R e p r e s e n t a t i o n

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Ace Characters in Animation, Anime, Film, Television, Books(Novels), Comics and Manga

Animation, Anime, Film, and Television

As one can image, Asexual characters within all forms of media are very limited. Within the realm of visual media, early representation came in the form of implications rather than the sexual orientation being expressed explicitly. In a 1960's show called Gilligan's Island, a character referred to as "The Professor" was described to be asexual by his actor, Russell Johnson. Russell further explained how he "recalled a time when a female character was 'really all over him.'...[but] The Professor was more interested in 'talking about Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) and flora and fauna'" (Mathers 2018). As such, "the show kept The Professor asexual'" (Mathers 2018). This sort of pattern continues where characters are implied to be Asexual or casually referenced as "Asexual" by other characters. It was not until 2010 that a character outwardly expressed their sexual orientation. Poppy, from the 2010 show called Huge, was the first explicitly expressed Asexual character in an American drama. From then onward, we see an increase of confirmed Asexual characters within visual media as characters explicitly state they are asexual.

Headcanon/Fanon Asexual Representation

As stated in Words We’re Watching: ‘Headcanon’ on Merriam-Webster, the term Headcanon is an informal term within fandoms that "refers to something that a fan imagines to be true about a character even though no information supporting that belief is spelled out in the text. Sometimes that involves filling in your own explanation for a character’s strange motivation, or projecting aspects onto a character that make them more relatable to you." Meanwhile, Fanon is another term within fandoms that "applies when someone’s headcanon is shared with and becomes widely accepted by members of a fan community" (Merriam-Webster)

Why did we bother to include headcanons/fanons if they are not confirmed within the media source?

As there is little Asexual representation as it is, many asexual individuals have settled with finding representation in characters that they feel whose experiences reflect their own in some way. As such, there is a lot of speculation within fandoms as to which characters are Asexual or not. So, we included this list to include these characters that many Ace individuals see as relatable to bring awareness to this issue and to display potential Asexual representation. However, as much as these characters' behaviors and stories somehow reflect Asexuality, they are essentially not Ace because they are not explicitly confirmed to be by the creators or within the media. Therefore, we have not included them as part of the confirmed list despite all speculations.

Why does representation matter?

This matters because Asexual individuals deserve to have characters that reflect their experiences in order to feel validated and included within society, especially without having to analyze non-Ace characters for potential representation. Unfortunately, the list for speculated Asexual characters is larger and the characters are more well-known compared to actual confirmed characters. So, we strive to advocate for confirmed Asexual representations.

Confirmed Ace Characters

Headcanon/Fanon Ace Characters

Note: As previously stated, this list includes characters that reflect Asexual behaviors and experiences. Some more so than others. As such, there may be characters have are heavily implied to be Ace. However, we decided to keep these characters on this list until there is solid confirmation about their identity.

Image from DC Comics

Comics

Over the years, Asexuality and Asexual community have earned more and more recognition and representation. The representation in comics means that the younger generation will grow up with more awareness of Asexuality. Of course, comics are not only limited to younger generation but they can be considered the cornerstone of Pop culture and representation Pop culture means awareness of asexuality on a global level. The concept of Asexuality has already been introduced in multiple platforms including television, books and of course comics.

However, to further clarify the involvement of asexuality as a topic or the inclusion of asexual characters, comics have only shown inclusion of asexual characters and not asexuality as a topic. Some famous characters in comics include "Tremor: from DC comics and "Nebula" from Marvel comics as well "Groot" from Marvel comics. . There are many other characters who are thought to be asexual but have yet to be confirmed or they do not explicitly reveal that they are asexual. "Tremor" is an exception because this character explicitly reveals that it is asexual paving the way for future asexual characters in comics.

Nebula from Guardians of the Galaxy (Marvel)

Manga

The awareness of asexuality and asexual community is not only limited to US and its prime example can be seen in manga (Japanese comics). In fact, manga has more illustrations on asexuality than American comics. There are manga that are only based around asexuality and are considered pioneers for spreading asexual awareness through entertainment. One of these famous manga which centers around asexuality is called "Kiryuu-sensei wa Renai ga Wakaranai volume 1" also known as "Aromantic (Love) Story." This manga tells the story of an artist who has no romantic interest or sexual interest whatsoever and her life though the lens of asexuality while her colleagues show romantic interest in her all the time.

There are also characters in Manga which are depicted or speculated as asexual but the most famous one of them is "Luffy" from "One Piece." "Luffy" has been speculated or is still speculated to be asexual because of a number of reasons, firstly, he does not show any sort of romantic interest in any one. Secondly, the power of "Boa Hancock" (another One piece character) does not work on him which manipulated a persons lust or sexual desire to be interested in her and then turn them into stone, our boy "Luffy" is immune to that power, hence, he has no sexual or romantic desires which ironically makes "Boa" fall in love with him. This was a short context and an example of how different cultures are spreading the awareness of asexuality in their own way and that the message of asexuality can also be spread through entertainment.

Image from Aromantic (Love) Story Manga

Luffy From One Piece

Image from Novel "Let's talk about Love"

Books (Novels)

Books are usually considered objects that contain knowledge. Though there are all sorts of books for all sorts of purposes, they are mostly thought of or considered as vessels of knowledge. They teach us about new concepts, words and sometimes, even worlds. So how can we exclude the topic of asexuality from them. That would beat the purpose of learning about asexuality right? There lots of books on asexuality, in fact, the most knowledge about asexuality is in this form of medium. However, books are not vessels of knowledge but also are part of the entertainment industry in the form of novels whether they be fiction or non fiction. Novels are loved by everyone because of their depth and complexity and of course, knowledge. It would not be wrong to say that the books and novels are the first objects to spread awareness about asexuality in a recorded form.

Novels are like parents of comics and manga which is why they also hold more influence. Comics and manga target a specific audience but novels, they are not restricted to any age, gender, race, culture or country, hence, the influence. The novels that are currently spreading awareness about asexuality and are representing it include many. Some not worthy mentions include "Fourth World," "Radi0 Silence' and "Perfect Rhythm". But one of my personal favorites is called "Lets talk about love." This novel talks about a person who is relationship is broken because their partner realizes that she is asexual and hence, the story starts. Not to spoil it too much, but it is one of the greats that teaches us about asexuality and gives us an immersive story at the same time. Who says we cannot learn and have fun at the same time right?

List of some noteworthy tiles (Books/Novels)

Radio Silence
Perfect Rhythm
Let's talk about love
Fourth World
Beyond the black door
Not your Back up
Sea foam and Silence
The Bone People
Thaw
City of Strife

Note : Images belong to their respective Novels/Books

Alice from Let's talk about Love

Made by: Hadi and Emely

All images, even those included in the "Ace Character" cards, belong to their respective owners and will be credited accordingly in the Citation and Links page

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