Hogwarts Legacy introduces trans character but fans quickly spot issue with name
The latest launch in the Harry Potter universe is not a spin off film or stage show but a new open world role player game.
Hogwarts Legacy lets the player become a student at Hogwarts and unlock the mysteries of that hidden world - which seems innocent enough when you ignore the wider cultural context that the game has been released into.
Many members of the LGBTQ+ community have chosen to boycott the game amidst J K Rowling's views on trans women. While Rowling has not had creative input into the game, she will still earn royalties from it.
Some players were surprised to find that a trans character had been included in the game, and praised the inclusivity, but immediately spotted an issue with her name.
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The name Sirona Ryan has been criticised as 'tone deaf' by trans fans (Portkey Games)The barkeeper for famed pub The Three Broomsticks is revealed to be a trans witch as she casually tells the lead character that some of her old classmates took "a second to realise I was actually a witch not a wizard."
On the surface this appears to be some welcome representation for the trans community, but people were quick to point out a major issue with the character's name - Sirona Ryan.
Thousands of players and non-players alike were quick to point out the name as it has 'Sir' at the front and the last name is a traditional boys name.
Jaclyn Moore, writer and producer for Queer as Folk, said: "Sirona Ryan is such an insane thing to name the first trans Harry Potter character. They might as well have called her Misterima David or Boybitsa Jerry."
While a fan added: "I'm all for the devs adding in a trans character, but why tf did they name her SIRona RYAN."
This is not the first time the wizarding world has had issues with insensitively naming diverse characters. Rowling's only East Asian character was named Cho Chang - Cho is a Korean surname while Chang is a Chinese surname.
One tweet said: "As a South Korean who always felt grossed out by the name Cho Chang for the one East Asian character in that one wizard world, I don't know what I expected going forward in that universe with the new media coming out but it wasn't f***ing Sirona Ryan for their trans character."
Some have defended the name Sirona, as the name means healing springs and is a Celtic goddess for healing, and put the 'sir' part down to unfortunate choices. However others have pointed out that Irish surname Ryan is commonly thought to mean 'little king'.
Pink News spoke to researcher Liam Robertson, who claimed: "Its inclusion was received poorly by the few developers I spoke with. All of them seemed to suggest that it was hastily tacked on to hand wave criticism that the game was associated with transphobia."
This was a feeling mirrored by those in the LGBTQ+ community who felt the inclusion was a "token" move and "tone-deaf" even if the name was not intended to be offensive.
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The game has also faced criticism for perpetuating anti-Semitic stereotypes through the persecuted goblin characters. This isn't the first time that the portrayal of the goblins in Harry Potter has been accused of being Jewish-coded through racist stereotypes, and this new game focuses on quelling a rebellion of said goblins.
The Mirror reached out to Warner Bros for comment.
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