Read: our finest words
- The Season Of The Witch
- Retro: Where Time Stood Still
- In Holy Murloctrimony
- World Of Goo Piracy Rate: “82%”
- Our Man In Northrend
- RPS Wireless Show Ep6: Erik Wolpaw Speak-O-Chat
- RPS Exclusive: Left 4 Dead’s Dead Air Campaign
- Ninth Art Meets Tenth Art: Games To Comics
- And more of our finest words...
Revisit: a random post
The Quake Live Trailer
Respond: to our gibberish
- AsubstanceD : “That is right. I meant advanced. Haha. I look forward to playing it on expert, I am loving this game. I hope to see some ...” on Left 4 Dead RPS Review Face-Off
- JonFitt : “@dartt He might mean Advanced. Second hardest could be the second to the hardest i.e. advanced” on Left 4 Dead RPS Review Face-Off
- malkav11 : “I was really hoping the "throwing off the shackles and constraints of reality" would involve vampires. Or possibly robots.” on DiRT ReTURNS
- dartt : “@AsubstanceD Yes, that's why they have Advanced and Expert mode :)” on Left 4 Dead RPS Review Face-Off
- roBurky : “That was very good. And very funny.” on IF Comp 2008: Violet
Play: indie, mods and webgames
Browse: the mighty RPS archive
The PC’s Samus? Pyro’s Gender To Be Revealed
Written by Kieron Gillen on February 12, 2008 at 1:34 pm.
Relaxing with the new PCG: UK podcast, I was entirely unsurprised - if only because Dep-Ed Edwards had told me about it beforehand - to hear the Master of Stealth Tom Francis reveal a little gossip hot from Valve’s Robin Walker. Firstly, they’re still doing the class movies - the next was to be the Medic, to roll out with the class achievements, but it wasn’t quite what they wanted so are reworking. The next will be the Pyro which will “apparently clear up the pyro’s gender”, according to Francis.
For those who haven’t been following the (er) controversy, careful exploration reveals a delightfully girly purse in the Pyro’s locker. Or maybe, as PCG notes, maybe he’s Tellytubby Tinky Winky.
Related Stories:
46__________________
« Radical Redesign: Tim Bennison on Prototype | More Speed Need »
Chris Evans says:
I don’t think the Pyro has a sex, he/she just is what it is…a Pyro 
February 12th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Mike says:
Meat Circus has taken internet grammar criticism to a whole new level of pedantry. Impressive stuff.
February 12th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
“Pyro’s Sex To Be Revealed” would be a little too Tabloid, no?
February 12th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Lu-Tze says:
Pyrophilia is now a term lodged in my brain. I don’t even want to think about it. BUT I CAN’T STOP.
February 12th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Meat Circus says:
I *want* Pyro’s sex to be revealed. I AM A BAD MAN.
February 12th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Meat Circus says:
You know, just because you are delightfully girly, doesn’t make you any less of a man. Just ask John Walker.
February 12th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Dinger says:
Bah, Sex vs. Gender is another case of precise technical language losing its meaning. In this case, ’sex’ is correct, but no journalist will use it.
The Pyro certainly has the hips of a woman, but the voice of a man. I am curious to see what they do for a movie: I mean, all the other characters talk - they talk a lot, and about everything. The Pyro - well, the Pyro doesn’t communicate well with friends, even when trying. But the Pyro is the only class that can always get the enemy to start yelling, and quite clearly.
That’s the route I’d take for the Pyro trailer: have everyone else talk about the Pyro, and throw in a couple of mumbled shots and maybe a meditation scene in a locus amoenus or something, leaning on the axe and staring out across the water, a lone tear inexplicably dripping from the eyeslit.
February 12th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
Butler` says:
It didn’t once occur to me that the Pyro is anything but male, and I still can’t see where people are getting the idea it is a female from.
Hips? ‘It’ is wearing a fire proof suit…
February 12th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Muzman says:
ohh I gettit. This is why some bit of fan art I saw that had an all female TF2 cast left pyro unchanged
February 12th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Meat Circus says:
“I remember the first time my grandfather let me handle his flamethrower. It felt warm and hard and uncommonly good…”
A cheeky grin, a cheery smile. Look out! He’s a pyrophile.
February 12th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Seniath says:
Ohh, I’ve been waiting for a Meet the Pyro since I set my first spy on fire.
February 12th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Man Raised By Puffins says:
While we’re on the subject of delightfully girly things, and also TF2 natch, have a gander at these (Thanks, Chris).
February 12th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
go says:
Oh man, those TF2 valentines rock. so. much.
February 12th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Willem says:
It doesn’t matter.
February 12th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Snarky says:
*cough* FLAMER!!!!1eleven
…’scuse me!
But seriously, I’d be very freaked out if the Pyro ended up female… though one questionable clue can be found in the TF2 content GCF (able to be opened with GCFscape). Just CTRL-F for “global_actors.txt” with the proper GCF open and take a look at the contents of the file it finds. Is it proof? No clue, but it seems to confirm what I believe to be true…
And finally, in relation to the snippet about the Meet the Medic video almost being next but needing a rework… if that’s true, then this is me: D:
February 12th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Optimaximal says:
ohh I gettit. This is why some bit of fan art I saw that had an all female TF2 cast left pyro unchanged
Linkeh? I’m one of the camp that think Valve should do a ‘female model pack’ if only for completeness.
After all, TF2 is currently a sausage fest (!) and it won’t be too hard to keep to the requirement of ‘all models must be easily identifiable’ - If stereotypes have taught me anything, women from the Urals are built just as heavily as the men!
February 12th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Kim says:
Oh! Awesome art gallery
Anyhoo…. the Pyro has a male voice… doesn’t.. uh…it?
I personally would prefer if they kept the Pyro anonymous… I loved that, it’s unique to the character and contrasted nicely against the spy - the Pyro has no face, while the Spy has many.
It’s more entertaining to try and guess and form assumptions than it being revieled to you - like Pyro’s naughty little secret
February 12th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Anonymous says:
Meat Circus, Sex and Gender are the same thing.
Drr.
Also, it’s a girl.
February 12th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Mustache says:
As it turns out The Heavy will be revealed as female. Those silly ruskies
February 12th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
Tom says:
I say the Medic one is still due to be next, despite the delay. Robin didn’t say when the Pyro one was coming, but it was evident that he’d seen it.
However, this post gets three bonus points for linking to my new blog URL, and seventy for the tag. Cheers.
February 12th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
Ryan says:
Anonymous, you are opening a big ol’ academic can of worms there 
Honestly, I expect they’ll play up the ambiguity in the “Meet the…” clip while leaving it unresolved. Much It’s Pat, only, you know, not shit.
February 12th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Seth Tipps says:
Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if the team that brought us portal and Ep2 also gave us a “flamer” pyro. Though I think that the purse might have been funnier in the soldier’s locker, it really is a great touch.
February 12th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Arathain says:
Anonymous says:
“Meat Circus, Sex and Gender are the same thing.”
You don’t know enough trans-gendered folk, apparently.
February 12th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
teknohed says:
Does it bother anyone else that all the team fortress 2 characters are white?
February 13th, 2008 at 12:58 am
Doug Farrell says:
Um, teknohed?
Have you looked as the demoman lately? In his own words, “I’m a black scottish cyclops. They’ve got more fu-[HEAVILY CENSORED] than they’ve got the likes of me.”
Also, if you know what color the Pyro’s skin is under all that gear, I’d love to know your sources.
February 13th, 2008 at 1:10 am
James T says:
That’s the route I’d take for the Pyro trailer: have everyone else talk about the Pyro, and throw in a couple of mumbled shots and maybe a meditation scene in a locus amoenus or something
The Pyro video I’ve been hoping for:
(We open on the Intel room of 2Fort. The camera pans slowly over to the Pyro, engaged quietly in busywork by the computers. Eventually he’s done with his typing, and he turns to the camera.)
“Urrh, helluh! Uh dun’t see yuh thuh! Huh-huh-huh!”
(BRIEF ACTION SNIPPET)
(From offscreen, we hear the voice of the Spy, who is conducting this talking-head.)
“Pyro, I am glad you found ze time to participate in zis project; I know zat your time is precious ven ve are at all times engaged against ze enemy.”
“Uhffs muh p’eshur, Spuhh!”
“I am appreciating zis. Allow me to be blunt: you are known as ze ‘funny’ one of our team; is zat reputation chustified?”
“Uhh, wuhh, huhh fuhh zuguhh umuhh fuhh, uzuwuhh muhguh suhh ufuhh… buh uhzwuh, zuhmuhguhfuhh! Huh-huh-huh-huh!”
“Ahahah, of course.”
(BRIEF ACTION SNIPPET)
“I am often findink zat zere is ein… cultural gap between more ‘cultured’ members of our group, such as yourself und I, und… ze rest of zese cretins. Der Scout ist unerträglich!– er, I apologise. Do you find it difficult to express your artistic inclinations in ein atmosphere of such… machismo? How do you express your creative side?”
“Wuhh, uhh duffucuhh, buh wuh uhh fuhh zuhh tuhh inbuhfuhh suhh, uhh uhcuhhfuhnuhh unduhh uh muh puhfuhh fuh uhl puhh-s!”
(Camera pans across to a framed oil painting by the Pyro, a crude still-life depicting a wine bottle and fruit basket, with screaming TF-ers engulfed in flames, panicking in the distance.)
“Ahh, zat is very beautiful, I see zat your talents extend vell beyond ze incineration of flesh.”
(The Pyro chuckles good-naturedly). “Yuhh, uh luhk tuh funghh suhh.”
(BRIEF ACTION SNIPPET)
“It vas Robert Frost who wrote, in ‘Fire und Ice’, ‘Some say ze vorld will end in fire/ Some say in ice / From vhat I’ve tasted of desire / I hold mit zose who favor fire.’ Do you not feel zat fire is a destructive zing, and does zis at all make you qvestion your attachment to ze… ‘infernal’?”
(We see the Spy’s hand drawing air quotes at ‘infernal’)
“Uh, zuh’s un’erustingh! Wuhh yuhh suhh, uhh fuhh suhh enguhh suh fuhh ungsuhh un uhh uhfulguhh guhh suhh zuhfuhh fuhguhsuhh!”
“Ahahah, of course, I suppose I never zort about it qvite like zat.”
(Longer action snippet, the Pyro unleashing havoc in an enemy base, blue-teamers running around screaming in flames)
“I am glad ve had zis talk, your views are enlightenink.”
“Unuhh time!”
(The Pyro sips from a china cup through his gas mask.)
February 13th, 2008 at 4:20 am
sigma83 says:
LOL!
….
LOL!!!!
JamesT, thank you. That was awesome.
February 13th, 2008 at 5:36 am
StolenName says:
Dude. Whoa. That’s an awesome script for the trailer.
Personally, I’d like the Pyro to be a chick. Just to mix things up a bit. And she’d be hot… dammit, shoot me now.
February 13th, 2008 at 6:33 am
Hidden_7 says:
That was a pretty good script, but the Spy isn’t german is he? I thought he was more… spanish? They are all such stereotypes it’s hard to pin down, but whatever he is I’m almost positive he’s not german (I could and have been wrong though)
February 13th, 2008 at 7:13 am
James T says:
I tend not to hear characters very well over all the gunfire and clanking noises (a ton of TF2 taunts here though, including my very favourite, the Spy’s “Cornish gamehen” threat), but I kind of figured the Spy to be some kind of vaguely Germanic Cold War figure who’s snuck through the Continent for so long that his accent has dispersed into a Hispanoteutofrancophonic mess. So when in doubt, have him talk like Edna Mode!
February 13th, 2008 at 7:24 am
sigma83 says:
He will always be French to me. <3
Just like how the Pyro will always be muh fuhrovite
February 13th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Nick says:
I don’t want to see the pyro’s face or hear clearly his/her voice.
I’d like it if it was done as an interview and the final question was reguarding his/her sex. He/she would respond in the usual impossible to understand manner and that would be it.
February 13th, 2008 at 9:10 am
matte_k says:
Anybody else seen the “Ignis Solus” machinima? Priceless. Here’s the link, have a quick looky:
http://litfusefilms.com/movies/ignissolus/watch/
February 13th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
McCool says:
We’ll just say that Spy was wearing a Medic mask for that interview. As he is described as “Franco-Spanish”, I like to think he comes from Andorra :p
February 16th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
Mousie says:
I hope Pyro’s a guy. A sexy guy. A very, very sexy guy.
February 18th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
void skull says:
Maybe it’s neither… Combine? That would make TF2 an Orange Box that has yet another tie-in with the Half-Life universe…
February 23rd, 2008 at 6:40 am
jmwriting says:
I’ve grown really attachted to my Pyro, but something in me absolutely despises female characters, [nothing personal, I'm a girl too haha] but, it’d ruin something big for me.
That pyro has the manliest muffles ever, and has a huge ass ass, I don’t know if that’s just a hefty woman, but, god I don’t know if I could play TF2, Pyro’s my favorite class. lmfao.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:31 pm
luls says:
people awaiting for revelation to start fapping
May 21st, 2008 at 12:12 pm
lawl says:
Pyro is a elemental lol
June 19th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
BB says:
I think it’d be funny if the Pyro did turn out to be a woman, but aside from that it makes no difference to me. On the other hand, I’m with jmwriting on not liking female characters in general. It’d make the game seem really odd and even awkward.
June 20th, 2008 at 12:03 am
Derp says:
Purse in re-spawn room.
In what appears to be the Pyro’s spot.
June 21st, 2008 at 12:28 am
RichPowers says:
It’s also been suggested that the purse is there to signify that the pyro’s a flamer (LOL!)
June 21st, 2008 at 12:44 am
Minespatch says:
Listen, if the Spy were a girl, so would Pyro. Well, basically, if they have the same voice actor, then that would mean that the Pyro is a guy. Sure, he a has a girl-bag and I haven’t played the game even though I’m saving up for it, Seriously, what’s the big deal about his gender? What about his accent?! Is he Canadian or from the Ozarks?
@James T:
Wow. Just how I pictured it. Seth Macfarli’n the TF2 series.
Personally, I’ve always thought of the Pyro as the funny version of Necron99 from Wizards.
As for the Spy, when they make his video, I hope they play Lou Bega’s song “Gentleman”. XD
Look, it’s the shape of a small, hunched guy, that probably went through experiments through Nazi Germany.
Anyways, the BLU nor RED corporation would let a women into their ranks during the year 1968. Yeah, the game takes place in 1968, and during that time, America wasn’t letting women so easily enlist.
August 19th, 2008 at 12:05 am
JW says:
I damn hope he’s a guy. Heck, I damn KNOW he’s a guy. His voice actor is Dennis Bateman, fer’ crying out loud!
October 9th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Add your comment
What Deus Ex 2 should have scored: 1.100%
© 2008 Rock Paper Shotgun Ltd
Hosted by Positive Internet
Design by James Willock
Gaming needs more axe girls.
February 12th, 2008 at 1:43 pm