History ViewerGenderConfusion / VideoGames

** Many players have gotten confused about Swatch's gender due to his androgynous design. A whole year after the second chapter's release, Spamton refers to him with he/him pronouns [[https://twitter.com/Fangamer/status/1571363913543061505 in a question on Fangamer's Spamton Q&A]], but before that, most people referred to him with they/them pronouns.

* Thanks to voice acting being brought into the second game, [=NiGHTS=] from ''VideoGame/NightsIntoDreams'' now speaks with a posh woman's accent, causing many people to think that they're a woman ''despite [[WordofGod it being confirmed]] that Nights has no gender''. [=NiGHTS=]' voice can be interpreted either as a woman or a young boy; it sounds equally like both. It does not help that Reala, Nights' sibling, is also supposed to be genderless but sounds [[BadassBaritone very distinctly masculine.]]

** Sorceress Adel from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', obviously. Despite being a sorceress, the first reaction is generally "That's a man," due to her tattoos and overall masculine appearance. Not helping matters is the fact that [[DistressedDamsel Rinoa]] spends the entire battle attached to her torso, Adel siphoning HP out of her by thrusting her pelvis forward.

* ''[[VideoGame/{{Onmyoji}} Onmyōji]]'': Shirodōji and Kurodōji are both little kids with long hair (the latter even has a HimeCut) and unbelievably cute faces, which make you think them girls until you hear [[VocalDissonance their voices]], which are provided by Creator/YuuichiNakamura and Creator/TomokazuSugita respectively. They both use masculine pronouns.

** Many male villagers fall into this due to their species only wearing what seem to be dresses. (They are actually shirts, it's just that they're apparently too long for their bodies. ''New Leaf'' would later make the shirts on several species look more like actual shirts than dresses).

** You can also invoke the trope yourself by changing a male playable character's 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'' and ''New Horizons'', in which dresses are available for purchase in the clothing shop regardledss of your character's gender).

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

** Dorrie from ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' falls under this. Cutesy-looking plesiosaur with a feminine sounding name? Sounds like a girl, right? Nope, Dorrie's a boy. All official descriptions of the character, save for a ''[[VideoGame/MarioParty Mario Party 3]]'' mini-game, refer Dorrie as a "he".

* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'':
** Inklings have differences between the male design and female design (for example girls have wider hips and boys wear their tentacles in a ponytail) however many people, especially prior to release, didn't realize boys were a playable option. The boys are young looking and long haired enough to pass as girls to many.
** Spyke is a man but due to his long fingers, long hair, and skinny build he is occasionally mistaken for a woman. Doesn't help that he refers to your character as "Love", regardless of gender.

** Susie and Ralsei have their genders easily mistaken by many players. Susie is female, but her character being TheBully and having PeekABangs had many people believe she was a boy. Likewise, Ralsei is male, but his rather soft and kind personality as well as loving to bake had many people think he was a girl. What also doesn't help is Ralsei wears a pink scarf and when he takes his hat off, his true face is shown to be quite feminine looking.

* Susie and Ralsei in ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'' have their genders easily mistaken by many players. Susie is female, but her character being TheBully and having PeekABangs had many people believe she was a boy. Likewise, Ralsei is male, but his rather soft and kind personality as well as loving to bake had many people think he was a girl. What also doesn't help is Ralsei wears a pink scarf and when he takes his hat off, his true face is shown to be quite feminine looking.

* Eric Lecarde in the Japanese and European releases of ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaBloodlines'' is a bishonen-style pretty boy with a decidedly feminine outfit (a very short red tunic and white leather gogo boots, and unlike the Belmonts, there are no flourishes like armor or animal hides to dude it up). The only tipoff you get is the conspicuous lack of breasts. The US version gives him a more masculine face to make it clearer that yes, he ''is'' supposed to be a guy.

** [[UpToEleven All three cookies]] released in the Lost Kingdom update were subject to this. Pure Vanilla Cookie wears long robes and has a feminine voice but is male, Black Raisin Cookie is easily mistaken for a LongHairedPrettyBoy, and Strawberry Crepe is a small child with pink hair who gets mistaken as both a boy ''and'' a girl but uses they/them pronouns.

** Within hours of the reveal of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', there were a number of arguments as to whether or not Link is female in it. His {{Bishonen}} attributes seemed to have been [[UpToEleven made even more prominent]] in this installment, with rather distinct eyelashes and a ponytail. Others speculated that that's actually ''Zelda'', as Aonuma stated that the character in question "wasn't necessarily Link", but later admitted he was joking. [[spoiler:Link actually has to be DisguisedInDrag to get through of a portion of the game, and he's mentioned to make [[AttractiveBentGender a pretty woman]].]]

** Touhou fangames aren't immune to this either - in fact, ''Riverbed Soul Saver'' takes it UpToEleven with [[http://33.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_n8dh3xgQdr1rzhd1fo1_1404787677_cover.jpg Tarumi Takenouchi]]. Wears pants, fights in a very masculine stance, has short hair, and is wearing what looks like a men's military uniform - not to mention the giant mechanical fist after going into SuperMode. She's a girl.

* [[http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090610212047/umineko/images/2/29/Kanon.jpg Kanon]] from ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' can be easily confused for a woman when you first see him. [[http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101003014206/umineko/images/4/47/Lion.png Lion]] from EP 7 is even worse. But in this case it's intentional, since [[AmbiguousGender nobody knows what Lion's gender is]].

* Berserkers from ''VideoGame/XCom 2'' (and thus retroactively, ''VideoGame/XComEnemyUnknown'') are female.

** Shiver, from Deep Cut in ''VideoGame/Splatoon3'', has [[{{Bifauxnen}} an androgynous appearance]], wears a loose shawl as her that obscures her figure, and has a rebellious, non-conformist attitude. So when Deep Cut was first revealed, some players took her for non-binary or even [[{{Bishonen}} an effeminate-looking man]], not helped by the initial reveal never actually referring to her with any pronouns.

** Ron [=DeLite=] from ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney - Trials and Tribulations''. He has all sorts of female characteristics, such as a pointy "egg" head shape, hair like that of [[Franchise/StarWars Princess Leia]] and a somewhat feminine face. Doesn't help that he's very kind, gentle and shy, and that his Mask☆[=DeMasque=] costume is very husky.

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':

* You can make this happen ''yourself'' with the custom players in ''Videogame/BackyardSports'': you can make a boy wear girly clothes and sound like a girl, or a girl look and sound like a boy.

* Teepo of ''Videogame/BreathOfFireIII''. Long purple hair, acts like a tomboy, doesn't get referred to using a pronoun until ''literally'' the end of the game. Yes, he ''is'' supposed to be a boy. "He" also ''sounds'' distinctly female as a child.

* ''VideoGame/DeadOrAlive'': Some people thought [[{{Bishoned}} Eliot]] was a girl when he debuted in ''Dead or Alive 4''. It doesn't help that his Japanese voice actress is a woman. In fact, Eliot is the only male character in the entire series with a female voice actress.

** Marth got this by ''Videogame/SuperSmashBros'' fans -- partially due to the unusual first name, which is the male variant of Martha, and partly due to the pretty tiara he wears. [[LadyLooksLikeADude Lucina isn't helping at the slightest]]

** Rickard from ''Videogame/FireEmblemAkaneia'' is supposed to look like a girl, but in the cases where most female thieves in the series are tomboyish PluckyGirl and Rickard's appearances change [[DependingOnTheArtist depending on the game he's in]], he's easily overlooked compared to the other examples.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' brings another long-haired, blonde, pretty-boy monk (and likely a CallBack to Lucius) in Libra. {{Lampshaded}} to hell and back in the game, where he is routinely mistaken for a girl (and Sully, one of the most tomboyish [[ActionGirl Action Girls]] in the game, asks him for advice on how to look pretty).

** 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]] screenshot:

*** FE4 ''also'' has Midir, whose ponytail reads to many players like one half of a pair of pigtails due to the angle. One of the mangas parodied this by having his often mistaken for a woman by the characters in-universe, too.

* Calintz, main character of the ''Videogame/MagnaCarta'' game (at least the one released in the West). He's also the main of the original PC game... despite it otherwise having a totally different plot and setting. And he was, by reports, ridiculously feminine there, as well. The artist for the series [[AuthorAppeal apparently likes feminine men and ridiculously busty women]].

* ''Videogame/SamuraiWarriors'' has Ranmaru Mori (who's even voiced by a woman) and is actually mistaken for a girl by [[ChivalrousPervert Magoichi]]. The newest game brings forth Hanbei Takenaka, who is older than Ranmaru but still looks very feminine. The fact that he's seen disguised as [[DisguisedInDrag a woman]] in his opening doesn't help either...

* Nick and Deanna from the ''[[Videogame/ShiningForce Shining Force Gaiden]]'' series are some of the worst examples of this, ever. Just look them up, and be confused. It doesn't help that Deanna has a name that's a woman's name ''everywhere but'' in this game.

* Look at Saki Amamiya from ''VideoGame/SinAndPunishment'' and try to tell us that he does not look like a girl. In fact, his trophy description in [[VideoGame/{{SuperSmashBros}} the fourth Super Smash Bros]] actually [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this, though only because of his interesting hair-style. Yeah, the obvious feminine-looking body is totally gender-ambiguous, yet the hair is what causes people to mistake him for a girl.

* Kanan from ''Videogame/SoulNomadAndTheWorldEaters''. In fact, you'll probably need to pick a certain path in the main campaign to find out "she" is really a "he".

** There's also Jamie from ''Videogame/HarvestMoonMagicalMelody'', who is always the opposite gender of your character, but they have the same model regardless. They have an androgynous voice, unisex haircut, and wear a baggy poncho so it's hard to tell their gender even in-series; if you marry them the sprites seem genuinely surprised at their gender. Fans overall [[{{fanon}} write Jamie as male]] in fanworks.

** Some people had the same problem with Luc and Sasari in ''Videogame/{{Suikoden}} II'', looking at their portraits. The problem was rectified in the sequel, where both men had obviously male portraits and character models.

** [[http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Wriggle_Nightbug Wriggle Nightbug]] from ''Imperishable Night'' is sometimes mistaken for a boy, due to her being one of the few ''Touhou'' characters to wear pants instead of a dress.

** The confusion strikes again, this time with [[http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Shou_Toramaru Toramaru Shou]] from ''Undefined Fantastic Object'', who ''does'' look overly masculine-- tiger stripes and all.

* [[http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090610212047/umineko/images/2/29/Kanon.jpg Kanon]] from ''Videogame/UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'' can be easily confused for a woman when you first see him. [[http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101003014206/umineko/images/4/47/Lion.png Lion]] from EP 7 is even worse. But in this case it's intentional, since [[AmbiguousGender nobody knows what Lion's gender is]].
* ''[[Videogame/{{Wartech}} Wartech: Senko no Ronde]]'': Cuilan. [[http://hg101.kontek.net/senkonoronde/Cuilan.jpg Here]] [[http://hg101.kontek.net/senkonoronde/Cuilan-B1.jpg HE]] [[http://hg101.kontek.net/senkonoronde/Cuilan-A3.jpg is]].

* The mandatory ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' examples

* It'd probably be quicker to list the male characters this trope ''doesn't'' apply to in ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact''. The visual style the game favours means that almost every character looks somewhat feminine at first glance, further emphasised by the fact that men in Teyvat clearly dislike growing out their facial hair but do tend towards long braids and otherwise feminine-coded haircuts. Only Zhongli and Tartaglia break the mould even a little, and they're still both pretty {{Bishonen}}.

** Ado is a human character who is canonically a girl, however her young age and short hair has made many fans mistake her for a male. Her redesign as Adeleine is more clearly a girl.

** Don't call Kirby a girl just because he's pink. Several games refer to him as "he".

** Chances are that 75% of the people who have played ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' have mistaken Larsa for a girl. Alas he is a boy. A very girly boy. With very pretty shoes. A very twelve year-old boy.

* Hooktail from ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor''. Dialogue refers to Hooktail as 'it', and since Hooktail is a dragon, you would probably assume Hooktail is male. You don't learn Hooktail is a female until you hear Gloomtail refer to her as his "younger sister" much later in the game.

** Shows up again with Miyazu Atsuta, [[{{Bifauxnen}} 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.

** Probably the mother of all tropes in Mario and maybe Video Games as a whole is Birdo. Birdo is supposed to be a guy, but he is pink, wears a big jumbo ribbon on his head and has eyelashes, Nintendo originally had Birdo as a guy, but over the years Birdo has a feminine voice and what looks like an engagement ring. Birdo’s gender would be inconsistent and disputed for many years, possibly even today and in the future.

** When he was first teased, nobody was sure what gender Éclair Cookie was. He wears a dress and has RapunzelHair, but also wears a monocle. It didn't help that he looked a lot like another cookie who has [[AmbiguousGender no confirmed gender]]. However, he was quickly referred to as a 'he' and revealed to have a very masculine voice.

* Zelos in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' upon first glance when you see him on the cover of the game... and sometimes second and third glances too. Once you meet him in the story and figure out he's a male-voiced HandsomeLech, you might be in shock for three more hours of gameplay. It probably also doesn't help that Zelos wears pink, and in the west, that's considered a feminine colour. (The RapunzelHair, too.)