| Testament | |
|---|---|
| Guilty Gear character | |
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:Testament_Guilty_Gear_Strive.png) Testament in Guilty Gear Strive | |
| First game | Guilty Gear (1998) |
| Created by | Daisuke Ishiwatari |
| Voiced by | Expand
|
| In-universe information | |
| Gender | Agender |
Testament (テスタメント) is a fictional character in the Guilty Gear franchise. They first appeared in the first game in the series, Guilty Gear, as a non-playable boss character, before later appearing in Guilty Gear X and Guilty Gear XX as a playable character. They did not appear in any other Guilty Gear games until Guilty Gear Strive. They originally appeared as an androgynous male character, before being identified as agender in Guilty Gear Strive, though an earlier interview with series creator Daisuke Ishiwatari noted that they "transcended human existence" and becoming non-binary when becoming a Gear. They were originally voiced by Takami Akkun in the first Guilty Gear, before being voiced by Katsuaki Kobayashi in Guilty Gear X and XX. For Guilty Gear Strive, they were voiced by Yū Kobayashi and Kayleigh McKee in Japanese and English respectively, the latter receiving positive reception due to being a transgender actress voicing Testament.
In older releases, Testament had a reputation for being "infamous[ly]" powerful, with multiple players and critics expecting this to remain true in Guilty Gear Strive, though writer AJ Hurst hoped to see them toned down. Testament's depiction was discussed as an early example of a queer character in video games, as well as discussed fitting stereotypes of villainous androgynous characters. Fans debated Testament's gender as well due to their ambiguity. When they were revealed for Strive and confirmed to be agender, the response was generally positive, though there were some people who were bothered by Testament's gender. Speculation that Americans influenced the team to change their gender was dismissed by McKee, who felt it incredulous to believe that they have that power.
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