Thancred's graphical update does not match the fidelity of other NPC updates

Date & Time: N/A
Frequency: Always
World name: N/A
Character name: N/A
Retainer name: N/A
NPC name: Thancred
Monster name: N/A
Class/Level: N/A
Party or solo: Either
In-game time: Always
Area and coordinates: N/A
Housing: N/A

Steps:
1. Play through a section of MSQ where Thancred appears or watch a cutscene where Thancred appears in the inn/Unending Journey.
2. Note that his model is very different in appearance to 6.58, whereas other NPCs retain faithful appearances, even after the graphical update.

This bug report is in regard to how Thancred's face has significantly changed since the release of 7.0. Not only do these changes fail to meet the aims of the graphical update keeping the 'overall look that we know and love', but this is also an anomaly/bug, as every other NPC with a custom face model has been treated with a lot more care in preserving their original appearance. Thancred should be treated the same - he is an important and well-loved character who appears prominently in the MSQ.

Please see below for a fully-translated, comprehensive English and Japanese website fans from all across the world have put together which gives several examples/comparisons, sliders, and detailed notes on how each element of his face has significantly changed. The lips/mouth and nose are of particular issue but this is broken down into detail here.

>>WEBSITE WITH EXAMPLES/SCREENSHOTS<<

While Thancred’s original face was based on a player character face - that being male Midlander face 1 - it was in fact a custom face, impossible to recreate using the in-game character creator. There were several changes made to the model in order to give him a unique look and feel that captured his personality. In Dawntrail, all of his unique features, that were crafted with care and intention, have been removed. He is now, for all intents and purposes, a default, face 1 Midlander. We feel that, with intended aim of the graphical update, his original look should be preserved as faithfully as possible, allowing fans to experience the story with the character they remember.

To those of us who adore this character, he now looks like a different person, which is causing many of us significant upset and distress.

Examples of NPCs with unique faces who have received fantastic graphical updates and retained their original look are Alphinaud, Alisaie, Emet-Selch, Aymeric, Lyse, Gaius and Hien. Here is a comparison of Thancred and Emet-Selch/Aymeric before and after the updates:

https://i.imgur.com/H1oEZhm.png

And some further comparisons (larger versions of all these images can be found on the website):

https://i.imgur.com/TcrJJ6o.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/M09aMiI.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/AKtLUtQ.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/2VrpOLb.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/pojyYcM.gif

https://i.imgur.com/ktrA5le.gif

We have an active thread on the English forums about this issue with over 100 likes, another detailed post on the Japanese forums with over 200 likes, as well as likes which total in the thousands across social media (X, Tumblr and Bluesky), supporting the fix. I have refrained from logging a bug report until now in the hope that it would be changed, but now that we have seen several NPCs treated far better than Thancred, it only confirms that there is no reason he should be an exception.

We would appreciate if this could be looked at. This character means a lot to many of us, and we would greatly appreciate a response on this issue, as fans all across the world have spent a lot of time and effort in documenting the problems, working on translations and coming together for the character we know and love. Thank you so much!



■ PC Specs

-=-=-=-=- System Information -=-=-=-=-

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-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Seconding this. Please do take a look at this issue. Seeing how his "upgrade" did not match the fidelity of every other NPC was very disheartening.

I also see the issue in Thancred's "new" face, lacking features or details, completely looking like a different NPC. His face was downgraded in the update, and obviously a visual bug.

Thank you for taking the time to create this.

https://i.imgur.com/ktrA5le.gif

This says it all. +1

Adding my support as well.

Seeing every other npc with a unique face be updated so faithfully while Thancred gets seemingly left behind has been disheartening to say the least. I might get called dramatic for this, but I feel as if I cannot look at him for long periods of time anymore without feeling an overwhelming urge of grief for what was there in Endwalker.

Please consider looking into this.

I would also like to express my wholehearted support for what has been said here.
I truly hope that the day will come when we can see that Thancred once again.
Please kindly review this issue once more, including the other threads and external sites that have been referenced.

Also throwing in my support of this thread and of everything that's already been said.

It has to be a bug that Thancred's unique NPC facial textures were replaced with the generic player character Midlander ones as of 7.0. Surely they wouldn't intentionally update every other major NPC with such love and attention to detail while forgetting about one of our most beloved original companions, going so far as to downgrade his textures?

This is, in fact, NOT Thancred. I miss him. Please fix this, it's been a whole year now without a single bit of acknowledgement for this issue :(