Guilty Gear Strive Fans Adore The New Twink DLC Character
Correction 11/22/22 7:24 p.m. ET: A previous version of this post used inaccurate terminology to describe the character. Kotaku regrets the error, and any offense it may have caused.
Developer Arc System Works announced the newest character to its popular 2D fighter Guilty Gear Strive. The brawler, Sin Kiske, will be added to the roster as part of the game’s $25 Season Pass 2 DLC, and the internet seems pretty pleased with the announcement. So pleased, in fact, that some fans are already calling Sin their fave twink.
Strive is the latest entry within the main Guilty Gear franchise. Having launched in July 2021, the fighter has sold more than 1 million units thus far (an apparent first for the series) and regularly appears at fighting game tournaments such as Evo and UFA. ArcSys has been steadily introducing new content to the game, including fan-favorite returning fighter Bridget, who is now canonically confirmed as trans. Score one for queer representation. The team isn’t done with the game though as Season Pass 2 adds even more characters and stages.
It’s worth unpacking just what a twink is to understand how and why folks have come to this conclusion about Sin Kiske. According to Urban Dictionary, a twink is “a homosexual male with attractive, boyish qualities” who is young (stereotypically between 18 to 25 years old), often blonde, and slender. Dictionary.com outlines some similar characteristics for the word, defining twink as a “young, attractive gay man with a slim, boyish appearance.” As you can see from his appearance, Sin isn’t exactly slim, but he does retain many of the other characteristics, being blonde and boyish.
However, like Twitter user armormodechang pointed out above, Sin is huge. He’s got broad shoulders, muscles that appear to be as big as his head, and a tight-fitting cropped tank that not only shows off his midriff but also a bulging chest. Sin is pretty far from what would typically be considered a “twink.” Instead, what we have here is a “twunk”: someone who “has the face of a twink, with the physique of a hunk.”
But regardless of how folks classify Sin, the love is pouring in. There’s tons of fan art of the character that chibify him, turn him into a Shoujo character, and generally make him gayer than he probably might be (which I think is cool).
Sin has been in the Guilty Gear franchise before. The son of series deuteragonist Ky Kiske and the powerful gear Dizzy, Sin first made his playable appearance in 2007’s Guilty Gear 2: Overture. While his Strive incarnation retains many of his signature moves, Sin gains new abilities and appears to have some brutal combo potential with that massive flagpole he wields when he arrives on November 24. Check out his trailer: