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A poster on TVTropes said his one wish for FFXVI was to have a main character with an eye color other than blue.
Upon reflection...he's got a point. Cloud, Squall, Zidane, Tidus, Ashe and Lightning all have blue eyes. Cecil's eyes are probably blue too if I bothered to look up a portrait or artwork. No clue about Bartz or whoever the hell the main character of Vi is.
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...though they're sometimes blue too. :shobon:
Also the X-2 lead only had one blue eye!
Both blonde hair and blu eyes is exotic in Japan, and is usually used to make a character appear as if he doesn't belong, is mysterious, etc. A shame, as I am a much bigger fan of green eyes. Natural green eyes that is, not magical glowing green. That belongs in blizzard games.
I'll agree that it is starting to get a bit old though.
People have repeatedly argued that Cloud's eyes are supposed to be brown... or at least some color other than blue. I've long referred to them as less than intelligent.
A nice brown glow. :lol:
Where exactly have you seen people argue that?Quote:
Originally Posted by Mercen-X
Blue eyes does not translate to Aryan. Also, Mirage makes a good point.
What's wrong with blonde and blue eyes ^^.
it's kind of cliché in japanese games, that's all
Ain't that supposed to be blonde hair AND blue eyes?
Anyways I think it's them shooting for someone who will stand out. After all, blue eyes are pretty rare, and they're easily noticeable in a crowd.
Yes, that's what i said!
I thought it was all about pink hair. Blue eyes are natural. So i'm cool with that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mirage
It's not usually natural in Japan, which is the region most anime is made for. As I said earlier, having blonde hair and/or blue eyes almost always indicate that the person is not from there, is an outsider, is special or mysterious or any combination of those. That's why it's clichéd, not because it isn't a natural color.
Strange side note: there's a glitch that occurs when you play FFVII on an emulator where the whites of certain characters' eyes (Cloud sometimes, Tifa sometimes, Heidegger, etc) will turn red.
Make of that what you will. Also, I agree that the "blonde-haired blue-eyed protagonist" angle is getting kind of old. But that's the thing with iconography; it spends years as cliche before its acknowledged as iconic. Try watching Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and you'll see what I mean.
Perhaps an Irish main character is in order? Red hair and blue/green eyes.
Wait. You mean occasionally they'll all appear stoned?Quote:
Originally Posted by Spooniest
....Interesting....
Can't help but wonder if the fascination with blonde-hair-blue-eyes is a reflection of the desires of wider society. Do we really regard such people as the Master Race?
I think "master race" is misleading term. There is a sentiment that blonde hair and blue eyes are attractive features, and I think that many, if not the majority, have preferences for these features.
Idk...the fact that the most attractive features pertain to a single physical type (caucasians) is pretty interesting to me.
He mentioned master race because the Aryas of Nazi propaganda all had blue eyes and blonde hair.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shorty
I personally prefer silver or black hair. Or brown. Blondes tend to be stupid.... :eep:
Also what Mirage said about Japan and people with blue eyes/blonde hair being foreign/exotic to them. I think it relates to that more than to anything else.
I never noticed it before, but he's right. lol. I'm rooting for brown or green eyes myself.
This is an issue not only in Final Fantasy, but in video games in general. It's even more surprising to me with Japan that despite being an Asian country there are a ton of Caucasian representation in their games. There is so much potential in branching out among other races and ethnicity, but all Japan does is go off of material from Europe and occasionally Japan.
Is there some fascination with Caucasians over there? The exotic thing sounds like a bs excuse to me because I would think that would apply to like every non-European country out there excluding North America and Australia, but you don't see India for example constantly putting those images within their media. Japan also has a B-style following, but as far as games go no representation of that.
They are missing so much by not tapping into mythology and settings from around the world. They could make a RPG set in ancient Egypt, an RPG based on Yoruba mythology, an RPG set in the antebellum South, South America, a Hip-Hop RPG
This is also pretty prevalent in Disney movies. Even when a princess isn't blonde, she usually has blue eyes! Belle and Snow White are the only Caucasians who have an eye color other than blue (okay, well I guess Rapunzel too, but she's also blonde and I'm not counting her anyways).
There are also not that many white princesses, though, comparatively speaking.
I was just speaking about the Caucasians and how blue-eye syndrome is something Disney also deals with.
He looks demonic in that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Psychotic