Orochimaru's Gender (Please keep this civil)

[DarkGrath]

I'm making this thread on behalf of a friend of mine, who didn't want to bring it up in mind with the fact that it was a sensitive topic they didn't want to start a thread on themselves.

Currently, the profile for Orochimaru lists them as Male in the gender section. While I am not too familiar with the verse myself, I've been told by both my friend + people who are familiar with the verse that Orochimaru is explicitly a genderfluid character, who uses both male and female hosts and does not concern themselves with their concept of their gender. Looking at the history for the page, this was actually already on the profile at one point before being deleted for some reason; the profile used to state in the gender section that Orochimaru was "Non-binary/genderless, switches between male and female bodies, but uses he/him pronouns", but this was removed in an edit. Most likely because there wasn't a CRT for it, but I'm not entirely sure.

I'm making this thread to ask if this change can be implemented properly on the profile. Going by pages we use for other characters (such as Madeline, who is listed as "Transgender Female"), the aforementioned description for Orochimaru should be acceptable for the gender section of the profile (though it can be reworded if it has issues). I'd like to ask that this thread isn't turned into a bickering about gender politics and it's just evaluated as it is; Orochimaru, being a genderfluid character, should be listed as such instead of Male.

 

[KingTempest]

Amelia_Lonelyheart recently changed it to

Non-binary/genderless, switches between male and female bodies, but uses he/him pronouns

Then Cropfist changed it back to Male.

I agree with the changes though.

 

[Milly_Rocking_Bandit]

Genderfluid or Non-Binary, because he tells his son that he's been a man, woman, or things outside this world. Over a permission slip, no less.

 

[Damage3245]

While the bodies he uses may be male or female, if Orochimaru himself identifies as a male then he should be male.

I'm not fully caught up in what is going on in Boruto, but as far as the original Naruto manga is concerned I remember Orochimaru always switching back to his default appearance whenever he takes over a new host.

Non-Binary could probably work though. I don't think it makes sense to list him as Transgender.

 

[DarkDragonMedeus]

His natural biological gender is that of a male and even official books from Viz Media and Shounen describe his gender as male. However, he can possess male or female bodies to alter his gender and what not. So perhaps that could be specified, but his official main gender is that of a male yes.

 

[Damage3245]

So maybe:

Gender: Male (Has possessed male and female bodies with his Living Corpse Reincarnation jutsu)

As an example?

 

[DarkDragonMedeus]

I think that works.

 

[ZephyrosOmega]

“There have been times when I was a man, and times, a woman. Outside appearances don’t matter.”

Orochimaru is biologically male, but sex obviously does not equate to gender. I think "Non-Binary (Uses male pronouns)" should work.

 

[Damage3245]

@ZephyrosOmega; that statement seems to indicate the opposite to me. He's saying that "outside appearances", whether he looks like a man or a woman, doesn't matter.

So his sex obviously changes as he is possessing different bodies, but his gender is still male.

 

[Expectro2000xxx]

So maybe:

Gender: Male (Has possessed male and female bodies with his Living Corpse Reincarnation jutsu)

As an example?

I honestly think this should be fine because the previous arguments about his gender as male in official media, and even if he have the ability to change gender (thing that obviously should be mentioned like in this example) in the end seems like he identify himself as male, so that.

 

[SupremeNiva]

Eh didn't thought this kinda thing needed to be discussing over...

So maybe:

Gender: Male (Has possessed male and female bodies with his Living Corpse Reincarnation jutsu)

As an example?

But anyways I agree with Damage, this makes sense to me

 

[ZephyrosOmega]

We should remove the gender pages from all characters on the site because there is only one gender: Fictional

 

[UchihaSlayer96]

I agree with Damage as well. He has never identified, or has been referred to, as anything but male. It should still be noted that he switches bodies regularly with his Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu, of course, like Damage suggested.

 

[Waka1979]

Yeah he's never been referred to as a female, changing anything would be pointless

 

[Damage3245]

There seems to be a big enough consensus now, and staff approval, so I will add in my suggestion to Orochimaru's page.

 

[Antvasima]

Has it ever been stated outright if Orochimaru identifies as genderfluid? If so, I think that it is fine if we change the page accordingly.

 

[Damage3245]

I don't think it has.

I think this thread is pretty much done.

 

[UchihaSlayer96]

Yeah, since Damage's suggestion has been accepted and applied, I think this should be closed.