I have mixed feelings myself. On the negative side, 1) nonbinary shapeshifters are, as you say, nothing new and 2) there aren't any other nonbinary characters, unless you count Noelle Stevenson's "fan" character for a next-generation story. On the other side, 1) being a shapeshifter is like my top nonbinary wish-fulfilment fantasy 2) if you're going to have a shapeshifter, making them nonbinary by default makes a lot of sense 3) nonbinary characters played by nonbinary actors are rare and therefore exciting and 4) the fact that all the characters, regardless of what side they're on, use they/them pronouns for Double Trouble gives me a little thrill. And there's other stuff, but that would be a spoiler.
My favorite recent nonbinary character in a mainstream piece of entertainment is probably Kazi from The Dragon Prince, largely because it is always shapeshifters, magical creatures, and robots and I am tired of that, so it was a nice change of pace to have a character who's just coincidentally nonbinary instead of it having a reason. But that character is played by, as far as I can tell, a woman, so that's moderately less cool....
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2020-08-17 08:34 pm (UTC)Scorpia always needs a hug. It's just who she is.
I have mixed feelings myself. On the negative side, 1) nonbinary shapeshifters are, as you say, nothing new and 2) there aren't any other nonbinary characters, unless you count Noelle Stevenson's "fan" character for a next-generation story. On the other side, 1) being a shapeshifter is like my top nonbinary wish-fulfilment fantasy 2) if you're going to have a shapeshifter, making them nonbinary by default makes a lot of sense 3) nonbinary characters played by nonbinary actors are rare and therefore exciting and 4) the fact that all the characters, regardless of what side they're on, use they/them pronouns for Double Trouble gives me a little thrill. And there's other stuff, but that would be a spoiler.
My favorite recent nonbinary character in a mainstream piece of entertainment is probably Kazi from The Dragon Prince, largely because it is always shapeshifters, magical creatures, and robots and I am tired of that, so it was a nice change of pace to have a character who's just coincidentally nonbinary instead of it having a reason. But that character is played by, as far as I can tell, a woman, so that's moderately less cool....