13 Healers Queer Gamers Love to Play

There’s a great evil afoot. An evil mastermind, a dark presence. And, as most gaymers know, to survive that evil, you’ll need to construct a team of heroes. And a competent, well-rounded team usually comprises several elements: some muscle, some brains, and the like. But, every team needs a healer.

And, as a recent viral tweet of mine revealed, gay culture loves themselves a good healer.

gay culture is maining healers

— Hispanic Pixie Dream Girl (@mathewrodriguez) November 7, 2017

If you haven’t noticed, most healers hue to a particular stereotype. They are usually white women, or extremely light-skinned white passing. They carry a staff. They are meek and quiet and wear a flowy kind of robe. And they are usually either highly intelligent or have a mystical knowledge that other characters in the game do not.

Here’s a list of famous healers that gaymers have stanned for over the years:

Mercy (Dr. Angela Ziegler), Overwatch, PC, PS4, Xbox One

Frail white woman: Yes
Staff: Yes
Meek/quiet/mysterious: No
Flowy robes: Yes
Highly intelligent: Yes

4/5

The latest iteration of this archetype comes from Overwatch, one of the most popular games of the last few years. She’s one of the games most aggressive healers, but also one of the most frail and vulnerable to damage. According to Overwatch lore, she was the head of medical research at Overwatch and a nanobiologist. (Bonus tip: Mercy was not always supposed to be a frail white woman. Some leaked concept art shows the character was close to being a Black man.)

Sona, League of Legends, PC, Mac

Frail white woman: Yes
Staff: No
Meek/quiet/mysterious: Yes
Flowy robes: Yes
Highly intelligent: Yes

4/5

A silent musician, Sona speaks to her allies only through the power of song. Through her music, she can also heal her team and deal out damage. Sona is a musical prodigy, playing tones and melodies that emotionally and physically affect those around her.

Aerith Gainsborough, Final Fantasy VII, PlayStation

Frail white woman: Yes
Staff: Yes
Meek/quiet/mysterious: Yes
Flowy robes: Yes
Highly intelligent: Yes

5/5

Aerith remains one of the most recognizable figures in gaming history, as well as the poster child for frail white women. A quiet, mysterious young girl who has a budding romance with main character Cloud, she also has a secret knowledge of materia, objects used to summon magic in the Final Fantasy-verse. Before her (spoiler art) death in the game, she’s the team’s main healer, using magic wind to bring your teammates back from the brink of death. Her pink dress is as iconic as the minor damage she gave out when she bashed enemies with her staff.

Wynne, Dragon Age: Origins, PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3

Frail white woman: No
Staff: Yes
Meek/quiet/mysterious: No
Flowy robes: Yes
Highly intelligent: Yes

3/5

More veteran than ingenue, Wynne is a strong, sagacious white woman and a strong healer in Dragon Age: Origins. Wynne’s magical knowledge is so great that she was asked to become “First Enchanter” by her peers. Wynne’s magical healing powers have been with her since she was a child.

Estelle, Tales of Vesperia, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3

Frail white woman: No
Staff: Yes
Meek/quiet/mysterious: Yes
Flowy robes: Yes
Highly intelligent: Yes

4/5

A sequestered 18-year-old princess who left her castle to see the world, Estelle is the main healer in Tales of Vesperia. Not quite as frail as some of her counterparts, she can use a sword and kill enemies along with the rest of her team. Due to her sheltered upbringing, Estelle is extremely book smart.

Mia, Golden Sun, Game Boy Advance

Frail white woman: Yes
Staff: Yes
Meek/quiet/mysterious: Yes
Flowy robes: Yes
Highly intelligent: No

4/5

Even Game Boy Advance had its own entry in the RPG healer hall of fame. Mia, the final person and only woman to join the team in Golden Sun, is a Mercury Adept, meaning she’s mastered the element of water and is also a master healer. Her frailty is reflected in the fact that her HP is much lower than her male counterparts. Her flowy robes are blue to reflect her aqua-based abilities, too. We love a fashion kween.

Peach, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, SNES

Frail white woman: Yes
Staff: No
Meek/quiet/mysterious: Yes
Flowy robes: Yes
Highly intelligent: No

3/5

Though most queer people are probably more used to playing Peach in Super Mario 2 or Mario Kart 64, Peach is also the main healer in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. There’s no need to explain this princess’s iconic presence on the list, just as there’s no need to explain to your cousin why you’re shouting about wanting to be Peach and that they should play as Toad or Yoshi instead.

Yuna, Final Fantasy X, PlayStation 2

Frail white woman: Yes
Staff: Yes
Meek/quiet/mysterious: Yes
Flowy robes: Yes
Highly intelligent: No

4/5

Yuna leans very far into the self-sacrificing healer role. She’s naive to a fault, believing in the best in everyone. She is not a healer by happenstance: she is the daughter of high summoner Braska. Though Yuna fulfilled most stereotypes of a healer in Final Fantasy X, she got a redesign and update in Final Fantasy X-2 where she dressed and acted more adventurously.

Linear Cannon, Evolution, Dreamcast

Frail white woman: Yes
Staff: No
Meek/quiet/mysterious: Yes
Flowy robes: Yes
Highly intelligent: No

3/5

In the world of Evolution, most fighters have their own cyber attachment that punches, shoots or blasts. Linear Cannon, a mysterious girl who showed up on the doorstep of main character Mag Launcher, uses a frying pan. To heal, she plays an ocarina. She wears a big bow on her head and a loose-fitting off-the-shoulder dress. I was obsessed.

Polka, Eternal Sonata, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3

Frail white woman: Yes
Staff: Yes
Meek/quiet/mysterious: Yes
Flowy robes: Yes
Highly intelligent: No

4/5

Looking somewhat like a milkmaid and fighting with an umbrella, Polka is a meek shopgirl who can heal using the ~ mystical ~ powers of the earth.

Fina, Skies of Arcadia, Dreamcast

Frail white woman: Yes
Staff: No
Meek/quiet/mysterious: Yes
Flowy robes: Yes
Highly intelligent: Yes

4/5

In Skies of Arcadia, you play as a team of air pirates who are trying to take down the colonialist Empress Teodora. Fina, a mysterious woman from an ancient race, joins your team as your healer in the early parts of the game. Shy, holding a secret, and with a floating companion who both heals and acts as your weapon, Fina is mysterious enough to stick in your memory long after the game is over.

Serra, Fire Emblem, Game Boy Advance

An entitled Ostian princess with attitude, ego, and a staff to back it up, Serra is unlike most of the other healers on this list. She’s definitely someone to say she’s “not like other girls,” meaning she won’t kowtow to the men around her and she has purple hair. She loves attention and wants credit that’s due her.

Raine, Tales of Symphonia

Raine Sage is a half-elf baby genius who has spent most of her life caring for her brother after they were both orphaned. As a half-elf Raine knows the sting of prejudice she’s not accepted by humans or elves, for the most part. The most important part of being a healer is that she just really loves saving lives. Add in her cool grey hair aesthetic and it’s easy to see why she’s so beloved.