Pansexual characters in fiction

Although pansexual characters are not often characters in mass media, they have appeared in various films, TV series, video games, graphic art, and webcomics.

Most prominently, Lando Calrissian in the Star Wars films, The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Return of the Jedi (1983), Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), is pansexual.[5] Lando, a gambler, con artist, playboy, mining engineer, and businessman who administered Cloud City, was confirmed as pansexual, and having fluidity in his sexuality, by a co-writer of Solo, Jonathan Kasdan. Some took this to be a "deeply regressive" move by suggesting this to fans without delivering on it, even as Donald Glover supported the interpretation.[6] Other fans pointed out possible flirting between Han and Lando, shipping them since the 1980s, with shipping expanding in the 1990s. Glover also described Lando as a character who "doesn't have hard and fast boundaries about everything" when it comes to sexual attraction.[7] Apart from Lando, Mal in the Descendants franchise was confirmed as pansexual by her voice actor, Dove Cameron.[8] Additionally, Niko Terho in the 2020 film The Thing About Harry is pansexual,[9] as is Wade Wilson / Deadpool in the films Deadpool (2016) and Deadpool 2 (2018).[10] While Tim Miller, director of the first film, described Deadpool as pansexual, this is never explicitly portrayed on-screen.[11][12] As with the first film, Deadpool 2 (2018) also doesn't explicitly portray his sexuality, with the character's interest in men being used as the source of humor.[13]

Live-action TV series from the 1990s onward featured various pansexual characters. For instance, in the 1990s, the Paramount Domestic Television show, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine featured two pansexual characters: Jadzia Dax and Elim Garak[14][15] In the 2000s, pansexual characters appeared in soap operas, dramas, and other shows. This included Kristina Davis in General Hospital,[16] Edward as a character in an episode of Will & Grace,[17] and Jack Harkness in the series Doctor Who and Torchwood.[18] These live-action series were not alone. Carlton Lassiter in Psych[19] Captain John Hart in Torchwood,[20] Eric Northman in True Blood,[21] and Crowley in Supernatural[22] have all been confirmed as pansexual characters in their respective series. Additionally, Sammy Lieberman in Dance Academy,[23] Franky Fitzgerald in Skins [24] and Imogen Moreno in Degrassi: The Next Generation[25] were pansexual as well. While shows like House of Lies, Doctors, and In the Flesh had pansexual characters[26] [27][28] A few series stood out from the rest. The popular series, Game of Thrones had two pansexual characters (Yara Greyjoy and Oberyn Martell)[29][30] while one of the protagonists of House of Cards, Frank Underwood, was pansexual[31] as were two characters in Lucifer: Mazikeen and Lucifer Morningstar.[32][33] Various other characters, who were pansexual, appeared in series such as Star-Crossed,[34] Penny Dreadful,[35] and Orange Is the New Black,[36] among others.[lower-alpha 1]

A Roger and Klaus mascot at the American Dad! panel at Comic Con; image by Gage Skidmore on July 27, 2007

Animated series and video games had their own pansexual characters. In the series American Dad!, Roger is specifically referred to as "omnisexual"[37] while Rick Sanchez in Rick and Morty has been described as pansexual.[38] Furthermore, Big Mouth has a pansexual character named Ali. However, the co-creators of the show apologized for their portrayal of pansexuality in October 2019.[39] More positively, Rose Quartz in Steven Universe and Steven Universe Future is a coded as pansexual as she "experiments with romances with Pearl and human men and women alike."[40] At the same time, Lord Boxman in OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes was shown to be pansexual.[41] In the series, he has feelings for Professor Venomous, who was his loving partner in the past.[42][43]On October 13, 2020, Ian Jones-Quartey confirmed that Professor Venomous and Lord Boxman were married at the end of the series.[44] When it comes to video games,Iron Bull in Dragon Age: Inquisition, Mae in Night in the Woods, and Finn in Life Is Strange 2 have been confirmed as pansexual.[45][46][47]

Webcomics and graphic art has included various pansexual characters, like other mediums. In 1962, Loki Laufeyson first appeared and was later confirmed to be pansexual.[48] Some years later, in 1980, Princess Koriand'r / Starfire appeared. Deriving from being raised on the culture of her homeworld Tamaran, where it's acceptable to have open marriage, Starfire's sex-positivism and free-thinking habits such as a fondness for practicing nudism, openness to polygamous relationships and acceptance of "open sex" and pansexual "free-love" with persons regardless of terrestrial species, race or gender, usually lead her into conflict with Earth's more reserved culture and customs, as argued by SYFY and ComicsAlliance commentators.[49][50] For Starfire, polyamory was a personal and cultural preference.[49] Some years later, Wade Wilson / Deadpool[11] and Sakura Kinomoto, the latter who appeared in Cardcaptor Sakura and Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card were shown to be pansexual. For Sakura, the creators have stated that she did not see gender as barrier for her romantic attraction.[51] Other webcomics had pansexual characters as well. In thr webcomic, Raison d'Etre, a drama, comedy, and coming-of-age story,[52] there are various LGBTQ characters, including a demifemale student named Nakamura Sachiko who is pansexual.[53] Additionally, in the webcomic Unknown Lands, where most of the cast has a queer sexual identity,[54] there is a character named Mischief, a 28-year-old pansexual man who was trained as a warrior but later became the head guardian of a bisexual woman named Inara. The comic also has environmental, feminist, and LGBTQ+ themes.[55] Furthermore, "Red" Kuznetsov is a pansexual human in the webcomic Sinners of St. Sebastian's.[56] Two Webtoon webcomics which began in 2020 feature pansexual characters: Babe! and Love, Lila. In the first of these webcomics, Zoey Mercy is a pansexual and extroverted White woman in a relationship with a queer Asian woman named Liz.[57][58][59] Zoey, like Liz, originally appeared in the series She's a Keeper, another webcomic by the same author.[59][60] For the second webcomic, Lila Amanda Liberata is an 17-year-old Italian student and artist who likes dancing, art, and music,[61] who has growing romantic feelings for a 18-year-old Filipina girl in her school named Irene Manalo in this romantic drama[62] and was confirmed as pansexual.[61]

There are various series that have prominent pansexual characters, apart from Lando Calrissian in the Star Wars series. This includes the villain in the all-ages animation titled OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes named Lord Boxman is pansexual.[41] He is the founder and CEO of Boxmore, obsessed with destroying the plaza he despises "friendship" and views it as a weakness.[63] His real name is Lad Boxman and he built his company with the help of his first creation Mr. Logic. Though Boxman was fired in the first-season finale as his obsession with the plaza lead to a falling out with his investors, he regains control of Boxmore after Professor Venomous bought full ownership and rebranded the company as Voxmore. But Boxman leaves his company for good after deeming Shadowy Venomous too evil by his own standards, leaving his remaining robots at Lakewood Plaza. Boxman returns in the series finale, getting back with Venomous in the epilogue. Similarly, Roger in American Dad! is pansexual."[37] Roger's personas have become a major plot device, with his myriad alter egos frequently being the subject or facilitator of an episode's main story or subplot. This also helps to amplify his pansexuality and androgynous nature, which varies dependent on the plot situation and persona he has adopted. Aside from catalyzing the plot or subplot with his various personas, and despite his increasingly evident self-interest, he often serves to counsel the show's main characters, by humorously affirming or bluntly disregarding their opinions. There's also Rick Sanchez in Rick and Morty[38] and Sakura Kinomoto in Cardcaptor Sakura and Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card are both pansexual.[51] In the case of Sakura, the creators have stated that Sakura, the protagonist of this anime who has a "desire to befriend everyone she meets."[64] As such, some have described her as bisexual as a result.[65] She doesn't have romantic feelings for Tomoyo in particular and she confesses she has a crush on a female teacher, as shown in the episodes "Sakura and the Wonderful Teacher" and "Sakura and the Shrine of Memories," with the dubbed version of the anime removing many of these themes.[66][67] As for Rick, he was said to be part of a trend of additional pansexual characters in animation, although he was criticized for thriving on "traditional masculinity" like Lando and Wade Wilson of Deadpool.[68]

• List of pansexual people
• List of animated series with LGBTQ characters
• List of fictional polyamorous characters
• List of fictional non-binary characters
• List of fictional lesbian characters
• List of fictional asexual characters
• List of fictional intersex characters
• List of fictional trans characters
• List of fictional bisexual characters
• List of fictional gay characters
• List of comedy television series with LGBT characters
• List of dramatic television series with LGBT characters: 1970s–2000s
• List of dramatic television series with LGBT characters: 2010s
• List of made-for-television films with LGBT characters
• List of LGBT characters in soap operas
• List of LGBT characters in television and radio