Why are people of color sidelined in the story of FF14?

[TitanMenII]

It was concerning to read multiple interviews with Yoshida concerning FF16, where he said that

“Our design concept from the earliest stages of development has always heavily featured medieval Europe, incorporating historical, cultural, political, and anthropological standards that were prevalent at the time. [...] Ultimately, we felt that while incorporating ethnic diversity into Valisthea was important, an over-incorporation into this single corner of a much larger world could end up causing a violation of those narrative boundaries we originally set for ourselves. The story we are telling is fantasy, yes, but it is also rooted in reality.”

But this design is also found in FF14. All of the Scions are light-skinned, and people of color are either depicted as villains, like Gaius, or are sidelined and forgotten quickly, like Lilja.



Square Enix,

People of color existed in Medieval Europe. They worked as traders, and there were Moors in the medieval courts of various kingdoms too.

http://www.taneter.org/moors2.html

Players of FF14 have requested more skin color diversity for ages. But there has not been a single major protagonist NPC who is dark-skinned since ARR. That's nearly 10 years of story where we do not have a single brown or black protagonist.

What is even more alarming is that even existing characters are whitewashed to make them more palatable to white consumers, like Y'shtola:



This lack of PoC representation is also incongruent with other mainline entries of Final Fantasy. We had

Fran in FF12



Barret in FF7



Sazh in FF13



And now with FF14 being full of light-skinned Scions, FF15 being a gang of four white men, and FF16 increasingly looking like a cast of mostly white men again... Square Enix, have you forgotten the people of color in your previous games in the FF franchise? Why are PoCs still sidelined? I hope you remember that Final Fantasy is also a Black and PoC game as its anime aesthetics are deeply popular within the PoC communities.

[Dorito_Burrito]

You don't actually care.

[TitanMenII]

You don't actually care.

I work at my local university's diversity and inclusion office, so I do actually care, thank you very much for your troll comment.

[Yuella]

Raubahn lead the alliance in Stormblood. The Doma side of the Stormblood is full of Asian looking characters. Gaius took center stage in the Werlyt storyline. Shadowbringers have Lyna (definitely not white) and the Viis in Rak'tika are definitely not white. Endwalker have Erenville, Nidhana and other non-whites.

[Dorito_Burrito]

I work at my local university's diversity and inclusion office, so I do actually care, thank you very much for your troll comment.

That's cool. Tell us more about your job. What do you like about it the most? What's the one moment you're most proud of?

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

I work at my local university's diversity and inclusion office, so I do actually care, thank you very much for your troll comment.

I'm surprised they include trolling in the inclusion and diversity department. Odd.

[Enkidoh]

I work at my local university's diversity and inclusion office, so I do actually care, thank you very much for your troll comment.

"I'll take 'things that aren't real' for $2000 thanks Alex." *rolls eyes*

[Ath192]

I'm surprised they include trolling in the inclusion and diversity department. Odd.

Well it wouldn't be as inclusive or diverse if they left the trolls out would it?

[Zanarkand-Ronso]

You could have at least given it a day or 2 before you took the Advice to go back to your old trolling style.
Right off the bat Im already like...

[Aword3213]

It was concerning to read multiple interviews with Yoshida concerning FF16, where he said that



But this design is also found in FF14. All of the Scions are light-skinned, and people of color are either depicted as villains, like Gaius, or are sidelined and forgotten quickly, like Lilja.



Square Enix,

People of color existed in Medieval Europe. They worked as traders, and there were Moors in the medieval courts of various kingdoms too.

http://www.taneter.org/moors2.html

Players of FF14 have requested more skin color diversity for ages. But there has not been a single major protagonist NPC who is dark-skinned since ARR. That's nearly 10 years of story where we do not have a single brown or black protagonist.

This is also incongruent with other mainline entries of Final Fantasy. We had

Fran in FF12



Barret in FF7



Sazh in FF13



And now with FF14 being full of light-skinned Scions, FF15 being a gang of four white men, and FF16 increasingly looking like a cast of mostly white men again... Square Enix, have you forgotten the people of color in your previous games in the FF franchise? Why are PoCs still sidelined? I hope you remember that Final Fantasy is also a Black and PoC game as its anime aesthetics are deeply popular within the PoC communities.

It’s so sad that the ones asking for representation are often racists in disguise.

It’s 2023 now and there are still people judging others by their color of skin, instead of their personality and intellectual wisdom.