How She-Ra And The Princesses Of Power Brought Its New Nonbinary Character To Life

By Lauren Rearick


Jacob Tobia spent a huge portion of their childhood dreaming of working in Hollywood. They grew up in a tiny North Carolina town and often turned to cartoons as a means of entertainment and escape — although they didn’t routinely feel represented in the shows they watched. So any time the possibility came to pay it forward for other kids who dream big, and offer the voice of a nonbinary shape-shifter with a penchant for drama named Double Trouble in the fourth season of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, they couldn’t pass it up.


“I had never done voiceover work prior to She-Ra, nevertheless it definitely was something that I habitually dreamed of,” the actor and activist told MTV News. “The idea of getting to be a voice actor in a really cool show with a global that’s so big was really a dream come true for me.”


Double Trouble is first introduced in the next episode of She-Ra’s fourth season, which made its Netflix debut on November 4. The character first hides their true identity by initially taking on other characters’ appearances, and eventually align themselves with Catra, an operative for the show’s shadowy antagonist categorize, referred to because the Horde. For a price, Double Trouble spends much of the season impersonating Flutterina, an adorable youngster eager to prove their worth as a potential hero — though they also spend plenty of time embodying other characters to deliberately fool the show's protagonists. Upon their final reveal, the character relishes in the shock of the princesses they fooled. They view shape-shifting as an art, and in She-Ra universe, all of the world is their stage to explore whichever identity they wish.


because the season continues, the show starts to chip away at the seemingly evil layers of the shape-shifter; though the tall, green warrior with a wide, mischievous smile spends much of their time infiltrating the heroes’ inner circle and messing with plans, Double Trouble pulls off their most stunning surprise at the very end: In a fast switch of sides, and driven by a phone call to stay true to their self, they aid the Rebellion rather than the Horde.


A reboot of the 1985 She-Ra cartoon, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power has made queer characters a tentpole of the series during its four-season run. And the Dreamworks series isn’t anything like its predecessor, in the perfect way possible: Powerful princesses continually save the day through their own firm, plus a purposeful recreate caused a stir among some fans. And while Double Trouble isn’t new to the She-Ra universe, updating the character “made total sense” to show-runner and executive producer Noelle Stevenson.


“Our approach to gender in this world is pretty fluid overall,” Stevenson told MTV News, noting that a previous episode featured a prom where the characters defied archaic notions connected with gender expression through clothing choices, and that establishing a character as canonically nonbinary is just as essential in breaking the status quo. “We visualize a diversity of gender presentation among our characters, plus a nonbinary character fits so obviously into the fabric of this world,” she added.


Central to the character’s establishment was their voice: It was essential to the She-Ra team that they cast a nonbinary actor to supply Double Trouble’s voice, especially given that reflective casting is still a rarity in Hollywood. Enter Tobia, who was excited by the prospect of voicing a character with whom they personally connected.


“So much of navigating the acting world for me as a nonbinary actor is double acting,” they told MTV News. “I have concentrate on performing the gender that someone wants, additionally to performing the character that somebody wants.”


No such task existed for Double Trouble, a role that gave Tobia the possibility give attention to the job they were hired to do. “It was nice to not have to contort my gender into any weird shape sort in attempt to just be the character. And I think it shows in the efficiency how much fun that was for me,” they added. “It was cool have the ability to think about my acting from a lens of ‘How do I be the perfect mercenary and the perfect agent of chaos I can be?’ I might just be a nonbinary person and an agent of chaos. That was really special.”


Double Trouble can use their abilities to be anyone or anything they wish, yet in one of the season’s most gripping scenes, they demonstrate their most valuable talent: understanding others. In the final episode, Double Trouble shape-shifts into each person Catra understands to demonstrate why she was unable to succeed in conquering the Rebellion. The unexpected and dramatic confrontation is Double Trouble at their peak, with their love of acting and drama all coming with each other to deal the truth directly to Catra.


That scene, and several others that feature Double Trouble, serve as a reminder of how much She-Ra trusts its audience. The characters never question or doubt the shape-shifter’s abilities or identity, nor is Double Trouble ever made to feel guilty for their powers. And they’re not the only character who receives such acceptance; each key player subverts the status quo in key ways. Beneath the rainbows and also a unicorn sidekick is a cartoon with serious heart plus a unique willingness to appeal to every demographic that tunes in.


While major film and television studios have largely failed to cast LGBTQ+ actors or include LGBTQ+ characters, plenty of folks are doing their part to push pop culture forward. She-Ra joins in the legacy of Steven Universe and Adventure Time, which have previously introduced and affirmed nonbinary characters; Degrassi and Billions have also featured transgender and nonbinary characters and storylines that highlight their gender identities. Steven Universe also made history with the initial televised same-sex wedding proposal on a kids series; and Rocko’s Modern Life, Arthur, and Star Vs. The Forces of Evil have included LGBTQ+-affirming storylines in recent episodes. On the superhero front, Ruby Rose’s Kate Kane, Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie, and Nicole Maines’s Nia Nal have all helped forge a path forward for LGBTQ+ people who dream of hero status themselves.


All of this converges in She-Ra, whose show creatives worked with several of the gender nonconforming and trans members of their crew categorize in attempt to bring Double Trouble to life in a suitable and affirming way. And Tobia believes cartoons are a brilliant car to explore the core of who a character is, especially given how “Double Trouble is one character in a long tradition” of narratives that have driven animated storytelling for years.


“Cartoons have habitually helped young people have more complex conversations about identity,” they mentioned. “Young people can watch a character and understand implicitly that they are queer, exploring gender, or saying something about who were are allowed to be as people.”


“It never really registered with us what a big deal this was going to be,” Stevenson added. “In the time that we were working on this, it felt like, ‘Of course we would do this. This is a character that we visualize ourselves in.’”


Such inclusion is essential, in part because it better symbolizes the world around us. The American Psychological Association reports that studies has historically disregarded nonbinary as a gender category; a previous study of trans people noticed that 25 to 35 percent of respondents identify as nonbinary, yet experts warn against research that frame gender as a strict binary at their outset or otherwise approach identity through a cisgender lens.


Stevenson believes She-Ra has a duty to question gender norms of all kinds, particularly given how nearly all the main characters subvert them — including She-Ra (alias, Adora) herself. Pop culture has long relied on a tried-and-true (and, frankly, tired) formula wherein a white, heterosexual, cis man saves the day — rare is the blockbuster in which anyone outdoor that narrow definition is the singular hero, rather than a love interest, sidekick, villain, or blend therein. Adora and her companions further underscore the fact that anyone can save the day, even a teenage girl unknowingly pulled into an otherworldly adventure thanks to the discovery of a magic sword — but her quest would only be partially fulfilled if she didn’t keep the door open wider for anyone else who wanted to be a hero, too.


“We’ve inherited gender roles from the generations that have come before us, however folks are beginning to realize that’s not necessarily how it needs to be,” Stevenson mentioned. “We can be free, and we can be playful and have fun with gender. That’s something I attempt to explore in each story that I tell, and to get the viewer to ask questions and maybe learn something about themselves in the process.”


Such representation is key for younger generations, who are overwhelmingly more progressive than their parents, and are rewriting the rules of gender and expression at faster rates than their predecessors. Over one-third of Gen-Z respondents to one survey mentioned they knew a nonbinary person, and only two-thirds identify as being exclusively heterosexual. As GLAAD told CNN, as soon as entertainment depicts LGBTQ+ characters in a positive light or includes them in affirming storytelling, such narratives have the potential to shape or influence viewers’ perception of a given community — and even a higher class of understanding of who they are, too.


“Having a nonbinary character in a kid’s cartoon means that young, gender nonconforming kids who are still figuring it out and asking questions can have someone to look at,” Tobia added. “I knew I was different any time Whenever I was growing up, yet I didn’t necessarily have the language for it, and the role models I had, they weren’t explicitly nonbinary or gender nonconforming characters.” It isn’t lost on them that they right now have the possibility to be that role model for others.


Stevenson notes the show is devoted to affirming LGBTQ+ characters should it be categorized for a fifth season, and she hopes inclusion speedily becomes the norm rather than the exception.


“If we desire to continue being relevant to that audience [younger viewers], we have to try and mirror the world the way it is,” she mentioned. “We have to try and set an example. Kids these days are smarter, savvier, and more aware than ever. I don't hope to talk down to their intelligence. I'd like to resemble characters that they visualize themselves in, and show a possible future that hopefully is brighter than the one we’re in.”