Baldur\u2019s Gate 3\u2019s Neil Newbon believes Astarion represents a shift for LGBT+ characters LarianDexerto sat down to interview Neil Newbon, the renowned and award-winning voice actor for Baldur\u2019s Gate 3\u2019s Astarion, who revealed just how pivotal the character has been for LGBTQIA+ representation in video games. For many, Baldur\u2019s Gate 3 is a game where players feel seen. Regardless of its fantasy nature and spellcasting features, the game manages to capture personalities perfectly. As such, fans instantly began seeing themselves in the companions, and characters, or even people that reminded them of loved ones, who they aim to become, or the type of person they want to fall in love with. However, one feature that has represented a sizeable change in video game narrative is LGBT+ representation \u2013 with pivotal characters being queer, trans, pansexual, and more. Dexerto sat down with Astarion voice actor \u2013 Neil Newbon \u2013 who highlighted just how important a character like Astarion is for the future of gaming. Baldur\u2019s Gate 3\u2019s Astarion proves the LGBT+ narrative is changing Speaking to Neil Newbon, we asked him all about Astarion\u2019s place in the LGBT+ community and how the character has helped many further understand their sexuality or feel comfortable expressing themselves due to the companions\u2019 confidence. \u201cI definitely think that I represent how games narratives have changed and how people\u2019s pallets have changed with that to allow a normalization of LGBTQIA + characters in games\u201d explained Newbon. Speaking on this, Newborn explored how Astarion has marked a change in video game LGBT+ representation and how such representation has further allowed players to be seen and feel comfortable in their passions. He went on to explain that he thinks Astarion is \u201ca really good example of how you have a kick-ass character that\u2019s one of the heroes, even though he\u2019s an anti-hero, that happens to be pansexual, that happens to be queer.\u201d Thanks to the expert writing of Baldur\u2019s Gate 3, the companions \u2013 with Astarion included \u2013 are simply their own personality and characteristics, while their sexuality is just a \u201cflavor\u201d rather than a defining factor. Or, something that needs to be focused on throughout their journey. After all, there\u2019s a lot for these characters to worry about beyond sexual preferences. Essentially, through the recognizable personality traits and the excellent writing for the game, Astarion \u201ccan represent the normalization of [LGBT+ characters] within society.\u201d On top of this, Neil highlighted how \u201cit\u2019s great to be able to say it\u2019s normal. That\u2019s just a flavor that he has\u201d rather than his sexuality being the primary focus of the character. \u201cI just like the fact that people have connected to him, and I love the fact that I get to champion along with all the other amazing people in the world that do so much for the LGBTQIA + community, that I also get to contribute to that narrative and to also help and educate\u201d explained Neil, proving just hope much of an impact the character has had on the community and game production as a whole.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Baldur\u2019s Gate 3\u2019s Neil Newbon believes Astarion represents a shift for LGBT+ characters LarianDexerto sat down to interview Neil Newbon, the renowned and award-winning voice actor for Baldur\u2019s Gate 3\u2019s Astarion, who revealed just how pivotal the character has been for LGBTQIA+ representation in video games. For many, Baldur\u2019s Gate 3 is a game where […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20921\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}