Healers Deserve a Male Mascot

[Katie_Kitty]

Then again, only males are used for Tanks.

This is the real tragedy. Give me an awesome knight-in-shining-armor midlander or miqo'te girl as a tank representative.

[Edax]

This is the real tragedy. Give me an awesome knight-in-shining-armor midlander or miqo'te girl as a tank representative.

It's art. No doubt some fan has given you just want you want. (FFXI)

[Vyrerus]

I think character or art representatives for MMORPGs are largely pointless anyway. People play what they like, and most people play women anyway. There's no way for them to provide equal representation to everyone there is to represent anyway, so it's sort of a fruitless endeavor.

Plus, it's old hat for the Final Fantasy series to invert/subvert or anyotherkindavert gender stereotypes in regards to party roles. The first canonical WHM in the series is male, with Minwu in FFII. The second and fourth pirate captains in the series are both ladies, and both join your party. The 4th, Faris from FFV, has physical superiority in terms of strength and speed compared to the male cast members.

I could go on for ages, listing more examples, but I think with everyone else's prior input, you get the idea.

[Saefinn]

I know the official artwork has always been female, but I think the rest of the post is a stretch to suggest it's an MMO thinking men are tanks women are healers when the representation between both is fairly balanced within the game itself and it's odd to say when the first 2 figures we saw representing Sage were male. Our 2 healer trusts are male and of course are the healer scions who take the spotlight. Each of the healer plotlines contain male and female character representing their jobs. I don't think the game genders them. I think tanks have less representation in this regard maybe, but we still have Mylla, Lucia, Giott just to name three. And heck, I adore Giott, Giott is the reason why the healer role quests are the best in ShB.

[Packetdancer]

I meant in the job icons. Like when you're running palace of the dead. All of the heals are female.

No, all of the healer jobs are wearing dresses. Which is a whole other issue. (As a healer main PLEASE GIVE ME PANTS and also something that is not a dress or bathrobe.)

I mean, I'd love to see more diversity overall in what they use to represent the jobs; have men for the job banners on the healers page, and women for the tanks! Have darker-skinned characters for some of those banners! Etc. But I think you may be reading more into those icons than necessary; it's not that they're overtly female icons for PotD/HoH, but rather that the icons represent the, well, iconic artifact gear for the jobs.

And somehow healers always get dresses for our artifact gear, regardless of the healer's gender.

(Well, no... to be fair, sometimes we get bathrobes instead.)

[Vyrerus]

No, all of the healer jobs are wearing dresses. Which is a whole other issue. (As a healer main PLEASE GIVE ME PANTS and also something that is not a dress or bathrobe.)

I mean, I'd love to see more diversity overall in what they use to represent the jobs; have men for the job banners on the healers page, and women for the tanks! Have darker-skinned characters for some of those banners! Etc. But I think you may be reading more into those icons than necessary; it's not that they're overtly female icons for PotD/HoH, but rather that the icons represent the, well, iconic artifact gear for the jobs.

And somehow healers always get dresses for our artifact gear, regardless of the healer's gender.

(Well, no... to be fair, sometimes we get bathrobes instead.)

This TBH. Also, a lot of tank gear has skirts and dresses or dress length cloth hanging off the armor too. Let me see my legs, SE!

[Floortank]

As others have pointed out, two of the most popular characters in the game are male healers. And Y'shtola has shifted over to a DPS role.

Sage's Job art might be a viera, but will the art for the other healers also be of female characters? Likely not all of them.

[Ilenya]

As others have pointed out, two of the most popular characters in the game are male healers. And Y'shtola has shifted over to a DPS role.

Sage's Job art might be a viera, but will the art for the other healers also be of female characters? Likely not all of them.

Alphinaud and Urianger are on the list of most popular characters?

[Eloah]

As others have pointed out, two of the most popular characters in the game are male healers. And Y'shtola has shifted over to a DPS role.

Sage's Job art might be a viera, but will the art for the other healers also be of female characters? Likely not all of them.

What other healers? All the artworks depict females.

There seems to be confusion about the official artwork versus character artwork. While it is true that Alphinaud and Urianger are healers, they don't represent those healers, they just happen to have those jobs in game. Not all artwork of a specific character represent a certain job. That's what the OP is referring to is the nameless WoL that only represents a particular job. This point is the same for female representation among the melee jobs as well, especially the tanks. That's where the game has it's disconnect. The game itself is inclusive and showing a wide variety of people in each role, but all official artwork is "gender locked" in a sense. And while that isn't a bad thing per se, it sends an example of expectation that some people can't really look past.

[Shofie]

We have had several male healers as examples, as have been pointed out already. The reveal video for Sage even featured a male miqo'te!