In case you still had doubts…
In a recent statement, the creator of Guilty Gear: Strive discusses Bridget’s gender and how it should be the correct way to refer to her: “We’ve gotten a lot of questions about Bridget’s gender, after the events of her story in Arcade mode, she identifies as female. In such a way that if you doubt between “he” or “she” about which would be the correct pronouns for her, the answer would be “she”. In this way, the creator himself speaks for the first time on the subject and confirms this little fact that had a part of the fandom in constant doubt.
ladies and gentlemen pic.twitter.com/vQXa9yBFDn
— NarutoxKenshin (@xnarutoxkenshin) September 14, 2022
After this clarification, he also mentions the character development that Bridget’s gender had, talking about the origins in the Guilty Gear: Strive saga (a story already known by the fandom), however, he adds an important fact: “Bridget tries to live like a man, but it doesn’t feel right.. This is where the Arcade mode begins. After a discussion with Goldlewis and Ky, Bridget confronts parts of herself that she has tried to ignore and makes a decision for herself.” to be true to herself and her feelings”.
Now, here the doubt may arise: “why is it necessary for the creator to clarify this type of doubt?”. The multimedia content analyst, TvDannyZ, mentions how the doubts about Bridget’s gender in Guilty Gear: Strive are nothing more than the response to a “straw man” or, in other words, a part of the fandom of this video game. blames a “Western influence” for the direction that the director of the video game had decided to take.
I love people who get mad at Bridget, because they blame “Western” influence for “forcing” themselves on Japan, completely ignoring that it was Bridget’s original creator who decided the direction of her arc.
— Danny Zeta (@TvDannyZ) August 9, 2022
In such a way that the answer of the creator of Guilty Gear: Strive on the gender of Bridget, is a way to dispel any doubts. This was a decision made by the creative team to continue the development arc that this fighter has had since the beginning of this Arc System video game.
Bridget was born as one of twin children to a billionaire couple and received only the best training and mentorship as a child. However, Bridget’s upbringing was what one would expect from a daughter of a high-society family rather than a son. There was a reason for this: Bridget’s hometown had a superstitious belief that male twins brought misfortune. While Bridget tried her best to appear happy, these efforts only seemed to cause Bridget’s parents more pain. Bridget began to think that behaving like a man and bringing home a great deal of wealth would prove the superstitions unfounded.
Unfortunately, this didn’t make her happy either, as her story scene in Guilty Gear: Strive demonstrates. In Bridget’s dialogue in Strive she shows how she is comfortable expressing her trans identity, telling deuteragonist Ky Kisuke and the US Secretary of Defense. Goldlewis Dickinson who, “[puedes llamarme] Cowgirl is fine. Because I’m a girl!”, Bridget reaffirms herself as a trans woman. Both Ky and Goldlewis help her understand that she doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone, being who she is with the strength she possesses is enough.
Bridget’s gender in Guilty Gear: Strive is confirmed: She is a Trans Woman.
During EVO 2022, a famous esports event in the United States, there were a series of interesting revelations about the most famous fighting video game franchises, however the most interesting was the announcement of Guilty Gear Strive: Bridget is back and she’s a trans woman. She was introduced in this way during her inclusion in the Season 2 character DLC pack and confirmed in various scenes in her main story as well as in the own official page of the fighting game.
its official!
bridget is transgender!
you cannot comprehend how hard i screamed its not intentionally vague its loud and clear and of all people to show her that its GOLDLEWIS pic.twitter.com/7kIAOArToH
— hatchling (apoc) (@Marcanthony737) August 8, 2022
We can find more clues in the game about Bridget’s gender in Guilty Gear: Strive, for example, the song “The town Inside Me“. The lyrics could demonstrate her experience and path as a trans woman as Some people within the community have pointed out. Specifically regarding dysphoria, a nonconformity between gender and the person’s body, this is framed in several sections of displeasure in the song. In turn, the final section that talks about the changes that her body could experience over time, Bridget sings that nothing could really change who she is.
The negative response to Bridget’s coming out is unnerving, to say the least. At a time when the US government is drafting legislation aimed at targeting trans people; in this way, its representation in the media, especially in games, should be seen as a big step. Furthermore, this is not the first case of a trans person within Guilty Gear Strive, as Testament had been revealed as a non-binary person.