What do you guys think of Menphina's design?

[Rein_eon_Osborne]

During my first impression, her cold, death glare sort of horrified me. But right now I'm at the point where I've come to appreciate her design. There are quite some details that I've missed on my first impression because I was so fixated with her creepy doll face.

• She's got a tattoo on her thigh like her sister!
• Her tiara for a moment made me think it's a maid bonnet, which is what she was depicted as. It also have vague daisy flower insignia which in flower language literally means "Innocence and/or Purity.", kinda fits her theme as a Goddess of Love.
• The way she moves around in the skits of Euphrosyne raid in the trailer made me think whoever designed her is inspired by a Cherubim/Cupid Angel, and I think that's neat detail if it's true.
• I liked her contrasty appearance vs her sister Azeyma, otherwise it would be really boring in my opinion if her design was a mere swap that is "Azeyma but Icy, cold.".

...Her eyebrows could do better though xD Her VA is also one of the rarer instances where I appreciate EN VA more than JP's VA (it sounded too mature for her appearance!). Overall, I still liked the otherworldly feels she exudes, as deities should do imo.

EDIT: I just remembered she's also missing her skillet so I can't wait to see that in the actual raid lol. Culinarian DPS go brr

[Gemina]

Here are some examples of what I thought we would get:

I really like this picture. Doe eyes. Unruly, and very long hair. Fair skin, and not too sexy but still very feminine. A bit more like Nophica, but definitely still closer to what I imagined.

I would have loved a design similar to this:



A fair bit sexier and bosomy, but not overly so and far more mature looking. She is a goddess, after all. This one looks more like Azeyma's sister.

[shadowclasper]

um... don't they use mephina's colors to mark the equivalent of red light districts as 'blue light districts' in Eorzea?

Youngest of the 12 or not, she's -always- been a fairly lustful figure from that detail alone.

[SassyAssassin]

I would have loved a design similar to this:



A fair bit sexier and bosomy, but not overly so and far more mature looking. She is a goddess, after all. This one looks more like Azeyma's sister.

That would have been very beautiful! Let’s just see if she looks better in longer cutscenes I guess… I think I wouldn’t have minded her looks as much, creepy eyes and all, if she looked a bit older at least.

[R041]

Why does she look like a Tsundere child..Kinda creepy JP. Hell is going on over there?

Honestly wished they'd keep all of them to background lore and mystery, I don't really think any of this is necessary and now just feels like we're watching the Hercules cartoon. lol

[Gemina]

During my first impression, her cold, death glare sort of horrified me. But right now I'm at the point where I've come to appreciate her design. There are quite some details that I've missed on my first impression because I was so fixated with her creepy doll face.

• She's got a tattoo on her thigh like her sister!
• Her tiara for a moment made me think it's a maid bonnet, which is what she was depicted as. It also have vague daisy flower insignia which in flower language literally means "Innocence and/or Purity.", kinda fits her theme as a Goddess of Love.
• The way she moves around in the skits of Euphrosyne raid in the trailer made me think whoever designed her is inspired by a Cherubim/Cupid Angel, and I think that's neat detail if it's true.
• I liked her contrasty appearance vs her sister Azeyma, otherwise it would be really boring in my opinion if her design was a mere swap that is "Azeyma but Icy, cold.".

...Her eyebrows could do better though xD Her VA is also one of the rarer instances where I appreciate EN VA more than JP's VA (it sounded too mature for her appearance!). Overall, I still liked the otherworldly feels she exudes, as deities should do imo.

EDIT: I just remembered she's also missing her skillet so I can't wait to see that in the actual raid lol. Culinarian DPS go brr

All good points. Though I don't find her current appearance to be innocent/purity as should be depicted for her, but they also don't have to go the way of a lolli to achieve that. The same goes for being a diety of the ice element. The Shiva-like color scheme of near white skin and blue hair is not a requirement. However, I do really like her tiara. The tattoo I also feel is in contrast to innocent/purity.

I found this picture that is little more in line with her current appearance:



As I said before, an ice diety doesn't have to look like she sleeps in a morgue or cryo chamber. The light blue eyes, fair skin, and blonde hair all achieve that theme. Like a girl you would find in the Nordic region. She is still very pretty, and leaves you in a state of awe as should be when our eyes gaze upon a goddess.

[Crimen]

I was so sure it was Nymeia when I saw her. I agree with you 100%. I don't feel it quite fits what many were expecting from Menphina.

Edit: Yeah just saw the full trailer again- the ice and all was a dead giveaway, I shoulda paid attention.

[Enkidoh]

I'm wondering if it was to try and give a bit of contrast to the character compared with the other female goddesses in the raid, given Halone and Nophica both are clearly being portrayed as mature adults (unfortunately, part of the problem is the assumption of a "goddess of love" really meaning "goddess of sex" that real life mythological love deities like Aphrodite and Freya are usually portrayed as, and hence the more unsettling and disturbing connotations of a goddess of 'love' being more like a child here).

It does kind of makes sense in an odd way though having Menphina as a child however, as in, a literal maiden, representing youth, purity and innocence, as there really isn't any specific lore of the Twelve about her that states she's a goddess of sexuality and lust specifically to my knowledge other than her title being "The Lover" - she's really more a moon goddess first and a love goddess second (when you think about it, sex and procreation was/is really more Nophica's role even before this raid was announced). And given the moon's association with darkness, her creepiness and uncanny valley appearence just fits her.

Either way, it does come across as slightly creepy, but then that is probably the point - the raid is meant to challenge our perception of the Twelve as we try to discover exactly what they are, and if they are even what they claim to be (I still think they're not the real Twelve but entities created by Venat or some other Ancient early post Sundering as part of trying to guide the Sundered back into stability... only for Venat as Hydaelyn to kind of take the role of divinity herself - hence why they were subservient to her). But I digress...

[Gemina]

I'm wondering if it was to try and give a bit of contrast to the character compared with the other female goddesses in the raid, given Halone and Nophica both are clearly being portrayed as mature adults (unfortunately, part of the problem is the assumption of a "goddess of love" really meaning "goddess of sex" that real life mythological love deities like Aphrodite and Freya are usually portrayed as, and hence the more unsettling and disturbing connotations of a goddess of 'love' being more like a child here).

That is a big part of my problem with the child-like appearance Menphina has. "The lover" does not have to [and now cannot] be associated with sex. In Greek mythology, Aphrodite encompasses love, sex, and beauty. Now, I really have no idea what lead to their decision making with her design here as Menphina misses the mark on all three categories. The more I think about it, the more off-putting it becomes with her design being that of a child.

Not much can be done about it at this point, and we will just have to participate in the new raid to acquire more information. There might be a very lore-centric reason or cause for her appearance to be as it is. What does make sense to me though is the moon aspect to her being a reason why we don't know much about her appearance up until this raid. She might be the deity we know the least about when it comes to how her appearance has been depicted to past civilizations. A mysterious one indeed.

[Enkidoh]

On that particular note, I'm curious as to what the design brief given to the artist responsible for her design from the writing team stated, which will undoubtabley be in the artbook, as it would give a hint as to why she is like that from both a lore and design perspective.