Just so we’re clear, Chandra, Torch of Defiance wears the most practical version of her armor to date. (The least practical goes to the manga adaptation of The Purifying Fire.) But compared to the armor designs worn by other residents of Kaladesh, it seems a little out of place.
For those curious regarding the fore-mentioned manga:
Essentially the spectrum highlights the problems that happens if a company like Wizards sets a vague design for a character then tries to “fix” it (depending on their priorities on any given day) without ever changing it in a meaningful way.
In this case, if you compare to the previous images of Chandra from the official Magic the Gathering imagery, the changes are:
- Swapped chainmail for scalemail (both of which are absent in the manga)
- Given her more substantial faulds (which are decorative in the manga)
- Given her a weird collar/gorget thingie
- Added extra cloth to her loincloth and made it heavier
- Made her boots go all the way up to (presumably) her groin
- Given her actual hair instead of just fire
So essentially all her redesigns and attempts to redevelop her were all preemptively critiqued in 1994, by known intellectual Lisa Simpson:
– wincenworks