The character’s name is just listed as ‘S/He,’ and I loved that.

“The character’s name and pronouns aren’t spoken, and this is also before ‘they’ and ‘them’ were really commonly in use as nonbinary terms. “Some people laughed about it at the time,” Delta shared before adding, “but after a few years, people looked back on it and started going, ‘Oh, that’s actually really cool.’ And like most trans people, Iasmin described the experience of seeing themselves represented on screen as a big deal. It wasn’t until 2000’s Final Fantasy IX was released that they were finally able to see a non-gendered character ( Quina Quen) in a video game. Iasmin, who typically goes by their handle Delta, shared that they “didn’t really see a lot of nonbinary or non-gender expression” in media and pop culture, especially during the most formative times of their life. They are also the creator of Mis(h)adra, a graphic novel that “vividly depicts the daily life of an Arab-American epileptic named Isaac.” Iasmin Omar Ata has their hands in games, comics, sound effects, live 2D animation and some of the most incredible Sonic art I have ever seen. Quina Quen, one of the playable characters in Final Fantasy IX. Inspired by my own memories of Kris in Pokémon Crystal, I spoke to four individuals in the game industry about their experiences designing for gender inclusivity, and how their own experiences playing games have affected their approach to their work. Now, 21 years later, it is comforting to see game studios pushing and trying for better representation in all gaming spaces, both physical and pixelated. And in the time since I came out and accepted myself, I’ve learned from many other women that Pokémon Crystal and Kris impacted them greatly too, allowing us to finally see ourselves in a video game and on our very own Pokémon adventure. When Crystal was released worldwide in 2001, a lot of my friends paid little attention to the addition of Kris, the canonical name for the game’s female protagonist, but it was a really big deal to me. Pokémon Crystal marked the first time in the series that players had the ability to choose their gender, a tradition that has continued in the mainline role-playing titles since, including in the latest entries, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

My parents treated me to a bowl cut and The Lion King after I told them who I was, so it meant a lot to me a few years later when Game Freak’s Pokémon Crystal respected my answer of “Girl” after asking my gender for my playthrough on my atomic purple Game Boy Color.

Pokemon crystal clear character sprite