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<blockquote data-quote="Reef" data-source="post: 9341303" data-attributes="member: 4533">While I'm sure most people assumed they were male at the time (and why wouldn't we...it was the main character!), [USER=1]@Morrus[/USER] is right, in that it's always been ambiguous.&nbsp; At least in hindsight, where we recognize that not all women action heroes need to look like pin up models.The proof of this ambiguity is right there in the miniature itself.&nbsp; From the back, it looks identical to the painting.&nbsp; Only from the front (the side not shown in the painting) do you realize they are female.At least one poster in this thread has said they read it as female, and were glad for it back in the day.&nbsp; Myself, I remember having conversations with other art nerds back in the 90's about how cool it was that you could read it either way.&nbsp; How clever Elmore and/or TSR was for leaving it so that their potential players could project themselves into the image, no matter their gender.&nbsp; In retrospect, it turns out it wasn't clever, it was just coincidence.&nbsp; But one of the best parts of 'death of the author' means that sometimes creators do unintentionally awesome things. I just don't get the uproar over it.&nbsp; As a CIS male, I can't fathom the outrage.&nbsp; As someone who does rpg illustration, I can't see how this is anyway insulting to the artist.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Reef, post: 9341303, member: 4533"] While I'm sure most people assumed they were male at the time (and why wouldn't we...it was the main character!), [USER=1]@Morrus[/USER] is right, in that it's always been ambiguous. At least in hindsight, where we recognize that not all women action heroes need to look like pin up models. The proof of this ambiguity is right there in the miniature itself. From the back, it looks identical to the painting. Only from the front (the side not shown in the painting) do you realize they are female. At least one poster in this thread has said they read it as female, and were glad for it back in the day. Myself, I remember having conversations with other art nerds back in the 90's about how cool it was that you could read it either way. How clever Elmore and/or TSR was for leaving it so that their potential players could project themselves into the image, no matter their gender. In retrospect, it turns out it wasn't clever, it was just coincidence. But one of the best parts of 'death of the author' means that sometimes creators do unintentionally awesome things. I just don't get the uproar over it. As a CIS male, I can't fathom the outrage. As someone who does rpg illustration, I can't see how this is anyway insulting to the artist. [/QUOTE]

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