Au Ra physiology and other lore.

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Originally Posted by WyrahFhurrst

I'd have a hard time taking a male Au Ra seriously as a ninja

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Ahh yess. I was still torn between male and feamle Au Ra, but you convinced me with this arguement since I main ninja. Female Xaela it is.

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Originally Posted by Mahri

Unbelievable! Video games, let alone this very series, have set absolutely no precedence for petite girly-girls to be absolute hellraiser wrecking balls. No way, no how. Immersion ruined!

Though actually my Au Ra MNK inspiration is more Cammy from Street Fighter but hell you get the idea watch that video

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Aerith? Bahh. I have Yuffie buffed to riddiculous level with materia. I only gave him stat boosting materia and now she has double strike, counter, defend and her ultimate weapon. She doesn't hit like a truck. She hits like daily highway traffic.

Absolute derail re: Yuffie: Next time you replay FF7, read all her lines in the voice of Lumpy Space Princess from Adventure Time. I am completely serious. The effect is magical.

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Originally Posted by Raminax

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If you're going to be in a warrior culture, you're going to want to be as fit as possible, which generally requires being bigger and brawnier, you'll either be fighting/training, hunting/gathering, or doing a plethora of activities within the current settlement they set up, all of which would require physical strength. The bit of lore we've got for the Raen seems to indicate they've been with the Domans for some while, yet neither the Domans or Raen are that indicative of being too physically orientated. Besides, that's irrelevant, as no one seems to be arguing for the Raen women to be buff and stronger. Having the Xaela eat relatively poorly would be a horrid idea considering they're also warring with each other, lack of nutrients means a less healthy body, a less healthy body on the battle field means you'll be the one losing your life. Plus, saying "Carrying capacity is limited therefore no food" is silly, for example in Native American cultures Tipis weighed over 400 pounds from their poles alone. If the Xaela can manage to carry their temporary homes, then they probably could carry their food supplies too.

No society works like that though (Though you could be joking in which case, sorry! >.> ) If the lore in this game is to make any sense or be immersive, it ought to make sense. Societies can't just exist on silly rules like that.

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Originally Posted by Mahri

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Petite-girly girls can be "hellraiser wrecking balls" but that's not my point, my point is, in a society in which has the definition of "Warring tribal nomads" petite girly-girls would be in the minority. While Final Fantasy might have good examples of "petite girly-girls" kicking ass, it doesn't make sense for an entire society to be filled with them. Strength and presence in battle is probably emphasized, as this is a culture that's "Warring". Do you honestly think someone petite and small will be more threatening than someone with more size and muscle? Compare Lalafell to Roegadyn, which would you prefer fight in the field?

Its worth noting that the Mongolians, some of the most famous nomadic warriors in our history, have never been a particularly large or bulky race even among the men. Considering the existence of Horses in Doma, its not beyond comprehension that the Au Ra favoured mounted combat, in which case added size would be a disadvantage.

Serious response: How much bearing do the descriptions of racial cultures have at all on Eorzea as it's presented to us in-game? They appear to be there to provide context as to how they wound up there, but have no bearing to speak of on the characters we encounter. In fact, race is almost entirely ignored except in Gridania (where racism is a plot point) and to a lesser extent in Ul'dah (and only for highlander hyur from Ala Mhigo), otherwise it's people who've adapted to Eorzean society's rules for probably several generations at least.

Personal response: The lalafell because I know more of them in high-level raids than roegadyns for some reason, so they've gotta be on to something.

On a somewhat different note, male au ra are no less ludicrously anime than the girls. The only way to make them moreso would be to have their emotes in the benchmark be all straight up Jojo poses.

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Originally Posted by Belhi

Its worth noting that the Mongolians, some of the most famous nomadic warriors in our history, have never been a particularly large or bulky race even among the men. Considering the existence of Horses in Doma, its not beyond comprehension that the Au Ra favoured mounted combat, in which case added size would be a disadvantage.

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Damn, now I want to go pony farming to porperly portray an elegant heavily-armored cavalry princess.

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Originally Posted by Belhi

Its worth noting that the Mongolians, some of the most famous nomadic warriors in our history, have never been a particularly large or bulky race even among the men. Considering the existence of Horses in Doma, its not beyond comprehension that the Au Ra favoured mounted combat, in which case added size would be a disadvantage.

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My thoughts exactly. Especially if, say, the women tend to favor, say archery or mounted archery or some such.

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Originally Posted by Belhi

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Horses have always been used in battle when they're avaliable, keep in mind European knights wore heavy suits of armor while riding atop them as well. The Mongols apparently had a 6:4 ratio of men on horses as opposed to lancers in lighter units, which means while bows might be the preferred weapon for the Au Ra, no way it'd be the only weapon. Plus , if size is an issue why are the Au Ra men so big?

If archery would be so preferred method of combat, then why aren't the boys also just as lithe and small? Warfare isn't a subject of preference really, it's what works best, there wouldn't be a case of "woman preferring archery, men just don't" it'd be "archery is more effective, you will learn archery as your main technique" applies to both boys and girls.

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Originally Posted by Mahri

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Race is incredibly important when you keep in mind the Beastmen are a major plot point as well. The reason why racial cultures aren't that important is because SE doesn't want players avoiding choosing Duskwight or Moon Keeper so that they characters aren't treated horribly in Gridania, it's a game thing and not a lore thing. Looking in the game from an outsider, Player, perspective of course we don't note on all the cultural things with the races, we're just an ambiguous avatar in 99% of situations, NPCs don't see as as "That Moon Keeper scum" they see us as "Oh hey.. Weird Miqo'te Warrior of Light!", it's not that they don't care, they're programmed not to.

Racial cultures are incredibly important and do factor in the story, we've observed the daily lives of a traditional Sun Seeker clan with the Forgotten springs, had a look into Ala Mhigan (High Lander) culture with the Fist of Rhalgr in the MNK story lines, all that refugee stuff as well, all those beastmen shenanigans, or some of the moogle delivery quests also touch on racial cultures in Eorzea. Heck, there's a reason why there's so many Sea Wolf Roegadyn as opposed to Hellsguard in Limsa, it's because culturally the Sea Wolves are a seafaring race, while the Hellsguard aren't.

Come on now, you're saying you'd rather fight Merlwyb over Lolorito? Lolorito might plot revenge from the grave, but you'd still destroy his feeble Lalafellian body!

Also give /jojopose SE, add it to the Hildibrand questline or something, I've got a desperate need to do Giorno's or Josuke's pose in game.

Sorry if its been asked already but are Au Ra related to Dragons or Demons?

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Originally Posted by Kusanagi7

Sorry if its been asked already but are Au Ra related to Dragons or Demons?

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There are still no real answers about that, their motifs are demons is the only thing we know, we should raise money and send someone to Japan ask the devs.

To those saying cute/petite can't be scary or tough...look at Harley Quinn. >.> she is one of my favorite characters, she's petite and can be pretty tough :3