People talking about practical armor in Red Sonja dont seem to realize its practical for her. The world she lives in looks rather warm so wearing full armor would burn her up and sap her energy, not mention restrict her movements and agility. It would be impractical to have her in full armor given her environment and fighting style; just like when Spider-Man had that armored suit that slowed him down…it made it harder for him to fight
A metal bikini is not an armor, cause it serves no protection. It’s just an uncomfortable bikini.
It does NOT lend any bonus to the character’s agility, quite the contrary, cause it’s just underwear made of metal: it’s cold, it’s heavy, it’s chafing, it’s pinching.
Without going into complicated discussion of the character and the origin story, the reason the original Red Sonja (not the current incarnation) can fight in that bikini is “divine protection”* (related to “a wizard did it”) combined with near suicidal recklessness.
The reason she doesn’t wear regular clothes is… the costume was designed in the 70s, became iconic and until recently people kept choosing nostalgia over making sense.
* Doesn’t it seem kind of sexist that the female rival to Conan needed divine magic to be his equal? Yes. Yes it does.
Kid Icarus: Uprising is a game mostly about gods fighting each other so none of the big players are wearing much in the way of armor, mostly swooshy robes, however you do meet two humans in the game.
First is Magnus:
A guy kinda just wearing clothes.
The second is Dark Lord Gaol:
A woman wearing armor that’s incredibly ridiculous but in the exact opposite direction from what you usually get.
I really, really love Dark Lord Gaol’s outfit as an example of a costume that is loaded with personality and expression – but also reads as being a badass suit of armor. The combination of practical base (metal plates that shield everything vital) and unreal additions (the giant horns, the knee spike, etc) really give it a larger than life fantasy badass feel.
