Transfiguring Historical White Cis-heteronormativity in "Hogwarts Legacy": Victorian-Era 'Wizarding World' Video Game Representations of Gender, Race, and Sexuality

 

Hogwarts Legacy is an award-winning 2023 immersive, open-world, action role-playing video game set in the Scottish Highlands during the 1890-1891 schoolyear within J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter fictional universe. The author’s history of transphobia, racism, and antisemitism from the Harry Potter novels and beyond are reflected in the game despite her lack on direct involvement in its creation. While not marketed as a “historical video game,” it inherently (re)writes historical narratives in the late-Victorian period by resisting and reinforcing social concepts. This talk examines the paradoxical relationships between gender, race, and sexuality representations in Hogwarts Legacy with the plot, setting, and lore. Victorian United Kingdom historical research and contemporary DEI initiatives in the gaming industry further contextualize these depictions of nonwhite and LGBTQIA+ characters. The presentation examines how Hogwarts Legacy challenges dominant cis-heteropatriarchal and racial constructs, evaluates the effectiveness of these efforts, and considers the game’s impact on the franchise’s legacy.