Submission 45,558

Part of a series on Harry Potter. [View Related Entries]

@WHYvernmaster 7 months ago I no longer feel shame admitting it. I HATE these people. Not for being different. In fact, if not for the reasons they've given me to hate, I'd love them for that. But they've given me reason for years, and that reason is simple: They think EVERYTHING is about THEM. They consider themselves the masters of "trans issues," and so seek to make everything a "trans issue" so they might be the masters of all issues. And this is a preview of what letting them do that will bring. So, here's my stance: Everyone out there knows who the "twitter freaks" really are. If you let them use you as a shield, then you have no right to cry when you take some hits. (Note: I mean this figuratively. It's a metaphor in the first place, saying you're being used as a shield.) Show less B8 T Reply

@AceTheMM 7 months ago (edited) Even if the harrassment wasn't a contributing factor to her graduation, it still robbed her of experiencing Hogwarts Legacy with her chat, which was probably one of the last big games she was going to play before graduating. It also just filled her last weeks as a VTuber with negativity. Reply 146 4 replies

Peter that game causes harm to the trans community and fuels antisemitism. drip-meme.com I've pre-ordered Hogwarts Legacy and I'm really excited to play it. PIZZA POSTING I just told you that I've already bought it Harry, you don't need to sell it to me.

➡ Colonel Otaku Gatekeeper @politicalawake. Mar 2 Hogwarts Legacy has angered one Trans Developer so much they created a computer game called Terfenstein 3D where all the enemies are Terfs with the final boss being JK Rowling This is the definition of deranged & shows it was never about Tolerance but power. O Trans game developer launches first person shooter where players kill anti-trans villains, including priests Creator Sandra Moen claimed making the bloody game helped 'heal' from her 'trauma' as a trans person 217 By Gabriel Hays | Fox News 448 3 2,429 104.4K ‚↑.

I've finished Hogwarts Legacy, and I want to address some rumors. Statement ANTISEMITISM The portrayal of the goblins in the Harry Potter series "The portrayal of the goblins in the Harry Potter series is of a piece with their portrayal in Western literature as a whole. "It is the product of centuries of association of Jews with grotesque and malevolent creatures in folklore, as well as money and finance. The mythological associations have become so ingrained in the Western mind that their provenance no longer registers with creators or consumers. "Those who continue to use such representations are often not thinking of Jews at all, but simply of how readers or viewers will imagine goblins to look, which is a testament more to centuries of Christendom's antisemitism than it is to malice by contemporary artists. So it is with JK Rowling, who has proven herself over recent years to be a tireless defender of the Jewish community in its fight against antisemitism, for which we are immensely grateful." PROSE ATE Campaign Against Antisemitism Myth: The shofar is a collectable item in the game Fact: Myth: This game involves crushing a slave rebellion. Fact: The goblins are not slaves, and the rebellion never happens. There is a minority faction of goblins with dreams of a violent revolution that will not only free them from wizards but subjugate all wizards to them, and of course put the individual goblins in the movement at the top of goblin society as well. They kill multiple goblins for not agreeing with them. They are not a social justice movement. They are a totalitarian minority group trying to overthrow one oppressive regime in order to create another. The vast majority of goblins do not support Ranrok's rebellion or want him in charge; not because they are okay with being oppressed by wizards, but because they realize that Ranrok isn't going to be any better and may even be worse, since he's a lot more violent toward dissenters. The only people who would interpret Ranrok's rebellion as a social justice movement are the braindread boycotters who think that telling Jews to kill ourselves and sending graphic r--- threats to trans men are social justice acts. Myth: You commit genocide against the goblins. Fact: No, you do not. You kill goblins under the exact same circumstances you kill wizards: they are part of an evil group that has inserted itself into your affairs and decided of its own accord that they wanted to hurt you. You were just trying to get to school when Ranrok first attacked you. At no point does anyone in this game have the goal of wiping out goblins, and there are numerous goblins that you help throughout the game. Additionally, most protagonists are pro-goblin rights. There is only one companion who is anti-goblin, and you defend goblins to him (the game does not even give you a choice; you defend the goblins) and he is completely invalidated by the narrative. Myth: The goblins kidnap wizard children and steal their blood. Fact: The only wizard "child" that Ranrok is after is the protagonist of the game. I'm pretty sure he needs that teenager alive, not for their blood but for their sight, because they can see ancient magic that most other wizards can't, and Ranrok needs someone who can do that in order to find the ancient artifact he's seeking. I feel like I'd remember a scene where he stole my blood, and I don't. I can't even imagine what his motivation for doing that would be, since at no point in the game was my blood needed to unlock or control anything; just my sight. (Even Salazar Slytherin didn't put a blood-key lock on the door that he explicitly only wanted his own descendants to be able to get through.) Myth: The only Jews in this game are goblins. Fact: This game doubled the number of Jews in the Harry Potter series with recognizable faces. That's not saying much, but still. Abraham Ronen and Ruth Singer are both extremely Jewish-coded names, and they're names that will actually register as Jewish-coded for a lot of gentiles. Personally, I find Officer Singer absolutely useless, but not in any way that I don't expect from an adult cop in a narrative with a teenage protagonist. If she were good at her job, what would we do? Abraham Ronen is extremely likable and a wonderful teacher, and I am very pleased to be able to say that Hogwarts has Jewish professors. Myth: One of the lead devs was a Nazi. Fact: Troy Leavitt, who left the project two years ago, was a head designer whose duties mostly included animating NPCs and designing the castle. He had a youtube accour which expressed pretty mainstream Republican views and some gamergate sympathies. I disagree with him about a lot, but I've seen no evidence so far that he's a Nazi or that he has any ill intentions toward Jews. If someone can show me evidence to the contrary, I will amend my views accordingly. This is the horn in the game: These are shofars: Cgoogle.com/search/q-shofarfsarf-AJ0quWWMS2EvdRua_CL_jVUwQJ£2_w:167 Google Shofer-Wa Encyclopedia Channel com: XChannada Upload video: XPhone X Tumblr Bay 3XL Veteran (29 goblins 27 Partly cloudy magusanopping news more e clipart blowing Amazon.com in stock O My Jerusalem. In stock 444 Ve Amazon.com-In stock vom kippur & graves Shofer Yet Ham (19-23 inch) by World of Jud. Instock & = transparent 87&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved-ZahUKEwice XaKISAHVGQ|HalSCpQ_AUoAXECAEQAw&biw=1920&bih=872&dpr=1 O Chosen People Ministries in stock Wipedia Shofer blowing-Wipedia Judaicaeb.In stockay In stock and they call it annoying. FO Jon Stewart X Campaign Acx genocide de XR Hogwarts Endinely Rain shofar - Goc; X 13 Painted Rays Ho O Yem Pohor What is a Shot? My Jewish Leaming Amazon.com-stock Mural(Yemen Sho O vector ramshorn ⒸJ Team stock My Jersen stock HETUM Profe CAMPAIGA O AGAINST SMALL Kudu Kar Yet Shofer O MOTE OF FORCE RHShoferown by Stock Star Rams Homtock Bustration G I don't think there's a strong resemblance, personally. I don't even think the horn in the game is ram's horn. Granted, not all shofars are or have to be ram's horn, but I think it's hard to make the argument that that is "clearly a shofar" when it's not shaped like shofar and probably isn't made out of the same material. Bone horns were used around the world, on every continent, for centuries. Not all bone horns are Jewish. Also, the average gentile does not know what a shofar is. I'm telling you, I have asked multiple different gentiles of various educational backgrounds, and not a single one knew what a shofar was or connected the image from the game to Jews at all. Using shofars to signify that Jews are evil and bad when the average gentile cannot identify them or connect them to Jews is some pretty inept propaganda writing. Myth: 1612 is a reference to a Jewish rebellion that ended with a pogrom in 1614. Fact: First of all, it's weird to use the date 1612 to signify a pogrom that took place in 1614. Second of all, the date 1612 is from a list of goblin rebellions that was included in the original series. I'm pretty sure JK Rowling was not slipping secret messages to kill Jews into her books and then going on twitter and denouncing antisemitism in UK politics. JK Rowling has gone out of her way to be an ally to Jews on multiple occasions. Not a perfect one; I stand by my criticisms of antisemitism in the Fantastic Beasts series. But in the absence of literally any other evidence that she secretly wants Jews dead, I think-and I know this is an extremely unpopular thing to say right now-I think JK Rowling deserves the benefit of the doubt about this. Especially since there is so much doubt. If 1612 is an obvious message to kill Jews, why was no one talking about it when it first appeared in the original Harry Potter series? Myth: The boycotters are just politely stating their opinion. Fact: The boycotters are telling people to kill themselves, doxing people and threatening them, and sending them graphic r--- threats. I've received several myself. I know numerous other people who have received death and r--- threats from boycotters. It's why I do not wish to associate with anyone who is still openly supporting this boycott. If you think playing a video game is violence, but sending real people death and r--- threats isn't, there is something deeply wrong with your moral compass. You can deny that it's happening all you want, but that's not going to change how bad supporting this makes you look to everyone who knows what's been happening. (Which is... really the entire internet outside of your echo chamber. Your movement came out on Day 1 strongly in favor of r--- and murder for everyone who disagree with you, and everyone knows. Denying it doesn't change that.)

View All 104 Images

About

Hogwarts Legacy is an open-world video game based on the Harry Potter franchise released on February 10th, 2023. The game was announced in 2020. In the years prior to its release, the game sparked several controversies, including criticism aimed at its ex-lead designer Troy Leavitt over his purported support of GamerGate and for setting the game during a goblin rebellion, as many see the goblins in Harry Potter as being offensive representations of Jewish people. Some people also boycotted the game, not wanting to support J.K. Rowling's TERF comments. Hogwarts Legacy was released on February 10th, 2023, and saw a notable online presence in memes, viral debates and other discourse surrounding it.

History

The reveal trailer for Hogwarts Legacy was released on YouTube on September 16th, 2020, gaining over 30 million views on the PlayStation YouTube channel in two years (shown below).

On March 17th, 2022, a gameplay trailer for Hogwarts Legacy was uploaded to the Warner Bros. Games YouTube channel, garnering over 1.3 million views in five months (shown below).

Reception

On February 6th, 2023 (five days ahead of the game's release), an initial slew of reviews was released on various gaming outlets, giving the game a critical score of 85/100 on Metacritic^[13] based on 45 critic reviews. Positive reviews praised the game's open and immersive world, saying Potter fans will enjoy getting wrapped in the wizarding world of Hogwarts Legacy. GameRant^[14] wrote, "It succeeds at being the dream Harry Potter game that many fans were hoping for, and if nothing else, it creates a rock-solid foundation for future Wizarding World games to be built upon." In a more negative piece, The Guardian^[15] wrote that the game wasn't much better than "countless open-world games" after 15 hours of gameplay, and expressed a negative opinion of the battle mechanics and controls.

The first batch of reviews reignited arguments for boycotting the game, and discussion around the websites covering it. Twitter user @Patrickklepek^[16] tweeted that websites that might agree with ignoring the game may be forced to cover it since the game will likely be popular, gaining over 700 retweets and 4,500 quote-tweets (shown below, left). User @SamGreszes^[17] joked that if people want to play the game, they "should at least be ashamed enough by that choice that you don't post about it on social media," gaining over 50 retweets and 770 likes (shown below, right).

Patrick Klepek @patrickklepek Watching gaming outlets jump through rhetorical hoops to justify coverage on Hogwarts Legacy isn't surprising, but it'd be more honest if they played it straight and just said "our shaky business model does not allow us to ignore any game that might sell 10 million copies." 9:14 AM Feb 6, 2023 336.7K Views ...

Sam Greszes @SamGreszes If you're going to buy and play hogwarts legacy you should at least be ashamed enough by that choice that you don't post about it on social media 10:12 PM. Feb 5, 2023 75.3K Views ...

Controversies

Troy Leavitt Controversy

On February 19th, 2021, Twitter^[1] user @Doctor_Cupcakes, a Did You Know Gaming? contributor, shared a screenshot of the creative director of Hogwarts Legacy Troy Leavitt's YouTube channel, writing, "I know this is just shocking but the lead designer of Hogwarts Legacy is Troy Leavitt, a far right YouTuber who used to make anti-fem and pro GG vids," garnering over 6,000 likes and 2,500 retweets in a year. Kotaku^[2] reported on the controversy on the 21st, mentioning how Leavitt has videos defending John Lasseter (Pixar co-founder who left in 2017 after allegations of sexual misconduct) and GamerGate. On March 4th, Leavitt posted a Tweet^[3] announcing he would be leaving Avalanche Games. He posted a video to his YouTube^[4] channel discussing why he left on March 12th, garnering over 25,000 views in a year (shown below).

Goblin Rebellion Criticism

One of the villains of the game is a Dark Wizard-allied goblin named Ranrok, who leads a goblin rebellion against the wizards during the events of the game. In March 2022, people began criticizing the developers for portraying the goblins, who have been criticized in the past for stereotypically resembling Jewish people,^[5] as villains for rebelling against their oppressors. That month, publications including The Gamer,^[6] Daily Dot,^[7] Game Rant^[8] and Vice^[9] reported on the controversy. On June 7th, YouTuber Harry Potter Theory posted a video describing the lore around goblin rebellions, garnering over 90,000 views in two months (shown below).

Boycott Attempts

On top of the goblin rebellion and Troy Leavitt controversies, some people decided to boycott the game because of J.K. Rowling's anti-trans sentiments. On August 26th, 2022, Twitter^[10] user @Inez666_ tweeted, "Friendly reminder!! Don’t buy this game!! The people who worked on it have already been paid, this doesn’t need your support. Trans people are more important than a wizard school you can’t let go of. Don’t stab us in the back thanks ❤️," garnering over 83,000 likes and 23,000 retweets in two days. On August 27th, Twitter^[11] user @VoicesByZane made a similar tweet, garnering over 10,000 likes in a day.

Some users mocked the tweets. On August 27th, Twitter^[12] user @SophiaNarwitz posted a meme about buying 100 copies of the game, garnering over 4,900 likes in two days (shown below).

Sophia Narwitz @SophiaNarwitz "People will literally die if you buy the new Harry Potter game." "I'll take 100 copies of Hogwarts Legacy please." SISTE ⠀ 11:53 AM - Aug 27, 2022- Twitter for iPhone

Spoiler Campaign

In the week before release, Hogwarts Legacy boycotters began posting warning-free spoilers for the game's ending on social media, dividing users on whether it was a fair form of protest.

Hogwarts Legacy Trans Character / Sirona Ryan

On February 6th, 2023, multiple news outlets reported that Hogwarts Legacy would feature a trans character named Sirona Ryan, a barkeep and owner of the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade.^[18] Twitter account @ThePopTingz^[19] tweeted about the character, gaining over 20 retweets and 250 likes in hours (shown below).

Many on Twitter joked about the name, quipping that it was in line with J.K. Rowling's method for naming non-cis, non-white characters. User @Juniper^[20] joked, "i think the trans community can accept the first trans character in harry potter being named Sirona Ryan if they introduce the first TERF character and name her Dee Vorced," gaining over 250 retweets and 4,500 likes in one hour (shown below, left). User @SpillerofTea^[21] joked that JK Rowling probably would have named the character "Amanda Stillaman," gaining over 70 retweets and 280 likes (shown below, right).

PROVE pudding person @JUNIPER i think the trans community can accept the first trans character in harry potter being named Sirona Ryan if they introduce the first TERF character and name her Dee Vorced 12:35 PM. Feb 6, 2023 166.3K Views

Fancy Brenda @SpillerOfTea (they/them) Sirona Ryan was the compromise after JK spent 17 uninterrupted hours arguing for 'Amanda Stillaman' G GameRevolution.com @Game Revolution - 7h Hogwarts Legacy introduces Sirona Ryan, the Harry Potter series' first trans character. #HogwartsLegacy #Harry Potter gamerevolution.com/news/934065-ho... 12:33 PM. Feb 6, 2023 7,233 Views

Streamer Harassment

With the game's early release on February 7th, 2023, many streamers began showing gameplay on Twitch, resulting in some receiving targeted harassment in the form of existing or newly made accounts that spammed chats by calling streamers "transphobic" and "bigoted" for supporting J.K. Rowling, as well as being inundated with criticism for merely playing Hogwarts Legacy. On February 6th, Twitter user and web designer @iamsamgibbs^[22] unveiled a website (havetheystreamedthatwizardgame.com) a day before the early launch that was designed to show what streamers were actively playing the game (shown below).

Sam Gibbs @iamsamgibbs Introducing havetheystreamedthatwizardgame.com - find out if anyone you follow on twitch has streamed THAT new wizard game Streamer ALT have they streamed THAT wizard game? OR Login with Twitch to check if anyone you follow has played THAT wizard game Login with Twitch → 7:20 AM - Feb 6, 2023 - 7.4M Views ⠀ Search →

One such example of harassment in livestream chats occurred late on February 6th, with the YouTuber turned Twitch streamer couple Girlfriend Reviews (Shelby and Matt).^[24] During their stream, Shelby was reportedly brought to tears due to harassment from chat while playing the game.^[23] This notably led to a lot of backlash against those boycotting the game by harassing others, as well as causing bigger streamers, such as xQc to come to her support (shown below).

Professor Garlick

Professor Maribel Garlick is the herbology professor in Hogwarts Legacy, a 2023 video game based on the Harry Potter series. Following the game's release in February 2023, people began posting fan art, including rule 34 artwork and memes about Garlick, often expressing attraction for her.

Search Interest

External References

^[1] Twitter – Doctor_Cupcakes

^[2] Kotaku – Hogwarts Legacy Lead Designer Used To Run Anti-Social Justice YouTube Channel

^[3] Twitter – Leavitt

^[4] YouTube – To My Friends at Avalanche

^[5] Forbes – The ‘Harry Potter’ Anti-Semitism Controversy, Explained

^[6] The Gamer – Did Hogwarts Legacy Seriously Just Make The Anti-Semitic Goblins The Villains?

^[7] Daily Dot – Hogwarts Legacy accused of using an antisemitic trope with goblin plot

^[8] Game Rant – Hogwarts Legacy Made A Controversial Villain Choice

^[9] Vice – Hogwarts Legacy Imagines a Harry Potter Without JK Rowling

^[10] Twitter – Inez666_

^[11] Twitter – VoicesByZane

^[12] Twitter – Sophianarwitz

^[13] Metacritic – Hogwarts Legacy

^[14] GameRant – Hogwarts Legacy Review

^[15] The Guardian – Hogwarts Legacy review – wizarding wish-fulfilment whose magic wears off

^[16] Twitter – patrickklepek

^[17] Twitter – SamGreszes

^[18] Entertainment Weekly – Hogwarts Legacy seemingly introduces Harry Potter's first trans character amid J.K. Rowling controversy

^[19] Twitter – ThePopTingz

^[20] Twitter – @Juniper

^[21] Twitter – SpillerOfTea

^[22] Twitter – iamsamgibbs

^[23] Dexerto – Twitch chat berates streamer to tears for playing Hogwarts Legacy on launch day

^[24] Twitch – Girlfriend Reviews

Related Entries 36 total

Hogwarts Legacy

Part of a series on Harry Potter. [View Related Entries]

[View Related Sub-entries]

PROTIP: Press 'i' to view the image gallery, 'v' to view the video gallery, or 'r' to view a random entry.

This submission is currently being researched & evaluated!

You can help confirm this entry by contributing facts, media, and other evidence of notability and mutation.

About

History

The reveal trailer for Hogwarts Legacy was released on YouTube on September 16th, 2020, gaining over 30 million views on the PlayStation YouTube channel in two years (shown below).

On March 17th, 2022, a gameplay trailer for Hogwarts Legacy was uploaded to the Warner Bros. Games YouTube channel, garnering over 1.3 million views in five months (shown below).