BTS Confirmed Their BT21 Characters Are Gender Neutral & ARMYs Are Celebrating

RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook may make up BTS, but there's another group that has won over the hearts of the BTS ARMY — VAN, KOYA, RJ, SHOOKY, MANG, CHIMMY, TATA, and COOKY, otherwise known as BT21. They are characters created by BTS themselves (each inspired by one member) in collaboration with LINE FRIENDS, which is why the group often refers to them as their "children." Since BTS helped make them, the ARMY has a huge soft spot for them, too. Fans even wear all kinds of BT21 merch to the group's concerts (like the headband that everyone seems to have). Up until now, BTS hasn't confirmed the gender of each of their characters, but that hasn't stopped fans from wondering. Well, in a new video uploaded to the BT21 YouTube channel, the group agreed to make their characters gender neutral. This video of BTS confirming their BT21 characters are gender neutral is everything.

Children really grow up fast, don't they? VAN, KOYA, RJ, SHOOKY, MANG, CHIMMY, TATA, and COOKY were born in September 2017, and although it's only been two years since then, they have become globally-recognized characters. BTS is so proud of how far their characters have come and they never miss an opportunity to let fans know. Because fans love the characters so much, the group has decided to create a BT21 UNIVERSE with LINE FRIENDS and expand on each of their characters' backstories. Through new videos uploaded to the BT21 YouTube channel, fans have learned a lot more about VAN, KOYA, RJ, SHOOKY, MANG, CHIMMY, TATA, and COOKY. The latest piece of info they've learned is that all of the characters are gender neutral.

It all started with J-Hope, who asked the question fans have been dying to know the answer to — is MANG a boy or a girl? Fans first assumed all of the BT21 characters were boys since the characters are a reflection of BTS themselves, but that all changed when they discovered that TATA could be gender neutral or non-binary. In October 2017, the BT21 Instagram account listed TATA's gender as "VVVVV," which had fans wondering about the genders of each of the BT21 characters.

Now, in a new video titled, "BT21 UNIVERSE EP.09 - TRUE OR FALSE 2," Jimin said that the characters' genders are actually not confirmed yet. That is when Suga said, "I actually want all of them to be gender neutral. I don't want them to be classified into two gender groups." The rest of BTS agreed, making it official.

The video even showed a cute scene of MANG in front of the boys and girls' bathrooms, where the character looked confused about which one to use. In the end, MANG smashed through the wall in between each of the bathrooms, indicating that they didn't quite fit into either category.

Watch the whole thing go down in the video below, beginning at the 1:19 mark.

The BTS ARMY was really happy about the decision:

It actually made some fans a little emotional:

LGBTQ+ fans thought it was a win for the gays:

Seeing how happy BTS has made fans has made me really emotional, too. Their decision may be unimportant to most people, but it really does mean a lot to their fans. The world really doesn't deserve BTS, does it?