So I've been not really paying attention to Shadow of War, mainly because I just had this odd feeling it wouldn't be as good as the first game and I didn't want to bother. So imagine my surprise when I watch today's Jimquisition (not linking it because I want to present my own arguments, not his) and learned that Shelob will be appearing in Shadow of War...as a sexy lady.
Monolith productions took a look at this thing
And said "give it tits."
And some people wonder why Christopher Tolkien really doesn't care for the stuff that takes inspiration from his dad's work.
Listen, I know I've just reduced the low amount of friends I have on this website even lower for bringing up an ess-jay-double u topic, but seriously guys, this is getting stupid. Gaming has a massive over reliance on making women attractive in some way shape or form, and while there are some outliers, they're massively outnumbered by the number of unconventionally attractive male characters. Now they're taking prestablished characters, one known for scaring the piss out of many people no less, and giving them the sexy treatment? Why? What does it ADD!? And we can't pretend its not a double standard. There's apparently a Balrog in this game, and I don't see him assuming the form of a sexy, shirtless man that has killer abs.
And I know there either is or is going to be an in universe explanation about how she has assumed a human form for some stupid reason, but I don't consider an in universe explanation to be a get out of jail free card, particularly when it really doesn't jell (Quiet breaths through her skin, which I guess prevents her from wearing a bra that isn't tattered rags or having leggings that don't have holes in them) with the rest of the world. Is there any reason we didn't see sexy Shelob when Frodo was stuck in her caves, we just saw giant scary spider? If this was something she could apparently magically do all along that is. Apparently we will be seeing her regular spider form, but to be frank, I'd much rather be interacting with a giant scary spider than Standard Generic Evil Sorceress.
This change doesn't really add a whole lot. Talion making an alliance with Shelob is actually a really interesting concept, since she's supposed to be a borderline Lovecrafian horror. Even Sauron doesn't have full control over her. But it shows kind of a lack of creativity on the developer's part that, instead of forming an alliance with a giant scary spider, we're gonna be spending most of the time talking to a generic sexy woman. It's been done.
TL;DR There's a sexy humanized Shelob in Shadow of War. It adds nothing, is a tired cliche, and it's just BORING.
Monolith productions took a look at this thing
https://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/villains/images/e/e3/Shelob1.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20160115183114
https://venturebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/shelob-2.jpg?w=800&resize=800%2C443&strip=all
Listen, I know I've just reduced the low amount of friends I have on this website even lower for bringing up an ess-jay-double u topic, but seriously guys, this is getting stupid. Gaming has a massive over reliance on making women attractive in some way shape or form, and while there are some outliers, they're massively outnumbered by the number of unconventionally attractive male characters. Now they're taking prestablished characters, one known for scaring the piss out of many people no less, and giving them the sexy treatment? Why? What does it ADD!? And we can't pretend its not a double standard. There's apparently a Balrog in this game, and I don't see him assuming the form of a sexy, shirtless man that has killer abs.
And I know there either is or is going to be an in universe explanation about how she has assumed a human form for some stupid reason, but I don't consider an in universe explanation to be a get out of jail free card, particularly when it really doesn't jell (Quiet breaths through her skin, which I guess prevents her from wearing a bra that isn't tattered rags or having leggings that don't have holes in them) with the rest of the world. Is there any reason we didn't see sexy Shelob when Frodo was stuck in her caves, we just saw giant scary spider? If this was something she could apparently magically do all along that is. Apparently we will be seeing her regular spider form, but to be frank, I'd much rather be interacting with a giant scary spider than Standard Generic Evil Sorceress.
This change doesn't really add a whole lot. Talion making an alliance with Shelob is actually a really interesting concept, since she's supposed to be a borderline Lovecrafian horror. Even Sauron doesn't have full control over her. But it shows kind of a lack of creativity on the developer's part that, instead of forming an alliance with a giant scary spider, we're gonna be spending most of the time talking to a generic sexy woman. It's been done.
TL;DR There's a sexy humanized Shelob in Shadow of War. It adds nothing, is a tired cliche, and it's just BORING.