Saharah in Animal Crossing: New Leaf

Image Credit: Retrieved from http://animalcrossing.wikia.com/wiki/Saharah

Saharah is a recurring camel character in the Animal Crossing series that specializes in trading rare goods like wallpaper and carpets. In the original Animal Crossing, Saharah is named “Roland” in the Japanese version and is identified as male by the official Japanese website for Animal Crossing: City Folk. Saharah also speaks with an effeminate sounding voice and refers to herself using female pronouns. In the English localization of the game, similar to Blanca and Gracie, Saharah is female with no mention of prior male name or male gender identity. As Brian Ashcraft notes in this Kotaku article however, Saharah has always been changed to female in Western localizations. Some fans have speculated that the gender change was due to her long eyelashes, while others have read this as evidence that she could be a transgender woman.

LGBTQ References in this game series:

Animal Crossing (2001): Blanca, Gracie, Julia, Saharah

Animal Crossing: Wild World (2005): Mentions of Same-Sex Relationships, Opposite-Gender Haircuts

Animal Crossing: New Leaf (2012): Crossdressing and Gender Expression, Isabelle, Villager Flirting

Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020): CJ and Flick, Mentions and Queer Readings, Removal of Gender Choice

Citations

  1. Various. (n.d.). Saharah (character page). Animal Crossing Wiki. Retrieved from http://animalcrossing.wikia.com/wiki/Saharah
  2. Various. (n.d.). List of video game characters with LGBT characters. Wikipedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_games_with_LGBT_characters
  3. Various. (n.d). Saharah (Character Trope Summary). TV Tropes Wiki. Retrieved from http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/AnimalCrossing
  4. Brian Ashcraft. (2013, June 24). Animal Crossing Characters Changed Sex for Western Release? [Update]. Kotaku. Retrieved from http://kotaku.com/animal-crossing-characters-changed-sex-for-western-rele-554496463
  5. Various. (n.d.). Animal Crossing: New Leaf Characters. Nintendo Japan. Retrieved from https://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/ruuj/character/village_visitor.html
  6. Clyde Mandelin. (2013, June 22). Sex Changes In Animal Crossing?. Legends of Localization. Retrieved from http://legendsoflocalization.com/sex-changes-in-animal-crossing/
  7. Various. (2013, July 2). Wait…Saharah is a girl?!. Animal Crossing Community Forum. Retrieved from http://www.animalcrossingcommunity.com/Topic/5824072/1/Wait_Saharah_is_a_GIRL_?Archived=True