Erica Anderson in Catherine

EricaRender

Erica Anderson is one of the main characters in Catherine, a puzzle platformer adventure game with multiple endings created by Atlus. Erica is a “post-op” transgender woman, who works as a waitress in the Stray Sheep Inn. Erica is presented as flirtatious and surprisingly tolerant of the casual transphobia that other characters display throughout the game. This characterization has been criticized by some fans due to the way in which it deploys stereotypes of trans women as being self-deprecating and sexually deceitful. Fans have also noted (see here as well) that the game developers themselves don’t seem very sensitive to transgender people, as one of the major plot points of the game involves “unfaithful” men having nightmares, with Erica being the only non-male character to also have the same kind of nightmares which seems to indicate that she is thought of as a man in the game’s universe. The game credits also list Erica as “Eric (Erica) Anderson”. A video of the “True Ending” sequence in Catherine can be found here which contains a scene where Erica and Toby reference her trans identity and him expressing some remorse at losing his virginity to her.

Citations

  1. (n.d.). Erica Anderson (character page). Catherine Wiki. Retrieved from http://catherine.wikia.com/wiki/Erica_Anderson
  2. Garcia, T.. (2013, July 24). Catherine (Gender Issues + Review). TransGamerSociologist (Blog). Retrieved from https://transgamersociologist.wordpress.com/2013/07/24/catherine-gender-issues-review/
  3. Garcia, T. (2012, March 26). A Brief History of Transgender Characters in Video Games. TransGamerSociologist (Blog). Retrieved from https://transgamersociologist.wordpress.com/2012/03/26/a-brief-history-of-transgender-characters-in-video-games/
  4. Crocodile Dippy. (n.d.). Transgenderism in Video Games. The Shroom (Super Mario Wiki Blog). Retrieved from http://www.mariowiki.com/The_’Shroom:Issue_100/Transgenderism_in_Video_Games
  5. DJXenmasIIDX. (2011, August 5). Catherine True Ending[Katherine Side]HD English. YouTube Video. Retrived from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9rEGBfFD88