ItM #3.5: Astolfo's Gender??? (Resolved)

[Flygoniaks]

Hi guys, sorry there hasn't been an episode of "In The Margins" lately. I've been super busy with personal things lately but I'll have more time the next few weeks. I'm currently in the process of thinking up another one, but there's something I need to confirm before I write it. That's where you guys come in! I need your help.

Here's what I'm wondering: do we have a confirmed gender for the new character "Astolfo" yet? Because the next ITM is probably going to involve a lot of theorizing, and whether or not this character is male or female may or may not shoot down one of the possibilities for their role in the story. If you've been following the latest theories and speculation about the story, you know exactly what I mean.

I'm fairly certain that Astolfo is male, because the drawing we've seen looks pretty masculine, but we've been japed by Project Moon before so there's now way I can know for sure. Do we have any official confirmation about Astolfo's gender anywhere? Like, possibly in the pronouns used for this character in languages other than English? Statements by Project Moon or the translators?

If any of you know of any information I don't, I would like to see it. Please don't just respond with your opinion, I'm looking for actual evidence for one way or the other. In other words, I want confirmation, not debates. I have no idea where to start to look for accurate information, so if you guys could help I'd appreciate it!

[CarThief]

Joke: Anyone named Astolfo is automatically male. It's a trap! (Ussually.)

But for realsies... Dude looks pretty... Dude-like. Just because he shares a name with a well-known Trap doesn't mean he's automatically a Reverse-Trap.

Haven't seen PM pull that stunt before, anyway. Not intentionally anyway. Though they had me thinking whatshername from Dawn Office and Yujin where male till the obvious-in-hindsight eyelashes and whatnot. It's easy to miss in battle.

(We all know Traps are better then Reverse-Traps anyway. :P (PS. That was also a semi-joking statement, you like what you like.))

[Flygoniaks]

Originally posted by CarThief:

Joke: Anyone named Astolfo is automatically male. It's a trap! (Ussually.)

But for realsies... Dude looks pretty... Dude-like. Just because he shares a name with a well-known Trap doesn't mean he's automatically a Reverse-Trap.

Haven't seen PM pull that stunt before, anyway. Not intentionally anyway. Though they had me thinking whatshername from Dawn Office and Yujin where male till the obvious-in-hindsight eyelashes and whatnot. It's easy to miss in battle.

(We all know Traps are better then Reverse-Traps anyway. :P (PS. That was also a semi-joking statement, you like what you like.))

I agree that Astolfo is probably male based on what we've seen of "him" so far. If "he's" actually a girl, they did a pretty bad drawing, straight up. The reason I'm so desperate for confirmation is because people are speculating that Astolfo is actually the Purple Tear and this is why I want to make sure, since the Purple Tear is confirmed female. Knowing this information is kind of necessary for figuring out Astolfo's importance/role in the story.

[CarThief]

Hm, so i recently heard. Well, he's probably just a friend of Roland or something. Though they sure make good disguises in the city (if the Puppeteer was anything to go by), so who knows.

If he isn't the Purple Tear, then we've yet to see them. Suppose it's hard to draw a conclusion till then. Though speaking of, someone did spoil the invitation image of the Purple tear (the icon, more specifically), so that likely means we'll fight him/her soon.

Hm, reminds me of the odd artstyle in another game making a female character look way too manly. A mario-party-eqsue game, but more anime, and cards + stat/luck-based PVP with dice rolls instead of minigames. It was relatively inconsequential atleast, being card-art.

[Zilloy]

i think you might've forgot the very first cutscene where roland calls purple tear "she"

[Flygoniaks]

Originally posted by Zilloy:

i think you might've forgot the very first cutscene where roland calls purple tear "she"

This is what I was referring to in my previous comment, however, there is no confirmation that Astolfo is actually the Purple Tear yet. That's why I'm trying to figure out if Astolfo is male or female, because whether or not they can be the Purple Tear hinges on that.

Originally posted by CarThief:

If he isn't the Purple Tear, then we've yet to see them. Suppose it's hard to draw a conclusion till then. Though speaking of, someone did spoil the invitation image of the Purple tear (the icon, more specifically), so that likely means we'll fight him/her soon.

I just checked the files myself, and indeed the Purple Tear's icon is already in the game. Because of that, I get the feeling we may have an answer as early as this Friday. In that case, I think I'll put my ideas for ItM #4 in the bin, because there's no use speculating if I'm going to be proven wrong in just a matter of days. I have other things I can talk about.

[Vismel]

Originally posted by Flygoniaks:

Originally posted by Zilloy:

i think you might've forgot the very first cutscene where roland calls purple tear "she"

This is what I was referring to in my previous comment, however, there is no confirmation that Astolfo is actually the Purple Tear yet. That's why I'm trying to figure out if Astolfo is male or female, because whether or not they can be the Purple Tear hinges on that.

Originally posted by CarThief:

If he isn't the Purple Tear, then we've yet to see them. Suppose it's hard to draw a conclusion till then. Though speaking of, someone did spoil the invitation image of the Purple tear (the icon, more specifically), so that likely means we'll fight him/her soon.

I just checked the files myself, and indeed the Purple Tear's icon is already in the game. Because of that, I get the feeling we may have an answer as early as this Friday. In that case, I think I'll put my ideas for ItM #4 in the bin, because there's no use speculating if I'm going to be proven wrong in just a matter of days. I have other things I can talk about.

As of currently there are multiple things that can be considered "potential" appearances of the Purple Tear.
One obvious one is the mention of Purple Tear in the prologue which reveals her to be a lass.
Then we have Astolfo as one possible Purple Tear, under the assumption that they're quite a manly looking lass. I assume this won't be the case however, but things like the purple accent in their suit, aswell as the relations between Roland and Astolfo in Orlando Furioso forbid me from disregarding the possibility in its entirety.

Another possible appearance of the Purple Tear is the mystery figure at the end of Tiphereth's realization. The offer being mentioned at the end implies that this is the Purple Tear sending him to the Library.
Another possibility is that this is Pluto, considering that he seems to have a tendency to meet people at their lowest and make them offers.
Either way, mystery guys text matches up neither with Astolfo, nor with how Pluto usually composes himself, so mystery guy is likely to be a third unaffiliated stranger and the most likely candidate for the Purple Tear.

[Easterbeast]

For the characters based off of Orlando Innamorato and Orlando Furioso, it currently seems that Project Moon is having the character's genders match those of the original story. In the old tale, Astolfo is a man searching for the cure to Orlando's madness.

[Flygoniaks]

Originally posted by NB | Casual Watson:

For the characters based off of Orlando Innamorato and Orlando Furioso, it currently seems that Project Moon is having the character's genders match those of the original story. In the old tale, Astolfo is a man searching for the cure to Orlando's madness.

WELL THEN, that was an unexpected turn of events. Can't say I expected one of the official English translators to reach out to me. Thank you Watson, I agree that most of the evidence (including what you've presented here) points to Astolfo being male, not female. But I guess we'll learn the truth eventually, won't we? Ohhh, I can't wait for what happens next!