LGBTQ and non-binary identity representation and integration in Temtem

Temtem, developed by Crema Games, is a massively multiplayer online (MMO) creature-collecting game that was released in early access in late January 2020. An homage to Pokémon in gameplay and aesthetic, players adventure around several islands that comprise the Airborne Archipelago, catching creatures known as Temtems, as well as exploring and questing. The game is beautiful and innovative, while its nature as an MMO distinguishes many aspects of it from its muse, Pokémon. Most notably, you can see other players, you may travel and quest in co-op mode, and as it’s an MMO there are many Sisyphean grinds. Another integral feature to Temtem, which has amazed me during my time playing it, is the representation and integration of LGBTQ and non-binary identities in the game.

Character Creation

Temtem is innovative as it is one of the few games, let alone MMOs, where LGBTQ and non-binary identities are firmly supplanted within the signifying systems of the game. Starting immediately with character creation, the game uses no text identifiers for binary genders, and so, unlike most games with character creation, there is no “male” or “female” options. Instead, you may choose the “Boy” body-type, which is flat-chested and wears boxers, or you may choose the “Girl” body-type which has a slightly more effeminate body and wears a bra. Neither of these options are expressed as male or female though, rather you may pick your pronouns at the end of the character creation; you may choose they/them, she/her, or he/him. Furthering this, all of the clothing and hairstyles within the character creation or ones purchased within the game can be worn by any body-type. Compared to other MMO games with character creation, such as World of Warcraft (Blizzard 2004-) and Guild Wars 2 (ArenaNet 2012-), Temtem is visionary in its choice and its eschewing of gender binaries.

Non-player Characters and Dialogue

After character creation, the game is still wholly committed to its integration of LGBTQ and non-binary identities. One of the first non-player characters (NPCs) the player meets is Max, your peer and not-so-friendly rival, who is canonically non-binary and uses they/them pronouns. Further examples can be found with Octlana, an airship engineer, who is married to a woman named Izel, while Kemal, who is an airship navigator, is reunited with his “old flame” Manki in one of the main story quests. Within Temtem, a major gameplay element is breeding Temtem. Through breeding, the offspring of two Temtem will inherit different traits and stats from their parents which allows players to create unique or more powerful Temtem that can’t be captured in the wild. All breeding is done at the “Breeding Center” and within the centre there is an NPC called the “Temtem Breeder” who facilitates this. In his explanation of breeding to the player he states the Temtem “need to be of different sex. Otherwise they might have fun, but you won’t get an egg” (Temtem 2020-). This list could continue, but these examples prove still to be testament to Crema Games’ integration and representation of LGBTQ and non-binary identities into their games.

Gender and Dialogue

Within Temtem, there is very little use of text identifiers for genders, and pronouns are seldom mentioned. When gendered language is present it is mostly seen in NPC and player dialogue when text identifiers such as “ma’am” and “sir” are used. Often, if the player should choose the dialogue option which includes one of those gendered text identifiers, the NPC will deride you for using them. Should an NPC use those same gendered text identifiers, the player will often have the choice to retort by saying “I am not a boy/girl.” This will happen to every player and it is not contingent on the pronoun you picked during character creation. Furthering this, NPCs will occasionally use collective masculine signifying words that are often deployed in the English language as seemingly gender neutral, such as “fella” or “guys”. Again, the player will usually have the option to retort by expressing that they are not male-gendered. A pertinent example of this can be seen in an encounter with a person in the Mines of Mictlan area. As you approach the NPC, they greet you to which you may reply with a greeting that ends with the gendered term “ma’am”. The NPC will quickly scold you for addressing them as “ma’am”, asserting that they use they/them pronouns and that everyone in the Smith’s Guild, where they used to work, does the same.  All of these examples are scenarios not readily present in other MMO games and they so uniquely represent how entrenched gendered text identifiers are within language that may cause degradation to people who are misgendered. It also succinctly indicates the difficulties that people who wish to eschew binary gender distinctions are summited to by that same gendered language.

A summary of this can be represented in the dialogue between the player and the abovementioned NPC, Octlana. During a quest within the game, you are travelling on an airship called The Narwhal when you are apprehended by pirates who cause the airship to crash. In the crash site, Octlana is injured and you are not, so she asks you to travel to a nearby city where her wife lives to tell her that Octlana is safe. After she asks you this, three dialogue options come up: “I’ll find him”, “I’ll find her”, or “I’ll find them”. Having these three options prove to elucidate how gender is constructed within the gameworld of Temtem, that a non-binary gender identity is recognised by the cultural consensus, and that our dated pre-existing notions of what signifies gender should be questioned. While Octlana and her wife both use female pronouns and other female text identifiers, the three options cause the player to think carefully about their own use of pronouns and gendered language, a sentiment that is not shared in other games with rigid and encoded gender binaries.

Colonialism

In a similar manner to the way in which Temtem deals with misgendering from NPCs and the player, the developers of the game are acutely aware of colonialism and the fetishization of indigenous people that it causes. The islands that comprise the Airborne Archipelago, where Temtem is set, are a collection of cultures including Argentinian, French, Japanese, Mexican, and Polynesian cultural signifiers. The blending of cultures in such a way has been rightly remarked by some scholars as problematic (Nakamura 2002, Langer 2011). However, Crema Games would appear to be vastly more self-aware than other games (and other forms of media) and highlight the problems and aggressions that fetishization causes indigenous people. For instance, in Nanga, a town in the Myrisles, an NPC is being accosted by another NPC who is repeatedly asking about the people of Myrisle’s use of nose flutes. The NPC will say to the player if you approach, “That guy just won’t shut up about nose flutes… And I haven’t heard one of those in ages!” (Temtem 2020-). This may be a reference to filmmaker, Taika Waititi, (or an agreed cultural consensus that Waititi shares) who in an interview about the work he did for Disney’s Moana stated, “Indigenous people in films, it’s all nose flutes and panpipes and, you know, people talking to ghosts… which I hate” (The Guardian 2017).  A similar example can be found when an academic from the (in)famous Arbury University is found similarly accosting a resident from Tucma about their culture, slightly later on in the game. Such examples present how indigenous people and communities can become fetishized commodities in their own countries, with such inferences exemplifying aggressive entitlement that indigenous people may face from tourists.

My Thoughts

The people of the world of Temtem are incredibly progressive, and while issues of race and gender are still apparent, we are still eclipsed by the residents of the Airborne Archipelago’s liberal nature. Within the game, the main antagonists are a group of people called who call themselves the Clan Belsoto, led by the arrogant aristocrat, Lady Lottie. The game is still in early access and so not all of the content has been released, meaning we are still not entirely sure what Clan Belsoto and Lady Lottie are up to. Among the general populace of the Airborne Archipelago however, mainly those outside of the main story questlines, there tends to be little awareness of the Clan Belsoto. Instead, for a substantial amount of the game, the main antagonists, or perhaps those who cause the most strife, would appear to be us, the players, and other less progressive NPCs. We bring in our “real world” assumptions of gender and our “harmless” use of highly gendered words like “ma’am” and “guys” to the world of Temtem, to which the NPCs must continually correct us. Indeed, it is the negative reflections of everyday life for marginalised groups outside of the games which enters the game and causes strife to those people of Temtem who no longer face such readily present discrimination. Moving forward we should learn from the residents of the Airborne Archipelago and reflect on how heavily entangled our day-to-day speech is with gendered text identifiers, and the implications that arise from this for those who wish to avoid rigid binary gender.

Bonnie Ruberg in their recent monograph (Video Games Have Always Been Queer) quite rightly proclaims that video games have always been queer. Within the monograph, they use formative queer theoretical concepts to analyse video games and thus prove that queerness has always resided within and around them. In their introduction, Ruberg states that queerness goes beyond notions of representation and that this linear trajectory of an “it gets better” narrative can erase the complexities and obstacles faced by queer people. They state the experiences of LGBTQ people “are often far messier, more winding, and ultimately richer than tales of straight movement from oppression to acceptance” (Ruberg 2019, p. 2). Ruberg does also state that representation should be celebrated though we should also recognise that video games have always been queer and linear progress narratives can be harmful. With this, I would posit Temtem as one of those games that should still be celebrated because of its seamless integration and representation of LGBTQ and non-binaries identities in an MMO game. That queerness is evident in the denotable, as well as within a rich array of connotative expansions, has made the game a truly phenomenal experience. It highlights how easily queer identities can be coded into a game, while still expanding open the complexities and obstacles faced by queer people.