History ViewerGenderConfusion / Videogames

** When the first playable Water Adept was revealed, fans were confused by "Crown", who wears an absurdly short tunic and leggings similar to Karis's, has [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair blue hair]] in a bowl cut, fights similarly to Mia, and has [[VoiceGrunting high-pitched squeaks for a voice]]. "Crown" was [[DubNameChange renamed Rief]] for the dub, which makes his gender a little more clear: the [[DudeLooksLikeALady dude looks like a little girl]].

* Flea from ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''. [[DudeLooksLikeALady He's so girly]] that the entire party (in particular Marle) is shocked to learn he's a guy. Even his official artwork shows him as buxom. Of course, Flea's a shapeshifter who believes that "power is beauty", so he could be a man who looks like a woman, or a man who turned into a woman, or who the hell knows what.

* ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'' has an interesting variation with Pascal, who is a machine life form and is referred to as male, but most players thought him to be "female" due to his having a very motherly attitude and speaking with a [[Creator/AoiYuuki young]] [[Creator/AlexisTipton woman]]'s voice. According to Creator/TaroYoko, Pascal deliberately chose a gentle-sounding and feminine voice to soothe children as well as one of his fellow developers pressuring him to cast Aoi Yuuki for the role.

** Earlier on, a ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'' gave a player-only version in Seliph, who is always treated as male in-universe, but is drawn androgynously enough (particularly in some official art) to confuse some in the audience. It also doesn't help that prior to official localisation, fan translators [[SpellMyNameWithAnS romanised his name]] as 'Celise'. Such confusion spawned this immediately [[MemeticMutation memetic]] image:

* It's a running joke among ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' fans to call Sir Bedivere the girliest member of the Round Table and/or "[[PrincessClassic Princess Bedivere]]". Bedivere is a man, voiced by Creator/MamoruMiyano and without even the "nonbinary" trait given to characters like Astolfo. It doesn't help that he wears his hair in GirlishPigtails and has a visible corset under his armor, or that the GenderFlip female knights of the Round Table are all canonly butch: Artoria [[SheIsTheKing presents as male for political reasons]], Mordred is mistaken for a man [[FailedASpotCheck by her own brother Agravain]], and Gareth is [[ButchLesbian a tomboy with a lore-compliant girlfriend]].

* ''Videogame/EarthBound'':

** Ness falls victim to this for the ''Videogame/SuperSmashBros'' players who haven't played ''Videogame/{{Earthbound}}'' before.

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'':

* ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'': Most players initially confuse Sakura for a man due to her muscular build and grizzled appearance. It's not until Makoto introduces himself to her (and immediately identifies her as a girl due to knowing who she is in advance) that the player is likely to notice that she's wearing a skirt and blouse, has a traditionally feminine name, and generally isn't trying to hide her gender at all. In fact, Sakura demonstrates an interest in feminine dress and pursuits throughout the game; she's just also incredibly physically tough and dedicated to her martial arts discipline first and foremost.
** Long after the player has been clued in, Taka makes a comment revealing that he FailedASpotCheck and genuinely thinks Sakura's a guy after several days have passed in-game, suggesting that this trope applies to her InUniverse as well.

** Shows up again with Miyazu Atsuta, [[{{Bifauxen}} who many fans confused for a boy]] when she was first shown due to her short messy hair and because she was only shown briefly from the waist up. The next trailer showed her speaking and wearing a female unifrom, confirming her as female.

** Meet Bob. Bob is a kitty. Bob is purple. Bob's initial clothes are always pretty, floral dresses (Though it's apparently a long shirt. Later averted in New Leaf where it actually resembles an actual shirt). Bob is a dude. (Though considering his face and name are pretty masculine, you won't really find many people mistaking him for a girl)
** Gracie and Saharah are male... in Japan. Gracie is effeminate, has short hair that could be mistaken for a woman's pixie cut, and is a fashionista. Saharah is androgynous but has long eyelashes due to being a camel.
** You can also invoke the trope yourself by changing your hairstyle to one used by female player characters. Sadly, you can't wear a dress unless your character is female to begin with (except in ''New Leaf'', which made dresses available for purchase in the clothing shop, including for male characters).

** Filbert's default outfit in the first three titles was a white dress-like shirt with a pink floral design on it, complete with a ribbon on the chest. Combine that with his bright pink blushing cheeks, and you have a very feminine looking male villager. Averted for him in New Leaf, where his default outfit was changed to a black and white checkerboard shirt.

** Sasha, a male bunny villager revealed in the ''New Horizons 2.0'' direct, was initially assumed to be a girl due to his feminine name and appearance.

** Many of the uchi villagers can be mistaken for boys due to their more masculine appearances compared to the other three villager personality types.

** When Rozatte made his overseas debut in ''Puyo Puyo Tetris 2'', many players mistook him for a woman due to his feminine English voice and appearance featuring long hair and gender-neutral wizard robes. The official profile in the game and his debut game ''Puyo Puyo! Quest'' refer to him as a he, and his Japanese voice sounds explicitly masculine.

* Slippy Toad in ''VideoGame/StarFox64''. The fact he was voiced by a high-pitched female did not help matters at all. However, in ''VideoGame/StarFoxAssault'', Slippy has a male voice. It's only the N64 title and arguably ''Adventures'' where the confusion happens. Parodied in one ''Webcomic/VGCats'' [[http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=103 comic]], where Leo and Aeris try to see which bathroom Slippy uses. Doesn't work. "It's peeing in the fucking break room!"*

** Long after the player has been clued in, Taka makes a comment revealing that he FailedASpotCheck and genuinely thinks Sakura's a guy after several days have passed in-game, hinting that this trope sometimes applies to her InUniverse as well.

* ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' character Oshare Bones is sometimes mistaken as a female, especially by Japanese fans as he uses feminine speech and pronouns in said language. Not only that, but he's also very CampGay, and seeing as he's a skeleton character with highly stylized anatomy, there really aren't any physical cues either. His English dubbed voice is easier to guess, however, since it sounds like a stereotypical gay male.

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIV'': Thanks to a Manual Misprint in the instruction booklet for the NES version, it was believed that Panon is a female; yet when you do meet Panon (and talk to some villagers) in the game itself, the comedian is actually a man! But with the sprite for the Panon character in the NES version, it was hard to make out if he is a man or not. The Nintendo DS and PS1 versions thankfully cleared up the confusion by making better sprites for the character and renaming him as "Tom Foolery".

** Long after the player has been clued in, Taka makes a comment revealing that he FailedASpotCheck and still thinks Sakura's a guy after several days have passed in-game, hinting that this trope sometimes applies InUniverse as well.

* ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'': Most players initially confuse Sakura for a man due to her muscular build and grizzled appearance. It's not until Makoto introduces himself to her (and immediately identifies her as a girl due to knowing who she is in advance) that the player is likely to notice that she's wearing a skirt and blouse, has a traditionally feminine name, and generally isn't trying to hide her gender at all. In fact, Sakura demonstrates an interest in feminine dress and pursuits throughout the game; she's just also incredibly physically tough and dedicated to her martial arts discipline first and foremost.
** Long after the player has been clued in, Taka makes a comment revealing that he FailedASpotCheck and still thinks Sakura's a guy after several days have passed in-game, so clearly this trope applies InUniverse as well.

** Then there's [[CampGay Alman]], who looks kinda female, uses somewhat affectionate/cutesey terms when talking, but is refered to using male pronouns.

** Alphinaud in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' is mistaken for his ''twin sister'' by players and a few [=NPCs=]. Granted, there are some visual differences between the two (Alphinaud has pale lips compared to his sister and unlike his sister, he doesn't wear a bow in his hair). It also doesn't help that he is 16 years old and his voice sounds a bit high and posh.