Popular Voice Actor Rhiannon Moushall, who has voiced for Rise of the Ronin, called out former Blizzard Entertainment Team Lead for World of Warcraft, Mark Kern, for posting an offensive post on X. Kern posted a collage featuring female characters from several games, with a message stating that beautiful women are marginalized and unrepresented.
Moushall quote-posted, pointing out that the post sounded gross and weird. Moushall also pointed out that the collage contained a picture of an underage character. The collage itself wasn’t originally made by Kern either, as the same collage was earlier featured in a Reddit post around three years ago.
Former World of Warcraft Team Lead Mark Kern Under Fire for Offensive Post
Mark Kern, who’s known for his work with World of Warcraft at Blizzard Entertainment, posted a collage of women as depicted in different games, mentioning how “beautiful women are the most marginalized and unrepresented.“. This post was called out by Voice Actor Rhiannon Moushall, who said she found it exhausting.
This is such a gross, weird take… a reminder that some don’t want us in games unless we appeal sexually (and somehow universally) to straight men. It’s so fucking exhausting…
Also, isn’t there a literal child in that collage??? https://t.co/Cqzsd82GiK
— Rhiannon Moushall (@rsmoushall) March 31, 2024
One look at Kern’s account on X will become rather evident as to why his offensive post wasn’t as surprising, as Kern had posted and re-posted several similar posts before, too. Fans who replied to Moushall’s post had also pointed out the same, as one of the replies mentioned Kern being “relentless“.
Moushall also pointed out that the collage had a picture of an underage character, Billie, from Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (2017). Billie was voiced by Bresha Webb, who is a nine-year-old girl in the game, and Moushall called out Kern for having used a collage that included a child character, adding to the list of characters he found displeasing.
A lot of those who replied to Kern’s post also pointed out how the collage contained multiple pictures of Debra Wilson.
There is no fucking way you put 3 characters voiced and based off Debra Wilson on her implying they're ugly…
Some takes you have are great, but man is this one coming off with some serious incel vibes. pic.twitter.com/IWMjmiv1CI
— Internet_Zombie (@ZombieInternet) March 30, 2024
Kern did not reply to any of the comments left on his post or to Moushall’s quote-post. Barring a few of those who commented, most of them disagreed and asked Kern to delete the post. Interestingly, the collage itself was posted on Reddit a few years ago and attracted similar comments.
The Collage Featured on a Reddit Post from Three Years Back
The same collage of female characters from a range of games was posted on Reddit back in 2021, with the original poster meaning to showcase how the devs are “finally breaking conventional beauty standards in video games.”
The post had a positive flair and was meant to showcase just how diverse characters have become in gaming titles, and most of the comments were in agreement as well.
I am glad that new game Devs are finally breaking conventional beauty standards in video games
byu/painter_throwaway inmendrawingwomen
One of the comments mentioned that while the idea of making characters look more natural was a good idea, the expression sometimes fails far too badly. A reply to it mentioned just how difficult it was to get the face animations right.
Comment
byu/painter_throwaway from discussion
inmendrawingwomen
The former World of Warcraft Lead’s post, however, flipped the intent behind the collage and was rightfully pointed out by those who commented, but the post at the time of writing this is still online. Moushall did a good job of highlighting how the status quo hasn’t changed much.
What was your reaction to Mark Kern’s post about female characters in games? Share your thoughts in the comments section.
