The moment you spot the long-haired, bow-wearing, and cute-loving character in Fire Emblem Engage and hear their voice, you won't be able to help but ask the question: is Rosado a boy or a girl? Because they come from the enemy state of Elusia, you seldom see the character for a good chunk of the game, with the limited dialogue options that come with that scenario only helping shroud them in mystery.
So long as you're ok with some light spoilers, read on. We'll go over the intricate details of how Rosado identifies, a little bit of their backstory, and some interesting little trivia tidbits that, for some, gave the whole thing away long before the game even came out.
For more on the new strategy RPG, check out our tips for starting Fire Emblem Engage. We also have a complete FE Engage character list and voice actors list. And if you're wondering if the game's stance on gender extends to sexuality, we've answered the question of can you be gay in Fire Emblem Engage, too. Now onto the topic.
Is Rosado a boy or a girl in Fire Emblem Engage?
Despite the hyper-feminine appearance of Rosado in Fire Emblem Engage suggesting they were assigned female at birth, Princess Hortensia's retainer is, in fact, a boy. There's no indication that they're transgender, either. Though it's rare to see any pronouns used for Rosado early in the game, there comes a time when they're properly introduced. Again, spoilers follow.
At some point in the game, Rosado joins your team, allowing you get all sorts of context and background information through character profiles, support conversations, and flavour text on various menus.
In the case of Rosado, Hortensia and the others will use he/him pronouns in the story without the character correcting them, which is the first indication that he's not looking to be labelled as a girl.
Once he joins your team, you'll notice that while he wears all the same unlockable Boutique outfits as the women in the game, he always wears shorts underneath any bathing suits or short skirts. In fact, look at the description of Rosado's default Somniel outfit for more, and you'll likely have even more questions.
The black belted outfit features a crop top and a mini skirt, with the description explaining that it's a family heirloom given to Rosado by his father that he then modified, which first sounds like an act of disrespect and defiance that could land Rosado in some serious hot water if his father wasn't accepting of his gender identity and hobbies. But that doesn't seem to be the case at all. Case in point below.
The longer you're around them, the more context you can unlock with various support conversations, shedding light on Rosado's unique sense of style and obsession with all things cute. Even Lapis starts taking advice from him, which Rosado explains is all about the confidence that comes with accepting who you are.
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One of the better backstory conversations comes from his B-rank Support conversation with Lapis. Still asking how to get his signature confidence to be cute, Rosado explains his upbringing and, in turn, his gender:
I was born in a village near the Lake of Mystery. Some people call it the village of the fair folk. It's a place of wonder. Beauty beyond the silly expectations that come with stuff like gender. Everyone accepts everyone there. However you see and present yourself, you're beautiful.
That alone is enough to suggest that Rosado's Somniel outfit, given to him by his father, could have been much the same as it appears now without the modifications he made. His father, and everyone in his hometown, would have had no problem with how Rosado presented. So much so that the way he dresses likely isn't seen as feminine at all - just cute.
He goes on: "That was my normal, growing up. It was a big shock when I left - seeing how different I was. But I realized I love being different. And I want everyone to know being different is amazing."
Rosado reassures Lapis that being different is, in fact, a good thing, saying "Your differences are what make you unique. What make you... you. In a way, being apart from my home village has made me even more confident in who I am."
In a truly refreshing change of pace, you'll be hard-pressed to find a single person in Fire Emblem Engage who really questions Rosado's appearance whatsoever, never mind challenge it.
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Despite him suggesting the rest of the world isn't as nonchalant about it as his home village, nobody in the Somniel mentions it much beyond just appreciating his uniqueness. The guys still recognize him as a guy, and the girls all just want tips. It's endearing.
Beyond the forced bicycle shorts beneath any semi-revealing piece of clothing, Fire Emblem Engage does a pretty good job of letting Rosado's gender just be a person who just prefers to wear cute clothes the rest of the world typically claims are reserved for women. Even to the point where his dragon, Camille, is adorned with plentiful bows to match his style.
Though this may all come as a slight surprise to anyone who heard Rosado's English voice and assumed Fire Emblem Engage was introducing a potential MtF transgender character, anime fans claimed to have reasonable doubt purely based on the choice of the character's Japanese voice actor.
Shouta Aoi, who voices Rosado in Japan, is a very famous male voice actor known for using his "angelic" voice to play male characters with feminine traits or female characters in musical theatre.
As soon as some spotted who would voice Rosado in Japanese, it was almost a given that the character would be a male-identifying character with feminine traits. Or, in Rosado's case, a genderless character in their hometown who only learned of their biological sex after venturing out into the wider, gender-conforming world.
For more on Fire Emblem Engage, click that blue link at the top to go straight to our game page, where you'll find guides like how to use the piano in Fire Emblem Engage, and how to use the Memento Drawer in Alear's room.