V's Gender Debate IV [Official]

[rayne_dragon]

Obviously V is intersexed. The only real question being what type of intersex condition?

[HalfTangible]

V always sounds male when i picture his voice. This comes from his first line in the comic, which always sounded to me like some guy showing off his knowledge.

[Chernobyl]

In #792, Vaarsuvius' familiar calls him "my master." Not "my mistress." Sorry Rich, but it looks like you've been betrayed by your own grammar.

Now Vaarsuvius is only keeper of 999 secrets.

[druid91]

In #792, Vaarsuvius' familiar calls him "my master." Not "my mistress." Sorry Rich, but it looks like you've been betrayed by your own grammar.

Now Vaarsuvius is only keeper of 999 secrets.

When was Vaarsuvius being a guy questioned?

[Zevox]

Even if we accepted that "master" is an inherently male term in all circumstances (it isn't), this would be just another case of showing which sex the speaker considers V to be, not which sex she necessarily is. You know, the same explanation for why someone referring to V as "him" or "her" doesn't tell us which sex she is?

Zevox

[Tvtyrant]

In #792, Vaarsuvius' familiar calls him "my master." Not "my mistress." Sorry Rich, but it looks like you've been betrayed by your own grammar.

Now Vaarsuvius is only keeper of 999 secrets.

Well done; I don't think it counts since Rich said that any use of male or female is just the person's opinion, but good spot!

[gooddragon1]

It's official. I'm going with Vaarsuvius as a male then.

[Gift Jeraff]

I've seen master used for women. Though I do think Blackwing is one of the few people that might actually know V's gender/sex/orientation/whatever.

[Blisstake]

Master can be gender neutral, while mistress cannot.

Sort of like actor/actress.

[zimmerwald1915]

Even if we accepted that "master" is an inherently male term in all circumstances, this would be just another case of showing which sex the speaker considers V to be, not which sex she necessarily is. You know, the same explanation for why someone referring to V as "him" or "her" doesn't tell us which sex she is?

Zevox

Blackwing's opinion could be more valid than anyone else's, since Blackwing is empathically linked to Vaarsuvius and could have based his impressions of V's gender on how V thinks of herself. That doesn't necessarily mean anything though, since "master" could be gender-neutral, a quick and dirty rendering into Common of some Elven gender designation for which we haven't a real word, and we have some textual evidence that V doesn't think in gender terms anyway ("I'm not the most qualified to comment on gender traits...I don't usually pay attention to pronouns.").

Interesting though that when captured by Enor and Ganjii Blackwing referred to Vaarsuvius as "my wizard", not "my master", but inconsistencies just provide reasonable doubt.

[Ruduen]

I got this one.

Q: Is Vaarsuvius male or female?

A: I will never reveal the truth! Bwahaha! Keep in mind that while certain other characters might refer to V as being male or female, that simply reveals their perception.not the actual reality of the situation.

Empathic link would probably give Blackwing the same feeling of V for gender. AKA, the "Doesn't really care" feeling.

[Tvtyrant]

Though it could be a legitimate clue, since Rich could have said "Owner."

[Blisstake]

Though it could be a legitimate clue, since Rich could have said "Owner."

There will be no clues. V's gender will never be officially revealed or hinted at in any way.

[zyborg]

Though it could be a legitimate clue, since Rich could have said "Owner."

Yeah, but that would still mean that V is a male, as he didn't say "owneress".

[Tvtyrant]

Yeah, but that would still mean that V is a male, as he didn't say "owneress".

lol. Touche! Thank god every neuter word is automatically male in our society, or Rich would have a problem.

[Flame of Anor]

This thread, and all Vaarsuvius' Gender threads, are simply pointless speculation. Just so as we're all clear on that.

[Dr.Epic]

When was Vaarsuvius being a guy questioned?

What comic have you been reading?

As for the topic, Rich has stated that characters in the comic have their own opinion on V's gender and that doesn't indicate what it is. Male is what V's familiar thinks V is.

[FujinAkari]

Male is what V's familiar thinks V is.

No, Master is what V's familiar thinks V is.

Master is not male-specific.

[Gift Jeraff]

Though it could be a legitimate clue, since Rich could have said "Owner."

I think master is the "official" term used in the rules.

[SPoD]

I think master is the "official" term used in the rules.

This. The rules refer to the familiar's master as "master," and since we know that the iconic wizard in 3.5 is female (and as a result, all of the pronouns in the section are feminine) we must conclude that the authors of the PHB considered "master" to be sufficiently neutral.

Also, Blackwing saying he was going to tell his mistress makes it sound like he's got a bird girlfriend that his bird wife doesn't know about.

[k_bukie]

1) Master is gender neutral.
2) Mistress has loads of other meanings that can be misconstrued when attempting to use it as a synonym of master, so much so that master is gender neutral to avoid them.
3) Even if Blackwing meant it in a masculine form, it's simply the 792nd example of a character referring to V from his or her own point of view.

[The Pilgrim]

Well, the only effect this thread might have, is Rich inmediately making someone (maybe Blackwing itself) refer to V as female to fire the doubts again (not that most of us need it, but looks like some do)

[LuPuWei]

Though it could be a legitimate clue, since Rich could have said "Owner."

I don't think Blackwing would be happy to call V his 'owner'. He'd probably stop talking for another 700 strips if V suggested it.

[Souhiro]

...since we know that the iconic wizard in 3.5 is female...

I dissagree. Mialee, the iconic wizard, isn't female, isn't elf, and isn't a wizard.

Mialee is just UGLY. Plain UGLY.

Seriously, compare THIS

Spoiler

Show

with THIS

Spoiler

Show

And back into the topic, I think that Blackwing could have seen "Partner" or just "da Boss" xD But I still think that V's gender is just plain ELF. Nor male nor female, just elf.

[Jubal_Barca]

I've always instinctively felt V was more male, but that is of course just another perception (mostly based on the fact that despite a 1 or 2 slot alignment gap down the good/evil axis, I often tend to empathise with V the most in the party, and so being male myself that leads me to think of him as male).

Can we assume that ANYONE knows? I mean, we don't even know if Kyrie had any idea since their children were adopted.

[Psyren]

Master can be gender neutral, while mistress cannot.

Sort of like actor/actress.

I'm going to just quote this rather than get into a drag-out debate.

[Gurgeh]

urgh had a big fat response written out and it got eaten up by the forum database backup downtime. I'll just stick to responding to this:

The rules refer to the familiar's master as "master," and since we know that the iconic wizard in 3.5 is female (and as a result, all of the pronouns in the section are feminine) we must conclude that the authors of the PHB considered "master" to be sufficiently neutral.

Actually, the familiar rules are an annex to the sorcerer's class description, not the wizard's (since the sorcerer comes first in alphabetical order). The "iconic sorcerer" in 3.5 is male. Go figure.

[Asta Kask]

Proof that Varsuuvius is an elf:

He/She has pointy ears.

[Cizak]

Proof that V is male: Someone called him "him/he".

Proof that V is female: Someone called her "her/she".

Proof that V has no gender: Someone didn't know what to call her.

There. Take your pick.

[NegativeFifteen]

I've always instinctively felt V was more male, but that is of course just another perception (mostly based on the fact that despite a 1 or 2 slot alignment gap down the good/evil axis, I often tend to empathise with V the most in the party, and so being male myself that leads me to think of him as male).

Can we assume that ANYONE knows? I mean, we don't even know if Kyrie had any idea since their children were adopted.

I think there's a good chance Kyrie knows, otherwise s/he gets new levels of respect for marrying someone who's gender s/he didn't know. Haley probably knows too, they room together and seem to have gotten to know each other pretty well.