V's Gender (Not an insane theory, I swear)

[SlightlyEvil]

It is well known to those capable of using the search function (admittedly few, but bear with me) that V's gender is not and is not likely to be known. However, we all draw our own opinions on this. I was wondering what people thought V is, male or female?

Personally, I initially thought that V was female (one of the first strips I saw was the one in the hotel with hilarious double entendres, which has V rooming with Haley, so I assumed V was meant as female). However, I now start to suspect that our favorite elven know-it-all is male. Don't know why, just general suspicion.

Your thoughts?

[Tingel]

I started reading the comic at the beginning, and I never had any doubt that Vaarsuvius was male. His personality struck me as male, and I thought he looked like a man (his physique, not necessarily his head); after all, other female stick-figures in the comic display womanly shapes, while Vaarsuvius does not. And on top of that, his name ends with -us, which suggests a male gender in Latin.

While I know that the Giant is now playing with the ambiguity of his gender, I personally am convinced that the character was originally intended to be male.

[Timberboar]

I started reading the comic at the beginning, and I never had any doubt that Vaarsuvius was male. His personality struck me as male, and I thought he looked like a man (his physique, not necessarily his head); after all, other female stick-figures in the comic display womanly shapes, while Vaarsuvius does not. And on top of that, his name ends with -us, which suggests a male gender in Latin.

While I know that the Giant is now playing with the ambiguity of his gender, I personally am convinced that the character was originally intended to be male.

Pretty much ditto, point for point.

[Kato]

Absolutely opposite.

For the first strips and most, real gender consideration gags, I assume V female.
I think the cloth is simply a mages cloth, one who's not supposed to reveal ones gender. The name thing might be strange, but it's not Latin, at least not stated as. Might be a coincidence. First thought was 'There are so many guys in the Order, there can't be only one girl' Then, in second strip or so, Haley and V talk about fashion, which is common women-talk. Rich avoided a hint, by not sending V to the toilet ^^' Then there's Haley and V taking the same room... And of course 'Roy's Angles'. Of course the angels are female, as we know... I could go on, but these are the first I can think of.

Anyway, I'd like to count, how many think what, I'll take the first two males and my female. Whoever's after me, I*d be grateful if you'd continue.

Male: II
Female: I

[Mordokai]

I started reading the comic at the beginning, and I never had any doubt that Vaarsuvius was male. His personality struck me as male, and I thought he looked like a man (his physique, not necessarily his head); after all, other female stick-figures in the comic display womanly shapes, while Vaarsuvius does not. And on top of that, his name ends with -us, which suggests a male gender in Latin.

While I know that the Giant is now playing with the ambiguity of his gender, I personally am convinced that the character was originally intended to be male.

This... is pretty much the same I thought. For me, it was never a question, V was male once I started readint the comic. Once I joined the forums, I only noticed that there is a heated debate going around the subject. Still, I'm inclined to believe V is male.

Male: III
Female: I

[NikkTheTrick]

Overall, his behavior seems more male to me. After all, he is an elf and <insert a joke about elven males' masculinity here>.

So make it 4-1:smallbiggrin:

[bahamut920]

Vaarsuviuus is an elf. Elves are unisex... :smallbiggrin:

[Remirach]

I am somewhat bemused myself at the absolute fascination this topic holds for some people. In the grand scheme of things does it even really MATTER? But ah well, that's what the messageboard is for.

My initial impression didn't really go either way, after the double entendre scene with Haley in the inn I came to believe she was female. Then I saw it was being played up as ambiguous deliberately. When I looked back over the REALLY old messages from when the comic was just beginning, it became clear that V was initially envisioned as male -- but V was also a last-minute addition to the cast whose traits were not set in stone at that point, and the Giant was amused by the debate, so ISTM that at that point V's gender kind of changed from male to "unaligned."

I don't really think of V as either gender, but I refer to her with the feminine pronoun in part to offset all the people who're INSISTENT that she's a dude. (And in part because I like her and want to claim her for our "side." :smalltongue:) So I guess if you insist on saying one or the other, I'd be a vote for female.

[Chronos]

Put me down as a vote for "true neutral". Sabine can't even seem to make up her mind on whether V is male or female, and if even Sabine can't tell what sex Vaarsuvius is, e isn't.

[Edea]

The only two cues I've ever had for even remotely identifying Vaarsuvius's gender as male, were

1)both very early on in the comic,
2)have been mentioned ad nauseum, and
3)are neither particularly convincing nor difficult to prove otherwise.

The rest of the things I've seen around the board are either way out in left field, or total garbage.


1) When V was de-polymorphed on page 186. V's body is box-shaped; we have Lirian from SoD around to show that (-SOME-) elves DO have sexually differentiated body types. -But- that's pretty shaky, since V may just be a "big-boned" girl, and it certainly doesn't preclude the fact that V may have no gender at all (Lirian and V do not necessarily belong to the same subrace; Lirian's may have gender definition, whilst V's doesn't).

2) When Roy says "It's all you, Dog," on page 20. There is no counterpoint to this in the strip (such as Roy following up with anything akin to, "You go, girl!", unlike where the Linear Guild continually switches the gender references in Cliffport), and more importantly Roy isn't a complete idiot (well-balanced mental scores). There are doubts as to whether he'd refer to a female teammate as "Dog," when he was already hypersensitive about Haley's affiliation with the Thieves' Guild. V also seems to like the encouragement (evil smile). -But- this once again does not deny the possibility of V's complete asexuality, and Roy, while not an idiot, is indeed quite fallible, and doesn't know V anywhere nearly as well as, say, Haley. V also might not attribute any sex identification with "Dog." This is likely a perception error on Roy's part (he doesn't make those often, but he HAS made them before, such as later on when he found out just how long he'd been in Arcadia after dying).


I hope we never find out an affirmative answer, to be honest.

[drengnikrafe]

I, personally, believe Vaarsuvius is female. Since the very moment that I began to wonder what gender V was (originally, it made no difference to me) I figured she had to be female, just from this and that.

Do I have conclusive proof? No way. I just believe she is a she.

[factotum]

Always thought Vaarsuvius was male, personally.

[Schulzy]

I personally think that he's male, but an effeminate kind of male. I don't want to say gay, but he's like the guy that you think may possibly be gay, but you just don't know.

[Selene]

He's male for all the reasons Tingel said, plus the fact that V is shaped exactly like Zz'dtri, whom he calls Mr. Zz'ditri in #49. http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0049.html

[Kato]

okay, forget the list ^^
I'll make a new thread about it... I think not everybody will have a look at this thread and I'd like to have a wide spread opinion... you're welcome to tell your ideas again in the new one ^^'