Many fictional characters have genders that aren’t as straightforward as you might have thought.

Winnie the Pooh

Winnie the Pooh is definitely a boy in the children’s novels written by author A. A. Milne (and in the Disney animated films based on them). However, there’s no escaping the fact that Winnie is a name that’s traditionally intended for girls. So why doesn’t the “silly ol’ bear” have a more masculine name? It’s because he’s based on a female bear named Winnipeg that once lived in the London Zoo. Milne’s son, Christopher Robin, was a big fan of Winnipeg, visited her often as a child and even named his beloved toy bear after her. The author was inspired by both bears to create the iconic character.

Jabba the Hutt

Based on the slug-like alien’s treatment of Princess Leia in Return of the Jedi, one might assume that Jabba is a guy. Nope. Like all Hutts, Jabba is a hermaphrodite (or at least he was). According to Star Wars lore, each Hutt gets to decide their gender. In the films and “Expanded Universe” books, Jabba sticks with “he.” However, Jabba may soon receive a more distinct gender. After Disney’s decision to purchase Lucasfilm in 2012, the company decided that the Expanded Universe was no longer considered official canon. Pablo Hidalgo, a writer involved with various Star Wars projects, announced at a conference in 2015 that various Hutts would get designated genders in upcoming books and film. 

Kang and Kodos

Kang and Kodos are two evil aliens that pop up in The Simpsons’ annual “Treehouse of Horror” episodes. Given their deep, masculine voices, lots of fans always assumed that they were guys. However, in the seventh edition, it was revealed that Kodos is actually female. This was further confirmed by a Simpsons video game that involved a mission that only female characters could be involved in. A gag included in an episode of Futurama, The Simpsons’ spin-off series, revealed that her colleague, Kang, is also female.