Does this mean salem is biologically female?

[SuperDean]

in the video he says "i can not show HER off yet" at 5:19 https://youtu.be/QdzZ991TlS8?si=zPzVGFKdyzC0QLFT&t=319

[HeartClock]

The dev confirmed on live stream that Salem is non-binary, but goes by she/them.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/live/GxeM6yqRCMU?si=2Cu4yaT5cyGupwGU&t=2264

[SuperDean]

Originally posted by HeartClock:

The dev confirmed on live stream that Salem is non-binary, but goes by she/them.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/live/GxeM6yqRCMU?si=2Cu4yaT5cyGupwGU&t=2264

makes me wonder still if the internet will make muscular he-man version of them because the internet does not care. tho itll probably be more female or femboy pics due to how they look.

[Skunktaur]

It doesn't make sense in-universe. The park seems to have opened no later than the early 1970s and to be based on cartoons over 100 years old. Unless Salem is an extremely recent character, the character's a dude or possibly a gal. Anything else is people projecting 2020s slang onto something that in-universe was probably created generations earlier.
(I also paid attention to the video screens; note that the park closed while they were still using old CRTs in the railway line area but had bought flatscreens and computerized POS registers for employees, along with implementing a version of Disney's RFID FastPass. So I'm trying to identify dates, to see a logically consistent fictional world.)

[HeartClock]

Originally posted by Skunktaur:

It doesn't make sense in-universe. The park seems to have opened no later than the early 1970s and to be based on cartoons over 100 years old. Unless Salem is an extremely recent character, the character's a dude or possibly a gal. Anything else is people projecting 2020s slang onto something that in-universe was probably created generations earlier.

This is a fictional (alternate) world, where it's not Walt Disney who is incredibly famous, but a fictional guy named Isaac Indigo. That alone makes it clear that the in-universe history doesn't necessarily align with real-life history. At least, not fully. Therefore, it's very much possible the concept of non-binary was discovered before Salem was created.

EDIT: by the way, before the term "non-binary" existed, there was another term that meant the same thing: "genderqueer". And the earliest instances of it being used was in the 1970s.

[Kopydy]

You can see how much this is simply a political act. Just like Disney and Netflix forced their politics into their productions, game developers are starting to do the same. Games and movies should be a temporary escape from reality (including politics), and this is becoming more and more powerful in current media. What's more amusing is that labeling Salem as non-binary makes absolutely no sense and is simply a political act.

So in my opinion, Salem is a female and nothing will change my opinion.

[HeartClock]

Originally posted by Kopydy_Dev:

You can see how much this is simply a political act. Just like Disney and Netflix forced their politics into their productions, game developers are starting to do the same. Games and movies should be a temporary escape from reality (including politics), and this is becoming more and more powerful in current media. What's more amusing is that labeling Salem as non-binary makes absolutely no sense and is simply a political act.

So in my opinion, Salem is a female and nothing will change my opinion.

Being queer isn't political by itself, though. What *is* political is the LGBTQ+ movement, which some queer people don't even associate with. And I don't know if you noticed, but there's literally nothing related to the political movement in this game, as there are no Pride flags or anything of the sort. Salem being non-binary has no bearing on the story nor its themes whatsoever. It's just part of her character, is all.

[Kopydy]

Originally posted by HeartClock:

Originally posted by Kopydy_Dev:

You can see how much this is simply a political act. Just like Disney and Netflix forced their politics into their productions, game developers are starting to do the same. Games and movies should be a temporary escape from reality (including politics), and this is becoming more and more powerful in current media. What's more amusing is that labeling Salem as non-binary makes absolutely no sense and is simply a political act.

So in my opinion, Salem is a female and nothing will change my opinion.

Being queer isn't political by itself, though. What *is* political is the LGBTQ+ movement, which some queer people don't even associate with. And I don't know if you noticed, but there's literally nothing related to the political movement in this game, as there are no Pride flags or anything of the sort. Salem being non-binary has no bearing on the story nor its themes whatsoever. It's just part of her character, is all.

If it doesn't have any political significance, why did the creators say during the broadcast that "people would find that important". This is a kind of confirmation that this character was created as non-binary to appease some people.

[HeartClock]

Originally posted by Kopydy_Dev:

If it doesn't have any political significance, why did the creators say during the broadcast that "people would find that important". This is a kind of confirmation that this character was created as non-binary to appease some people.

I looked for it using the transcript and CTRL+F method, but I couldn't find it. I tried different relevant words too. So I would appreciate it if you showed me where exactly he said that.

[Kopydy]

Originally posted by HeartClock:

Originally posted by Kopydy_Dev:

If it doesn't have any political significance, why did the creators say during the broadcast that "people would find that important". This is a kind of confirmation that this character was created as non-binary to appease some people.

I looked for it using the transcript and CTRL+F method, but I couldn't find it. I tried different relevant words too. So I would appreciate it if you showed me where exactly he said that.

I can't find it currently, but you have confirmation on the game's official wiki (this is the official wiki, it was confirmed on X)

Link:
https://indigo-park.fandom.com/wiki/Salem_the_Skunk

[HeartClock]

Originally posted by Kopydy_Dev:

I can't find it currently, but you have confirmation on the game's official wiki (this is the official wiki, it was confirmed on X)

Link:
https://indigo-park.fandom.com/wiki/Salem_the_Skunk

I wouldn't use a wiki as a reliable source, as anyone can edit the pages, thus giving misinformation. The page has no reference to back up that claim.

That said, I checked every live stream he made to see if the claim was true, and I found it:
https://www.youtube.com/live/-D9u6k22lZE?si=61-anjLf7tJ8Car_

Thing is, gender is one of the most basic information about a character (alongside name, age, species, etc...). So naturally, people deem it important to know such information. As such, Mason put "they" a lot in the character's biography as a hint to their gender and/or the pronouns they go by.

In other words, it's not about Salem's gender. It's about *knowing* Salem's gender, which is deemed important for at least a lot of people.

[Kopydy]

Originally posted by HeartClock:

Originally posted by Kopydy_Dev:

I can't find it currently, but you have confirmation on the game's official wiki (this is the official wiki, it was confirmed on X)

Link:
https://indigo-park.fandom.com/wiki/Salem_the_Skunk

I wouldn't use a wiki as a reliable source, as anyone can edit the pages, thus giving misinformation. The page has no reference to back up that claim.

That said, I checked every live stream he made to see if the claim was true, and I found it:
https://www.youtube.com/live/-D9u6k22lZE?si=61-anjLf7tJ8Car_

Thing is, gender is one of the most basic information about a character (alongside name, age, species, etc...). So naturally, people deem it important to know such information. As such, Mason put "they" a lot in the character's biography as a hint to their gender and/or the pronouns they go by.

In other words, it's not about Salem's gender. It's about *knowing* Salem's gender, which is deemed important for at least a lot of people.

So you mean we might find out about her real gender in the future?

[HeartClock]

Originally posted by Kopydy_Dev:

So you mean we might find out about her real gender in the future?

Salem's gender has been confirmed to be non-binary by the creator himself. But that wasn't the case back when he said he thought people would find it important. The only hint we had at the time of that live stream was her biography, where "they" was used a lot. At the time, he didn't say outright that Salem (whose name and appearance we didn't know either) was non-binary. He simply pointed out that the pronoun used in her biography was a hint.

Again, the point is not that Salem is non-binary. The point is that people wanted to know her gender and/or pronouns, which were unknown at the time of that live stream. He was simply stating that he thought people would find the use of "they" in her biography to be important, as it was a hint to her gender.

[Kopydy]

Originally posted by HeartClock:

Originally posted by Kopydy_Dev:

So you mean we might find out about her real gender in the future?

Salem's gender has been confirmed to be non-binary by the creator himself. But that wasn't the case back when he said he thought people would find it important. The only hint we had at the time of that live stream was her biography, where "they" was used a lot. At the time, he didn't say outright that Salem (whose name and appearance we didn't know either) was non-binary. He simply pointed out that the pronoun used in her biography was a hint.

Again, the point is not that Salem is non-binary. The point is that people wanted to know her gender and/or pronouns, which were unknown at the time of that live stream. He was simply stating that he thought people would find the use of "they" in her biography to be important, as it was a hint to her gender.

Thanks for explain

[HeartClock]

Originally posted by Kopydy_Dev:

Thanks for explain

No problem!

[SinAscendant]

Originally posted by Kopydy_Dev:

Originally posted by HeartClock:

Being queer isn't political by itself, though. What *is* political is the LGBTQ+ movement, which some queer people don't even associate with. And I don't know if you noticed, but there's literally nothing related to the political movement in this game, as there are no Pride flags or anything of the sort. Salem being non-binary has no bearing on the story nor its themes whatsoever. It's just part of her character, is all.

If it doesn't have any political significance, why did the creators say during the broadcast that "people would find that important". This is a kind of confirmation that this character was created as non-binary to appease some people.

because... people like to see themselves represented in games? Do you think having a black person in a game is political? How about a woman? Should all games feature an exclusively white male cast? That seems like it would be pretty political in Asia or Africa or South America.