Fan-favourite Guilty Gear character Bridget has returned to Guilty Gear: Strive in its second season of characters, with developer Arc System Works describing her as an ‘easy to pick up, standard style’ of fighter. She has solid long-range attacks, and a handy teddy bear that helps her perform flashy moves. Alongside the announcement, the developer has confirmed that she is now canonically trans.
Bridget first arrived in Guilty Gear X2 in 2002, with her gender identity often played for laughs, or being a point of confusion for other characters, as she resembled a young girl but still used male pronouns. Strive has now confirmed Bridget uses female pronouns, in a dialogue exchange that sees her accept the term ‘cow girl’ to identity herself.
She also discusses her choice to transition, and worries about her future, as well as the acceptance of others, before finally deciding to be true to herself and stop ‘faking it’.
Read: All the major fighting game news announced at Evo 2022
Bridget has now become one of very few canonically trans characters in the fighting game scene – and in the wider world of video games.
While indie developers are pushing for more accurate, diverse representation of LGBTQIA+ characters on screen, few AAA developers are actually working to tell trans and gender diverse stories. Bridget’s inclusion in Guilty Gear Strive, and the clarification of her identity after years of treating her as an oddity, is an important step towards introducing mainstream, authentic and heartfelt trans stories in video games.
Bridget is a beloved character in the Guilty Gear series, and her transition will no doubt be embraced by the loyal Guilty Gear community. She arrives in the game as part of the paid season 2 pass, which will introduce a number of new characters to the game in 2022 and 2023.
