Artist's Lady Knights Series Creates Diverse Women Warriors

[SAMAS]

I love them all, and would happily play as any of them in a game.

 

[Ragsnstitches]

I like these characters, might give his randomiser a whirl tomorrow.

Had more to say, but now that this thread has been hijacked by kneejerk reactionaries, I think I'll just abandon it.

A shame, because there was some interesting things to learn from this.

 

[Diddy_Mao]

Tools like these are a lot of fun and a good way to get an artist out of their comfort zone. My friends and I used to have a deck of cards with random character traits on them that we would then have to add to a new character.

It's been a while so I gave it a whirl myself.

Daggers, Mischevious, Skinny, Celtic, Mammoth.
(Mammoth? Really?)

Spoiler

Unpleasant Popeye forearm not withstanding I'm okay with what I sketched out. Had to get a little subtle with the Mammoth theme.

 

[gphjr14]

These are pretty creative, but considering it was suppose to be diverse you'd think they'd have something from Africa given all the wildlife, and maybe something from the Native Americans, aside from the spider Aztec one.

 

[WindKnight]

Do you think real-world women also "SEEM shallow and ridiculous" just because they have big breasts?

Because a real woman who is just having what nature dealt her is totally comparable to a created woman who's design was chosen by her creator.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

So women characters should just dress more like the male characters?

Sexist.

You are joking, right? It is hard to tell sometimes on a gaming forum on the internet.

 

[Aaron Sylvester]

Congrats...I guess...? I didn't know it was all that hard to draw an armor set, pick a random body type and stick a female head on top. I couldn't even tell half these characters were females at first glance, but I guess that's what variety means.

If some kind of survey was conducted asking "which of these would you like to play as" to the general gamer population, most of these designs would be turned down in favor of something that resembles a sexy female, bonus points for revealing armor. It's how we ended up with that sort of thing becoming popular in the first place.

 

[Aaron Sylvester]

I mean, imagine if a well rounded male character randomly had a MASSIVE crotch that wiggled around when he moved. Could you really take him seriously?

Said game would completely suck in terms of sales because almost nobody would find that appealing. Sexy females meanwhile sell very well to the general gamer audience, hence why that became prominent to begin with.

But some unconventionally attractive female characters would just be nice, y'know? and i think these pictures are great examples of that. No big ridiculous boobs, no strenous poses. Its just a nice change from the barrage of sexualised media us females are used to (whatever they think about it).

There are some unconventionally attractive female characters in media, quite a few of them actually.

I think you are subconciously focusing so hard on specifically finding examples of sexy/etc females that you only see them no matter where you go (without realizing it) since it immediately draws your attention and gets you frustrated.

Broaden your vision. More importantly, realize why things are the way they are in media & entertainment. That is the key to truly understanding how media/entertainment works and WHY you see what you see.
Hopefully you can come back and explain to me why these trends became trends in the first place.

 

[Dragonbums]

Speaking of massive boobabage,

But yeah, he's not taken seriously. Manboobs are funny "even" for feminists: http://manboobz.com/

Do you think real-world women also "SEEM shallow and ridiculous" just because they have big breasts?

Come on dude. Take a basic anatomy and modeling class and you will clearly see that this isn't a "manboobs" issues.

I also find it funny that you are seriously claiming feminists as a whole think manboobs are funny when the fucking URL is "www.manboobz.com" it's not even spelled in plural correctly.

Get real dude.

And what is your opinion on the ever popular Escher Girls tumblr blog? That makes fun of the exact opposite.

The man is obese. As such it is expected due to the laws of anatomy and fat distribution for him to pack on the fat in his breast area. That will be the case of ANY overweight male. Females tend to just get even larger breasts due to also packing more fat than there already was in there.

 

[Dragonbums]

Did anyone notice that this diversity is based on stereotypes? Some of which are quite rude?

I mean, it's a random character generator the artist did for fun. You just plop out the moving gifs, write down what you got, and make something out of it.

 

[Aaron Sylvester]

Get real dude.

And what is your opinion on the ever popular Escher Girls tumblr blog? That makes fun of the exact opposite.

Never heard of "the ever popular Escher Girls tumblr blog". Maybe because I'm not a tumblroid.

Get Unreal dude.

Is that actually based on Unreal Tournament...or Firefall? I have played neither btw, but that art is awesome >_<

 

[ThunderCavalier]

Crazy Bird of Prey Roman girl gets a thumbs-up from me.

Getting a nice, insane, yandere vibe from her. It probably doesn't mesh well with the western influence/aesthetic, but that bloodied sword makes me smile.

 

[sweetylnumb]

I mean, imagine if a well rounded male character randomly had a MASSIVE crotch that wiggled around when he moved. Could you really take him seriously?

Said game would completely suck in terms of sales because almost nobody would find that appealing. Sexy females meanwhile sell very well to the general gamer audience, hence why that became prominent to begin with.

yeah, thanks, i get it. I know that most gamers are males and thus most games have massive tit monsters instead of women. I'm not sure why everyone throws that at me like its this massive curveball, and i what i understand even less is why you dude bros are so accepting of it. Its just the way it is deal with it yo.

Not only does that logic imply that male gamers are basement dwelling pig men who are easily distracted by massive boobies and barbie doll faces, but it implies that they don't want females to be into their game (becuase like males, females wouldn't find the ridiculous sexalisation appealing), which makes no sense from the "but but i like games to" moral standpoint OR the "Sales beep boop games make money" Business standpoint. Why deliberatly cut out over half the human population for the sake of extra large mommas?

i mean would the male gamer REALLY object to some sensibly proportioned boobs and less revealing costumes? would the game LOSE anything? would it really hurt the games sales to appeal to both genders by not alienating females?

If so then i think its men who have the problem here, not the "demanding" females wanting less sexualised charecters to identify with *gasp*

--------
In regards to your other point (quoting is hard) maybe your right. I'd be glad if that was the case. Please, feel free to point out these not conventional women for me.

Just don't try to use really obscure Japanese video game characters, because i live in New zealand, and have 0.0000001% exposure to such games and thus they are totally irrelevant to my opinion on female representation. (just FYI)

 

[sweetylnumb]

tit monsters

A proper gentleman would say something like "well-endowed females".

I hope you aren't one of those mythical "misogynistic dudebros" boogeymen we keep hearing about.

Is that actually based on Unreal Tournament...or Firefall? I have played neither btw, but that art is awesome >_<

She's from Unreal Championship 2. Is on the cover, too.

Actually im of the feminine variety and im just bitter and flat chested, to be honest

 

[Aaron Sylvester]

yeah, thanks, i get it. I know that most gamers are males and thus most games have massive tit monsters instead of women. I'm not sure why everyone throws that at me like its this massive curveball, and i what i understand even less is why you dude bros are so accepting of it.

I dunno about the whole "massive tit monsters" thing but in most cases they are proportioned well enough to catch any straight-male's eye, which is the point.

Not only does that logic imply that male gamers are basement dwelling pig men who are easily distracted by massive boobies and barbie doll faces

That would imply that ONLY "basement-dwelling pig men" are distracted by massive boobies and barbie doll faces, which is far from the case...besides being insulting to any regular straight male who simply appreciates that kind of stuff in their fictional fantasy entertainment. Most males aged ~13-30 will at least go "ooh lookie here" (in their minds), maybe even ogle for a moment or two...if not longer, or even if it turns them off. We're talking biology 101 here, simple sexual attraction to something that looks (or resembles) "ultra sexy" in terms of fictional fantasy - realism be damned. Shouldn't need explaining.
The fact that their attention was drawn indirectly increases their chances of making a purchase, which is exactly what the devs will be after.

but it implies that they don't want females to be into their game (becuase like males, females wouldn't find the ridiculous sexalisation appealing), which makes no sense from the "but but i like games to" moral standpoint OR the "Sales beep boop games make money" Business standpoint. Why deliberatly cut out over half the human population for the sake of extra large mommas?

Implying that any gamer actually cares about anyone besides themselves, and expecting them to do so is just plain silly (and unrealistic). When a guy is buying games he gives zero shits about what females may or may not find unappealing...it's his money, his purchase, his entertainment.
Hell, most DEVELOPERS don't give a thought to what females may think because they already know who they are targeting with the game they are creating. It's not a straight-up question of "cutting out half the human population" because females don't make up anywhere near half the population when it comes to primary genres like FPS, RTS, RPG, MOBAs, Fighters, etc (the "core" platforms). The best games representing those genres have little or nothing sexist/offensive about them, yet female games only make up a tiny portion of those respective communities.

What's more, game developers themselves are something like 95% male (Indie, AAA, etc) and things aren't looking to be changing too fast. GDC 2014 saw extremely few women turning up, and these people are supposed to be the budding/upcoming developers of the future.

i mean would the male gamer REALLY object to some sensibly proportioned boobs and less revealing costumes? would the game LOSE anything? would it really hurt the games sales to appeal to both genders by not alienating females?

Of course it wouldn't hurt, and hence why the majority of games DON'T have ridiculous revealing outfits and crazy proportions. The kind of games you are referring to (e.g. Team Ninja games) make up a relatively small minority of the total gaming catalog, largely restricted to a niche audience.

We are discussing WHY said games take that path - it's usually lazy (or sleezy) devs looking to make a quick buck or just let their imaginations run wild...and it will continue to happen because it WORKS.

If so then i think its men who have the problem here, not the "demanding" females wanting less sexualised charecters to identify with *gasp*

If men have the "problem" they certainly aren't complaining about it. The tiny % that do complain about this specific issue (females in gaming) are in an extreme minority.
Developers are only JUST starting to think about the female demographic and heavy research is being conducted into finding out what actually appeals to women...well besides Bejeweled and Sims.
Most guys who are buying those games have zero problems with it. There are far more concerning issues at hand such as whether the game actually even WORKS properly, or actually fun to play.

Just don't try to use really obscure Japanese video game characters, because i live in New zealand, and have 0.0000001% exposure to such games and thus they are totally irrelevant to my opinion on female representation. (just FYI)

Oh hey, I live in NZ too.