Thread: Highlander Eyebrows - 7.0 Graphics

Originally Posted by Rueby

Is there an actual lore reason for male highlanders not have eyebrows...??? I mean female highlanders have eyebrows...
I feel like lore should only apply to NPC characters...The standard should be to have eyebrows and a feature/option to shave them off! Not the other way around. Eyebrows add alot of expression/character to a face.

Whenever I see anyone without eyebrows I can't help but think of Marilyn Manson.

Dunno if there is a serious deep lore reason (I've heard about the shaving), but there *is* a reason: they were designed that way. Highlander men have deep-set eyes and pronounced brow ridges, enough that they do not suffer in expressiveness for the lack of eyebrows. It seems to be a racial trait rather than a cultural one.

Hell, I didn't notice Raubhan's lack of eyebrows for months. One of my friends didn't notice mine until I pointed it out. I like it though, it's a little different but it works. I do hope they do something about the "got into the Black Mage's makeup drawer" eyebrow option so it looks less goofy so that people who want their Highlander men to have eyebrows don't have to paint them on with a mop, though.

Originally Posted by Darkstride

Thr lack of eyebrows is not a racial trait. It was specifically stated that they shave them to appear more intimidating. But there's no lore beyond that, which is why there's no reason to stick to it.

I say it's probably a racial trait because male Highlander Humes don't have eyebrows either. If *they* are shaving their eyebrows to appear more intimidating, the cultural roots are Sundering-deep. Either way--there *is* a reason to stick to it, but there is *also* a reason to give people options.

If it were a toggle then people that like the way they look without them can still be without, and people that actually want eyebrows get that option as well. But they should probably start with fixing the face-paint option.

Also, since they're already a completely different model from Midlanders they don't need to worry about homogenizing or removing clan traits between the two either.

Hmmm, I guess if you really were to really reach for a lore reason, you can look into Ala Mhigo which is where most Hyur Highlanders are concentrated in is a war torn region. I can imagine the Autumn War, a conflict between Gridania and Ala Mhigo. And the civil war that later led to the Garlean invasion. Most highlanders seem highly concentrated in that region, specifically in Ala Mhigo, so it is to say the highlanders we see in other areas of the game have fled the city after it fell according to [1].

"The Autumn War was a military conflict between Gridania and Ala Mhigo in the years 1468-1469 of the Sixth Astral Era, over 100 years before the events of Final Fantasy XIV. Little is revealed about the conflict in-game, but it had important implications for the realm, as it led to the formation of the first Eorzean Alliance, the creation of a balance of power, and the adoption of gil as a universal currency."

And I guess the Civil War turned Imperial invasion

"Twenty years prior to the start of Final Fantasy XIV, Ala Mhigo was embroiled in a civil war against the tyranny of Theodoric, the King of Ruin. The resulting instability led to invasion by Gaius van Baelsar and the XIVth Imperial Legion of Garlemald. Weakened by civil war, the largely Hyuran population of the city was defeated by Garlean invaders. Those who would not submit to imperial rule fled west and south, while those who remained either submitted to Garlean rule or formed the Ala Mhigan Resistance."

With a note

"The fall of Ala Mhigo took place 15 years before the beginning of 1.0, as per quest dialogue (information via an NPC named, Sundhimal, during the quest "Winds of Change"). This information, coupled with the separation of 5 years between 1.0 and Realm Reborn, would imply that Ala Mhigo had fallen 20 years prior the beginning of A Realm Reborn."

I guess it's plausible to say that the men of such an unstable region have decided to shave their eyebrows to look more....intimidating to their enemies???? I hope at least they can make the facepaint look convincing...

The only explanation I'm aware we've officially gotten is a quote that allegedly came from a 2014 lore panel:

Originally Posted by 2014 Lore Panel

Q: Why don't male Highlanders have eyebrows?

MCKF: There is a reason. Highlanders are a very violent group of people. Their clan is always warring amongst each other and against the Midlanders as well back in their homelands. They like battle. They fight and the women fight and their children fight, because that's their culture. When you have this culture of everybody being able to fight, it's all about getting the one-up on your opponent. Everyone's good with a sword or a club or whatever, so you need something extra. Everyone expects their opponent to have eyebrows. So if someone goes into battle and your opponent doesn't have eyebrows, it psychs you out and your head gets chopped off. Different tribes have their different rituals but one of those rituals is shaving off the eyebrows to put fear into your opponent.

Q: So they do have eyebrows, they just shave them off?

MCKF: Yeah, it's not a genetic thing. They shave them off or they give themselves scars or pull out their teeth. Things like that to make them look more imposing.

I say allegedly because I have often found this quote cited but I've yet to see any footage of Koji Fox saying this himself. I pulled the quote from this thread on the official lore forums. I've also found the post where the question may have originally been posed but was unable to find it in the recording of the lore panel linked at the end of the thread. I also didn't hear it in the subsequent lorecast interview with MCKF linked later in the thread. If anyone can find footage of this quote I'd be interested to see it.

Originally Posted by Astronis

I say it's probably a racial trait because male Highlander Humes don't have eyebrows either. If *they* are shaving their eyebrows to appear more intimidating, the cultural roots are Sundering-deep. Either way--there *is* a reason to stick to it, but there is *also* a reason to give people options.

The practice can't be sundering deep because the two most prominent highlander men in the last two expansions both had eyebrows. When writing a story I'd expect the writers to use the characters from a given clan or race players will spend the most time looking at to represent that group. The humes of the first not having eyebrows comes off to me as the developers being constrained by the character creator when making NPCs.

Originally Posted by Risough

The humes of the first not having eyebrows comes off to me as the developers being constrained by the character creator when making NPCs.

Yeah I feel like the Humes not having eyebrows isn't necessarily related to anything with lore or race. It's seem more like a convenience or restriction to just have them match pre-existing model guidelines.

I can understand that some highlanders may like the current, shaved eyebrow look. But I don't see how it would hurt anyone to have an extra option to add eyebrows. It could just be something as simple as when you choose to add your beard or facial scars, just also have visible eyebrows as an option. This way everyone is happy, no major overhaul needs to me made to a massive amount of NPC Highlander's appearance.