JRPG Males = Overly Feminine?

To me, this is actually some sort of an ongoing joke that I notice with each JRPG that is released. Every single character looks the same, but with slight alterations to the hairstyles and hair colors so you can tell the characters apart. From the androgynous cast of Final Fantasy games, all the way to some of the many obscure JRPGs I'm not even going to try to recall the names to, they all look alike, and they all have feminine features.

Take Cloud for example, he has the same exact features as main the character girl from the upcoming Final Fantasy game. Same exact features and I will post an extensive comparison picture to prove that as well if I need to, the only difference being the hair style of course.

Or look at the many strangely named male characters from other JRPGs, I will bet you that 90% of them, if not more, all have androgynous overly feminine features to them, so much so that a slight alteration to the hair style would completely change what gender you would initially see them as. A prime example of this is a near female main character in Final Fantasy 12, when I first saw him I wasn't sure if it was some sort of sick joke.

With the exception of some of the "Bear Males" that you'll find as novelty characters in some JRPGs, has there ever been a male character that wasn't slathered in feminine qualities?

Its called a style my friend, why dwell on this subject....

This is as old as the age old JRPG vs WRPG, its just differences in style and culture portrayed artistically...

Have you played FF7 when it first came out, would you say he looks feminine there? Just throwing that out. tmntPunchout

Ingame cloud? No, his face was more or less a series of colored blocks. I would say the game art cloud is very feminine though.

Give that photo long hair and a dress and that's a woman if I've ever seen one.

Having lived in japan, I can tell you its simply a different culture and a different ideal of what is beautiful. Western cultures want there men to be big, burly and strong, while eastern want their men to be tall, slender, clean and pretty. They dont emphasize strength as a prerequisite for being more attractive, in fact when I met my girlfriend while living in Hiroshima, she thought I was too strong, and would prefer I was skinny and weak v. built and tone. (and rock hard I might add :P )Steakdinner

What about this character though? He's from a Japanese developer and he's about as manly as it can get. I think they're just lazy, they can make unique character designs if they really want to.

All JRPG characters look the same.SpinoRaptor24

Yeah, totally. I mean, is there any difference between Cloud and, say, this guy?

[QUOTE="Steakdinner"]Having lived in japan, I can tell you its simply a different culture and a different ideal of what is beautiful. Western cultures want there men to be big, burly and strong, while eastern want their men to be tall, slender, clean and pretty. They dont emphasize strength as a prerequisite for being more attractive, in fact when I met my girlfriend while living in Hiroshima, she thought I was too strong, and would prefer I was skinny and weak v. built and tone. (and rock hard I might add :P )LittleHands134

What about this character though? He's from a Japanese developer and he's about as manly as it can get. I think they're just lazy, they can make unique character designs if they really want to.

Yeah, that's because it's a JRPG. That's the Japanese art style. It's all anime-like. Personally I really like the male characters in JRPGs.dylanmcc

Its called a style my friend, why dwell on this subject....

This is as old as the age old JRPG vs WRPG, its just differences in style and culture portrayed artistically...

What about this character though? He's from a Japanese developer and he's about as manly as it can get. I think they're just lazy, they can make unique character designs if they really want to.

LittleHands134

Yeah, totally. I mean, is there any difference between Cloud and, say, this guy?

Cherokee_Jack

That's one awesome character. Now why don't they make JRPG main characters like that? If I saw a JRPG where the lead hero looked like that, my faith in JRPG art would be restored. I guess fan girls can't write out garbage fan fiction about those kinds of characters though.

[QUOTE="SpinoRaptor24"]All JRPG characters look the same.Cherokee_Jack

Yeah, totally. I mean, is there any difference between Cloud and, say, this guy?

Hey how about we use more than one character?

I'm sure the majority of JRPG characters look very similar to each other.

[QUOTE="dylanmcc"]Yeah, that's because it's a JRPG. That's the Japanese art style. It's all anime-like. Personally I really like the male characters in JRPGs.Cherokee_Jack

Yeah, totally. I mean, is there any difference between Cloud and, say, this guy?

That's one awesome character. Now why don't they make JRPG main characters like that? If I saw a JRPG where the lead hero looked like that, my faith in JRPG art would be restored. I guess fan girls can't write out garbage fan fiction about those kinds of characters though.

I find them more tolerable than the ridiculously beefed up males from Gears of War and Starcraft.Menalque2

[QUOTE="Steakdinner"]Having lived in japan, I can tell you its simply a different culture and a different ideal of what is beautiful. Western cultures want there men to be big, burly and strong, while eastern want their men to be tall, slender, clean and pretty. They dont emphasize strength as a prerequisite for being more attractive, in fact when I met my girlfriend while living in Hiroshima, she thought I was too strong, and would prefer I was skinny and weak v. built and tone. (and rock hard I might add :P )LittleHands134

What about this character though? He's from a Japanese developer and he's about as manly as it can get. I think they're just lazy, they can make unique character designs if they really want to.

[QUOTE="Cherokee_Jack"][QUOTE="dylanmcc"]Yeah, that's because it's a JRPG. That's the Japanese art style. It's all anime-like. Personally I really like the male characters in JRPGs.dylanmcc

Non-feminine =/= "buff". Example:

Just as long as it isn't like this...

...i'm fine with it.

They're not actually feminine. And yes, they do look different. They have different facial structures, etc.

It's really just a warped concept of gender that leads to this idea and western ideals that do not match up with reality.

Masculine JRPG male:

Feminine JRPG male:

vaan=worst and "happiest" JRPG main character everunknown37

Vaan = Alladin.

Plus, there was nothing inheritely feminine about Vaan.

He did have REALLY WEIRD ABS THOUGH.

western ideals that do not match up with reality.hakanakumono

Well yeah I've play MANY JRPGs and the ones with feminine male characters are prety low, yet only the shiny spots are noticed like:

All things considered Zelos and Sephiroth are still awesome.

They're not actually feminine. And yes, they do look different. They have different facial structures, etc.

It's really just a warped concept of gender that leads to this idea and western ideals that do not match up with reality.

Masculine JRPG male:

Feminine JRPG male:

hakanakumono

Gotta disagree with you there. Pretty much every Final Fantasy character looks the same. They have a very generic art design. Here's another photo example.

Wow, that girl sure has a lot of different clothing and hair types.

[QUOTE="hakanakumono"]western ideals that do not match up with reality.Cherokee_Jack

How are they unrealistic? A real person could look something like Squall.

Probably more likely than this:

[QUOTE="Cherokee_Jack"][QUOTE="hakanakumono"]western ideals that do not match up with reality.hakanakumono

How are they unrealistic? A real person could look something like Squall.

Probably more likely than this:

Gears has some of the most deformed human character models I've ever seen in a shooter. Still, it's more realistic than Squall, since there are people who actually look somewhat close to Marcus:

But I've never seen anyone who looks like Squall, much less Vaan.

[QUOTE="hakanakumono"]

They're not actually feminine. And yes, they do look different. They have different facial structures, etc.

It's really just a warped concept of gender that leads to this idea and western ideals that do not match up with reality.

Masculine JRPG male:

Feminine JRPG male:

LittleHands134

Gotta disagree with you there. Pretty much every Final Fantasy character looks the same. They have a very generic art design. Here's another photo example.

Wow, that girl sure has a lot of different clothing and hair types.

Thats from dissidia, and the style of the artwork makes the male characters look more feminine. It's not like that in the actual games. :roll:

Real Comparisons:

Mr. Easygoing

Tidus. Looks a little bit like a white/Japanese mix. Smaller eyes, faltter nose, different mouth, different hair than squall. This is a little decieving based on who's frowning and how's smiling, but Squall actually has stronger eyebrows that make him look more masucline. Oh and there is that whole, GASH in Squall's face. Squall is much more formal looking, while Tidus is more trendy (Being trendy is more important to Japanese males). Tidus' skintone looks like a tan Japanese persons.

Mr. Strictly business (as long as he can keep it up).

Compare both of those to:

Mr. I think I'm badass

Looking beyond the ridiculous spiky hair, Cloud has a definite Japanese nose, smalelr mouth than both of the above and again, different eyes which are somwhat between the two.

[QUOTE="hakanakumono"]

[QUOTE="Cherokee_Jack"] What, you mean Squall's features are realistic? Am I living in the wrong reality here?Cherokee_Jack

How are they unrealistic? A real person could look something like Squall.

Probably more likely than this:

Gears has some of the most deformed human character models I've ever seen in a shooter. Still, it's more realistic than Squall, since there are people who actually look somewhat close to Marcus:

But I've never seen anyone who looks like Squall, much less Vaan.

Vaan just looks weird becuase of the white hair and the facial features, skintone, etc don't really match any ethnic group out there.

I've seen more people that are closer to Squall than ... a bodybuilder.

Squall is based off some musician named River Phoenix. To be honest, Squall looks more masculine than him.

But I've never seen anyone who looks like Squall, much less Vaan.

Cherokee_Jack

I would say Japanese youths probably see androgyny as "cool", which is weird as Japan is also quite homophobic.Menalque2

It's not androgynous to them.

Vaan just looks weird becuase of the white hair and the facial features, skintone, etc don't really match any ethnic group out there.

I've seen more people that are closer to Squall than ... a bodybuilder.

Squall is based off some musician named River Phoenix. To be honest, Squall looks more masculine than him.

[QUOTE="Menalque2"]I would say Japanese youths probably see androgyny as "cool", which is weird as Japan is also quite homophobic.hakanakumono

It's not androgynous to them.

Good point. I'm not sure what Japan would consider androgynous, though I hear it is very easy in that part of the world for women to disguise themselves as men and vice versa.

[QUOTE="Cherokee_Jack"]

But I've never seen anyone who looks like Squall, much less Vaan.

Menalque2

Really? Let's compare:

Not seeing it.

The usual cheesy scripts contributes to this whole notion as well. As in the "they killed my family, wahhhhh:cry:" and then the usual wise guy(auron or some old sage) comes in and slaps him in the face.

Instead they should be "now my family is dead I will devise a greater scheme so my enemies will suffer worst fates". Thats basically the difference between japanese and western archetypes.

But seriously, what seperates characters like Chris Nolan's Batman and some generic JRPG male lead is that they present their adaptations to situations differently. A hero is supposed to be able to take up hardships and struggles, but crossing the line of overdoing the emotions doesn't cut it for a lot of people.

[QUOTE="Cherokee_Jack"][QUOTE="hakanakumono"]western ideals that do not match up with reality.hakanakumono

How are they unrealistic? A real person could look something like Squall.

Probably more likely than this:

[QUOTE="hakanakumono"]

[QUOTE="Menalque2"]I would say Japanese youths probably see androgyny as "cool", which is weird as Japan is also quite homophobic.Menalque2

It's not androgynous to them.

Good point. I'm not sure what Japan would consider androgynous, though I hear it is very easy in that part of the world for women to disguise themselves as men and vice versa.

I'm sure there is a line and there are things that are considered overly feminine for a guy. Japan just has a very different idea of what can and cant be masculine. It's much more broad than the narrow western view.

[QUOTE="Menalque2"][QUOTE="Cherokee_Jack"]

But I've never seen anyone who looks like Squall, much less Vaan.

Cherokee_Jack

Really? Let's compare:

Not seeing it.

They're not going to look exactly alike.:roll: