So much "Egg"citment!

Birdo. First introduced to the USA in the sequel to the ever so popular Super Mario Bros, Birdo is video games first recorded occurrence of a transgender character. The initial NES guide for the game referred to Birdo "He thinks he's a girl and he spits eggs from his mouth. He'd rather be called Birdetta." Thankfully as society has grown we simply refer to Birdo as "her" as we should. Although the creating company doesn't come out and formally recognize Birdo as Trans, trans representation matters, and Birdo is one of the most iconic women in video games if you ask me!

PixSAL2023 September

Princess for all time

As with most female characters in early video games, Marle is constantly being pushed by men to be pretty and "proper." A princess who has to rebel against her father and king just to be herself. She prove to be a worthy fighter and magic user and healer, helping to save the lands her father rules over and the world. 

PixSAL2023 August

Pirate Prince....ss?

The story of Faris is certainly one that sticks out in my mind in my younger years. Born to a king as a Princess, lost at sea when only five years old, and taken in by pirates! However the most interesting fact is our young Faris lived as a male. There are many different speculations as to why Faris lived as a male. Did the pirates find a young girl and decide that she would only survive if presented as male? Did Faris decide that the only way to make it as a pirate was to be male? Was Faris truly transgender (even after discovered  Faris would still oftern refer to theirself with masculine vocabulary)? I always believed that Faris feared for her life with the pirates and could only be safe living as a "strong male" and thus took over the pirates thus proving that, in fact, females are strong and POWERFUL!  

PixSAL2023 July

... Like no one every was!

Wanna be the very best? Catch them all? Well for the first our years of the franchise you could only be a white young man. In 2000 the company finally gave the option for young woman and girls to see themselves as a monster catching master! A few more years before they could see themselves with a different skin color... but that's another issue for another SAL. This month we celebrate all the young woman in the world who want to travel far and wide and catch them all!

PixSAL2023 June

Primm and proper

Primm is a fine example of a strong female character. Although she isn't the main/lead character in the group, she joins the party to rebel against an arranged marriage and to find and rescue her actual love... quite a role reversal for that time in video game story telling! Let's hear it for women being real heroes!

PixSAL2023 May

Samus Strikes!

Samus. One of the first females to get a lead in a video game. She didn't get captured, she wasn't shown as weak and frail, she wasn't hyper sexualize (yet *insert eye roll*), she got to be a bad @$$ from the start. Enough said.

PixSAL2023 April

The Triumph of Terra

Terra Branford, a powerful and iconic leading lady in the Final Fantasy series. Up until the 6th instalment of the series, the lead characters had all, of course, been male. FF6 made strides to include one of the most diverse cast of characters thus far in its history and even gave us Terra as a co-lead, with the story line mainly focused on her and her experiences and challenges. Even though she had the "damsel in distress" troupe laid upon her for most of the game, she rose to be one of the most powerful characters! So for my birthday month, I give you one of my favorite characters from one of my favorite games in one of my favorite gaming franchises, Terra Branford!

PixSAL2023 March