(Spoiler) Why Lyse have so bright skin ?

[Kenarashi]

Most Ala Mhigan's have dark skin stone.
Her Father have dark skin tone same as raubahn.
So why is she so white ?
Her skin color is more alligned with someone who was born in snowy areas then in desert like zones.
Futhermore her skin is very soft then any other npc in the game.
It looks strange.
She is brigther then Estinien, and this guy was born and raised in ishgard.
Another thing i do not get why Gaius is suppose to be dark skined.
Wasn't the empire suppose to north originated and if so you should be white/bright skin and freaking dark skinned.
It makes no sense.
Thanks for input,
Cheers,

[Starkbeaumont]

how does the empire being in the north relate to a bright skin color?
In case of Lyse we don't know her mother afaik and don't know the genetic rules of the hyur race. bright skin, blonde hair could be a dominating factor

[RenewalXVII]

There are pale Ala Mhigans, like Fordola for instance.

There's also nothing indicating Curtis was genetically dark skinned; he might have a severe tan. And at the very least, we know nothing about Lyse's mother, who might have been similarly pale; even if Curtis was dark-skinned genetically, it's still fully possible to pass on pale-skinned and blonde genes since they're recessive.

As for Gaius, it's rather reductive to say that just because Garlemald is in the north, all Garleans must be pale. We know that the Garleans were driven north, not that they're native to present day Garlemald; it's possible that there are plenty of dark skinned Garleans from when they still lived in the south of Ilsabard.

[Kenarashi]

There are pale Ala Mhigans, like Fordola for instance.

There's also nothing indicating Curtis was genetically dark skinned; he might have a severe tan. And at the very least, we know nothing about Lyse's mother, who might have been similarly pale; even if Curtis was dark-skinned genetically, it's still fully possible to pass on pale-skinned and blonde genes since they're recessive.

As for Gaius, it's rather reductive to say that just because Garlemald is in the north, all Garleans must be pale. We know that the Garleans were driven north, not that they're native to present day Garlemald; it's possible that there are plenty of dark skinned Garleans from when they still lived in the south of Ilsabard.

That what i understood from the story that they were drived in the past to the north and they sit there for a long time until they discovered magitek technology. After long time in snowy, frozen climat you should be bright skin and blond hair like Zenos. Fordola skin isn't white, she is tan. When playing through heavensward i haven't found any dark skined ishgardian so i kinda hard for me to imagine that ala amigo is so hot and lyse have very white skin.

[Kenarashi]

how does the empire being in the north relate to a bright skin color?
In case of Lyse we don't know her mother afaik and don't know the genetic rules of the hyur race. bright skin, blonde hair could be a dominating factor

The same as most of ul'dah have darker skinned then in other regions.

[Hysterior]

[RenewalXVII]

That what i understood from the story that they were drived in the past to the north and they sit there for a long time until they discovered magitek technology. After long time in snowy, frozen climat you should be bright skin and blond hair like Zenos. Fordola skin isn't white, she is tan. When playing through heavensward i haven't found any dark skined ishgardian so i kinda hard for me to imagine that ala amigo is so hot and lyse have very white skin.

The Garleans came north only a few centuries ago. That's nowhere near enough time to develop significant genetic differences like that from climate alone, especially in a modernized civilization where there's much less selection pressure.

[Iscah]

It's quite possible Lyse wasn't originally planned to be Ala Mhigan, and her character design was already locked in at the point they decided to change that.

She's also spent a long time away from the country - first in Sharlayan, then mostly in Gridania.

Also, Minfilia is Ala Mhigan as well, and she's not quite as pale as Lyse but she's not dark either.

When playing through heavensward i haven't found any dark skined ishgardian so i kinda hard for me to imagine that ala amigo is so hot and lyse have very white skin.

Look again. From the MSQ we meet Grinnaux and Charibert, and it also seems to be a family trait of House Durendaire, most prominently Jannequinard from the AST quests. (Also their ancestor in our Echo-vision of Haldrath's knights, so it's not something recent.)

[Rufalus]

It's quite possible Lyse wasn't originally planned to be Ala Mhigan, and her character design was already locked in at the point they decided to change that.

Also, Minfilia is Ala Mhigan as well, and she's not quite as pale as Lyse but she's not dark either.

The ala mhigan thing was planned but they hadn't created highlander female yet in v1, so they used the midlander model for yda and minfilia.

[Gemina]

How do you know how soft her skin is? xD

I mean I'm sure it's lovely, and I'm sure the same could be said about most Midlander females, but I can't recall any other NPC alluding to it.

As for her complexion, I can't even pretend to know how genes work. On this planet, she would definitely be from or have strong Nordic roots for her skin to be that light, and her hair and eyes to be the shade they are naturally. The likelihood that she would have at least one dark complected parent would be really small. We really don't know if Eorzea abides by the same rules to my knowledge, but between Ala Mhigo and Thanalan, she would either be really tan, or lobster red.

Now if you are talking simply why was she designed that way, that would be a question for the character designer back in ARR and HW (not sure if the same person is still on board) Character designers often have a goal in mind when they transfer their character conceptions to paper. With Lyse, they wanted to make everyone think DNC was coming in SB.

I'm kidding! I'm kidding!