In Defense of Róisín Garrity - A Traumaqueer's Perspective
There is a developing sentiment around Róisín Garrity, a character from the 2026 racing game Screamer, that she is a bitchy hot-head who needs to shut the fuck up. Lots of this is coming from dipshit misogynistic 'men' who honestly just hate when any woman is anything but docile and obedient, but there are a few friends of mine who do genuinely hate her guts. They're not necessarily wrong for feeling that way, at least not at the surface; she IS hot-headed, she IS very demeaning to her team, and she DOES cause real damage to people she should be caring about. However, it is surface-level. If I dig into her character, I believe I'll give you good reasons to change your mind - or, at least, hate her a bit less.
I'm going to assume you've played through the entirety of Screamer's Tournament mode if you read beyond this point; if you haven't yet done so, CLICK AWAY. SPOILERS ARE AHEAD. Come back to this blog post afterwards to avoid spoiling the story for yourself, and to truly understand what I believe is the reason Róisín is a fantastic character and NOT to be reviled like she has been.
Also, if you enjoy racing games even in passing but either haven't heard of Screamer or don't think you wanna bother playing it, FUCK YOU! PLAY SCREAMER FOR FUCK'S SAKE, IT'S REALLY GOOD!!!!!
SPOILER WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CONTENT CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR SCREAMER (2026)
CONTENT WARNING: DESCRIPTIONS OF TRAUMATIC RESPONSES & AGE REGRESSION, GRIEF & LOSS, AND VAGUE DESCRIPTIONS OF SEXUAL ACTS
Róisín starts out as described by her critics; she's very hot-headed and rude, flings curses like an Irish lass would, and she's unapologetic about it. This makes her come across as disrespectful at best, and actively harmful at her worst. And yet, while playing through the game, there were only moments were I would shake my head and say to myself, "Oh, Róisín Garrity, you have a lot to learn." The thing is, I wasn't exactly sure why I thought it appropriate to say. It was hard for me in the moment to put into words why I felt that I could pull her aside and just tell her how to better manage herself; I have a hot-headed asshole for a father, and he's beyond help. So why do I feel Róisín is different?
As time goes on, she ends up in a chance meeting with the energetic, ADHD-fueled Jupiter Stormers member, Lavinia Ricci Antinori. Lavinia spots Strike Force Romanda, a J-pop idol group competing in the Screamer tournament to promote their new album, and absolutely flips out about it. The oozing excitability spewing from Lavina is so intense as to be almost nauseating, as if watching a Golden Retriever explode in glee as their owner chucks a stick deep into an open field. This heavily contrasts with Róisín's aggressive nature, to the point of seriously irritating her. Róisín clashes with Lavinia, but the interaction is purely one-sided; the blonde Italian is far too star-struck over SFR to really take notice of Róisín's disrespectful negging.
I took Róisín's side in all of it; Lavinia was so excited to share her excitement about spotting her favorite pop idol group with somebody that she ended up interrupting a tense conflict between Róisín and the rest of her teammates. I know I've acted both ways before - I've been interrupted by people who can't read the room and inject far too much excited, joyful energy into a serious conversation, and I've done the interrupting in the same way. I've had both reactions before; harmful ignorance to the matter at hand, and harmful aggression towards the ignorance. Yet, I felt myself siding with Róisín. My initial interpretation of why I felt more compassion towards Róisín than Lavinia was built out of the context I had in that moment; Lavinia initiated contact, was told to stop being a bother, and continued anyways. The context clues were there, and Lavinia ignored them. Granted, if Lavinia hadn't ignored Róisín and instead left her alone, the tension between characters would immediately vaporize and the scene would have no reason to even exist. Lavinia's ignorance is designed to deepen understanding for both Róisín and Lavinia's personalities. Still, that tension is caused, and I picked a side based on who escalated the conflict. From in-the-moment observations, I felt that Lavinia was escalating the issue as a result of her lack of awareness to the severity of Róisín's tone of voice and the demand for privacy.
Eventually, Róisín warms up to Lavinia and the two begin dating each other. As Lavinia continues to behave like a sickeningly happy dog, Róisín seems to soften her hard exterior a bit - even if it's just to Lavinia. It shows a soft interior hidden under her volatile shell. It's a heartwarming moment; as endeared to Róisín as I already was, this just draws me closer to her.
Further into the story, tensions rise within the Green Reapers right up to their elimination from the Screamer tournament. Lavinia offers Róisín some kind of financial assistance, thinking Róisín entered the tournament for the money. Róisín, still in shock from the team's failure, becomes offended by this offer. She takes it as a personal attack, characterizing her as weak and incapable of looking out for herself - something she has had to fight against for a very long stretch of her life, and has been the primary cause of tension because of Quinn's decision to let Hiroshi lead the team in her absence instead of Róisín. This causes Róisín to lash out at Lavinia, completely misunderstanding Lavinia's intentions, and the two presumably break up as a result. It's heartbreaking, and yet I still feel for the Irish woman. I see the mistake she's making. I recognize it as a cornered, wounded animal lashing out, purely driven by instinct without any rational thought.
I don't notice how quickly I'd made that connection.
A while later, Green Reapers is reinstated due to a technicality. Kagawa-kai had been disqualified for failing to meet team membership requirements, and a 'convincing' argument is made to bring Róisín's team back as a result of the disqualification. The reason why the appeal works is beyond the scope of this write-up, but I can at least say, "It makes sense if you recall what the Echo's actual purpose is."
Upon returning, Róisín and Lavinia make amends and the Screamer tournament takes off into space. The plot twist is revealed, and a plan is made to thwart it. Róisín promises Lavinia that the two will kiss when the plan is concluded, but in a twist of fate, Lavinia is seemingly killed in action. Lavinia's team captain, Aisha, gives Lavinia's JSI emblem to Róisín, who breaks down into tears. I cry along with her; two massively important losses have now occurred in a relatively short time frame, and I knew she still hadn't given herself any time at all to heal from the death of her PMC leader and mother figure, Quinn. I felt her grief to my core. I know what it's like to lose somebody like Quinn, have almost no healing accomplished in years afterwards, only for a deep, vulnerable connection with a romantic interest to be entirely severed by more death. It crushed me. I cried.
And all this time, I was unaware of why I felt so connected to Róisín. I knew I felt that connection from the start, and I felt that connection growing closer and tighter as time went on, even as the narrative put her into positions that could easily draw out interpretations of villainy or assholery. I felt kinship with her. I laughed with her, I raged with her and I cried with her.
I was unaware... until this comment on a YouTube review about the game.
"Roisin is traumatized to hell and back. It's telling that for most people she comes off unlikeable instead of in dire need of compassion (which is actually the case). If normal otherwise healthy people elicit this reaction then what hope do I have."
- @qasderfful
That was the missing puzzle piece that snapped it all into place. Roisin is the same kind of traumaqueer I am.
I connected so deeply with Róisín because I reacted to unhealed trauma in the exact same way. I became a very angry, overly confident prick, softening only slightly around others but pulling the spiky exterior right back up any time I felt that my vulnerability was even suspected to be under attack. I hurt the people I cared about in a desperate attempt to feel control in moments where I felt I had none. I lashed out at the people I loved because I was scared that they pitied me when they offered help. I cut people out when I felt scared they were going to leave me. I lost someone I loved just as I was growing close enough to them to try to be intimate for the first time in years.
And honestly, it's making me cry all over again. Milestone have managed to PERFECTLY depict a tense, traumatized dyke falling over and over again into primal survival instincts, slowly learning how to hide her claws, only for the world to punish her for doing so. There's nothing else she needs to say. She is utterly crushed, completely speechless.
Just before my best friend passed away a couple years ago, she became the only person I felt I could trust entirely with the vulnerability of intimacy. It was a queerplatonic thing, a healed traumaqueer helping a wounded bird fly again. It didn't result in much; as soon as I was asked to be an active participant, I immediately dissociated. I sat down on the couch, regressing to a mental age I'd never regressed to in a very long time, and quietly shook with fear. All the while, she held me and reminded me that I was safe. She asked for reassurance that I wanted to be held, and I couldn't speak; only nod. She continued to hold me as I shook until I managed to ground myself and regain control. At that point I flew into a rage at myself; I screamed about how scary it felt to want to touch another woman, and how angry I was at myself for feeling that way. I screamed about feeling useless, incapable of giving the same attention I was receiving. How selfish it made me feel that I could seemingly only receive physical contact and never give it out, lest I fall into yet another dissociative trauma response. The whole time, my best friend was soothing and calming me, offering rational explanations for my irrational thoughts.
And then she died. She had touched me in a way I had never been touched before, she'd made me feel like a woman in a way I'd never felt before, and I couldn't return the favor. I felt sick. I felt devastated. I felt like the world had only given me the luck of meeting her with the explicit purpose of punishing me for being too much of a coward to just fucking touch her the way she touched me.
And that's why Róisín Garrity is truly the best girl in any racing game narrative of all time. She is, by far, the most realistic depiction of a traumaqueer woman I've ever seen. It's like looking in a fucking mirror.
I'm not making excuses for her behavior; she truly did hurt people she's supposed to love and care for. She did some really shitty things during her time on-screen. Yet, so did I. I've hurt people in ways I will regret far beyond the day that I die. And Róisín and I still both deserve love and compassion. We deserve patience and grace to heal from our wounds and grow as people. Róisín is me, and I am Róisín. We are not perfect. We are hurt and deeply afraid of the world's cruel web of fate.
We are leopards with sharp claws. Please give us the time and space to learn how to put our claws away.