don't look androgynous as well.

One thing that I would definitely avoid though is making the nonbinary character a genderless non-human or less of an actual person than the rest of the cast. Cause that's something I see mainstream media do way too often. The one nonbinary character will often be an alien, a robot, a shapeshifter, stuff like that. It feels kinda dehumanizing. They also barely ever actually reflect the experiences of nonbinary people.

Really, the best thing I think you can do is to work with nonbinary designers, rather than just try to represent nonbinary people yourself. I think it's important to not just have nonbinary representation, but also for nonbinary creators to be the ones behind nonbinary characters.

 

[Icolin]

Are you fucking kidding me with those names?

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it's an attempt at reclaiming or whatever which... never really works out well

 

[Deleted member 3294]

it's an attempt at reclaiming or whatever which... never really works out well

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Especially not when the ones trying to reclaim it aren't part of the group they're trying to reclaim it for.

 

[Heart of Poumn]

NB is a wide spectrum so you can be pretty flexible in design. The most common design is probably an ambiguous character leaning on feminine but don't limit yourself to just that. I agree with looking for real examples and don't be afraid of getting creative with clothing. As a non binary person myself, clothing options feel very limited and finding something appealing is very rare.

And don't fall into videogame's answer which seems to be 'masked person in a very baggy bodysuit'. Not that it doesn't have its place, but I'd like to see more characters expressive with their bodies in games.

 

[MillionIII]

Here's Marvel's answer (the character on the left)

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Marvel named them that??

 

[sphagnum]

Six tips for writing genderqueer and nonbinary characters

Eris Young's tips for authors writing nonbinary characters

www.scottishbooktrust.com

Writing Non-Binary Characters: A Primer

So you want to include a non-binary trans* character in your writing? That's great! Get some tips for writing them here so you can present an interesting, well-rounded and accurate character.

owlcation.com

Protego in Prose: Writing a Non-Binary Character

by Marina Montenergo (ne/nem/ner)

medium.com

(AvSimple google search has better suggestions but these are the top google results)

Click to shrink...

Thanks.

 

[fontguy]

So as an actual real life nonbinary person, I feel like one of the most overlooked things about gender in general is the fact that gender identity =/= gender expression. Like, myself, I really want to have long hair and try all sorts of clothes that I had previously perceived as being "off-limits" to me (I am really liking Animal Crossing right now for that reason). But that's just me. My favorite kind of representation is when there are multiple nonbinary characters in the same work who express themselves differently because it emphasizes the fact that there's not any single nonbinary aesthetic, and also because it avoids the scenario of a single character inadvertently having to represent nonbinary people in general to a general audience.

Click to shrink...

I imagine that the diversity encompassed by the single "nonbinary" label is a big part of why character designers sometimes struggle. And yeah, I definitely noticed a lot of nb people online delighting in AC's unrestrictive approach to character creation. Very happy to see that in a game.

 

[kappapeachie]

I'm nonbinary, so I can try to give somewhat of an answer:

I don't really think it's possible to design a nonbinary character who wouldn't easily get misgendered, because real life nonbinary people already do. Nonbinary people can look like anyone. It's possible to look incredibly masculine, feminine, androgynous, or anything in that spectrum and be nonbinary.

I guess to a lot of people (mostly cis people), looking androgynous is associated with being nonbinary. It's not really right to say that being nonbinary means being androgynous though. While not mutually exclusive, they're not the same thing. That doesn't mean a nonbinary character shouldn't look androgynous, but it's worth keeping in mind that a lot of popular nonbinary character designs look androgynous. And that does create this inaccurate view that nonbinary gender = androgyny. Similarly as to what Syril points out above: if you want to put in an androgynous nb character, it might be a good idea to have other nb characters who don't look androgynous as well.

One thing that I would definitely avoid though is making the nonbinary character a genderless non-human or less of an actual person than the rest of the cast. Cause that's something I see mainstream media do way too often. The one nonbinary character will often be an alien, a robot, a shapeshifter, stuff like that. It feels kinda dehumanizing. They also barely ever actually reflect the experiences of nonbinary people.

Really, the best thing I think you can do is to work with nonbinary designers, rather than just try to represent nonbinary people yourself. I think it's important to not just have nonbinary representation, but also for nonbinary creators to be the ones behind nonbinary characters.

Click to shrink...

I do let have any nb folks I'm friends with currently (things have been going to shit with me lately) considering what's going on in the world lately. The only places I have are maybe discord and twitter as my only means of interaction. That and a few other social sites I can think of.

I feel like I have to pay money sometimes to get help form others but maybe I'm just being paranoid about my own abilities...

 

[grand]

I think people are confusing androgynous with non-binary

 

[peyrin]

not really enby explicitly but talks a bit about how to animate characters to be gender neutral explicitly. the results in the actual episode are also worth a look, I think they pulled it off quite well!

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! Episode 1 Director Discusses Making of the Episode

Says main characters are animated as if they are 'gender neutral'

www.animenewsnetwork.com

One of the key points to animating the first episode was to ensure that the characters' movements were "gender neutral." When asked what she thought of Sumito Ōwara's original manga when she first read it, Motohashi said that it didn't feel like it needed to be a story about high school girls in particular, and that it could easily have had male lead characters. However, she liked the "gender neutral" feel of it. She described Asakusa as like an elementary schooler, Mizusaki as having some girlish aspects still left in her, and Kanamori as like an intellectual yakuza. She said that Kanamori's pragmatism was refreshing, and felt true to life regarding how the anime industry works, which may be why creative people tend to enjoy the manga.


In addition, she mentions that the staff were told not to make the character animations, poses, and expressions "girlish." This was something that Motohashi tried to convey from the storyboarding stage. Series director Masaaki Yuasa would supervise the drawings along with the episode directors in order to ensure that the character animation would fit the overall vision.

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