Which race deserves to be the main protagonist?

[Iscah]

I see your point and agree on it. But my biggest complaint is why are default characters like him always light skin? I mean, as someone with darker skin I feel as if I'm be told I'm not included in the game's story whenever I see characters like that. I mean, considering that generic and boring is fine, but constantly using that type of character for so many things besides FFXIV's CG story telling is kind of a real pain in the butt to see all the time.

Is it too hard to ask to see a default character like this with tan skin or something and actually looking...different than a typical light skin guy you can practically pick up on the street anywhere and say "here's your main protagnist; go nuts"? I don't mean to jump into this kind of subject, but...its just upsetting to see all the time in, like, everything, you know? Especially in a game like FFXIV where there are so many different races yet the boring light skin Hyur is picked yet again to represent everyone...

There are a few potential reasons, I guess:

- people write (and draw) what they know, and what they think of as normal

- people write (and draw) what they know, because they don't want to accidentally offend people from other cultures by 'doing it wrong'

- rightly or wrongly, 'white' has been the 'default setting' for characters for a long time now

- logical conclusion that a character in a "medieval Europe" fantasy setting should look European unless specifically from another location/culture in that world. Don't want to just include a "token foreigner" for the sake of diversity if it doesn't make sense.

- an extra layer for fantasy stories that "other races" tend to be things like orcs and elves rather than humans of different skin colour

- an interesting one found via TV Tropes: for Japanese media, or anime in particular, characters are intended to appear without nationality - the Japanese audience sees them as Japanese, while Western viewers will see them as looking Caucasian.

- linked from that article, the idea that people have different concepts of a 'default human being'.



In my case, I'm 'white' - Australian of English ancestry as far back as I'm aware - and although I see people of all races as 'normal people', my 'default human being concept' is still white. It just is. Whether that's because I am, or it's a learnt thing from media/society, I can't possibly say. (Edit: On further thought, my ‘default concept’ is male, which I am not, so perhaps it is more of a learned concept.)