Well, going to touch on a number of things mentioned in the thread here.. First, Kish mentions that sexuality is a fixed quality in a person...personally, I don't completely agree. Not something that is easily changed - or something which I believe can be changed by a personal decision - but I don't consider it something that's completely fixed and unchangeable. I also don't believe it's something we're born with, but rather something that develops as people are exposed to and think about sexuality and relationships (of that type). And as people have mentioned, the history of Imoen doesn't particularly indicate that they would be exposed to and/or think about such things very much so far. Therefore, the thought that what happens during the course of the game, the choices made by the protagonist, could impact Imoen's choice of sexuality are perfectly plausible to me. Whether or not that's something that
should happen during the course of the game, I haven't formulated my own opinion on, but it does strike me as something possible.
I'm going backwards along the thread, so bear with the reversed order of responses (at the end, I'll have my own complete thoughts on the matter as well, I just wanted to get the replies that I thought of while I was reading the thread out). Longinus says the reason the
NPC's that have pre-coded romances will only initiate with a character of the opposite gender is because most people are heterosexual...I disagree. Like some have said before, I think the reason is because the issue of lesbians and gays is very minimally represented in games, because it causes a good deal of turmoil and controversy. It's
easier for the game writers to completely bypass the thought, than it is to observe it and possibly produce a significant amount of controversy and bad press. There've been very few games that include any sort of homosexual relationship at all, and it's most likely more because of marketing reasons and pressure from anti-homosexual groups. The same thing applies to Kozand's suggestion that the Edwin/Edwina plot is somehow a more controversial matter than a lesbian/bi Imoen. I don't see any similarity whatsoever. Sex-switching magic has been commonly mentioned (though rarely actually appearring) in D&D for a long time, and has nothing to do with a person's sexual preference (usually it's some kind of curse, such as the Girdle in
BG1). It's simply a magical effect that people tend to find amusing,
especially when it happens to someone like Edwin. If he found himself suddenly attracted to men in his new form, that might be a little closer to what you comment on, but he doesn't, he wants to get rid of the curse as soon as possible.
Domi, even assuming Imoen was 17 and not 20, this is the Realms, not Earth (and even there, primarily modern western civilization). 17 is old enough to be married and well on your way to a child, if not already with a little one, in the Realms, really, for humans, at least. The fact that the protagonist can be an elf, yet still referred to as being that young has always been an odd point, but it's not entirely without precedent that elves do grow up that fast (primarily noted with Drizzt Do`Urden and Liriel Baenre - Drizzt is 25 when he goes to Melee-Magthere, but it's noted he grows at about the same rate as a human) going by the logical assumption that Dark Elves and other elf races grow at approximately the same rate of speed, the fact that elf PC's in D&D start out at 100+ is simply a societal thing, like our current real world society doesn't treat people as adults until 21, (at least in most portions of the US) but are physically and, depending on upbringing, mentally adults as early as 15 or so. Though, if elven kids grew up that slow, I can understand why there are few of them; who would want to deal with a baby for two decades and a toddler for four more?
So my own thoughts on the matter... Well, given what I have seen of Imoen's personality in-game so far, it's hard to pin her down in one direction or another. And one has to include the consideration that they wouldn't write in anything that would make her obviously a lesbian, due to the marketing/controversy issues mentioned above. That doesn't directly lead me to draw any conclusions about her, save for the fact that she's very, very unspecified. If this were taken to indicate that she has very little experience with the subject, it can indicate that her preference will be formed through the things that happen throughout her life. So an examination about what we know about her life could help..granted, this is going to be slightly subjective depending on who examines it, but my own thoughts.. Well, the events of
BG1 aren't particularly fresh in my mind, but starting with Sarevok killing Gorion, she has only the player character to rely upon. One wonders what sort of relationship she may have developed with Dynaheir, assuming they were both in the party back then, as it can be important in her reaction to the news that Dynaheir is dead after Jon's dungeon in
BG2, which can further help form her opinion of Jon (which I suppose can't get a heck of a lot worse, but still, her relationship with female
NPC's in the party that could serve as examples to be looked up to can be of importance in the formation of her opinions). Tomoko would also be an interesting influence, as perhaps minor as her part was. I think Imoen would admire her in one way, for her sticking by Sarevok; she might make paralells to herself and CHARNAME because of that. After Jon and
BG2, I tend to think she would resent Jon, and in retrospect, Sarevok would also play a part in this; she may, as some note, find it difficult to get close to a male due to this, depending on how she sees it. It could even strain her relationship with CHARNAME. On the other hand, it could simply drive her to be more dependent upon the player character as the only one who is always there for her. I might think she would end up somewhat distrustful and difficult to get close to men. There may not be any overt indication, but depending on how these events affect her (completely subjective, I understand, the way you and I think they affect her may be completely different), I would assign her some distinct lesbian tendencies - when she even is ready to get into that sort of relationship, which she probably wouldn't be anytime particularly soon. The other possibility, driving her toward the player character, is exceedingly dependent on whether or not CHARNAME is male or female. Either way, if CHARNAME becomes the only person that she can ever rely on, according to her viewpoint, I would believe that she would be driven toward liking characters of the protagonist's gender (not necessarily CHARNAME, because of the sister-type relationship, but definitely driven toward liking those of CHARNAME's gender).
On the other hand, considering Imoen's age, it
could be a bit late for these opinions to be forming, perhaps depending on just how sheltered her life in Candlekeep was, exactly. In the end, all of the speculation leads me to a similar conclusion as some of the others have come up with; she doesn't seem the type to have a specific requirement, whether race or sex for the person she would love. Imoen's attitude seems to me as one who is most likely open to care about anyone who truly cares about her, and the thought of whether that person is male or female wouldn't enter into it
as much as whether or not she can feel the same way about this person. I'd consider her bisexual simply because in my view of her, she would be attracted to someone who is kind...a bit stronger than her, generally a good person, and probably a bit put off by extreme lawfulness, but someone who feels that way about her, and whether that someone is male or female wouldn't be an issue.
Well Met,
Koyasha Jurai
