Do you dislike a character simply because of their looks?

[Loki Laufeyson]

This thread is flamebait bile.

No i dont dislike a character because of their appearance or design. Oboro's smirk is kinda grating, but its actually a point in her favor because i hope shes a cheeky little thing. I loved Camilla the first time i saw her. Hinoka is adorable, and Suzukaze, what a dream boat.

[Rapier]

Well, just like in real life, attractiveness (or lack thereof) can make people approve or repulse someone in first-sight. Of course this isn't the major factor, and personality matters more than looks, but it is a big one - it's the first impression one will have, most of the time. In old games where characters have little personality (FE11 and 12, I am looking at you), I pick by design and stat convenience (if they're a pain to use and train, I send them to the bench). In games with better writting, I pick by looks, stats and personality.

I rather like Camilla's personality, as I like big sis stereotypes who are strong and reliable. But that's the only thing that stands out, imo. Fanservice has become so frequent that I probably wouldn't be attracted even if she wore less clothing. And to be fair, I don't find her that pretty. Cute face and pretty hair, but I prefer between B and C cups (Aqua is perfect in that department :3). Chances are I'll use her, but she won't be high in my tier list.

I find Kazahana, Aqua and Elfie prettier, tbh.

Edited June 13, 2015 by Rapier

[MostAncientOnes]

Leon's headband looks dumb, but then what do I know about fashion?

I also question why the avatar doesn't wear shoes. I presume it has something to do with transforming into the dragon, but they have to wear shoes at some point in their day. Formal occasions, etc.

[Thane]

I'm not sure why my post suddenly deleted itself. The website just slowed down while I was editing a grammatical mistake and violà, post gone. Oh well, let's see if I can reconstruct it (or if it'll reappear magically, wasting my time and making me look like a fool).

What little sister are you referring to? Just curious. I don't follow any series with little sisters who are anything more than side characters.

And yea the black does kind of ruin the cuteness of the pink (I think that's what you're saying), but the hearts don't bother me. She's like 14 probably, it's not unusual she might want to make her outfit cute somehow. And she's a healer, so you could always look at the hearts as representing health.

Actually looking at her outfit again, I'd prefer they either just have it black and pink or (my preference) black and white, with maybe a slight pink trim on the bottom of her dress. But having all 3 featured so much looks weird on her. I'm cool with the pink bow regar

Now you've got me wondering what it would have been like if she was a violent, mischievous type to fit in with the rest of Nohr and be a counter for timid Sakura.

I was talking about Nanako, from Persona 4. While an adorable "little sister", she's got her own character, story arc and relationships with other characters, making her stand on her own as well as contributing to the overall story and theme of the game.

I don't mind cute characters, but Elise suffers from overdesign just like the vast majority of characters from Fire Emblem: If. Furthermore, her design looks more out of place than I think a lot of people realize. Marx, Leon, Ryouma, Sakura and even Takumi look sort of like (fantasy) royalty, while Hinoka doesn't since it's supposedly due to her personality and character, while Camilla is...well, uh...Camilla. Elise doesn't look regal by any stretch of the imagination, having a partially pink combat dress with hearts on them. Maybe I'm just exaggerating it since I'm so used to ribbons at this point, but she really looks like a fusion of what I imagine someone's idea of a gothic chick and cute lolita would be.

When I first saw her I immediately thought she'd be a violent psychopath like a lot of small anime girls. However, since other Nohr women are filling that role already, I have mostly abandoned that idea (although not completely, mind you).

Edited June 13, 2015 by Thane

[Mackc2]

I would like to say I instantly disliked Luna and Odin because they look the same as my two least favourite awakening characters

[Lawful Angry]

I never instant dislike a character just by looks, in my opinion it would be too narrow-minded to do so (by dislike i mean "totally won't play this character" or "marked for death" comments i believe i saw in other threads, and not the "i don't like how he/she looks" comments), though i do have opinions on their looks.

About Camilla: I find her design really good, even in spite of how ungodly incoherent her armor is with her (possibly) physical tank role (even though one might say that her mount would take the brunt of each attack). About that belt on the middle of her cleavage, at first i was inclined to think that was a strap to hold her axe to her back, but on closer inspection i saw that it doesn't stretch all the way to her back and now looks misplaced to me.

About the not!characters, i really like their awakening counterparts. The not!characters might look the same as the children from awakening, but until i play with them i can only say that i like the way they look, and i hope that i'll like the rest about them.

What i really don't like about the not!character is related to them in other way: It's just lazy of IS to recicle characters like this, and not just one, but three of them.

To all the characters whose looks i don't like (in all the games i play/will play), i can only hope that i'll feel different about them once i see what's behind the looks.

Edited June 14, 2015 by Lawful Angry

[galaxia]

Like others mentioned, most ugly characters in Fire Emblem are the villains who in general are assholes (Mustafa :((( ). I have nothing against Camilla- heck we haven't even found out much about her! It really depends on which game you play. She will be portrayed differently in both versions of the game...

Edited June 14, 2015 by galaxia

[BlueL]

I'm not sure why my post suddenly deleted itself. The website just slowed down while I was editing a grammatical mistake and violà, post gone. Oh well, let's see if I can reconstruct it (or if it'll reappear magically, wasting my time and making me look like a fool).

I was talking about Nanako, from Persona 4. While an adorable "little sister", she's got her own character, story arc and relationships with other characters, making her stand on her own as well as contributing to the overall story and theme of the game.

I don't mind cute characters, but Elise suffers from overdesign just like the vast majority of characters from Fire Emblem: If. Furthermore, her design looks more out of place than I think a lot of people realize. Marx, Leon, Ryouma, Sakura and even Takumi look sort of like (fantasy) royalty, while Hinoka doesn't since it's supposedly due to her personality and character, while Camilla is...well, uh...Camilla. Elise doesn't look regal by any stretch of the imagination, having a partially pink combat dress with hearts on them. Maybe I'm just exaggerating it since I'm so used to ribbons at this point, but she really looks like a fusion of what I imagine someone's idea of a gothic chick and cute lolita would be.

When I first saw her I immediately thought she'd be a violent psychopath like a lot of small anime girls. However, since other Nohr women are filling that role already, I have mostly abandoned that idea (although not completely, mind you).

I really want to play that game when I can borrow my buddy's PSP Vita. I keep hearing good stuff about it.

I think gothic chick and cute lolita is actually a good description of her fashion, although like I said to you on the other her outift doesn't bother me except (excluding the ribbon) I'd prefer if it only had 2 main colors...

And I might need to your anime list (FYI I'm not literally saying you have a list written down), none of the small girls I've seen are violent psychopaths so seeing some who are would be interesting

All the animes I've watched recently have little sisters who are either cute or annoying (in a childlike way). Usually both.

And it'd be interesting if Elise had a violent side, but everything about her bio and text so far implies she's going to mostly be a sweet, optimistic geniki girl.

[DeadGame]

I blame the artist for doing a bad job.

If the character is any useful on the battlefiled, I might see past him/her looking out of place.

If (s)he's not.. I send the unit to hell, bwahaha.

[eclipse]

Yeah, it IS kinda funny... I guess Elise's design is a case of you either love it or hate it.

YESZ I IS THE EXCEPTION! Elise is the most forgettable of the Nohr siblings. . .but that's because Marx has an amazingly expressive face, Camilla's design is awful from the neck down, and Leon seems a little bit crazy.

I blame the artist for doing a bad job.

If the character is any useful on the battlefiled, I might see past him/her looking out of place.

If (s)he's not.. I send the unit to hell, bwahaha.

That's the appropriate way of doing it~!

---

Soooo. . .biggest problem I have with Camilla are those things by her hips. She's on a mount, FFS, why does she want something pointy next to her thighs?! Dishonorable mention to leaving her inner thigh exposed. . .again, she's on a mount. At least Leon had the sense to wear pants underneath. ;/

Alas, the award for worst design was snatched out of Camilla's hands by Charlotte and her hair. Why are her long, flowing blond locks all around her spiky shoulder pauldrons? That's going to tangle the minute she needs to move her head/arms.

Other than Elise (whose design is forgettable, except for the WTF heels), and the two mentioned above, I don't have a problem with the rest of the women in Nohr.

On the Hoshido side, Hinoka needs proper pants (see Camilla). Though I think Orochi looks absolutely ridiculous, it looks like there's a story explanation (which is why I don't have a problem with the rest of Charlotte's outfit). Not sure why the guys have their chests exposed - it looks like a half-assed version of a gi top. Still, they've got nice pecs, so I'm not complaining. Lastly, Kagerou reminds me of a grown-up Suzu.

And yes, Camilla will die, as soon as I figure out whether or not her ability to dry up water will be necessary. So will the rest of the Nohr siblings. And the Hoshido ones. Last-of-kin run, here I come~!

[goodperson707]

Kagerou reminds me of a grown-up Suzu.

Assuming you are talking about Suzu from the tales series, I too thought of Suzu at first glance, it is really just the pink outfit with yellowish scarf thing around the neck, not much beyond that... Well besides the Ninja thing of course. Nice to know i am not the only one who sees it though.

[MercyWalk]

i hate 'cute' characters and refuse to use them unless they're actual children

[Thane]

I really want to play that game when I can borrow my buddy's PSP Vita. I keep hearing good stuff about it.

I think gothic chick and cute lolita is actually a good description of her fashion, although like I said to you on the other her outift doesn't bother me except (excluding the ribbon) I'd prefer if it only had 2 main colors...

And I might need to your anime list (FYI I'm not literally saying you have a list written down), none of the small girls I've seen are violent psychopaths so seeing some who are would be interesting

All the animes I've watched recently have little sisters who are either cute or annoying (in a childlike way). Usually both.

And it'd be interesting if Elise had a violent side, but everything about her bio and text so far implies she's going to mostly be a sweet, optimistic geniki girl.

It's one of those few games that has genuinely good writing. It does suffer from some anime fan service, occasional hammy voice acting for both Japanese and English and some other story-related problems, but overall it's a damn good treat and a real step up from its predecessor. It also helps that the gameplay is addicting.

I don't watch a lot of anime. I've watched a lot of the major shows and some of the more obscure ones and I couldn't stand any series besides two: Death Note and Attack on Titan. Still, I've got two direct examples even with my limited experiences: Einzbern from Fate/Stay Night, a horrible visual novel that despite poor writing, horrible pacing, weak characters, more deus ex machina than you'll ever see in any other work of fiction somehow started a franchise, and someone in Higurashi no naku koro ni, a visual novel so scary that I couldn't even continue watching it on YouTube after a while, although I'm a pansy when it comes to things like that.

Yeah...I don't expect many surprises from a Fire Emblem game when it comes to story, even if the new writer is decent. There are just so many plot important characters that I can't see how they can characterize them all, even with three routes.

Edited June 14, 2015 by Thane

[Nanima]

My problem with Camilla's design are not the big breasts or exposed thighs by themselves. It's the combination. They wanted their cake and eat it too.

If she just had big exposed breasts OR thighs I would have rolled my eyes a bit and moved on. But both of these make her look more like a stripper than a princess, blatant nerdbait.

That said I do focus more on a unit's personality so I don't really hate her (from what we know she actually sounds interesting), and her dialogue portrait looks good.

Charlotte's breasts look hilariously fake, but other than that I don't think she's too bad.

Once I am playing the game I can form honest opinions on them, but I have yet to find a character in a Fire Emblem game i actually wanted to kill.

[Chiki]

i hate 'cute' characters and refuse to use them unless they're actual children

....Why?

[Mackc2]

Once I am playing the game I can form honest opinions on them, but I have yet to find a character in a Fire Emblem game i actually wanted to kill.

The only fire emblem character I've ever had the must kill instinct with is severa (Sorry luna but you wont live long)

[Duke]

I rarely dislike characters solely on their looks, their personalities are almost always the bigger deal breaker.

So rocks shall fall and not!Inigo and not!Owain shall die.

[Nanima]

The only fire emblem character I've ever had the must kill instinct with is severa (Sorry luna but you wont live long)

I have a higher tolerance for tsundere characters than most people. Severa was far from being my favourite character, but she was bearable.

The one character who came closest to making me want to kill them was definately Nowi.

I paired her up with Ricken and then never used her again.

[Kirie]

Generally speaking, characters might intrigue me (or disinterest me) based solely on their looks, but generally personality affects me more in the long run. So it tends to even out over time.

I'm actually more likely to like or dislike characters based on their classes more than anything. I do acknowledge that I tend to be prejudice against Axe-users (because they were so awful in the GBA era) and Knights (because they're slow)*, but I usually love Pegasus Knights because it's my favourite traditional class.

Specifically regarding Camilla... I actually tend towards liking characters with big breasts, especially if they tend to flaunt them. As a naturally large-chested lady myself, I have to appreciate a character that represents me in some way, doubly so if they have the confidence to show them off, as opposed to me who's been trying to hide them since I was 12. I don't even really care that it's done more for fan-service than anything else; I think all people can appreciate when they have characters that represent them in some way, especially if that representation is regarding a part of them that is out of the norm in some fashion. If I can't get clothing that fits me properly, or proper back support, or a bra that's not incredibly expensive, well, at least I can have a fun character in a video game who's like me but doesn't have to worry about those problems. :p

There aren't really any characters we've seen so far for FEif that I actually dislike, though. Some I like more than others, but they've all been on the positive end of the spectrum so far.

(* - hilariously, these 2 things cancel each other out in FE7 because Hector is my one of my all-time favourite FE characters.)

[ExpendableExtra]

I never really found myself hating characters enough in Fire Emblem games that I wanted to go out my way to intentionally kill them, but there are definitely characters I didn't like (Marakov and Tharja come to mind) and would more or less just bench after recruiting and such. Charlotte design does look a little ridiculous, but the concept of a Female Axe fighter is definitely interesting enough to overlook that bit for now.

[mewyeon]

i hate 'cute' characters and refuse to use them unless they're actual children

Do you mean moe characters, or loli ones? It's not on purpose, but loli characters that I get usually end up benched. When playing Sacred Stones, you get Artur relatively early. And when I got the loli Ewan, I knew Saleh was a'coming soon, so it just wasn't worth it for a no-grinder like me. As for moe characters, I used to not mind them, but after seeing it so often, I ended up being like '...if I see ONE MORE *blush* o-onii-chan...then imma do something.' ;) haha no but that's more of an archetype, and you can't always tell from their picture. Regardless, though, any units can surprise you and turn out to be decent characters! I encourage you to try them out first, and then make a decision later :)

[Thor Odinson]

Really if I like a character's personality a lot but hate their design I just end up redesigning them myself anyway

it's good design practice

or hell, even if I didn't like a character's personality but I get inspirations on how to improve their shitty outfit, I do a redesign anyway

Edited June 15, 2015 by Thor Odinson

[Rawkstar]

Generally speaking, yeah, I will refuse to use characters based on how they look. I remember that's one of the reasons I didn't like Kellam in Awakening. His personality and supports were great, but I just hated the way his character looked. Obviously I'm not going to exclude a character just because I don't like how they look, but it can play a roll. My top priority is usually the personality, followed by the class, and then the stats, and finally by their looks. Though it's last on my list of priorities, it still plays a roll.

As far as Camilla goes, I enjoy her design, and may end up using her more because of it.

[BlueL]

It's one of those few games that has genuinely good writing. It does suffer from some anime fan service, occasional hammy voice acting for both Japanese and English and some other story-related problems, but overall it's a damn good treat and a real step up from its predecessor. It also helps that the gameplay is addicting.

I don't watch a lot of anime. I've watched a lot of the major shows and some of the more obscure ones and I couldn't stand any series besides two: Death Note and Attack on Titan. Still, I've got two direct examples even with my limited experiences: Einzbern from Fate/Stay Night, a horrible visual novel that despite poor writing, horrible pacing, weak characters, more deus ex machina than you'll ever see in any other work of fiction somehow started a franchise, and someone in Higurashi no naku koro ni, a visual novel so scary that I couldn't even continue watching it on YouTube after a while, although I'm a pansy when it comes to things like that.

Yeah...I don't expect many surprises from a Fire Emblem game when it comes to story, even if the new writer is decent. There are just so many plot important characters that I can't see how they can characterize them all, even with three routes.

Yea, none of those sound like big flaws so it's good to hear another positive review on it.

Well I'm the exact opposite, I love anime (I only started watching several months ago) although I've never seen Death Note and I don't want to watch Attack on Titans because of the whole thing with people getting eaten alive. And I forgot about Illya von Eieznberg! I actually like her. I think she does the whole cutesy violent small girl thing without being too insane. And I'm actually watching the anime of Higurashi no naku koro ni currently...I think you're referring to Rena. The first time she was possessed was super freaky. I'm actually sensitive about watching this stuff as well but I'm pushing through for the mystery....

And let's just hope for the best.

[Dark Holy Elf]

As someone else who really doesn't care for most of the "little sister" characters, Lymsleia from Suikoden 5 is another rare excellent one.

On-topic... I can't think of any Fire Emblem character I've disliked because of their looks? I suppose it's probably a factor in my disliking Makalov, but he also has an unpleasant personality. In fact, most ugly characters I actually dislike tend to have unpleasant personalities too, I want to say. Of course, having said that, I suppose it's always possible that the look disposed me to like the personality less. Hard to be sure.

I certainly don't dislike any design from Awakening enough to write a character off immediately, though. Elise is probably the most worrying (just because I dislike the design AND I think little sister characters don't have a good track record, as per the above with specific note for both Mist and Lissa being weak characters IMO) but I'm certainly prepared to be pleasantly surprised there.