Aspec Representation in Critical Role
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| Image description: The Mighty Nein facing down foes, as depicted in the show's animated opening. The Mighty Nein is a group of characters created by the voice actors and Dungeons and Dragons players at the heart of webseries Critical Role, the subject of today's post. |
Critical Role is a show where, to quote the cast
themselves, “a bunch of nerdy-ass voice actors sit around and play Dungeons
& Dragons.” These voice actors include some voices well-known to video
game fans or anime buffs, including the likes of Travis Willingham (Roy Mustang
in the anime Fullmetal Alchemist), Ashley Johnson (Ellie in the video
game series The Last of Us), Laura Bailey (who has had major roles in Fullmetal
Alchemist and The Last of Us both, but who I personally know for the
roles of Dagna and Bianca in Dragon Age: Inquisition), and several
others. As voice actors, they aren’t just playing Dungeons & Dragons,
the famous tabletop roleplaying and strategy game, but are truly roleplaying,
changing their voices and fully acting through the perils and adventures of the
characters they themselves created. Meanwhile, their dungeon master (voice
actor Matt Mercer) is guiding them through a rich and well-developed world he
has created for the purposes of their adventures, using his own voice acting
talents to introduce them to allies, enemies, creatures, and everything in
between in lengthy sessions every week, broadcast on YouTube and the live
streaming platform Twitch.
I first became aware of Critical Role through the
website Tumblr, where several people I followed were fans the show, posted fan art,
etc. I became even more aware of it soon after through an online server I was a
part of, where several of my acquaintances discussed the episodes together
weekly. Add these things to the fact that clips would repeatedly come up in my
“Recommended” feed on YouTube, and I very quickly developed a passing
familiarity with the show and its characters despite not really watching it
regularly. By the time I began getting familiar with the show, they were
already on their second adventure (aka, their second “campaign”) with a new set
of characters – a band of adventuring misfits known as the Mighty Nein.
After attempting the herculean feat of getting into the
show’s massive first campaign, I found myself watching clips of Campaign Two
instead, but largely stopped for a number of reasons. For a start, the sheer
volume of story seemed so daunting that it was difficult to fully jump in.
Secondly, as a sex-repulsed asexual, it was sometimes even more difficult to
engage with the show as much as I’d like to due to the sexual jokes,
references, or innuendo often made by the players. Thus, despite the truly
incredible storytelling and top notch acting, I by and large abandoned any
thoughts of the show for a while.
I began watching bits and pieces of it again by the time Campaign
Two was approaching its final arc, and found myself surprised by how invested I
was in a story I only had a passing acquaintance with. This was in large part
due to that incredible storytelling, the truly captivating characters the
players created, and, much to my surprise, the asexual representation found
within this unlikely source. By the time the campaign wrapped (just a few weeks
ago by the time of writing this post), I was beyond impressed by the notion
that Critical Role had not just one canon aspec character, but two,
and knew it would be a perfect and timely topic for a blog post. Despite Critical
Role being a little less mainstream than some of the other things I discuss
on the blog, I hope you nevertheless find these characters as interesting and
complex as I do, and perhaps learn a thing or two about representation through
their examples. So, without further ado, let’s dive into today’s analysis of Critical
Role and its aspec characters, Caduceus Clay (played by Taliesin Jaffe) and
Essek Thelyss (who, as a non-player character, is portrayed by Matt Mercer himself).
This post contains MASSIVE spoilers for all of Campaign Two of Critical Role, including but not limited to the final episode ("Fond Farewells") and the Campaign Two wrap-up
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| Image description: The official portrait of Caduceus Clay, the character portrayed by Taliesin Jaffe. Art obtained from the Critical Role wiki; art by official fan artist Ari |
That question remained in my mind when I jumped back into
the show. I saw fans referring to him as ace, but wasn’t sure if this was a
headcanon or canon information, so I went digging. I discovered an excellent fan-made
compilation on YouTube of all the moments in which Caduceus seemed to show aspec
tendencies, everything from him not picking up on sexual innuendo to looking repulsed
by the question of whether he’s married or has children. The clearest moment, however,
comes when Caduceus is being propositioned by a shopkeeper and completely fails
to pick up on it. When the rest of the party tells him what happened, he very
casually remarks that it’s “not really [his] thing,” and that he enjoys watching
the relationships between his friends develop, but that he’s not “into anybody”
in that way. This was later expanded upon in the Q&A show Talks Machina,
in which Taliesin remarks on the flirting by saying he was always playing
Caduceus as asexual and was hoping it could be organically brought up within the
game.
To hear Caduceus’s own creator and player say he was portraying him as ace intentionally was wonderful. To hear him say he was hoping he could bring it up in game was even better. And the fact that it came to fruition made it truly great. Taliesin was also asked later on Twitter to confirm if Caduceus was aromantic as well as asexual, something he did in fact confirm. This cemented Caduceus as not only the show’s first asexual character (although I would be remiss to not give a shoutout to Marisha Ray’s character Keyleth from Campaign One, who was confirmed outside of the game to have some demisexual vibes), but the first aromantic one as well.
But there is more to representation than just confirming; as I’ve discussed many times on this blog, having the representation be free from problematic tropes is half the battle, and I would say Taliesin does a good job of this. For instance, something I find interesting about Caduceus is that he almost seems to have a healthier, more down-to-earth attitude towards certain elements of sexuality than a few of his more sexual friends do. For instance, when fellow party member Beauregard (Marisha Ray) mentions, rather crudely, that Caduceus’s large family clearly means his parents had an active sex life, Caduceus replies nonchalantly that he knows because “it was a small house.” Despite Beau being the one to raise this point, she immediately becomes uncomfortable with how unphased Caduceus is by the notion (he even remarks that there’s nothing strange about it), an amusing conversational reversal of fortune.
In general, there are definitely a few times when the reactions
of the other characters do border on cringey. In addition to Beau’s comments
mentioned above, there are moments where Cad’s friends remark that there’s much
to show him, or where his lack of awareness and understanding about sexual
matters is almost implied to be because he never left his home. In general,
because Cad is somewhat unexperienced with "the real world" and definitely inexperienced
with romance (as the scene where he is being flirted with proves), it would have
been easy to fall into the trap of him being seen as a prude. But he manages to
rise above these things, as he does in that conversation about his parents, and
I believe this is thanks entirely to Taliesin playing him with intentionality.
This keeps him from portraying Caduceus in a way that is meant to be humorous,
and instead leads to him being portrayed in a way that is honest.
Because of these things, I believe Caduceus is a wonderful example of an aromantic asexual character, one that ticks a lot of the boxes I personally have for what makes good representation. After seeing so many characters who seem to have aspec vibes who are then suddenly altered by careless creators, it’s marvelous seeing a character who was aspec from the beginning and continued to be aspec right to the very end, one who is portrayed with consideration and purpose. To know that there are fans who picked up on these vibes immediately and who were vindicated in the end is a true gift. I hope that all of those fans who got to see that eventual reveal of Cad’s AroAce nature feel seen, and I hope fans who didn’t realize Cad was aspec were introduced to new and amazing representation because of him.
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| Image description: Essek Thelyss, as depicted in the show's animated opening. Image obtained from the Critical Role wiki |
Imagine my surprise and delight when it turned out Essek is demisexual/demiromantic.
This is something I discovered on the Critical Role
wiki, where I likewise learned a bit more about Essek’s story. To give the
truncated version – Essek was responsible for turning over a powerful and
important religious artifact of his people to the empire that opposed them. His
reasoning was that his own people were too bound to the artifact from a
spiritual perspective to study the vital magical properties it possessed, and
thus his hope was that the empire, unbound by these religious beliefs, would
make a study of it instead. But the act is assumed to be a hostility perpetrated by the empire against the dynasty of Essek’s people, thus igniting
a bloody conflict. As such, Essek’s shame for this action is deep and
his regret is profound, as he blames himself for the war that the members of
the Mighty Nein are trying to end for part of the campaign.
For this and many other reasons, Essek is an interesting, complex
character. Matt Mercer confirmed on a few different occasions that Essek,
because of this troubled history, was originally supposed to be a minor
antagonist, someone who believed that his past sins were too vast and that he
was “too far gone.” However, he also confirmed that the kindness and friendship
shown to Essek by the Mighty Nein was so great and unexpected, that the drow
found himself caring about their well-being far more than his own. In previous posts, I've mentioned my personal dislike for the trope of the aspec villain, but
Essek provides a fantastic look at how to bust that trope wide open.
In preparing for this post, I went back and watched a few
compilations of Essek moments from earlier episodes I had missed, including
some of the early episodes in which he was still supposed to be an antagonist. These
early moments show that Essek can be considered a “cold” individual, and other
characters describe him as such. Even after he starts to warm up to the Mighty
Nein, he seems to clearly lack social skills. But Essek manages to sidestep
both the problematic “cold” and “villainous” tropes we tend to see in aspec
characters, chiefly because the thing that warms him up is friendship – people showing
a genuine interest in him – rather than romance specifically.
Throughout the show, it becomes clear that Essek does not
fit into his society, and as such is often alone and alienated. Because
he does not share many of the beliefs of his people, Matt describes Essek as
having spent most of his life maintaining a level of deflecting and trying to
fit in that feels very familiar from an aspec point of view. In general, there
are other tiny moments in the show that seem to me to foreshadow the later reveal
of Essek being on the asexual spectrum. For example, in one episode the Mighty
Nein asks if it was ever Essek’s job to spy on them, given their role as unexpected guests
and allies to the Dynasty. When Essek confirms it was indeed something he had
been ordered to do, the Nein jokingly wonder if he ever spied on them while
they were naked. It’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it kind of moment, but
nevertheless noteworthy, when Essek replies he has “no interest in such things.”
All of these little moments really help create a story that
feels authentically aspec, but the real progression of Essek’s aspec nature comes
about due to the progressing relationship between him and Caleb (played by Liam
O’Brien). Caleb connected with Essek early on based on their similar magical
interests and personalities, and Caleb even studied certain new magical skills
under Essek’s tutelage. It was a platonic relationship that simmered for a long
time before anything more developed, and indeed their relationship is a
complex, multi-layered one – one I almost don’t feel entirely qualified to talk
about given I’m not in the fandom, nor have I been watching consistently since
the beginning. For that reason, take my remarks with a grain of salt, but I
think there are some threads that need to be analyzed, especially because I feel they
are directly tied into Essek being aspec.
At various times, Caleb and Essek’s relationship seemed to
have moments that hinted that their feelings for each other went beyond simply
mentor and mentee. These are usually cautiously initiated by Caleb, such as
moments when he will touch Essek’s arms, press their foreheads together, embrace
him, or even kiss him on the forehead or cheek. These gestures, of course, are
not inherently romantic, but Caleb often delivers them in ways
that seem to imply some sort of romantic undertone, or at least an extreme
affection. The pair seemed to become an incredibly popular ship within the
fandom, and I will admit even I was pretty actively rooting for something to
develop between them, due to the similar circumstances of their backstories,
their powers, and the general ways in which they seemed to understand one
another.
Fast-forward to the Campaign Two finale, during which Liam
describes Caleb’s desire to stay with Essek for a while, which Matt confirms is
something Essek is very open to as he builds a new life. This is where things
get a little complicated. The mention of staying together and sharing this time
has a very romantic connotation, although this romance is never confirmed
onscreen with any of the usual markers most audiences have come to expect from
romantic story arcs. Both Liam’s description of Caleb’s feelings and Matt’s description
of Essek’s mention they both feel grateful for the time they have to share
together. But something Liam specifically mentions is the lifespan difference
between Caleb as a human and Essek as a drow, saying that “Caleb will be an old
man and Essek will still be Essek” and implying that at some point Caleb would
end the romantic relationship, but remain lifelong friends with Essek.
Both the lack of explicit confirmation of a romance and the
notion that it will end at some point upset some in the fanbase. Although I did
not watch the episode live and therefore did not see the Twitch comments in
real time, I have seen clips of them on YouTube and screenshots online wherein
people in the comments section were lamenting that Caleb seemed to “friendzone”
Essek (aka, relegate him to a platonic relationship only). For a start, I already despise the term “friendzone” for a number of
reasons, chiefly because it makes friendship sound like a cheap and
disappointing booby prize when all you really want is romance or sex – which is
literally the exact opposite of what Essek’s story conveys. But more
importantly, there are a number of things to unpack in these reactions.
To me, these reactions fall anywhere on a sliding scale of
baffling to extremely disappointing. As someone who has shipped a number of
ships that never came to fruition or met tragic ends, I can completely relate
to the huge let down of your favorite couple seemingly not becoming canonical.
But I feel these reactions have a lot more going on than just that. As I
mentioned, the notion that this deep and meaningful bond was nothing more than
a friendzone is especially disheartening to see from fans of a show with such
vast and varied representation. Furthermore, I feel that the ambiguity in Matt
and Liam’s portrayal is an important part of demonstrating Essek’s demisexual/demiromantic
nature, as he would of course not be ready to jump into a relationship right
away. Thus, the thing that helps us see Essek’s aspec identity seems to be part
of the thing that people have the most problem with, and that is somewhat disheartening.
In Tweets later, Matt and Liam both made it clear that the
intention in their roleplaying was that Caleb and Essek do become romantic
partners for several years. Despite this clarification, however, I saw some fan
reaction that said the show needed to do better in its representation of male
same-sex relationships, citing that the show’s heterosexual and female same-sex
pairings got a “happy ending” while the male/male pairing seemingly did not. Granted,
part of the fandom’s overall impression that Essek/Caleb is a tragic ship is
due in large part to that vast discrepancy in lifespans, but there are many who
raise objection to how this ending for the pair was portrayed because the
romance was not made more overt, and therein lies the problem.
But these disappointing reactions don’t change Essek’s story
or erase the fact that in him, we see the type of representation I have been
longing for. In him, we see a character who manages to be unique and
meaningful, whose story is complex and explored with an excellent amount of
nuance and thought. We see him evolve through friendships, through feeling understood
and seen for perhaps the first time in his life, and eventually through love
too, even if the process is a slow one. In him, we see the effect that being an
outsider has on people, and what it feels like to finally be accepted. As Essek
himself says when one of his previous collaborators remarks that he no longer
seems cold, “I am surprised myself; maybe you should try friends sometime,” and
that itself is beautiful.
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In the last episode of the campaign, there is an incredible exchange
between Essek and Beauregard. With the adventure by and large concluded and
goodbyes being said, Essek looks at his friends and contemplates how they’ve changed
his life. “What have you done?” he wonders. “This world was so much easier when
it was black and white.” To which Beau replies, “But it’s so much more
beautiful in all the shades of color.”
Critical Role, from the very beginning, has been full
of representation for various queer groups. A slogan coined by the show, “don’t
forget to love each other,” is something they have on shirts and socks and
everything in between, alongside depictions of twenty-sided dice in the colors
of various pride flags – the asexual one included. I’ve grown very accustomed
to seeing media with diverse representation nevertheless ignore aspec identities,
so to see Critical Role avoid this trap is amazing. Beau is right, life
is far more beautiful in all the shades of color, and these characters prove
it. I am very grateful for Caduceus, Essek, Campaign One’s Keyleth, and everyone
involved in making their stories meaningful. I hope that, as the show expands
into a third campaign and beyond, perhaps we will see more aspec
representation. But until then, I’ll continue to trek forward in my own aspec
journey and my own quest for representation as I keep blogging. Until my next
post… is it Friday yet?
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