Velvet Crowe is the first woman to solo carry protagonist duties in Bandai Namco’s Tales Series. Unlike previous entries in the series, the protagonist does not receive a romantic narrative. Through in-game events and skits, Velvet shows little to no interest in sex or romance with her only significant relationships being with her childhood friend Niko and enemy-turned-ally Eleanor. With the absence of a reciprocal heterosexual relationship fans speculate this absence as a sign of queerness, an implicit encoding of an asexual, lesbian, or bisexual identity.

LGBTQ references in this game series:

Tales of Symphonia: Zelos and Lloyd

Tales of Zestiria: Sorey and Mikleo

Tales of Berseria: Velvet Crowe

Citations:

1. Various. (2017, April 6). [Berseria][Discussion][Spoiler] Could Velvet be bisexual? Reddit. Retrieved from https://www.reddit.com/r/tales/comments/63qprb/berseriadiscussionspoiler_could_velvet_be_bisexual/
2. Various. (n.d.). Velvet Crowe (character page). Aselia, the Tales Wiki. Retrieved from https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/aselia/images/e/e1/Velvet_Artwork.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20170226095330
3. Yuru Media. (2018, August 8). Tumblr. Retrieved from https://yurimedia.tumblr.com/post/176775912190/i-finished-tales-of-berseria-a-while-ago-and-i?is_related_post=1