Thavnair verges on white savior tropes and presents a caricature of South Asians

[TitanMenII]

Although I understand that Final Fantasy XIV draws inspiration from a variety of cultures in the real world, I find the depiction of Thavnair in the newest expansion to be highly problematic. As a person of color, I feel uncomfortable with the level of cultural appropriation present in this creation, despite being aware that Japanese culture can often be insensitive to such issues.

My concerns about Thavnair are twofold. Firstly, the accents of many Thavnairians appear to be based on a stereotypical Indian accent, which in no way resembles the way in which typical Indians speak. The fact that Matsya's voice actor does not appear to be Indian is also concerning, as it suggests that a Westerner is responsible for perpetuating these stereotypes.

Secondly, the story seems to have an underlying white savior complex, with the light-skinned, blue-eyed Scions rescuing the Thavnairians from the Final Days. This trope is problematic as it perpetuates the "noble savage" stereotype that has been problematic in the past. Nidhana's portrayal as an Other who possesses a mystical force of nature reinforces this stereotype. Additionally, the Scions' appropriation of Nidhana's culture to identify dynamis and save the day further contributes to the problem.

While Square Enix has portrayed Thavnair in a generally respectful manner, the underlying tones of cultural appropriation and insensitivity to postcolonial discourse and ethics are still present. I hope that the company will become more sensitive to these issues in the future when portraying different cultures in the game.

[Thaciscokidd]

[Antharaes]

[Oizen]

Matsya is an elephant. I cant blame them for not casting the voice to a talking elephant.

[Thelasoriao]

How many more buzzwords can you shove in a single post?

[Zanarkand-Ronso]

AAANd hes at it again...

[Thelasoriao]

Matsya is an elephant. I cant blame them for not casting the voice to a talking elephant.

Careful there, OP is going to cry that they didn't cast an IRL elephant to voice Matsya KEKW

[Denji]

i'm not going to even attempt to parse this although my initial reaction to what little of this post i did read (beyond 'this is probably a troll') is that cat people from final fantasy korea don't exist irl and elves from final fantasy france don't exist irl and that this being a japanese game means literally anyone can have any random hair/eye colour/skin colour and it's 100% natural even if they're neon blue with puke-green hair.

which means this leaves maybe thancred and urianger as the only closest thing to white saviors since the twins are largely absent from thavnair nonsense but they're given a free pass since they're two gay husbands teaching their adopted lesbian daughter to stab things with knives and date goth chicks.

[TitanMenII]

As a society, if we don't have the tenacity to talk about these issues in the open we won't move forward.

[TitanMenII]

i'm not going to even attempt to parse this although my initial reaction to what little of this post i did read (beyond 'this is probably a troll') is that cat people from final fantasy korea don't exist irl and elves from final fantasy france don't exist irl and that this being a japanese game means literally anyone can have any random hair/eye colour/skin colour and it's 100% natural even if they're neon blue with puke-green hair.

which means this leaves maybe thancred and urianger as the only closest thing to white saviors since the twins are largely absent from thavnair nonsense but they're given a free pass sine they're gay fathers teaching their adopted daughter to stab things with knives and date goth chicks.

The entirety of the Scions are light-skinned. And Thavnair is quite literally inspired by South Asia - the developers said so.