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Tag: nintendo

  • What Your Queer-Coded Nintendo Character Says About You (Part 2)

    What Your Queer-Coded Nintendo Character Says About You (Part 2)

    Let’s be real: most Nintendo characters are camp. Between the eyeliner, melodrama, power stances, and wardrobe choices, the Big N is basically serving Drag Race: Mushroom Kingdom. But what if we told you your favorite queer-coded character says a lot about you?

    Whether you’re a Luigi loyalist, a Toadette apologist, or a King Boo girlie with commitment issues, we’ve got your spiritual diagnosis.

    Let’s dive in, shall we?

    Princess Zelda

    Mystical Femme With a Degree in Emotional Distance
    Princess Zelda is the friend who always looks flawless but is secretly dealing with five ancient curses, two exes, and a prophecy. She’s a regal intellectual who can recite ancient texts and ghost you in perfect grammar. Zelda has big “healer girl with intimacy issues” energy, wise beyond her years, emotionally layered, and never without a cloak or a dramatic backlight. If she’s your favorite, you’re drawn to elegance, mystery, and the type of woman who would absolutely destroy you in a debate and still make you want to write poetry about her.

    • Zodiac Signs: Virgo sun, Pisces moon

    • Favorite Food: Lavender tea and a gluten-free almond tart

    • Hobby: Tarot readings, ancient scroll translation, and setting boundaries via scroll

    • Green Flag: Emotionally intelligent, loyal, and knows what everyone needs before they ask

    • Red Flag: Believes “destiny” is a valid excuse for leaving you on read for six weeks

    Rosalina

    Lipstick Lesbian in a Spaceship
    Rosalina is the intergalactic femme fatale of your dreams. She left the galaxy because no one on Earth was giving her the respect, or the orgasms, she deserved. She’s poised, mysterious, and never texts first because she’s literally in another dimension.

    • Zodiac Signs: Libra sun, Scorpio moon

    • Favorite Food: Champagne truffles (ideally gifted by a nervous girl in a sundress)

    • Hobby: Floating through space while listening to Phoebe Bridgers remixes

    • Green Flag: Knows your love language without asking

    • Red Flag: Still emotionally hung up on a space princess from 200 years ago

    Luigi

    Bisexual Soft Boy With a Ghost Problem and a Gold Heart
    Luigi is the anxious bisexual prince of your heart. Always second to the spotlight, but first to hold your bag, Luigi is gentle, loyal, and just nervous enough to be endearing. He apologizes when you bump into him, cries at Pixar movies, and has exactly one denim jacket that he wears to every queer event. He’s emotionally in tune, just not with his own feelings. If he’s your favorite, you’re either a hopeless romantic, a sucker for underdogs, or you’ve dated someone who claimed they were “just figuring things out.”

    • Zodiac Signs: Cancer sun, Libra rising

    • Favorite Food: Pesto pasta and whatever you’re eating off your plate

    • Hobby: Ghost hunting, overthinking, and leaving voice memos at 2 a.m.

    • Green Flag: Deeply empathetic, remembers small details, and lets you cry during movies

    • Red Flag: Will emotionally spiral over a text with no punctuation

    Toad

    Chaos in a Crop Top
    Toad is that friend who shows up late, loud, and dressed like he’s about to get kicked out of a gay bar for crowd-surfing during a Carly Rae Jepsen deep cut. He’s the life of the party and the reason it got shut down. Toad has never whispered a day in his life. If you’ve ever gone on a spontaneous trip, gotten a questionable piercing, or flirted with three people in one hour, Toad was probably involved.

    • Zodiac Signs: Aries sun, Gemini moon

    • Favorite Food: Spiked iced matcha

    • Hobby: Starting drama and then immediately exiting the group chat

    • Green Flag: Will hype you up no matter what

    • Red Flag: Will also expose your secrets for fun

    Toadette

    Activist Lesbian With a Megaphone and a Mission
    Toadette organizes mutual aid drives and drag brunch in the same afternoon. She has pronoun pins in every color, knows three types of composting, and once made a cop cry with a single tweet. She’s got a carabiner full of keys, stickers, and a laminated schedule. If she’s your fave, you either love her… or you are her.

    • Zodiac Signs: Capricorn sun, Aries moon

    • Favorite Food: Fair trade iced oat latte and a protest sandwich wrapped in wax paper

    • Hobby: Volunteering, tabling events, and yelling at your landlord on your behalf

    • Green Flag: Passionate, principled, and will help you build your bookshelf and your political consciousness

    • Red Flag: Corrects your grammar and your politics in bed

    King Boo

    Villainous, Vengeful, and the Drama You Secretly Crave
    King Boo isn’t just a ghost, he’s the phantom of your failed situationship. He’s the one who said “we’re just vibing” while holding your hand under the table. He lives for theatrics, disappears at random, and always reappears just when you’re finally healing. He doesn’t haunt houses, he haunts people. And if he’s your favorite? Baby, you love a red flag with good lighting.

    • Zodiac Signs: Scorpio sun, Gemini rising

    • Favorite Food: Dark chocolate and stolen joy

    • Hobby: Casually destroying group dynamics with a single cryptic comment

    • Green Flag: Charismatic, mysterious, and throws unforgettable Halloween parties

    • Red Flag: Gaslights you and your therapist

    Bowser

    Gay Bear With a Soft Belly and a Big Roar
    Bowser isn’t your enemy, he’s your ex’s new boyfriend who insists on being friends with you now. He’s the undisputed king of Bear Week, wears leather year-round, and bakes sourdough when he’s not trying to take over the Mushroom Kingdom. Beneath the spikes and growls? A sensitive guy who just wants cuddles and control (but mostly cuddles).

    • Zodiac Signs: Taurus sun, Leo moon

    • Favorite Food: Brisket, craft beer, and your leftovers

    • Hobby: Powerlifting and hosting game night (he brings a cheese board)

    • Green Flag: Loyal, protective, and gives the best hugs

    • Red Flag: Gets weirdly jealous of Mario even though he swears he’s “over it”

    That’s the End of This Rainbow

    Whether you’re channeling Toadette’s clipboard-wielding chaos, Rosalina’s cosmic femme energy, or Bowser’s bear-coded dominance, one thing’s clear: these Nintendo icons aren’t just characters, they’re queer archetypes.

    So next time someone asks why you relate so hard to an intergalactic space mom or a bisexual ghost hunter, just shrug and say: It’s gay lore, babe.

  • Kirby, Birdo, and the Gaggle of Queer-Coded Nintendo Icons You Can’t Ignore

    Kirby, Birdo, and the Gaggle of Queer-Coded Nintendo Icons You Can’t Ignore

    Break out the glitter and pre-order panic: the Nintendo Switch 2 has officially landed, and the fanfare is as dramatic as a Peach side-eye. Across Japan and beyond, gamers camped out, cried, and clawed their way through online lotteries just to grab Nintendo’s latest console-slash-culture-reset. With a bigger screen, better graphics, and new launch titles like Mario Kart World, it’s clear the Switch 2 didn’t come to play, it came to slay.

    Nintendo reportedly received 2.2 million entries for its Japan sales lottery alone. Meanwhile, Target pre-orders sold out faster than you can say “Waluigi is a power bottom.” Some fans, like Yumi Ohi, traveled cross-prefecture just to snag one. Girl, we get it. It’s a major upgrade, and with Elden Ring and more AAA titles on the way, it’s giving “gaming era, activated.”

    But let’s be honest, what really makes Nintendo games iconic isn’t just the tech. It’s the camp. It’s the drama. It’s the characters who have been throwing subtle queer-coded energy at us for decades. So, in honor of the Switch 2 drop, we’re celebrating the Nintendo characters who’ve always been just a little too fabulous to be straight.

    Princess Peach: High Femme Drama Royalty

    The pillow princess herself! THE Princess Peach. The original high-heel-wearing campy hostage, Princess Peach isn’t just royalty, she’s the type of girl who gets kidnapped just to see if anyone’s paying attention. Sure, she’s canonically Mario’s girlfriend, but have you seen her serve pink realness in literally every outfit? And don’t forget Super Princess Peach, where her powers are literally mood swings. If that’s not gay culture, what is?

    Princess Peach
    Photo: Nintendo

    Kirby: Suckin’, Servin’, and Shapeshifting

    Kirby is the pastel puffball of our dreams. He flies, he transforms, he swallows enemies whole and becomes them. Gender? Identity? He’s fluid, honey. Kirby doesn’t walk, he floats. I mean, it doesn’t get gayer than that! He doesn’t fight, he sucks and swallows. I mean… you do the math. Honestly, he’s the ultimate queer icon. Also, he’s pink, round, and always happy. That’s camp, baby.

    Kirby
    Photo: Nintendo

    Birdo: Our Trans Queen from Day One

    Let’s give a respectful golf clap to Super Mario Bros. 2 for dropping one of the most groundbreaking lines in 1980s video game history: “Birdo is a boy who thinks he’s a girl.” Birdo, also known as Birdetta, is a pink, bow-wearing, egg-shooting baddie who proudly lives her truth. While Nintendo’s been… vague… about her identity since, the community has spoken. Birdo is trans. Period. No notes.

    Birdo
    Photo: Nintendo

    Princess Daisy: Lipstick Lesbian Energy, Activated

    If Peach is the high-femme icon, Daisy is the sports bra-wearing, energy drink-chugging counterpart. Always down for a little tennis, kart racing, or drama, Daisy’s a tomboy with a tiara and a whole lot of main character energy. She’s not like the other girls, she’s louder, bolder, and probably the reason your girlfriend keeps playing Mario Party.

    Princess Daisy
    Photo: Nintendo

    Pauline: Mayoral Realness and Vocal Queen

    From Donkey Kong damsel to Odyssey-era mayor and jazz singer, Pauline pulled the ultimate glow-up. She’s got her own city now (New Donk, no less), a band, and the pipes to belt out “Jump Up, Super Star!” like a Broadway diva. She’s giving Patti LuPone meets city council chic. We stan a girlboss with vocals.

    Pauline
    Photo: Nintendo

    Yoshi: Genderqueer Dino of Our Dreams

    Yoshi lays eggs. Yoshi swallows enemies with an impossible tongue. Yoshi’s species comes in every color of the rainbow. And while Nintendo technically uses he/him pronouns, let’s be real, Yoshi lives beyond the binary. Egg-laying, color-shifting, tongue-whipping royalty. We see you, queen!

    Yoshi
    Photo: Nintendo

    Waluigi: Tall, Twisted, and Totally Queer-Coded

    Waluigi is the chaotic queer uncle who shows up to the barbecue with glitter eyeliner, a bad attitude, and the audacity to make everything about him. He’s lanky, he’s petty, and he dances like he’s auditioning for So You Think You Can Flop. He may not have a game of his own, but that hasn’t stopped him from stealing hearts with his iconic side-splits and evil laugh.

    Waluigi
    Photo: Nintendo

    Link: The Soft Andro Hero We Project Onto

    Link is the quiet, courageous legend who rarely speaks but always slays. Whether he’s crossdressing in Breath of the Wild to infiltrate Gerudo Town or rocking a ponytail with his latest tunic, Link’s androgynous aesthetic has always been queer-coded to filth. He’s not saving the princess, he’s serving looks while doing it.

    Llnk
    Photo: Nintendo

    Long Live Nintendo’s Queer-Coded Icons

    As we celebrate the Switch 2’s arrival into our clammy gamer hands, let’s also honor the characters who helped raise us, confuse us, and low-key awaken something in us. Nintendo didn’t just build a gaming empire—it created a runway of queer-coded fabulousness. Whether intentional or accidental, we’ll take it. And we’ll slay with it.

  • Nintendo Will Recognize Gay Marriages Despite Japanese Ban

    Nintendo Will Recognize Gay Marriages Despite Japanese Ban

    Nintendo says love is love!

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