Gender locked race?

[WhiteArchmage]

I'd also point out that many of the recent biggest releases outside of Japan have embraced masculine aesthetics to a significant degree. Aside from FFXIV doing just that outside of Othard/Hingashi, there's:

- Dragon Quest XI
- Monster Hunter World
- Resident Evil 2 Remake
- Devil May Cry 5
- Soul Calibur 6

Of those, two even had a crossover with a Western game. Geralt of Rivia showed up in Monster Hunter World and Soul Calibur 6. A number of upcoming Japanese titles are also set to follow a similar pattern. So it's a myth that there's very little appetite for such things over in Japan. They're not niche titles, either.

Yeah, uhm... DQXI has a bishonen protagonist, Erik can also qualify as bisonen, not to mention Sylvando is particularily feminine, and those are 3 of 4 playable males. RE2 prettyfied Leon, reviews of DMC5 have explicitly used the word "twinks" to refer to the main characters. SC6 keeps Siegfried of the flowing locks, Mitsurugi, and Maxi, but removed THE bara daddy of the series, Rock (at least his body hair is still in CC). So, I wouldn't say "embraced masculitnity", in fact, in most of those games, the masculinity was always there: RE (Chris, since forever), MH (male hunters since, again, forever), DMC, SC (Rock, Mitsurugi, Algol...).

I mean, I'd rather male Viera were tall and decently built, but c'mon, man, you are deliberately stirring the pot :P

[Theodric]

Yeah, uhm... DQXI has a bishonen protagonist, Erik can also qualify as bisonen, not to mention Sylvando is particularily feminine, and those are 3 of 4 playable males. RE2 prettyfied Leon, reviews of DMC5 have explicitly used the word "twinks" to refer to the main characters. SC6 keeps Siegfried of the flowing locks, Mitsurugi, and Maxi, but removed THE bara daddy of the series, Rock (at least his body hair is still in CC). So, I wouldn't say "embraced masculitnity", in fact, in most of those games, the masculinity was always there: RE (Chris, since forever), MH (male hunters since, again, forever), DMC, SC (Rock, Mitsurugi, Algol...).

I mean, I'd rather male Viera were tall and decently built, but c'mon, man, you are deliberately stirring the pot :P

They're all distinctly male though. Ranging from 'classically handsome' to 'ruggedly handsome'. Very few characters are outright androgynous or feminine to the degree that some are requesting within this thread and painting as much more common than they actually are. Masculinity is a broad spectrum and need not be fixed on the 'bara' side of the spectrum.

Idk about that tons of people have requested young elezen

Tons? Some, sure. Though of those, a few appear to have dubious motives. Not in your case, since you've already clarified that you dig the 'young hero' aesthetic which is different.

[SomeRandomHuman]

They're all distinctly male though. Ranging from 'classically handsome' to 'ruggedly handsome'. Very few characters are outright androgynous or feminine to the degree that some are requesting within this thread and painting as much more common than they actually are. Masculinity is a broad spectrum and need not be fixed on the 'bara' side of the spectrum.

When people are saying they want the male Viera to be large and muscular under the guise of "we don't need another small race" it pretty much boils down to the idea of bara.

I just want something on the opposite end. If we can't get the feminine and androgynous male at least give us a body shape that isn't a superhero. Lalafells are the only males in this game that don't have any sort of musculature. They're just fat and chibi.

But I guess I'm wrong for wanting a male that isn't toting wide shoulders and any semblance of a six pack. Glad to know that parts of this community are as closed minded as modern NA politics.

[Gwenorai]

When people are saying they want the male Viera to be large and muscular under the guise of "we don't need another small race" it pretty much boils down to the idea of bara.

I just want something on the opposite end. If we can't get the feminine and androgynous male at least give us a body shape that isn't a superhero. Lalafells are the only males in this game that don't have any sort of musculature. They're just fat and chibi.

But I guess I'm wrong for wanting a male that isn't toting wide shoulders and any semblance of a six pack. Glad to know that parts of this community are as closed minded as modern NA politics.

Yeah, you're probably not going to get a race that doesn't have a 'sixpack' or a somewhat 'defined torso'- which is honestly a weird thing to want since a character like that is going to be not only skinny but lacking any sort of muscle development - goes against Viera lore on that one. Flat, maybe - but super skinny plus underdeveloped/flat? Yeah, unless there's a 'scale' then I'm certainly on the 'heck no' brigade for that.

[SomeRandomHuman]

Yeah, you're probably not going to get a race that doesn't have a 'sixpack' or a somewhat 'defined torso'- which is honestly a weird thing to want since a character like that is going to be not only skinny but lacking any sort of muscle development - goes against Viera lore on that one. Flat, maybe - but super skinny plus underdeveloped/flat? Yeah, unless there's a 'scale' then I'm certainly on the 'heck no' brigade for that.

Again, I'm up for compromise. You can still be in shape and not have a six pack. I'm not asking for something totally soft and underdeveloped. I just want something that isn't bulky and wider than a truck with a pretty face(which we can do already on every race)

[Thefates]

Yeah, you're probably not going to get a race that doesn't have a 'sixpack' or a somewhat 'defined torso'- which is honestly a weird thing to want since a character like that is going to be not only skinny but lacking any sort of muscle development - goes against Viera lore on that one. Flat, maybe - but super skinny plus underdeveloped/flat? Yeah, unless there's a 'scale' then I'm certainly on the 'heck no' brigade for that.

You really have to stop bringing up the lore as if it's an impending barrier for how the male viera have to look. The very first thing you must acknowledge is that female Viera are not only seen as the dominant gender in Viera society but as warriors in their own right, yet this does nothing to stop them from being the feminine icons they were designed to be. There is no reason to assume that the males must be exceedingly different on that end, it's ultimately up to the designer.

Even if we were to go purely off the lore, as it's been told to us, it could still go either way. We are told that they live a harsh lifestyle to an extent, yes, and that certainly leads credence to the idea of them growing to be quite masculine. Yet, we also know next to nothing about their physiology, and we're told that until puberty they're impossibly similar to the female Viera children. The changes they undergo after that point are, for the moment, completely left up to Square's interpretation.

Continuing to argue about it based on the lore we've been given is just silly. Better to just wait until JP Fanfest than to declare some glaring inaccuracy in the opinion of someone who you don't agree with. If we were exceedingly lucky we could even see some of the first clan dimorphism since Midlander and Highlander in order to meet some of these differing opinions, although that would be an unforeseen treat.

[Gwenorai]

You really have to stop bringing up the lore as if it's an impending barrier for how the male viera have to look. The very first thing you must acknowledge is that female Viera are not only seen as the dominant gender in Viera society but as warriors in their own right, yet this does nothing to stop them from being the feminine icons they were designed to be. There is no reason to assume that the males must be exceedingly different on that end, it's ultimately up to the designer.

Even if we were to go purely off the lore, as it's been told to us, it could still go either way. We are told that they live a harsh lifestyle to an extent, yes, and that certainly leads credence to the idea of them growing to be quite masculine. Yet, we also know next to nothing about their physiology, and we're told that until puberty they're impossibly similar to the female Viera children. The changes they undergo after that point are, for the moment, completely left up to Square's interpretation.

Continuing to argue about it based on the lore we've been given is just silly. Better to just wait until JP Fanfest than to declare some glaring inaccuracy in the opinion of someone who you don't agree with. If we were exceedingly lucky we could even see some of the first clan dimorphism since Midlander and Highlander in order to meet some of these differing opinions, although that would be an unforeseen treat.

Yes, the designer/developer that has sadly stated that he thinks the male Viera is 'weird' and that he finds them to be 'too cute' - in regards to concept art that was anything but cute. This was the concept art where they had a very defined muscle development. I don't know, am I out of line for being for making that connection?

[Thefates]

Yes, the designer that has sadly stated that he thinks the male Viera is 'weird' and that he finds them to be 'too cute' - in regards to concept art that was anything but cute. This was the concept art where they had a very defined muscle development. I don't know, am I out of line for being for making that connection?

One designer has publicly stated that many years ago, yes. The situation could have changed since then, not to mention their cooperations with the Viera race's original creator may have yielded different results as well. It's fine to assume they'll be masculine, that's great, and it probably will happen. But to tell someone that it's impossible, with what we've been shown right now, for it to be a more feminine design is silly. You simply can't be certain without it being announced, let alone the fact that it's not absolutely certain male viera will even be playable at all.

Edit: Also let's not pretend that we've never seen the final product of a race differ VASTLY from it's concept art.

[Theodric]

Glad to know that parts of this community are as closed minded as modern NA politics.

That's a pretty loaded statement to make in regards to a disagreement over something as trivial as a fictional race in a fictional setting. I'm not even American, on that note.

[SomeRandomHuman]

That's a pretty loaded statement to make in regards to a disagreement over something as trivial as a fictional race in a fictional setting. I'm not even American, on that note.

You've only seen the tip of the iceberg of stuff Americans say my friend. I hear stuff heck of a lot worse on a daily basis.