Promo Art

[Cerat]

I didn't know artwork had to be extremely anatomically correct (especially for made up races) for people to not start speculating it to be a new race.............

Not talking about being extremely anatomically correct either~

There is a lack of consistency between all the promo/concept art, that's for sure. However, this piece in particular not only has a lack of consistency with the rest of the art, but with itself as well. The Miqo'te (which got cropped out due to trying to focus on the PLD) has a different ear and overall body style than the PLD, which while may be forgiven as just an inconsistent drawing, it's also the fact that the face/lack of tail/rounded ears/extremely long legs exist that also helps to dissuade from the notion that she is still Miqo'te.

[Melithea]

1. Viera are only native to Ivalice, not Eorzea.

2. There's nothing to see here. That's still a cat. Her tail is clearly off-screen; I would actually say it's behind her shield. Although given the extremely awkward angle at which she is bent over I can see why you might think it should be higher. I'd also point out that the ears on that Lalafel are longer than my Elezen's. New cross-bred species of potato?!

[Cerat]

Viera yes, but we all know that Square has taken previous series races for this game and renamed them + slightly altered their design for this game. The biggest example of this is right on our forums here. Anyone that says that the player races here are not taken from XI with some slight alterations are liars or has never seen the races in XI.

That is always a possibility, however, the position of the waist where the tail would be, especially when you look over at the Miqo'te still in the art, is a clearly visible area of the PLD's body, and with how Miqo'te tails are shaped, especially with the movement being displayed, part of the tail would still be visible if it were in existence.

[Itseotle]

New cross-bred species of potato?!

1st generation Ultima Weapon and Potatoe. Second generation Miqo'te-Ultatoe hybrid:

[Erendis]

Nique's post on ears in SGD.

[Pofo]

Lol. I'm always up for good speculation, but this is just stupid. It's obviously a Miqo'te, the ears are simply pushed back as a result from what seems like the character charging forward at her target at a great speed. It looks absolutely nothing like a Vierra and any google result will show you that.

[KirakunAUS]

Where's the tail?
Its covered by the tidal wave...

Come on...
It's a Miqote...

[Cerat]

I am not arguing position, I am arguing shape, which when you look at them even their drawings do not justify the PLD being Miqo'te ears. The ear style they showed was the Miqo'te compared with the PLD's and none of those ears match up with the PLD, which their highlighting of the PLD's ears more detracts from the evidence as to why they're skeptical. They even admit that it may be a new ear style. Indenting the base of the ears like they did when outlining doesn't match up with any of the Miqo'te samples they showed.

Again, I'm always open for speculation for or against the idea, however I will also not my own observations for other sources as well. If you read the first post I fully admit this as a "may be looking too far into it" but I still have my opinion and interpretation of the art based on how the character is designed in contrast to other characters in the same and other pieces of art. I did not just jump into this blindly.

[Cerat]

Lol. I'm always up for good speculation, but this is just stupid. It's obviously a Miqo'te, the ears are simply pushed back as a result from what seems like the character charging forward at her target at a great speed. It looks absolutely nothing like a Vierra and any google result will show you that.

I feel like I need to put this in the OP, but this is NOT a "Viera confirmed" thread. It is for speculation only. However, while the ears are blown back, they take a different shape than the OTHER Miqo'te in the picture. And it looks more like a cross between FFT and FFXII Viera than from one or the other, as those two games designed Viera VASTLY differently.

Where's the tail?
Its covered by the tidal wave...

If that were true then her waist would not extend further past the tail location, as it too would be covered by the tidal wave

[KirakunAUS]

If that were true then her waist would not extend further past the tail location, as it too would be covered by the tidal wave

...
Cause there's a shield covering it?
Seriously.. this is an art...
You expect it should be the same as in game?
It is how the artist interprets

Lol.. I can imagine this...
When you hire an artist to draw a picture of yourself, you would be hypercritical as the drawing won't look like you

Might as well ask the artist to take a photo of you and paste it onto the painting.