Is vaarsuvius a girl?

[myflawedlogic]

I just want to know what you think about this. Is vaarsuvius a girl or a boy? There are enough jokes about it to keep the discussion running but I was just wondering... what do you guys think?
I, for one, think her a girl… but I’ve got a friend that thinks she’s a boy.
The best boy argument I’ve heard is when she gets called V-man quite early on… but that’s just classic belkar.
There are loads of subtle things about her being a girl, though…
I just wanted your thoughts. :smile:

[ShippoWildheart]

Vaarsuvius is whatever gender you want Vaarsuvius to be.

Bow-chicka-bow-wow

[Asta Kask]

Look here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4918) for the official debate.

[Delorges]

V is neither "girl" nor "boy". He/She is clearly adult, so the terms would be "woman" and "man".

And I'm well aware of the fact I totally avoided the actual question with that.

[Starscream]

My own views, reprinted here:

This is actually a very common rookie mistake.

You see, there is no Vaarsuvius. A complex series of optical illusions encoded in the comics combined with hypnotic cues induced by your monitor's flicker rate and a simple javascript subroutine combine to create the impression of a sixth member of the party. In the print version the same effect is achieved through the use of mild hallucinogens in the ink.

The illusory nature of V is hinted at in the comic itself through the character of Blackwing. Although Vaarsuvius can see and interact with the raven, its existence is immediately forgotten when it is not present. When V embraces the existence of the character and interacts with it more frequently, he or she learns that now nobody else can recall the existence of the bird, instead dismissing it as an illusion.

This implies that not only is Blackwing imaginary, but that all the other characters' previous mentions of it have also been in V's head. It is The Giant's way of acknowledging the fact that some readers have become aware of V's non-existence, by having the character also go through such a change in perception.

The reason nobody can agree on the gender of the imaginary character is that, as a psychological construct, V's appearance exists only in your head. Certain patterns, however, emerge. It is commonly believed that the character wears a red robe, and has purple hair. The fact that readers can easily identify these traits (even agreeing on some tiny runes on the robe), but not the gender of the character, is frankly ludicrous. Unwilling to dismiss their delusions, these readers blame the gender ambiguity on the simplicity of the artwork, despite the fact that the sex of the other characters is immediately apparent even though they are rendered in this same style.

There have been failures of this process in the past. In particular a number of readers have a very firm idea of what the character's gender is. They view it as being immediately self evident, and do not understand why others disagree (questioning Belkar's alignment is an occasional side effect). The fact that the number of people certain that Vaarsuvius is male is about the same as the number certain V is female should send up a red flag, but rarely does. There are also a few readers who view V as a penguin juggling tomatoes on a unicycle, but they are a minority, and this odd outcome is attributed to them being dropped on their heads during childhood.

As the reader views more comics, the cracks in their perception tend to become more apparent, and eventually the delusion of the character's existence is dispelled. Others go mad from the subconscious realization that their reality is a lie, and begin posting in the Crack Pairings thread, which has become the Playground's equivalent to Arkham Asylum.

[silversaraph]

There are two Vaarsuviuses. Ones male, the other is female. They switch off between comics so that everyone is right.

[Conuly]

V is a V. Ze's so awesome, ze doesn't NEED our arbitrary gender conventions.

[Raw_fishFood]

There are two Vaarsuviuses. Ones male, the other is female. They switch off between comics so that everyone is right.

Yeah, but that leads us to the question of which one is the male V?

[Asta Kask]

V is actually an android sent by Xykon from the future to destroy Roy. However, Xykon insisted on programming the android himself, and the android ended up working with Roy instead. As an android, V doesn't have a gender.

[lio45]

The best boy argument I’ve heard is when she gets called V-man quite early on… but that’s just classic belkar.

Just curious, in what way exactly is Roy Greenhilt "classic Belkar"?

[Ancalagon]

Just curious, in what way exactly is Roy Greenhilt "classic Belkar"?

You know, when Roy goes on one of his many rampages involving drinking, whoring, mindless violence, dumbness and... oh... never mind.

[myflawedlogic]

Just curious, in what way exactly is Roy Greenhilt "classic Belkar"?
Was it roy that said it? My bad... I thought it was Belkar... :smallredface: sorry

[Sanguine]

My own views, reprinted here:

This is actually a very common rookie mistake.

You see, there is no Vaarsuvius. A complex series of optical illusions encoded in the comics combined with hypnotic cues induced by your monitor's flicker rate and a simple javascript subroutine combine to create the impression of a sixth member of the party. In the print version the same effect is achieved through the use of mild hallucinogens in the ink.

The illusory nature of V is hinted at in the comic itself through the character of Blackwing. Although Vaarsuvius can see and interact with the raven, its existence is immediately forgotten when it is not present. When V embraces the existence of the character and interacts with it more frequently, he or she learns that now nobody else can recall the existence of the bird, instead dismissing it as an illusion.

This implies that not only is Blackwing imaginary, but that all the other characters' previous mentions of it have also been in V's head. It is The Giant's way of acknowledging the fact that some readers have become aware of V's non-existence, by having the character also go through such a change in perception.

The reason nobody can agree on the gender of the imaginary character is that, as a psychological construct, V's appearance exists only in your head. Certain patterns, however, emerge. It is commonly believed that the character wears a red robe, and has purple hair. The fact that readers can easily identify these traits (even agreeing on some tiny runes on the robe), but not the gender of the character, is frankly ludicrous. Unwilling to dismiss their delusions, these readers blame the gender ambiguity on the simplicity of the artwork, despite the fact that the sex of the other characters is immediately apparent even though they are rendered in this same style.

There have been failures of this process in the past. In particular a number of readers have a very firm idea of what the character's gender is. They view it as being immediately self evident, and do not understand why others disagree (questioning Belkar's alignment is an occasional side effect). The fact that the number of people certain that Vaarsuvius is male is about the same as the number certain V is female should send up a red flag, but rarely does. There are also a few readers who view V as a penguin juggling tomatoes on a unicycle, but they are a minority, and this odd outcome is attributed to them being dropped on their heads during childhood.

As the reader views more comics, the cracks in their perception tend to become more apparent, and eventually the delusion of the character's existence is dispelled. Others go mad from the subconscious realization that their reality is a lie, and begin posting in the Crack Pairings thread, which has become the Playground's equivalent to Arkham Asylum.

You win one Internet.

[kusje]

Is vaarsuvius a girl?

Yes. /thread.

[Roland St. Jude]

Look here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4918) for the official debate.

Sheriff of Moddingham: 1 thread/topic.