V's Gender Debate IV [Official]

[das_hermit]

One more for the Male camp, mostly based on what little we see of his relationship with his similarly androgynous mate, and that if V had a set gender initially and has no breasts or curves in the initial strips then that suggests male to me. Besides that, most of the Opposites in the Linear Guild - aside from Durkan's dwarf chick whose name I forget - have been of the same sex as their counterparts, and Zz'dtri was apparently male.
But then, I could be wrong - the Giant has done a pretty good job of obscuring it, and I'm a guy myself so in the absence of any decent clues to the contrary I have a default setting of assuming male.

[Tyrion L.]

One more for the Male camp, mostly based on what little we see of his relationship with his similarly androgynous mate, and that if V had a set gender initially and has no breasts or curves in the initial strips then that suggests male to me. Besides that, most of the Opposites in the Linear Guild - aside from Durkan's dwarf chick whose name I forget - have been of the same sex as their counterparts, and Zz'dtri was apparently male.
But then, I could be wrong - the Giant has done a pretty good job of obscuring it, and I'm a guy myself so in the absence of any decent clues to the contrary I have a default setting of assuming male.

Actually, it is not necessary for someone to have prevalent curves for her to be female. I believe the Manga expression is "pettanko".

-Tyrion Lannister

[Chainsaw Hobbit]

V is male because a lot of the jokes wouldn't be funny if V was female, you can't argue with humor.
I used to think V was female but than I re-watched the LOTR movies and it turned out Lagolas is a guy (omg)!
Than I looked over some old OOTS comics, questioning my old beliefs about V's gender and the truth just hit me.
So I take back all my old arguments about V being female.

[Kish]

V is male because a lot of the jokes wouldn't be funny if V was female,

Given that all the gender-based jokes about Vaarsuvius hinge on the absence of a defined gender, this is neither more nor less true than the statement, "a lot of the jokes wouldn't be funny if V was male."

[Flappi]

V's spouse looks male (629 is a good example)

That, and strip #670. Two members of the elf squad have straight line for the bottom of their body, one has a curve instead. Even if it's not stated, we can assume that :
* elves never have breast.
* but elves have a secondary sex characteristic, the bottom of their body.
Which qualify V's mate to be male.

But that proves nothing. The question is not V's mate's gender, but V's gender.

[Amon Star]

That, and strip #670. Two members of the elf squad have straight line for the bottom of their body, one has a curve instead. Even if it's not stated, we can assume that :
* elves never have breast.
* but elves have a secondary sex characteristic, the bottom of their body.
Which qualify V's mate to be male.

But that proves nothing. The question is not V's mate's gender, but V's gender.

Some Elven females have breasts.

[Pie Eater]

I think Vaarsuvius is a girl based on comic 123
the joke wouldn't be as funny otherwise

i have always thought V is a girl but my friends think differently

[Crystalline]

I can't believe I haven't posted on here.
So while everyone is stating their opinions, I might as well throw mine in.

Personally, I have always thought of V as a male character. The fact that there would only be one female in the party, the cold calculating tact, many things just stuck to me as being male. Now, this may be just my own opinion as when I first saw him my thought was "oh, male character."

But honestly, it doesn't matter. The whole point of V's character is that s/he really has no gender. That makes up the best jokes, the best lines that revolve around him/ her.

Example: The joke in comic #223.

Would that be as funny if we knew V's gender? No, never. I smile every time I read that last panel. If anything was truly meant to give V's character away, every good joke about that trait would immediately die. I don't want to see that happen.
V's my favorite character ever for any form of media. Partly because of his/her lines and the fact s/he is so well developed with the gender ambiguity.

So for the sake of character development, things are better left unsaid.
Also for me it just makes my life easier to think of V in male terms.
But also... speculation is also great fun to watch, so I leave it at that.

[Gitman00]

A little history: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...672#post267672

As you can see, the "V's gender" debate began immediately after Strip #9 was posted. From reading the Giant's response, it seems that V was originally conceived as male, but was made ambiguously-gendered just to mess with the forumgoers.

[dgnslyr]

The imp refers to V as "her" here.

[Leecros]

Some Elven females have breasts.

clearly they're implants

[Amon Star]

The imp refers to V as "her" here.

So that's just the Imp's opinion.

clearly they're implants

An interesting theory...

[Cizak]

clearly they're implants

This could be true, since Lirian is the only elf we've ever seen with bewbs. But that just makes me wonder... what on earth do they use for implants in a medieval/fantasy.world?

[DoctorJest]

V is a running gag about gender ambiguity. Therefore, as OOTS characters do not really have an objective existence, I don't think it's at all necessary for V to actually have a gender, per se, beyond "Ambiguous". Like SNL's "It's Pat!" the character is obviously constructed in a way to leave the viewer - and the other characters - with the sense that they'll never quite know the truth.

The reason for this seems to be the general joke that elves all look kinda alike, regardless of what gender they are: thin, shapeless, and pretty. So I don't believe V actually has, nor requires, an objective "true" gender.

[DoctorJest]

The imp refers to V as "her" here.

Various characters refer to V by various gender pronouns, both masculine and feminine, throughout the book. Every time one does so, someone marches into the forum triumphant that they know The Truth and have to be reminded that any characters in the book refering to V as a particular gender is merely that character's opinion and is not definitive.

[Nimrod's Son]

This could be true, since Lirian is the only elf we've ever seen with bewbs.

Not the only one. There are a few others dotted around too, particularly in the prequels.

It's easily explained away with "All elves look androgynous, except for a small minority of particularly curvy ones which are obviously female". No big deal.

Various characters refer to V by various gender pronouns, both masculine and feminine, throughout the book. Every time one does so, someone marches into the forum triumphant that they know The Truth and have to be reminded that any characters in the book refering to V as a particular gender is merely that character's opinion and is not definitive.

Quite. I often wonder how these people know V is supposed to be androgynous in the first place, considering that they've apparently never read any of the comic before.

[deathali'helper]

ISNT IT ClaRRIFIED!!! he wont reviel it until the vary end, so just leave it.

[icastflare!]

Trust me, this debate will never stop. Its all up to opinion. I personally believe female but this will never stop, considering it has 4 threads dedicated for it already.

[Tar Palantir]

clearly they're implants

I dunno, I'm pretty sure a druid would stick with the all-natural look .

[super dark33]

vaarsavius must no longer be referred as 'she' or 'he', but shklee,
and instead of his or her, its shkler,
so shkler gender is undefienated

[Cealocanth]

vaarsavius must no longer be referred as 'she' or 'he', but shklee,
and instead of his or her, its shkler,
so shkler gender is undefienated

Uh, I disagree. Where does the k come from?

V seems to have a female personality. Strong feelings for family, only willing to sleep in the same room with Haley...

However, according to the art of the comic, V has a rectangular body, making them male.

So, you decide. My vote's for female.

[Private-Prinny]

Uh, I disagree. Where does the k come from?

Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs. Gender-specific pronouns are useless in the eyes of Yivo.

[Cire II]

When I first started reading the comic I thought V was female, but now think that either elves don't have genders or V doesn't but thats only my opinion I'm most likely wrong.

[Shale]

We know elves have genders because of Lirian, and to a lesser extent Pompey.

[Boogastreehouse]

clearly they're implants

This could be true, since Lirian is the only elf we've ever seen with bewbs. But that just makes me wonder... what on earth do they use for implants in a medieval/fantasy.world?

Obviously they're coconuts.

Where'd you get the coconuts?

We found them.

vaarsavius must no longer be referred as 'she' or 'he', but shklee,
and instead of his or her, its shkler,
so shkler gender is undefienated

Dude, it's not going to catch on... just give it up...

[factotum]

vaarsavius must no longer be referred as 'she' or 'he', but shklee,
and instead of his or her, its shkler,
so shkler gender is undefienated

No. Using made-up gender pronouns is just irritating.

[squidbreath]

Some Elven females have breasts.

Yes, but I assume that it doesn't apply to high elves.

[Capt Spanner]

However, according to the art of the comic, V has a rectangular body, making them male.

Furthermore, if you look at eye placement, the female eyes centre around 1/2 way down the head (head is 45px diameter, eyes are 23px from top) while male eyes are 1/3rd of the way down (15px).

In comic 9, at least, V's eyes are 15px from the top of the comic, consistent with V being male.

Later comics seem to have moved his/her eyes to 19px, splitting the difference between the two.

In my mind these days, Vaarsuvius is an intersexual, although I've always tended towards using the feminine pronoun for her.

[brilliantlight]

Well, since Haley bunked with V in the Hotel I am voting for female. V was married at the time and I don't see V sleeping alone in the same room with a member of the opposite sex while married. I think the same of Haley. Although a thief there is no evidence at all that Haley is a bedhopper. Outside of Elan (And it took a long time for that to happen) she has never slept with anyone. Sleeping alone in the same room as a married man is unlikely, I would think.

[Cizak]

ISNT IT ClaRRIFIED!!! he wont reviel it until the vary end, so just leave it.

1) Chill out, dude. The people here are having a friendly discussion, no need to shout.

2) You're wrong. He will never reveal it.