: As of when the first Visual Guide came out, it was decided then that although
: the game allowed the player the choice, that the fiction had to decide one
: way or the other as to the character's gender. I imagine it was because of
: things like this coming up where it is addressed.

The best thing about gender is that it isn't a "this or that" for many people and indeed in many cultures. It's more like "this, that, maybe a little bit of that over there, gimme some of this, oh and a lot of that too, and/or actually just give me some of that other stuff, etc." Male and female gender is a binary concept and the politics behind it are vast and I could go into it at length but I won't for your sake. In any case, however, this is how Noble Six could have had a canonically non-descript gender in canon to reflect gameplay.

The player in Reach gets to choose Noble Six's gender at a whim. Canon should play into that and give Halo its first gender non-conforming character. Make it so Six doesn't care whether they're presented as more masculine or more feminine, or anything else, because they themselves don't prohibit their identity to one or the other. The character is already mysterious enough. Having their gender be everywhere would lend to that mystique. Not to mention Halo needs a lot more queer characters. I think there's been at two visibly queer characters at the most over the course of the 14-year franchise. Representation is awesome and for fans it's an amazing feeling.