Voltron: Legendary Defender Y She-Ra and the princesses of power They have a lot in common. Both series were an attempt to update the popular cartoon properties of the 1980s. Both fandoms have a very vocal fan base, and both fan bases expressed their desire that each property expand the diversity featured in the original shows.
One of the ways we both Voltron Y She-Ra This diversity was achieved through the introduction of LGBT characters. While both series were important milestones in queer representation on children’s television, She-Ra handled rendering better than Voltron.
10 She-Ra didn’t kill a third of her heroic LGBT characters
The audience discovers for the first time that Takashi Shirogane, known as Shiro, is gay in the episode “A Little Adventure”. In the episode, the audience met Shiro’s boyfriend, Adam. Unfortunately, Adam dies during his second and final episode while defending Earth from an alien attack.
The “bury your gays” trope was mentioned by many fans when the episode premiered. While some might argue that death portrayed Adam as a hero, his death wiped out a third of the heroic LGBT characters on the show. Since the audience had yet to meet Shiro’s future husband, killing Adam wiped out half of the heroic LGBT characters that appeared at the time. She-Ra It navigated LGBT representation more appropriately by avoiding avoiding this trope entirely.
9 She-Ra’s LGBT characters were allowed to continue saving the universe
From the days when James T. Kirk fit uncomfortably in the admiral’s uniform Star Trek: Moving picture, the tradition of characters who love adventure and hate being kicked off their ship is an honor.
Voltron made it clear that Shiro loved flying, he loved the Galaxy Garrison, and he loved his career. He was a natural leader, and yet his epilogue largely implies that he retired. A man who loved saving the galaxy … suddenly he couldn’t explore the stars anymore. There is no evidence throughout the seven seasons of Voltron that Shiro would have been happy about this, and plenty of evidence that he would have been as miserable as Admiral Kirk himself.
She-Ra’s LGBT characters can continue to save the universe. They don’t take away their heroics while their heterosexual counterparts are allowed to go off and save the galaxy.
8 She-Ra’s LGBT characters were allowed to keep their friendships
An early plot that played an important role in Keith and Shiro’s character development was the friendship between the two men. The two were the Voltron equivalent of Steve and Bucky or Kirk and Spock; without the other, both would have died or be on self-destructive paths. Shiro gave Keith the opportunity to become an amazing pilot because Shiro believed in Keith. In return, Keith saved Shiro’s life twice.
After the show revealed that Shiro was gay, that friendship was no longer central to the two characters. Shiro was no longer part of Team Voltron at all. In the most obvious demonstration of erasing that friendship, Keith woke up alone from a near fatal injury and took an ex enemy with him to visit his father’s grave.
Not only does Shiro lose friendship with Keith and his entire team, but he never meets Matt Holt, a man Shiro was literally willing to give his life to save.
The importance of Voltron removing all of Shiro’s male friendships after his sexuality is revealed is important, because it reflects society’s often hostile belief that gay men cannot have platonic friendships with straight men.
7 She-Ra navigated the “evil lesbians” trope better than Voltron
In the history of queer storytelling, the Framing LGBT characters as evil is a prominent stereotype. In the meantime She-Ra Y Voltron included evil characters as part of his LGBT lineup, Voltron The handling of the stereotype was full of decisions that influenced the trope. Voltron The evil lesbians were Zethrid and Ezor, two servants of the evil Galra Empire. The two had no other narrative motivation other than to be evil soldiers in an imperialist war, and confirmation of their relationship only came through a Tweet from Voltron voice actress, Bex Taylor-Klaus.
She-Ra It also had characters that were LGBT characters and aligned with an evil imperialist force determined to control the galaxy. In She-Ra, These characters have their morals, loyalties, and friendships explored and questioned. Catra, who might otherwise have been an “evil lesbian,” is saved from the trope simply because she is allowed to become so much more than a stereotype. Voltron They didn’t develop their characters in the same way, and the audience was left with stereotypes rather than good representation.
6 She-Ra did not remove leadership responsibilities from her LGBT characters
As well as forcing Shiro to retreat, the plot of Voltron He also removed Shiro from the team he had led. After Keith saved Shiro from the Haggar clone’s attempts, Shiro’s soul was reunited with a body. Shiro’s soul had been inside the Black Lion during the clone’s manipulations. However, as soon as Keith saved Shiro’s soul, Shiro’s connection to the Black Lion mysteriously disappeared. Shiro was eliminated from Team Voltron and was no longer the leader of the main team. While he was placed as commander of Atlas, that placement was temporary until Shiro retired.
Rather, She-Ra is allowed to have her same-sex relationship with Catra and continue to be the co-leader of the Princess Alliance.
5 She-Ra represented different types of LGBT characters
During Voltron running, the audience is introduced to Shiro and Adam, who are gay men. It also includes two lesbians, and eventually Shiro marries an unidentified man. With the exception of Shiro, all of these characters are minor characters at best.
Unlike, She-Ra’s The LGBT cast included: Adora, Catra, Huntara, Netossa, Spinnerella, Perfuma, Scorpia, Scorpia’s mothers, Bow’s two fathers, Falcon, Glimmer, Mermista, SeaHawk, Lonnie, Rogelio, Kyle, Entrapta, Jewelstar, Perfuma and Double Trouble. These characters include lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, non-binary characters, and transgender characters. In Voltron, Shiro’s story was an aberration from the norm, while Adora’s happy ending was a common occurrence in Etheria. In a show about exploring the universe, Voltron still treated being LGBT as a fluke, while She-Ra showed LGBT people as part of everyday life.
4 She-Ra’s LGBT relationships are not full of capabilities
During Adam’s first appearance in Voltron – and his only appearance with Shiro – the audience receives important background information about Shiro as a character. The audience learns that Shiro is terminally ill and that he desperately wanted to go into space before the illness slowly consumed him. When Shiro is presented with the opportunity, he immediately decides to go on the Kerberos mission.
Adam is greatly opposed to Shiro following his dream. Adam continually throws the fact that Shiro has a disease on Shiro’s face and uses it as a reason why Shiro shouldn’t go on the mission. Adam then gives Shiro an ultimatum: choose the mission or you will lose Adam forever.
The entire exchange has Adam trying to explain Shiro’s own condition to Shiro, which is a very capable thing for a character to do. In contrast, the entire arc of Catra in She-Ra It involves you learning to accept Adora for who she is and ultimately helping Adora become an even better hero thanks to it.
3 Adora was not replaced by a direct character
The name of the show Shiro was on was Voltron. The main team was the Voltron team. Shiro was the most experienced and qualified person to lead them, and for two seasons he did. Finally, Keith replaces him.
The writers go out of their way to show that Keith is very straight, even having Zethrid tell the audience how well Keith and Acxa fit in for each other and how much they care about each other. Unlike, She-Ra allowed Adora to be She-Ra, and she was not mysteriously replaced by a heterosexual character.
two Adora’s relationship was with someone who had a canonical name
Shiro ends up married and happy, according to the epilogue of Voltron. But at no point in the series does he pronounce the character’s name. The character’s name is also not given during the epilogue. A character who was supposed to matter to Shiro so much that he gave up everything he had worked so hard for simply had no name.
There was nothing organic or sincere in the development of Shiro’s relationship. The character was given the name Curtis by Word of God. But he had no development, and neither did his relationship with Shiro. It didn’t even have a name spoken by any of the main characters.
In contrast, Adora’s happy ending in She-Ra he was with someone he had known and loved all his life. The audience knew his name, because in She-Ra, the hero’s strange love interest mattered and so did his story. Catra was a character in her own right, while Curtis was not.
1 Adora’s happy ending was shown as part of the story
Curtis and Shiro received a last minute epilogue. It had no relevance to the plot of Voltron, and could be omitted without losing anything that mattered to the plot of the show. The happy ending Shiro supposedly received was irrelevant to Shiro’s story. Voltron. In contrast, the heterosexual love stories of Haggar, Zarkon, Allura, and Lance are central to the show’s plot.
In contrast, the happy ending of Catra and Adora is shown as part of the story of She-Ra. The show itself would fundamentally change if it removed their relationship, because it was one that mattered to the show, the audience, and the creators. The same importance is given to other LGBT relationships in She-Ra, while Voltron he couldn’t get even an odd relationship to be central to the show’s plot.
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