Misantry! Adventure Time Alarms Fans With Apparent Gamergate Reference

If you’re one of the many Internet users who was taken aback by a new character introduced on last Friday’s Adventure Time episode “Dentist,” don’t worry: Cartoon Network did not show allegiance to or disavow Gamergate.

You can watch a clip of the “controversial” character over on Kotaku; essentially, the episode featured Finn’s journey to the military boot camp “Dentist,” where he meets an ant named Leftenant Gamergate. Not surprisingly, many fans thought the Leftenant’s name was in reference to the Internet’s “Gamergate,” an online movement which has harassed female game developers and critics for nearly four months now. Co-executive producer Adam Muto clarified:

Yep! As we wrote earlier this year, Gamergate is, delightfully, the name of a real-life type of female ant capable of both performing labor for the colony and reproducing with mature male ants when needed. They’re rad-as-hell (and occasionally violent!) warrior queens, so it makes perfect sense that a show like Adventure Time would introduce a Gamergate character. (At the risk of misgendering the Leftenant, I’m going to assume the leader of Dentist is female, in spite of her stereotypically male characteristics. Gamergate’s don’t have time for boring old gender biases! They’ve got a colony to run/propagate!)

Considering how far in advance of their air date Adventure Time episodes are written, it’s an indication of both the Internet’s weariness with the movement and Gamergaters’ disproportionate obsession with the cause that fans immediately assumed the episode was referencing the current climate in gaming culture.

Insect matriarchies are timeless. Online hate groups are fleeting.

Previously in women are easy to antimate

• Today In Science: A “Gamergate” Is a Type Of Female Ant
• Caterpillars Pretend to be Ants and Mooch off of Them Because They Can
• Huge Swarms Of “Crazy Ants” Are Taking Over The Southern US. Sweet Dreams!

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Carolyn Cox