Hyrule Warriors – A Link to the Pants, Part 2
Well, this one was definitely a journey. I’ve wanted to redesign this unfortunate “armor” ever since it was posted on this blog. Those who joined us while we worked on these pieces will know how much I struggled with certain aspects of this, and how much I hate the original. I had to change something about almost every element in this. I’m just so glad it’s done and I can move on with my life.
The first things I knew I wanted to do are the breastplate and pants. Then I gave her the sleeves to match her “skirt.” That was the easy part.
After that I didn’t know what to do about her midriff, so I focused on her hair and face. I put her hair up so it doesn’t get in the way, and I just took some of her makeup away. I do this a lot, and it’s not because I hate makeup; it’s to show that you can have lady characters look good and cool and strong without giving them false eyelashes and a contour to rival Kim Kardashian. Also because women are always expected by society to wear makeup (but not look like it, that’s important), and screw that, so….
After that, the last thing to do was get rid of that idiotic corset. I had no real ideas, so I just extended her tabbard and gave her a belt to hold her tassets. It’s kind of a hack job, but I had no better ideas, and I had spent way too much time trying to come up with something. I wanted to just keep the plate armor and not add chainmail or anything… so here we are.
I still feel like I could have done better, but at least I don’t feel my blood boiling when I look at my redesign, as opposed to the original. Now I can believe that this is a woman that actually goes out into combat, while maintaining her regal air.
-Icy
Hey Nintendo, I have an idea for a game for you – make a new Zelda game but use bits of these comics from 1990 as the concepts. The bits where Zelda is kicking ass, rescuing the innocent and helping people overthrow evil.
– wincenworks
(ht: Kotaku)
So, Nintento… since you’ve taken a pretty good first step in this direction, just reminding you that any time you want to make Legend of Zelda game where the twist is you play as Zelda from the comics – the world is ready.
Any time.
Any time is good.
ANY TIME.
– wincenworks
Let’s Talk About Princess Zelda’s New Look
Let’s Talk About Princess Zelda’s New Look
So for those that aren’t aware, the trailer for Breath of the Wild shows a costume design for Zelda is pretty awesome:
Needless to say, many people were thrilled about this design and generally praised Nintendo for this step forward. Of course, there’s a few folks to who’s primary concern is that you know nobody cares… but there’s also a lot of folks who are very excited and have created cosplay and all kinds of fan art.
- Cosplay by @driftingbystars
- Watercolor fan art by @morganamelia
- Animated fan art by @routexx
- Regal and feminine fan art by @inkmonsterdraws
- Zelda Casting Din’s Fire by @dysah
- “I love her so much” by @haruuuka
So basically the message to take away from this is that when certain people say “who cares” they really mean “I’m deeply upset that other people are enjoying a thing that wasn’t made exclusively for me”.
– wincenworks
If there’s something more pathetic than refusal to finally have a female protagonist in a well-established game franchise (especially when there’s clearly demand for it!), it’s the attempts to justify why only a guy main character is a possible option.
Jim points out what amazingly absurd rhetoric Nintendo employed lately to explain why neither female Link nor playable Zelda are viable option for the next Legend of Zelda game. The arguments are downright nonsensical.
At this point @LewieP’s joke explanation* sounds more cohesive than anything Nintento representatives had said:
[props to jimquisition commenter who found this]
~Ozzie
see fan imaginings of Zelda-led game: @annalandin‘s elemental-powered armors |
タバコ’s Hyrule Valkyrja | @dresdencodak‘s Clockwork Empire
*edit: Sadly, the joke, unlike Jim’s video isn’t trans-inclusive.
(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)
Backstory made to fit a sexualized design vs. a design made to fit a backstory requiring a character to wear minimal clothing.
Thank you, shattered-earth!
It is crucial to understand that a character design has to be informative of who the character is. And that sexualized designs do not inform us of it, just break the immersion.
Quiet’s a mercenary with a fictional condition that requires her to uncover as much skin as possible? Fine, then either make her totally nude or give her minimal clothing that is actually comfortable for her job.
Princess Zelda is royalty and a magic user, so her armor has to be fancy rather than simplistic and practical as Link’s? Sure, then make it gown-like and ornamental, just don’t leave out random patches of skin where she can be conveniently stabbed.
Charlotte is a gold-digging seductress who pretends to be innocent and demure? Then maybe instead of a boob-flaunting bikini give her a child-like costume that matches that persona?
~Ozzie