No, Sally Face is Not a Girl
Let‘s settle this once and for all: Sally Face is a boy.
The central character in the eerie indie hit Sally Face is a troubled, blue-haired youth named Sal Fisher. With his prosthetic mask and androgynous looks, "Sally Face" was a mean-spirited nickname Sal reclaimed for himself. Behind the weird facade though, he‘s 100% male.
After researching the game extensively and analyzing Sal from every angle, I can definitively debunk the question swirling around this cult classic: is Sally Face a girl?
Getting to Know the Boy Behind the Mask
Here‘s everything you need to know about the very male lead character of this fantastically grim saga.
Sal "Sally Face" Fisher‘s Origin Story
Born in New Jersey as the only child of Henry and Diane Fisher, Sal‘s early childhood was marked by tragedy. When he was just 5 years old, his mother was gruesomely killed by a dog-masked assassin. Sal‘s face was disfigured in the attack, leaving him mentally and physically scarred.
To cope with grief and bullying over his deformities, Sal created the persona of "Sally Face" – the boy with the creepy prosthetic mask and blue pigtails.
By the Numbers: Sal‘s Key Stats
| ——————— | —————— |
| Full name | Sal Fisher |
| Also known as | Sally Face |
| Age | 12 |
| Height | 5‘6" |
| Hair color | Blue |
| Hometown | Nockfell, USA |
Personality Profile
Despite enduring immense trauma in his 12 years of life, Sal is a loyal friend and surprisingly compassionate soul. His unique look and weird experiences make him something of an outcast, allowing him to connect with other troubled residents of the Addison Apartments.
Though his gory murder spree at the end of Episode 4 calls his sanity into question, Sal remains the unlikely hero brave enough to battle the occult forces plaguing his bizarre world.
Why Call a Boy "Sally Face"?
As mentioned earlier, "Sally Face" started as a cruel taunt meant to mock Sal‘s facial prosthetic.
By defiantly adopting the odd nickname for himself, Sal took back power from the bullies who tormented him in the wake of his mother‘s dreadful demise.
No Hints of Being Female
Sally Face creator Steve Gabry may have originally pictured a "boy with a girl‘s face sewn on". But the game gives no signals that Sal Fisher identifies as anything other than male:
- Referred to with masculine pronouns (he/him)
- Anatomically male body/features
- No affinity for cross-dressing
- Romantic interest in female characters
In looks and temperament, Sal falls firmly into emo/goth/punk aesthetics typically associated with troubled teen boys.
Apart from the whole "Sally" thing, absolutely nothing implies Sal is trans, genderfluid or expresses his gender as anything but cis male.
Sally Face‘s Macabre, Mature World
Sally Face presents an incredibly grim setting where death, disaster and demonic forces lurk around every corner:
- Ghosts with horrific injuries
- Ghastly rituals
- Brutal violence
- Taboo themes like self-harm
With depictions of blood, guts and gore everywhere, it‘s easy to see why Sally Face carries a Mature ESRB rating recommending 17+.
Most gaming sites suggest 15 as the absolute minimum age to handle Sally Face‘s onslaught of macabre story elements. And they have a point – between the severed heads, piles of human bones and close-up shots of self-mutiliation injuries, this game gets extremely dark.
Parents should be aware Sally Face features way more than they bargained for if they assumed this stylized world was geared towards young gamers.
By the Numbers: Sally Face‘s Shocking Content
| Disturbing Visuals | # of Instances |
|---|---|
| Self-harm injuries | 5+ |
| Piles of bones | 3 |
| Severed heads | 2 |
| Suicides | 2 |
With its male lead character battling pure evil while struggling through PTSD and his own inner demons, Sally Face earns its shock value in ways few all-ages titles could get away with.
Inside the Cult of Sally Face
Originally funded through a Kickstarter campaign, Sally Face Episode 1 launched in December 2016 into a sea of indie games on Steam and consoles.
Positive buzz for its eccentric characters and twisted story gradually spread. By the finale‘s release in May 2018, Sally Face had garnered a cult following and excellent reviews:
| Platform | User Score | Our Score |
|---|---|---|
| PC (Steam) | 96% | ★★★★✩ |
| iOS | 4.8/5 | ★★★★☆ |
| PlayStation 4 | 7.5/10 | ★★★★★ |
| Nintendo Switch | 8/10 | ★★★★★ |
Critics praised Sally Face for deftly balancing vibrant personalities against psychological dread – surprising gamers with emotional resonance not expected amidst endless paranormal chaos.
Sales figures estimate Sally Face‘s multi-platform gross revenue around ~$3 million – impressive for a humble Kickstarted passion project!
How "Sally Face" Stacks Up to Other Indie Hits
Looking past the weird name and prosthetic mask, Sally Face‘s blue-haired protagonist fits neatly into the archetype of the angsty, semi-androgynous male emo.
Sal Fisher shares plenty in common with classic indie male antiheroes:
- James Sunderland (Silent Hill 2): Driven by repressed grief and guilt over dead wives
- Max Caulfield (Life Is Strange): Sensitive hipster investigating small town horrors
- Kris (Deltarune): Androgynous silent protagonist plunged into nightmarish chaos
Yet Sally Face stands apart by framing Sal‘s trauma and personal demons around the very real terror of his disfigured face – a disability frequently mocked in-game through horrified reactions.
Where other franchises utilize feminine aesthetics to code male leads as outcasts, Sally Faceskip subtlety by outright replacing Sal‘s real face with a callback to taunts of his appearing female.
The effect lands far more disturbingly – and insightfully – than the subtle winks of protagonists like James Sunderland wearing Mary‘s clothing as psychological shorthand.
Instead, Sally Face‘s mask direclty externalizes the deep mental scarring that anchors many geeky male power fantasies.
Wrapping Up the "Is Sally Face a Girl" Debate
While on the surface, Sally Face‘s blue-haired namesake seems like he could be female-identifying, that‘s clearly not the case according to all in-game lore and the developer‘s vision.
Sal Fisher undoubtedly faces more adversity than most kids his age. And he expresses himself through some eyebrow-raising choices like the whole pigtails and prosthetic mask thing. But at the core, Sally Face presents an insightful perspective into the by turns thrilling and terrifying chaos of surviving middle school boyhood trauma through emerging pagan homicide.
That‘s my take as an avid gamer, at least. Agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comments! I‘m always down to debate fascinating antiheroes in brutal indie hits.
