Ugly game characters - why?

[Fenristh]

I was wondering a while ago :cunning: Why the hell do game developers CHOOSE to make some characters ugly? They can make a person look like anything they want, and they choose ugly? E.g. The main character of Lost Odyssey is bastard ugly in the CG.

Example:

http://members.cox.net/zasalamel/locg.jpg

Why?

[Cilvia]

cuz all real men in real dont look so pretty as Versus or sephiroth like :D
welcome to reality.
(just because Nomura is not a designer for Odyssey ) ))

[Fenristh]

Uhm, Uncharted is nothing to do with him and Nathan Drake is far from ugly. :cookie:

[Allen Walker]

Uhm, Uncharted is nothing to do with him and Nathan Drake is far from ugly. :cookie:

I second that.

[Dark Remnant]

Because ugly people are lulz to look at.

Plus it makes it more realistic.

[Whiplash]

Because people are uggos. I don't mind the odd ugly character for at least a passing concession to reality.

[Terros]

I was wondering a while ago :cunning: Why the hell do game developers CHOOSE to make some characters ugly? They can make a person look like anything they want, and they choose ugly? E.g. The main character of Lost Odyssey is bastard ugly in the CG.

Example:

http://members.cox.net/zasalamel/locg.jpg

Why?
I don't think he's ugly, I've seen worse, I think we all have.

[Slim__Cognito]

ugly people are people TOO!!!!!! *runs away crying*

but in all seriousness ^^he really is pretty fugly.

[Cathryn]

Uhm, Uncharted is nothing to do with him and Nathan Drake is far from ugly. :cookie:

Nathan Drake is almost Abercrombie and Fitch, but i prefer him after he's had a roll around in water. :cunning:

I don't think he's ugly, I've seen worse, I think we all have.

I've seen worse at my local supermarket :cunning:

It could be something to do with making ourself's feel better about how we look, at least you can be like -
"Well, at least i didn't go into a Battle Field looking like THAT" :cunning:

[Dream Machine]

Drake is good looking, why on earth do people find him ugly?

Now THIS is ugly:

http://shinymedia.headshift.com/xbox360/gears_of_war.jpg

I'm afraid he might choke on his excessive testosterone and die.

[Allen Walker]

Why is his face wrinkly?

[Dream Machine]

Because apparently it makes him 'badass' and the game becomes 'epic'.

[Allen Walker]

'epic' you say? You talking about xbot fanboys or something?

[Dream Machine]

Haha mainly them but some PS3 fanboys use that annoying term too. Im sick of that bloody word, has no-one read a thesaurus? I find overly masculine charecters ugly, with bulging muscles and all that crazyness. I think those strange people who constntly demand it have issues with attraction to the same sex. Insecure teans make me lol. [/wild tangent]

[Allen Walker]

Meh, it doesn't matter what video game characters will look like because if its exclusive to a certain console, the fanboy of that console is going to say he's the most awesomest character that was ever made in a game.


DEATH TO FANBOYS !!!!!!!

[Dream Machine]

Indeed.

I myself only prefer the PS3 because it has all my favourite developers and some innovative new games coming out soon. I mean I don't like most of whats on the Xbox360 and the Wii, but I sure as hell wish I could play Bioshock.

[Allen Walker]

I prefer the PS3 as well because it has games that interest me the most. Yes, Bioshock definately looks like a fun game, but I dont want to risk a RRoD over a shooter :/ (dont forget XBL. Who wants to pay money to play online when you can do it for free on PSN?)

[Dream Machine]

Yah exactly, like you say im not gonna pay all this money just for the one game that interests me. My friend lives in perpetual fear of the RROD :lol:

PSN wins because its free and Im about to get Kula World on it!

[Yurian]

I find those characters from Lost Odyssey and Gears of War to be ugly, but then I find the characters in the recent FFs to be too impersonal/alien (confuzzling between Zoud and Clack ftw!!!). I can't connect to either style on a realistic level; if I were to put them side by side in the same environment it just wouldn't be able to fit.

If I were to design a 'realistic' videogame, I'd probably make my characters based on people in real life. I can't say the people I see around me are melting hotness off their bodies, but they do have a uniqueness that's memorable because of the way they look. I think FFX did a good job with this: the characters weren't alien, they didn't completely fit the golden ratio, and yet they had a 'beauty' about their unique facial characteristics. MGS was well done in this aspect as well.

[Dream Machine]

I don't like what they did to Cloud and the others in Advent Children to be honest, I remember in the earlyest trailers he looked more human but then they made him look all anime and shizzle. I do see what you mean about those charecters and also I'm not too fond of Vaan and Penelo's designs.

But from everyone we've seen so far from FFXIII I'm happy, Lightning isnt the typical FF girl and Mr 33cm has facial hair! I'm happy someone finally has facial hair.

[Dark Vincent]

Hahaha so true Dream! I think facial hair delivers on manliness +1. Specially when it's not necessarily an ugly beard, but just the sign of shaved face.

[Yurian]

I agree! Facial hair = a good step. :D

Now if only they provided a more diverse range of characters. Where are the blacks, the latinos, and the asians?!

[Naunen]

I agree! Facial hair = a good step. :D Now if only they provided a more diverse range of characters. Where are the blacks, the latinos, and the asians?!
----I second that. So far, I've been hearing the jocks in schools complain about how it's just an Asian game and that they rather stick with GTA series and all. <_<

[Dream Machine]

Facial hair does indeed win, I've quite the five o clock shadow myself!

That is an annoying aspect of FF, I mean theres such a diverse world of looks out there, it would be nice if they wernt all Europeanese (Anglo-European/Japanese - my friend taught me that one). I suppose the Versus guy does look kind of Eastern European at least.

I have a slither of hope that people from Pulse and Coccoon will look markedly different from each other and not just in dress. XII was unforgivable, in a world that full of hot arid landscapes why was near enough everyone white? So unrealistic, there should have been a lot more African/North African/Mediterranean looking people.

Barret makes me sad inside.

[Naunen]

Maybe then, Square-Enix can get more fans. Rather than the Asian people with hair gel and whatnot at cosplay conventions. <_<
To stay on topic, unattractive people certainly make a world believable. Have you noticed how many attractive people are on tv? It makes society think that people who not attractive are abominations. They don't even count average as attractive. <_<

Uhh... Too much muscle all the time is pretty ugly though. What about the average physique and whatnot? ><

[Dream Machine]

Its very odd, I've noticed on American television far too many people are attractive which I'm sure gives everyone complexes and makes us all want to attain this level of perfection that's silly.

British telelvison is full of ugly ugly people which I think is done to promote 'realism'. Both approaches are silly, life is full of both ugly and attractive people both inside and out.

With games its a lot more difficult you have to remember, because they have to model each character rather then just hire actors. Until its gets quite a bit easier and quicker to make them, don't expect any fuglies. Unless its a hyper-macho FPS, then everyone's ugly, or should I say 'full of epic win'?

[Naunen]

I just don't get media these days. <_< Highly "buff" dudes are gross to look at. And a lotta guys wanna look like that too. I don't mean every guy but a lotta guys. I just can't understand hyper macho games anymore.

[Dream Machine]

I certainly don't want to look like that! The whole A+F Ultimate Frisbee or the Yay for Steroids! look just disturbs me.

http://outhouserag.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/huge_muscles.jpg

Its about as hot as herpes.

[Naunen]

I am blinded.

[elephant_lost]

Ewwwww ><

I know I'm not a looker but I'm just fine with the way I look

I actually thought there were quite the tan people in XII personally....Vaan was pretty tan but I mean I know the landscape of Rabinastre (if I spelled that right) was inspired by Turkish architecture.....but that's just me :/

Anyways, I think the ugly characters are to show not everyone is so pretty on the outside
:cookie:

[Cathryn]

Same, i was dreading seeing clean shaven male characters
BRING ON THE STUBBLE (because women love it :cunning:)

[elephant_lost]

I don't like stubble D:
I like....uh...nevermind x)

[Cathryn]

xD
I love stubble on men.
I cantz help eiat...Mr. 33cm <33333
lol j/k...i swear, it's not an obsession :cunning:

[Naunen]

It's understood, Cathryn. :cunning:

[Dream Machine]

I actually thought there were quite the tan people in XII personally....Vaan was pretty tan but I mean I know the landscape of Rabinastre (if I spelled that right) was inspired by Turkish architecture.....but that's just me :/

:cookie:

I'm from a Turkish background and trust me when I say there ain't no Turkish man that looks like him :lol:

I'm not talking about the femininity (trust me there's plenty of effete Turkish guys ;)) , but his features where very Anglo-Saxon in my opinion. His skin was slightly darker then the FF norm but his features were near enough the same.


A quick note as well;

Clean Shaven = good
Stubble = good
Moustaches and Beards = not good

MY OPINIONS ARE FACT.

[elephant_lost]

Oh no I didn't mean Vaan looks Turkish, I meant the landscape....yeah I'm of Turkish background aswell, so I know there are no blonde Turks with those facial features. lol

Your opinions are blasphemy x(
j/k

I actually kinda like beards, but not like to bushy of beards

[S-r-ex]

Well, I see this ugly/pretty-thing on US/UK television too. Just look at Peggie, Bernie and Greengrass from Heartbeat, they are not good looking, but they are charming at the same time. Take any ameican show, you can count the number of ugly characters on one hand (maybe one finger)

For facial hair, stubs are good when the characters are in the thirties, like Auron and Mr. 33cm. Long beards are acceptable when the character is above 60. Short if they are over 40.

And as far as ugly goes, Quina???

[Cathryn]

Quina was fit :cunning:

[Whiplash]

I Vaan was pretty tan


He was also blonde with an incredibly feminine facial structure.


And how does the body builder on the right get through doorways? That would make a good puzzle game :cunning:

[Dream Machine]

Oh no I didn't mean Vaan looks Turkish, I meant the landscape....yeah I'm of Turkish background aswell, so I know there are no blonde Turks with those facial features. lol

Your opinions are blasphemy x(
j/k

I actually kinda like beards, but not like to bushy of beards

Theres plenty of blonde Turks though, they heart the peroxide :lol:. I am quite the blasphemer, but you're right there are exceptions to every rule. It does disturb me when I find someone with a beard hot. More so if they're female.

Quina was really hot, I mean seriously it was beyond model-hot.

The bodybuilder probably just hits the door until it explodes. Then walks through the carnage to his steroids :D

[Fenristh]

I certainly don't want to look like that! The whole A+F Ultimate Frisbee or the Yay for Steroids! look just disturbs me.

http://outhouserag.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/huge_muscles.jpg

Its about as hot as herpes.
AHAHA. Im not one for the body builder type :cunning: but you don't seriously think that guy on the right is really in that photo? :lol:

[Dream Machine]

I sure as hell hope thats a photoshop, but seriously the stuff they do with those damned steroids...

[Cathryn]

And how does the body builder on the right get through doorways? That would make a good puzzle game :cunning:

Is the body builder on the right actually REAL :cunning:

[Fenristh]

WTF of course not. :lol: Look at his right leg. Does that look like a normal leg to you? Looks like some bad cutting to me. :cunning:

[Cathryn]

I'm not sure, i've never had a good stare at a body builders leg.
But the guy in the middle should win, wtf he's got 4 arms :cunning:

[Fenristh]

Oops I meant left leg. :cunning: Still, its all jagged and badly cut out xD

[elephant_lost]

@Cathryn, yeah when I saw that I was like what the fuck xD

Yeah like at the hip you can tell it's a cut or render...or something

[aldo]

His "body" looks so choppy and low quality compared to the others. :aldo:

lol ugly characters. :aldo: That's so ugly kids won't get depressed.

[S-r-ex]

Anyways, the one on the right is obvious photoshopped. I used the same tool to animate that beating heart I posted on the Design part here that the shopper used in this photo...bloat tool, I think it was...Just look at his face, it's way more cropped than the rest of the photo and a bit small for his height, the the shine on his body doesn't match up with the others, and his skin is blurry. Even a n00b like me can quickly see that this is shopped. For the final nail in the coffin, it's really blurry around parts of the edge of this character (i,e. and it's poorly cut around the inner edge of his left leg (compare to the barcode background).

And even if his biceps alone had the mass of Betelgeuse, Chuck Norris would ground him in one blow!

[BlueOni]

All I know is: Solid Snake = Alpha male, appearances notwithstanding.

[S-r-ex]

We needz zeh Chuck Norris game!

[Devious]

Actually, I think the guy on the right's real. First off, he's got blue knees. Why would his knees be blue other than the fact thay they've got 500 pounds of muscle resting on them? It'd probably be a chore just to stand up. Also, if you look at the jurrasic park sign on the right, you can see his shadow, which is just as big as he is. The reason why his shine doesn't match the others is cuz there's more than one light, as illustrated by how he has overlapping shadows. And due to his immense size, he's catching the glow of more than one light. His head's actually normal sized. It's a bit difficult to develop muscles in your face.

[razenhavoc]

Jesus riverdancing Christ! Put that abomination away!

[S-r-ex]

Actually, I think the guy on the right's real. First off, he's got blue knees. Why would his knees be blue other than the fact thay they've got 500 pounds of muscle resting on them? It'd probably be a chore just to stand up. Also, if you look at the jurrasic park sign on the right, you can see his shadow, which is just as big as he is. The reason why his shine doesn't match the others is cuz there's more than one light, as illustrated by how he has overlapping shadows. And due to his immense size, he's catching the glow of more than one light. His head's actually normal sized. It's a bit difficult to develop muscles in your face.

Either you're joking, or you don't know crap about photoshopping, anatomy and common sense. I don't think it is the first one...

First off: HIS SKIN IS BLURRY! Blurry skin is not a phenomena of this world, is it? And is head is proportionally too small for his height. Tall people usually have large craniums. I learned this about anatomy in art class: you could say your head fits ten times in your body when seen from the front, five times up and two times sideways (under normal condition). Furthermore, his shine is bigger in surface, but also in strength. If it was just his size that caused a greater shine, the laws of physics would be fucked up. How can one square inch of his skin reflect more light than one square inch of the left guy's skin? And look around his right hip where the thong goes behind him. Do I have to explain that? Just his left arm as lots of artifacts around the edge. Finally, if you think the dark area behind hm is is shadow, look closer. The shoulder width doesn't match up, and due to the wall behind him, light angle is eliminated as a cause. This image is obvious photoshopped, and if you can give me certain proof such as a video of this very event, I'll withdraw that statement.

[Aerith]

If a game has ugly characters, i wont play it.
no matter how good it is~ *badperson?*

[Cathryn]

Will you stop bumping old topics.

[elephant_lost]

It's not that old :cookie:

[Nagase]

Actually I've seen bigger people than the picture of that guy on the right, saw a documentary about it. He took so many steroids and lifted so many weights that his muscle exploded inside his arm so its more than possible that its real.

[Clone of Shadows]

yeah iv heard of that program.

[Devious]

Actually I've seen bigger people than the picture of that guy on the right, saw a documentary about it. He took so many steroids and lifted so many weights that his muscle exploded inside his arm so its more than possible that its real.
Yeah, there's this kid in my class who had a friend who was interviewed on TV. Apparently his psychiatrist fed him steroids to get him hyped up so his parents would keep paying her to cure him. His muscles got so big it almost ripped his skin apart so they had to surgically do something or other to it.

http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/1289/pumped1qj.jpg

lolololol

can't tell if it's a painting by some twisted sicko with a muscle fetish or a really bad photograph.

[deceptacon]

ummmmmmmmm.
wtf ?! @ the crotch area

[elephant_lost]

it's a monster

[deceptacon]

or possibly socks.

[Hextan]

On Topic----> Why ugly characters? Because they can? Well I guess it goes along with why are only attractive people in all the good movies? Okay well maybe not all I am generalizing here. But that is just the thing to do. And who knows maybe the character designer was going for a rougher looking person. Okay so you probably could make a person look rough and tough without being fugly but perhaps they are just trying to mix it up a bit to. Or, how's this for a radical idea. Maybe peoples ideas of what is attractive and what is not are vastly different??? Not saying though that these two guys are attractive I mean they have definitely been hit with an ugly stick :|.

Oh and as far as the muscles go, I would say that muscular definition on someones body is definitely a plus. However anyone overly muscular (Body Dysmorphia Type) is just kind of vile, disgusting, and gross.

[Thimien]

im trying to think of an ugly game caracter, not to meantion all jp game caracters look like weman, even when they are men lol

but i cant think of one ugly caracter in FF games.

[elephant_lost]

Hmmm....well....uh....Azul from DoC was fugleh
:cookie:

[Reviarth]

I certainly don't want to look like that! The whole A+F Ultimate Frisbee or the Yay for Steroids! look just disturbs me.

http://outhouserag.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/huge_muscles.jpg

Its about as hot as herpes.


*eyes pops out of head*

anyway..........as for game characters they don't have to make the characters pretty or ugly although I don't mind the pretty ones ^^; but cant they just make like normal average looking guys/girls? Is that so wrong? D:

lol but no body builder types please ^^;;

[Fenrin]

You're mixing "ugly" and "not perfect". It gives them some substance; it makes them more than just Mary Jane #58,641.

[Cathryn]

roflulululul.
Jeremy Kyal shud be made into a game, then we canz comment on all teh fugly characters in it. :aldo:

[Sidderz]

'Cause not everyone in the world is fantastically handsome?