Voltron: Legendary Defender features Shiro, a main protagonist, who is revealed to be gay. While his past partner Adam dies, Shiro's identity is depicted with dignity and complexity, and he ultimately marries another man, Curtis, in the series finale. The portrayal normalizes his sexuality and provides an affirming outcome for the character.

The show features multiple female characters, including Princess Allura and Pidge, who frequently engage in and win close-quarters physical combat against male opponents. They utilize martial arts, enhanced physical abilities, and melee weapons to defeat their adversaries.

The character Pidge, a male Paladin in the original Voltron: Defender of the Universe, is reimagined as a female character (Katie Holt) in Voltron: Legendary Defender, constituting a gender swap.

Several characters from previous Voltron iterations, originally depicted as white, are portrayed as different races in this adaptation. Hunk is Samoan-American, and Shiro (based on Sven) is Japanese-American, constituting clear race swaps.