Deadly Premonition 2’s Representation Controversy Explained

Deadly Premonition 2 comes from the mind of Hidetaka Suehiro, better known as Swery65. The developer is known for creating larger-than-life characters and crazy stories, like in D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die and JJ Macfield and the Island of Memories. Deadly Premonition 2 lives up to that legacy, with a story just as off-the-wall as the original.

There have been a few snags along the way, however, especially in the way the game handles some of its representation. The issue stems from the way the game treats a transgender character named Lena, which resulted in Swery issuing an apology and committing to change content within Deadly Premonition 2.

The controversy has gained attention, as it’s not everyday a creator immediately commits to change content within a game. For anyone unfamiliar, here’s an explanation on Deadly Premonition 2′s representation controversy.

Deadly Premonition 2’s Problematic Transgender Representation

Shortly after the release of Deadly Premonition 2 Swery issued an apology on Twitter stating, “I realized by pointed out from friends, I might have hurt transgender people in my scenario,” Suehiro wrote. “It wasn’t intentional. I am really sorry for that.” He committed to changing the scene ASAP, and on June 21 a small patch was released. This apology was in reference to a scene where Lena Dauman, a transgender woman, is misgendered and deadnamed. It’s especially frustrating because shortly before the scene the game’s main character, Francis York Morgan, has a big speech about accepting marginalized people and how someone’s origins and preferences don’t define them. The problem, however, is that after that big speech, Morgan has no problem deadnaming Lena (using her name before transition) and consistently misgendering her.

This would be disappointing in any game, but it’s especially frustrating because of Swery’s previous game, The MISSING: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories. The Missing features a trans protagonist, and while it isn’t perfect and falls into some tropes, tells a genuinely heartwarming story that has a happy outcome for its main character; which is sadly rare for LGBTQ characters in video games.

For more perspective, journalist Laura Kate Dale posted a YouTube video going over the issue in-depth and addressing how the scene has changed. In the updated version the line where York deadnames Lena has been cut out, even though shes uses it just a bit after. There is precedent for Deadly Premonition 2’s representation issues, as the first game features a character named Thomas, who murders women and wears women’s clothing. Laura Kate Dale’s video goes into the topic more, but Thomas’ character feels a bit exploitative and lazy, although it’s hard to say the exact intent Swery had behind the character.

At this point, it’s unclear if Swery plans to change any more of the context or representation in Deadly Premonition 2, as he hasn’t commented on the issue anymore since the patch. Fans are disappointed that Swery went from a game like The Missing, which genuinely felt like a step forward for transgender representation, to Deadly Premonition 2.

Deadly Premonition 2 is currently available on Nintendo Switch.

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