Character Design – Page 40 – Bikini Armor Battle Damage

November 15, 2015

A friend suggested to me to bingo Tier Harribel from Bleach in her final form. And it kind of broke my mind. Not just by how amazingly bad it is, but how it builds on top of problems with her previous appearance.

Initially it seems that the two main issues with her original design are the bared belly and the jacket that is boobsock-y (also underboob-y, in manga)…

…then we get to see what she looks like with that top open and, well…

Hopefully I’m not the only person who finds the face to be the least shocking thing she kept hidden under that top.

And yes, apparently her bingoed form is also more underbooby in the manga.

Obviously none of her male friends get such an “empowered” update.

~Ozzie

Preemptive warning to those who are typing lore-heavy responses:
The fact that she’s a supernatural creature rather than a mortal human and that the white bone-like parts (including the nipples, *shudder*) are remnants of her older form does not justify the obvious sexualization of the design.

edit: Thanks to @icykitty for pointing out I forgot to cross out the most crucial bingo square here: “More advanced armor = skimpier”.

November 14, 2015April 23, 2018

November 14, 2015March 6, 2019

It didn’t take long for people to point out that Linkle looks distinctly like Elf from Dragon’s Crown, only with crossbows and some small style changes:

But personally my bigger issue is why does Linkle need thigh high boots, ridiculous dual crossbows (good luck reloading) and to look so adorable when Link looks like this:

I mean it’s Hyrule Warriors – the core gameplay is literally smashing armies and bosses in a war across Hyrule. So there should less this:

More this:

– wincenworks

I wasn’t keeping up with E3 but the Valkyrie from the Gauntlet game actually has practical armor???

bikiniarmorbattledamage:

Well, I’m a little disappointed that they seem to have gone with three men and a token woman approach (not that I had high hopes for Gauntlet – one of the original “kill everything that moves or doesn’t move” games), but looking at the most revealing outfit they’re showcasing for her:

I can’t stay mad at her… look at her!

– wincenworks

Since it’s that time again where the popular rhetoric is “Why be so negative? Why not celebrate the improvements!?” I feel it’s time to bring this back.

If Arrowhead Game Studios (founded by students) can do this with Gauntlet, a franchise this is literally thirty years old, and has a questionable history in terms of costume design for Valkyrie, then I think I’m entitled to expect more from major studios.

So, the message to major studios that want praise for “trying to improve” while improving by only the slightest increments (followed by backsteps) remains the same:

– wincenworks

November 12, 2015

fortunaourania:

I wasn’t keeping up with E3 but the Valkyrie from the Gauntlet game actually has practical armor???

bikiniarmorbattledamage:

Well, I’m a little disappointed that they seem to have gone with three men and a token woman approach (not that I had high hopes for Gauntlet – one of the original “kill everything that moves or doesn’t move” games), but looking at the most revealing outfit they’re showcasing for her:

I can’t stay mad at her… look at her!

– wincenworks

Since it’s that time again where the popular rhetoric is “Why be so negative? Why not celebrate the improvements!?” I feel it’s time to bring this back.

So, the message to major studios that want praise for “trying to improve” while improving by only the slightest increments (followed by backsteps) remains the same:

– wincenworks

November 10, 2015April 23, 2018

November 10, 2015March 6, 2019

This is why we find it difficult to celebrate Blizzard’s baby steps towards progress – they are already so self-congratulatory about it that they basically gave up before they started.

Okay, yes, baby steps, Blizzard has got a long history of being terrible and a lot unlearning to do. But they could at least try to show some self-awareness of this.

Dirty Bomb, a game which I feel we have actually tragically under-represented in our positive examples, has managed to incorporate diversity and gear equality without making it a novelty item. How? By making diversity a genuine priority – that’s why their line up looks more like this:

– wincenworks

And it’s not only body diversity which seems to be a challenge for female Overwatch characters, so is their AGE!

D.Va is actually the youngest in the whole ensemble (19). Female characters don’t get older than 34 37 (Mercy), while male ones range from 20 (if you count Zenyatta, a robot) or 25 (Junkrat) all the way up to 61 (Reinhardt).

The overall design of D.Va is perplexing on so many levels, too. What new is she supposed to contribute? Yet another young, thin, conventionally pretty woman in a catsuit… something the game (and the industry as a whole) so totally lacked before! Even her silly pseudonym rubs in that she’s a diva.
The idea of a Korean professional gamer-turned-mecha pilot is very cool (even if the backstory rips off Evangelion/Pacific Rim), but why make her look so generic… and paint her mech pink?

My most optimistic guess: one of many Blizzard’s Creepy Marketing Guys saw Zarya and said “So, we’re doing female tanks now? Okay, but next one is gonna be the SEXY tank! And make her more PINK !”

~Ozzie

more on Overwatch | more on Blizzard

November 5, 2015

..my move is just awful, it’s chauvinist! Every time I fall over my vagina and vulva is exposed. I might as well be an NPC that doesn’t know where to wander!

Felicia Day, playing as Tyris Flare in the original Golden Axe game, (x)

Golden Axe, the iconic side-scrolling hack’em up is also a pretty iconic example of bikini armor:

And yes, ~~Dolph Lundgren~~Ax Battler (that is his actual name!) is wearing a bikini too but as well as being a male power fantasy (or someone I’d expect to see featured at videogamesmademegay) he always looks badass posed like Conan the Barbarian or a classical mythological figure. He also quickly got an unsuccessful spinoff game and you had the option to play a dwarf who at least kept his shirt on.

Tyris on the other hand, despite having a much less ridiculous name, had to wait until 2008 when she would get to be the star. But hey, that’s like eighteen/nineteen years of social and artistic progress right? Let’s see how they portrayed her and promoted the game!

Yeah…

– wincenworks

I felt it may be time to bring this back, not because anything has happened with the Golden Axe franchise – but because there’s still apparently a wide spread believe that exposed skin is the be all and end all of sexualized armor design.

As you can see, they actually gave Tyris more clothes in her spinoff title, but less powerful presence simply by design decisions like making her muscles less defined, body language less intimidating and ensuring her extra clothes highlighting sexualized body parts.

As convenient as it would be – there is no one element of design that guarantees a design will work. Designs consist of dozens of decisions and each can improve or worsen it by degrees.

– wincenworks

November 5, 2015

..my move is just awful, it’s chauvinist! Every time I fall over my vagina and vulva is exposed. I might as well be an NPC that doesn’t know where to wander!

Felicia Day, playing as Tyris Flare in the original Golden Axe game, (x)

Golden Axe, the iconic side-scrolling hack’em up is also a pretty iconic example of bikini armor:

Yeah…

– wincenworks

As convenient as it would be – there is no one element of design that guarantees a design will work. Designs consist of dozens of decisions and each can improve or worsen it by degrees.

– wincenworks

October 17, 2015April 23, 2018