The Mass Effect Legendary Edition allows fans of the franchise to experience the original trilogy with a fresh coat of paint when it comes out later this year, including the most acclaimed game in the Mass Effect 2 series. Fans are excited to see team members like Garrus, Thane, Jack, Kasumi and more, although a new interview revealed some interesting details about changes made to Jack’s character. In a new interview with The Gamer, Mass effect 2 lead writer Brian Kindregan revealed that Jack was actually supposed to identify as pansexual, but that was changed after a significant amount of development had already been done to the game thanks to criticism from Fox News.
‘I tried the bow [Jack’s] romance, which was a big part of the development – it was actually very late that it became a male / female only romance, ”said Kindregan. “She was essentially pansexual during most of that romance’s development.”
That changed after Fox News started talking about the in-game approach to sex and the fact that it included a non-hetero-romantic option.
“Mass Effect was pretty heavily and really unfairly criticized in the US by Fox News, who at the time … maybe more people in the world thought there was a connection between the reality and what’s being discussed on Fox News,” said Kindregan. “The Mass Effect 2 development team was a pretty forward-thinking, open-minded team, but I think there were concerns at pretty high levels that if [the first] Mass Effect, which only had one gay relationship, Liara – which on paper wasn’t technically a gay relationship because she was of a mono-gender kind – I think there was concern that if that had fired, that Mass Effect 2 would have to be a little careful. “
Jack actress Courtenay Taylor also confirmed that the character was pansexual, which is how she played her.
“It’s funny to me because I always understood she was pansexual,” Taylor said. So I don’t know if that’s just something that distracted me from the character or something she said might be cut. I was surprised that there was no female romance possible because that was my understanding. I think it was the time you know? That was, what – 2008/2009? The industry has changed exponentially since then, and BioWare was in charge of that. I don’t know if it had to do with a budget constraint or maybe someone said ‘this is too obvious lying down “because everyone thought“ of course she’s a lesbian. ”But I always felt like she was [pansexual] and it just wasn’t tracked. Of course, the community immediately adjusted it so you can do it your way. “
Kindregan said, “It wasn’t like an anti-gay person high up on the Mass Effect 2 team who said, ‘We’re not getting that.’ The short version is that many of us were asked quite late to focus the relationships on a more traditional kind of vector ”.
The decision was made in the middle of development, so there are still bits of dialogue that reflect the original version of the character, and many were surprised to find that their female Shepard couldn’t get into a relationship with her.
“I have certainly heard a lot from people who were surprised that Jack turned out not to be open to that,” said Kindregan. ‘I understand why. I would say there were many seeds planted in her conversations that definitely implied she was pansexual – she once specifically referred to being part of a group. She says there was a man and a woman she ran with, who invited her to their robberies and into their bed. She definitely refers to those things. That was explicit to send the message that yes, this is a character who is pansexual. In the revision of the eleventh hour to clear that up, she was already partially recorded with voiceover. Not all of that could be changed. “
“I would say, even with the things I could change, and I don’t know if this was the right decision or not, I still saw her as a character with a sharp edge,” says Kindregan. “Not tense, but with the edge that you don’t follow traditional standards. I think maybe even during the overhaul process I kept some of that stuff in there with the feeling of yes this is a person who’s been there and done a lot of things, went from the farm to Paris. “
“I’ve worked with lesbian developers who came up to me and said, ‘Why doesn’t Jack love me?’” Kindregan said. ‘And I have to say,’ I’m so sorry, it’s partly my fault. ‘But I still advocate keeping her from a more varied background. Maybe Jack will one day be portrayed as a pan. “
Should Bioware honor Jack’s original vision in the upcoming Legendary Edition? Let us know in the comments, and as always you can talk everything about Mass Effect with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!