The Outer Worlds introduced players to a diverse cast of characters, but the biggest breakout hit of the game by far was Parvati Holcomb. Parvati won players over with her upbeat, positive personality and her backstory, and the NPC quickly became a must-have companion for players’ parties. Ashly Burch, the voice actor who played the role of Parvati, said that even though she felt very attached to the character, she never expected that Parvati would be as popular as she ended up being.
ComicBook.com spoke to Burch recently about her time as Parvati, her expectations for the character, and her thoughts on how the NPC was received after the game’s launch. When asked if she ever imagined Parvati would become everybody’s favorite character, she said she never expected it but could see how that could happen looking back on it now.
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“I absolutely did not expect that, no,” Burch said. “I love her, and I formed an attachment to her, and I think she’s a great character, but I truly, genuinely had no idea that she would garner such a response. In retrospect, it makes sense because she is representing such issues or presenting an experience that is so rarely showcased in media. So I think looking back on it now, I can see like, ‘Oh yeah, of course that would be such a powerful thing for people that identify as asexual,’ or specifically even biromantic and asexual.”
Parvati enlists the help of The Outer Worlds players to help navigate her feelings for another NPC, Junlei, if players continue working with her. Players might’ve picked up on it based on conversations with Parvati that the character is indeed asexual.
Burch said it was meaningful to her that she was able to help people have the experience of interacting with a character like Parvati if they identified with the NPC. She said she never really expects any character to be a hit from the start, but she always hopes others love her characters.
“I mean, you never know, right?” Burch said about predicting the success of a character. “For so many … I don’t think I’ve ever been like, ‘Ah, this is going to be a hit.’ You know what I mean? Any character that I have played, the people have responded to, you just, you love them and you put everything that you have into them and you come away from it being like, ‘Well, I love that character. So hopefully other people love that character.’ But you never really know.”
ComicBook.com’s conversations with Parvati stemmed from talks about her new role in the Apple TV+ show Mythic Quest. She plays a game tester within the Mythic Quest studio, a character that she says is a “heightened part” of herself. All nine episodes of the show are now available through Apple TV+, and if you’re a fan of either It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia or The Office, there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy it.
