A PoC Scion please? There is so much untapped potential here.

[Eloah]

Does the OP realize that while Lilja has a darker skin tone, her style is meant to mimic the Ganguro style of the 90s. Also plenty of prominent NPCs have had darker skin tones. Raubahn, Lyna, Ilberd, Conrad, M'naago, and I'm sure there are others.

[Jandor]

So I don't think Eorzea is meant to be Africa, much less all of Aldenard being Africa. In fact, I think the Eorzean cultures actually pull from a surprising variety of places; the classical China/Khanate Mongolia/isolationist Japan -> Doma/Steppe/Hingashi mapping was almost disappointing to me in comparison. Yes, they probably pulled from various real-world locations, but most writers/artists do that; pulling a little bit from a real-world location means you can make something feel a bit more grounded and cohesive, recognizable to readers in our world. (And makes it easier to find art references.)

And while you can maybe argue that Eorzea serves a similar storytelling purpose as a 'dark continent' or 'unknown land' from the point of view of the Imperials regarding Eorzeans as 'savages', I feel like trying to say it's intended that way is somewhat subverted by the fact that Ilsabard is covered up by clouds in all of the maps we've seen, making it a literal 'dark continent' within the narrative, as no one seems to really know what happens within the boundaries of the Empire, and only the bravest Eorzeans dare venture past those borders.

I don't mean a dark continent, I mean the dark continent, what Africa was often referred to as during the colonial period. You wouldn't refer to it like that now, but when the Empires of our world were scrambling for territory in Africa it was often portrayed as a dangerous expanse of untamed wilderness, where one wrong turn can take you miles away from civilization and leave you stranded in the territory of savage tribes, or have you stumbling upon ancient lost ruins, or stuck dealing with some kind of strange occultism or mysticism.

I know the cultures in Eorzea aren't inspired by African ones, I've never said they were, but what Eorzea is and old ideas of what Africa was like as a continent track pretty damn closely IMHO. It's not the cultures of the individual city states (although 2 out of 5 are clearly not European) that make Eorzea a bit like Africa, it's how Eorzea as a whole fits into the greater world. I honestly find it kind of weird that no-one else seems to see the parallels.

[Iscah]

I don't mean a dark continent, I mean the dark continent, what Africa was often referred to as during the colonial period. Africa was often portrayed as a vast expanse of untamed wilderness teeming with great beasts, where one wrong turn can take you miles away from civilization and leave you stranded in the territory of dangerous tribes, or have you stumbling upon ancient lost ruins, or stuck dealing with some kind of strange occultism or mysticism.

That sounds like a great description of what little we know of Meracydia. Hostile, unexplored and home to strange and unfamiliar creatures from an Eorzean perspective.

I really do not see the parallels between that "idea of Africa" and Eorzea from an in-game perspective. Eorzea is set up as "home", the familiar place for the characters. There are cities and civilisations. Meracydia is the distant and unknown.

Also of note: the lorebook describes Meracydia's location as "far to the south of the Three Great Continents, beyond the equatorial line" - again establishing Eorzea as north of that line, like Europe, not straddling it like Africa.

[Amnmaat]

1. PoC is not a real term, not globally recognized. The term you're looking for is dark skin.
2. Yes, I support multiple dark skin characters in the next expansion within the MSQ. Fran made FFXII infinitely a better game in my opinion.

[Iscah]

On further consideration, Eorzea is shaped a lot like Europe but sideways.

Turn your map Asia-upwards, Africa to the right.

Suddenly you have the Scandinavian peninsula curving to the northwest like Dravania, Turkey in the northeast like Gyr Abania, Britain off to the west-southwest like La Noscea...

It's a far closer match than Africa, and the cultures line up better.

[RitsukoSonoda]

Despite this probably being marked as a troll thread by the others. I still have to answer.
Asian, you mean Asian. This is a game made by a Japanese company. It's going to follow the Asians that look white anime rule.
As for blonde and white hair. Think color theory in stories. White equals mystical or unknown. Blondes are usually the side of good, or pure (can be evil pure too). But usually count for purity, holy, etc. White is mysterious.

It's just anime cliche's.

You're literally trying to read into something that doesn't exist. The character's visual design is inspired by Ganguro. It's a fashion style in Japan where they apply a deep/dark tan then color/bleach their hair into brighter colors then accent it with brightly colored make-up.

[Berteaux_Braumegain]

If anything, I'm bothered more by the lack of Roegadyn major characters than a dearth of skin tones.

[MilitaryVet123]

This debate on whether Eorzea is Europe or Africa is pointless. The real issue is PoC representation, whether Eorzea is Africa or Europe doesn't matter.

[Packetdancer]

I don't mean a dark continent, I mean the dark continent, what Africa was often referred to as during the colonial period.

Yes, I'm aware; that was the way I was using the term. Just as how within our individual storylines, our character may be the Warrior of Light, if you take the example of multiple players' characters we would be a Warrior of Light.

[Chione]

This debate on whether Eorzea is Europe or Africa is pointless. The real issue is PoC representation, whether Eorzea is Africa or Europe doesn't matter.

Shouldn't be an issue at all tbh. Lilja isn't black. She's a Viera. Gaius isn't brown. He's a Garlean. The color of one's skin isn't the definition of race or the target of racism in FFXIV's world. Only in the real world do people put so much focus on skin color. This thread is just another example of that.

Anyway I definitely echo the request to have Gaius invited. He could check the full-blooded Garlean and dark-skinned box. You know, if checking boxes matters to people that much I mean.

I just think he's neat. :3