Thread: Highlander Eyebrows - 7.0 Graphics

Lack of eyebrows is single-handedly the only reason why I don't play male Highlander.

I have character appearance saved in the character creator, and even used it for some time, but just didn't look right.

I'm with you, man. The face paint option has helped up to this point but it already looks rough any time the camera gets close to my character. It's only gonna look rougher in comparison as everything gets crisper after the update. I tried the benchmark today myself and I was also pretty bummed with how it looked.

I feel like the game is long past the point where the lore can explain male highlander players not having the option to use eyebrows. We've seen two highlander characters appear in the story with eyebrows. We've also seen highlanders from a huge variety of cultures and I simply find it hard to believe a practice like shaving eyebrows would be followed ubiquitously across all of them.

Originally Posted by Anzaman

Lack of eyebrows is single-handedly the only reason why I don't play male Highlander.

I have character appearance saved in the character creator, and even used it for some time, but just didn't look right.

I'm sure you're not alone. I bet a lot of people would give highlanders a try if they could use eyebrows. They're pretty much the only medium build male character model.

Originally Posted by Risough

I'm with you, man. The face paint option has helped up to this point but it already looks rough any time the camera gets close to my character. It's only gonna look rougher in comparison as everything gets crisper after the update. I tried the benchmark today myself and I was also pretty bummed with how it looked.

I feel like the game is long past the point where the lore can explain male highlander players not having the option to use eyebrows. We've seen two highlander characters appear in the story with eyebrows. We've also seen highlanders from a huge variety of cultures and I simply find it hard to believe a practice like shaving eyebrows would be followed ubiquitously across all of them.



I'm sure you're not alone. I bet a lot of people would give highlanders a try if they could use eyebrows. They're pretty much the only medium build male character model.

While I would agree with you it looks dumb, it's cannon that if you're a highlander WoL you're Ala Mhigan, which means you shave your eyebrows culturally.

Originally Posted by Malthir

While I would agree with you it looks dumb, it's cannon that if you're a highlander WoL you're Ala Mhigan, which means you shave your eyebrows culturally.

Can you provide a citation for the claim that highlander WoLs are Ala Mhigan and follow their cultural practices?

Originally Posted by Risough

Can you provide a citation for the claim that highlander WoLs are Ala Mhigan and follow their cultural practices?

Firstly the shaving eyebrows and scaring pre dates Ala Mhigo, it's been their their culture the entire time along side scarification and removal of teeth etc, go to the official lore about the clan and you will see that. It also states on the character creator that highlanders have become increasingly rare and almost exclusively come from Ala Mhigo. So while you could make the argument it says "almost" giving the idea your highland could theoretically come from someplace else. The initial homeland and culture of highlanders predates the founding of Ala Mhigo. This is why the facial features are scarificaiton. Now granted I agree that if on the creator it allows us to choose to scar the face or not, it implies these cultural things are optional therefor you should give the option of having eyebrows. But it is indeed the culture of all highlanders over 99% being from Ala Mhigo,

Thank you for providing some additional context, Malthir. I've seen both of the sources you mentioned and I actually linked the highlander lore thread earlier in this one. I'll provide the text of the blurb from the character creator for convenience here:

Character Creator:

Originally Posted by Character Creator

The Highlanders were the first of the Hyur to reach Eorzea. Their name derives from their long tradition of building strongholds in the mountains. Compared to their Midland brethren, the Highlanders are noticeably larger in build.

Of late, Highlanders have become an increasingly rare sight in Eorzea, their number represented almost exclusively by those who fled Ala Mhigo after its fall and now work in the desert city-state of Ul'dah as mercenaries and sellswords.

I quoted the excerpt on eyebrows from the highlander lore thread in this post.

The blurbs in the character creator hold information to help you come up with your own background for your character and understand how others might see them in the world, but nothing in that last sentence is forced on your character. I interpret that "almost" qualifier is added to the blurb for that reason.

I also dug up the quote from Deep Canyon that Luluya mentioned:

Originally Posted by Deep Canyon

I must say, you're not what I was expectin'. I was sure Adalberta's newest protégé would be an Ala Mhigan—like every other miner this place produces these days. But I'll wager you're from even farther afield... an' that you're an adventurer. Hmph.

You'll get this same text even if you play as a Highlander, so Highlander WoLs are not canonically Ala Mhigan.

Originally Posted by Malthir

While I would agree with you it looks dumb, it's cannon that if you're a highlander WoL you're Ala Mhigan, which means you shave your eyebrows culturally.

They state the reverse actually as early as the ARR Miner quests where Deep Canyon acknowledges that you are not Ala Mhigan and probably from farther abroad. I don't believe the WoL's clan is ever actually acknowledged at any point. If the game even did so, Hellsguard characters wouldn't have their name split into either just mentioning forename/surname when referred to.

Also Ivon Coeurlfist, who is like the epitome of Highlander Ala Mhigans, doesn't just have eyebrows; he has the bushiest brows, practically beards above his eyes.

Anyway more on topic it would be a great customization option to have actual eyebrows for highlanders because as shown in this thread and elsewhere, they've implemented NPCs that use the normal highlander model but with full eyebrows added to the model.