This is a list of gay characters in fiction, i.e. characters that either self-identify as gay or have been identified by outside parties to be gay, becoming part of gay media. Listed characters are either recurring characters, cameos, guest stars, or one-off characters, some of which may be gay icons. This page does not include gay characters in anime, Western animation, feature films or television.

For fictional characters in other parts of the LGBTQ community, see the lists of trans, bisexual, lesbian, non-binary, pansexual, asexual, and intersex characters.

The names are organized alphabetically by surname (i.e. last name), or by single name if the character does not have a surname. If more than two characters are in one entry, the last name of the first character is used.

Graphic novels

Main article: List of graphic art works with LGBT characters
Characters Title Years Notes Country
Corinthian The Sandman 1989–2015 The Corinthian is a nightmare created by Dream. He has two additional mouths in place of his eyes, which he covers with sunglasses. In The Doll's House, he goes AWOL from the dreamscape and becomes a serial killer who invites men to have sexual relations with him, then murders them. Corinthian then removes the eyes of their victims and eats them using his eye-mouths. Neil Gaiman has stated that the Corinthian is homosexual in The Sandman Companion, wherein the first Corinthian consumed eyes only of boys. The second Corinthian is featured with a boyfriend as written by Caitlin R. Kiernan in the Dreaming.[1] England
Dads of Charlotte "Charlie" The Witch Boy 2017 They are the dads of Charlie, a tomboy.[2][3] They appear in all three graphic novels as recurring characters[4][a] and are the only explicitly LGBTQ characters shown in the graphic novels.[5][6][7] United States
The Hidden Witch 2018
The Midwinter Witch 2019
Iceman All-New X-Men 2002–present All New X-Men #40 (2015) contains the pivotal moment where Iceman/Bobby Drake (as a younger version of himself) is informed by Jean Grey that his thoughts reveal his homosexuality. The scene plays out with Bobby wondering why his older self (the one in present-day X-Men comics) dated women for so long; he ponders bi-sexuality before being told, unequivocally, that he is in fact gay.[8] United States
Jayesh "Jay" Lucifer 2000–2006 Jay is a friend of Jill Presto. Jay is interested in a man named Karl, unaware that Karl is a homophobic neo-Nazi.[9] Jay asks Karl out, after being encouraged by Jill. Afterwards, Karl and other men and beat Jay up in a dark alley.[10] United Kingdom
Kevin Keller Veronica 1989–2011 First appearance: Veronica #202 (2010). Kevin was first eyed by Veronica who did not realize he was gay. He has since become a part of the gang.[11] United States
Andy Lippincott Doonsbury 1970–present First appearance: 1976. Andy Lippincott was the first openly gay character to appear in a mainstream comic strip.[12]
Midnighter Midnighter & Midnighter 2006–2008 & 2015–2016 Midnighter is one of DC Comics' most prominent gay superheroes and his relationship with Apollo is one of the most prominent gay relationships in DC Comics.[13]
Apollo
Northstar Uncanny X-Men 1963–2015 First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #120 (1979). Northstar was the first openly gay superhero in the Marvel Comics universe.[14]
Lawrence Poirier For Better or For Worse 1979–2008 In 1993, Lawrence Poirier's coming out generated controversy, with readers opposed to homosexuality threatening to cancel newspaper subscriptions.[15] See also: For Better or For Worse#Lawrence comes out. Canada
Thomas Werner Thomas no Shinzō 1974–1975 Set in a German boys boarding school, the story relates how, after Thomas' suicide, an upper classman, Yuri, finds a love letter Thomas wrote to him, and then meets a new student, Eric, who looks just like Thomas.[16] Japan
Julusmole Bayhan ("Juli" or "Yuli")
Eric Fruehling
Andrew Wells Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics 1998–present Andrew realizes he is gay in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Ten.[17] United States

Literature

Main article: List of LGBT characters in modern written fiction
Characters Work Author Year Description
Achilles The Song of Achilles Madeline Miller 2011 Achilles is gay, showing no interest in girls, while Patroclus is bisexual, saying he would fall in love with Briseis if not for Achilles.[18]
Assorted characters Tales of the City series Armistead Maupin 1978–2014 While the original series featured gay and bisexual characters who "kissed on camera and had sex in bathhouses,"[19] in the Netflix adaption of this series, Shawna is "explicitly bisexual character."[20]
David Giovanni's Room James Baldwin 1956 David, a protagonist of the book, escapes death from the guillotine since his "homosexual urges were experimental in nature" while the narrator is cited as a gay character as well.[21] Other gay characters include Giovanni, Jacques, and Guillaume.
Wylan Van Eck Six of Crows duology Leigh Bardugo 2015–2016 Jesper is bisexual, and Wylan is gay; they begin dating each other by the end of the duology, while Nina has also been confirmed to be pansexual.[22]
Alucard Emery Shades of Magic trilogy V.E. Schwab 2015–17 Rhy is bisexual while Alucard is gay. They had a fling three years prior the events of the books. Victoria Schwab actually stated multiple times that in her eyes none of the characters are straight, but that is not mentioned in the series.[23][24]
Jack Forster What Happened to Mr. Forster? Gary W. Bargar 1989 A sixth-grade teacher who is fired for being gay.[25]
1995
Dorian Gray The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde 1890 Dorian is ambivalent about his homosexuality, meeting with male prostitutes, and proposes to a woman in an effort to suppress his homosexuality.[26][27]
Basil Hallward In this novel, Basil has a "repressed homosexuality" while Dorian has his own ambivalence, meeting with male prostitutes, even proposing to Sybil Vane in an attempt to suppress his homosexual feelings.[26][27]
Basil Henderson Invisible Life E. Lynn Harris 1991 Basil leaves his fiancée Yancey at the altar and pursues a gay lifestyle.[21]
Just As I Am 1995
Abide With Me 1999
Any Way the Wind Blows 2001
Joel Harrison Knox Other Voices, Other Rooms Truman Capote 1948 Joel is an "effeminate adolescent," with the narrative showing him have a desire for his cousin, Randolph.[28]
Oshima Kafka on the Shore Haruki Murakami 2002 Oshima is a 21-year-old intellectual gay trans man who is a librarian and owner of a cabin in the mountains near Komura Memorial Library.[29] He becomes the mentor of Kafka as he guides him to the answers that he's seeking on his journey.
Randolph Other Voices, Other Rooms Truman Capote 1948 Randolph is a cousin of Joel, and a person that Joel has romantic feelings for.[28]
Richard The Hours Michael Cunningham 1998 In this novel, which has strong parallels with Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway, Clarissa rejects a relationship with Richard, a gay man, for the love of her life, Sally, who is invigorated by this love.[30] Louis is also Richard's former lover, with Richard later taking his own life, while Clarissa comes to a full realization of her own identity.
Louis
Jack Twist "Brokeback Mountain" (short story) Annie Proulx 1997 Jack and Ennis have a long term sexual and romantic relationship despite both being married to women and fathering children. Jack also has sexual relationships with other men and a woman, while Ennis does not. Critics have described both men as gay or variably Jack as bisexual and Ennis as heterosexual.[31][32]
Ennis del Mar
Vanyel Arrows of the Queen Mercedes Lackey 1987 Lackey, in making this book, took a stand, refusing the demand of an editor that Vanyel be "straight, or single, or not in the story," and, as such, he is a gay character.[33]

Video games

Main article: List of video games with LGBT characters
Characters Series / Title Year Notes Developer
Damien Bloodmarch Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator 2017 In this visual novel and dating sim, Damien Bloodmarch is a gay trans man.[34] Game Grumps
Gay cop The Longest Journey 1999 This computer game features Fiona and Mickey, a lesbian landlady and her long-time lover. The game also features and a gay cop, with gay characters seen as normal and well adjusted secondary characters.[35] Funcom
Eladus Guild Wars 2 2012 This MMORPG game includes the sylvari race of plant-like humanoids who don't reproduce sexually. As such, they do not base their relationships upon reproduction, but rather love, sensuality, and finding beauty in one another.[36] Eladus and Dagdar are two young male sylvari in a gay relationship. The player is able to encounter and save Eladus and Dagdar from the Knight Bercilak the Green in an optional quest. ArenaNet
Dagdar
Saied Circuit's Edge 1989 This DOS Interactive fiction and role-playing game includes a variety of gay and transgender characters,[37] including a trans woman named Yasmin with a gay man named Saied alleged to be Yasmin's former lover.[38] Westwood Studios
Variety of characters
Trevor Phantasmagoria 2: A Puzzle of Flesh 1996 In this interactive movie, point-and-click adventure, Curtis is the protagonist, who is a close friend with his gay co-worker, Trevor. The two almost kiss later in the game.[39][40] Sierra On-Line

Webcomics

See also: List of webcomics with LGBT characters and Gay Comix
Characters Name of comic Years Notes
Gay protagonist Check, Please! 2013–present This comic by Ngozi Ukazu centers around a gay protagonist on a college hockey team.[41]
Jo's dads Lumberjanes 2014–2020 Jo is a trans woman of color with two dads and acts as an "expert on what it means to be a Lumberjane" to the fellow campers.[42][43]
Multiple characters Unsounded 2010–Present This webcomic by Ashley Cope features multiple gay characters.[44]
Jeff Olsen Kyle's Bed & Breakfast 1998–present This comic by Greg Fox covers controversial LGBT topics such as marriage equality, HIV/AIDS, body fascism and conversion therapy.[45][44] This story features various LGBT characters, such as Jeff Olsen, a gay man with HIV, Mark Masterson, a gay scholar, and Kristian Janson, a Jamaican gay man.[46]
Mark Masterson
Kristian Janson
Other characters
Dirk Strider Homestuck 2009-2016 In this webcomic by Andrew Hussie, Dirk Strider states he is only attracted to guys.[47] He also dates Jake English, a bisexual guy, for a couple months.
Rudy Strongwell Rain 2010–2022 This comic by Jocelyn Samara and DiDomenick features a trans girl, Rain, as the main character and other LGBT characters,[48] like a gay man named Rudy Strongwell, and a gay couple (Trevor Kurz and Frank Johnson).[49]
Trevor Kurz
Frank Johnson

See also

References

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Notes

  1. ^ One or both of Charlie's Dads are also featured on pages 32, 33, and 34 of The Hidden Witch as Aster has dinner with them, and later on pages 92, 125, 127, 129, and 137. Also, they appear either individually, or together, on pages 18, 19, 20, 21, 39, 58, and 59 of The Midwinter Witch.

External links

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