Transsexual voice actress Sena Bryer faces heavy criticism over FFXIV DLC

July 3, 2024

Transsexual voice actress Sena Bryer shared how happy and excited she was to be able to voice Wuk Lamat again (Square Enix)

Angry Final Fantasy XIV Fans criticize the new expansion pack on Steam Morning trailwith many singling out transgender voice artist Sena Bryer and bombarding her with criticism and insults.

Bryer voices Wuk Lamat, a central NPC (non-player character) in Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrailthe fifth expansion pack for FFXIV: a massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix.

She is described as “a beloved member of the ruling family of Tuliyollal (who) has recruited the Warrior of Light to help her ascend to the throne. Wuk Lamat must win the throne if she is to maintain a peaceful nation for her people, and so has joined the contest against rival claimants with impressive abilities.”

The Warrior of Light, sometimes called Adventurer, is the player-created character in FFXIV.

The Morning trail The DLC was released on July 2, but according to The Gamer, it has already dropped to a “mixed” rating due to a flood of very negative reviews on Steam.

Most people describe Wuk Lamat as “annoying” or “unbearable”, but in the FFXIV In the discussion section on Steam, some people claim that if Sena Bryer wasn’t transgender, players wouldn’t criticize the character so much.

One Steam user wrote: “I guarantee if she wasn’t voiced by a trans woman and looked like Y’shtola, people would mock her everywhere.” Y’shtola Rhul is one of the main characters from the Limsa Lominsa story in Final Fantasy XIV.

In other comments on the discussion forum, Sena Bryer is misgendered and someone even suggests changing the language of the game to Japanese to avoid hearing about a trans woman.

On X (formerly Twitter), the attacks were arguably even more vicious and transphobic: some people accused Square Enix of being “woke” by using a transgender voice actor.

However, many people also voiced their support for Sena Bryer and her performance. One fan tweeted: “Just a reminder: Wuk Lamat is an incredible character and the person who brought her to life is a trans woman and she did a damn amazing job. Given how toxic gaming is right now, this is a great reminder that there are moments like this that deserve to be celebrated.”

The negative comments about Bryer are similar to those directed against transgender vocal artist Zooey Alexandria, who Dead by daylight The character The Unknown made his in-game debut in March 2024.

Who is Sena Bryer?

Sena Bryer is an accomplished voice actress who also voices characters in Hearthstone And Need for Speed Unbound (2022) among many others. Previously, she voiced Wuk Lamat in FFXIV: Endwalker. Originally from Kentucky, she has a degree in creative writing and currently lives in Los Angeles.