The new black guy in Final Fantasy XIII

Zer_

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Feb 7, 2008
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Uh. This is news to you guys? FYI Barret in FF7 was goddamn black, and I don't even like the Final Fantasy series.
 

NC3

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Jan 12, 2009
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NoMoreSanity said:
He better have good characterization if he is not to become some streeotype.

Oh wait this is a Final Fantasy game, nevermind.
I'm gonna have to be in this boat for the time being. They haven't shown to properly visualize a black character in the past, and no evidence suggests that they're going to. I'm not holding my breath for them to get it right this time.

That said, I actually like the design.
 

Jordan Deam

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Jan 11, 2008
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Not to suppress a discussion of race and videogames - especially when it's the theme of this week's issue - but please ditch the racial jokes, stereotypes and epithets. (Yes, "Jap" is a racial epithet.)
 

Erana

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Feb 28, 2008
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I think I like him.
It takes a real man to fraternize with adorable baby birds.
Wait... I'm supposed to care that he's black?
 

Sion_Barzahd

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Jul 2, 2008
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To me it honestly doesn't matter that he's black.

But as a point, how come no one ever chimed in about how stereotypical Cole from Gears of War is?

I mean i don't see the difference between Gears and Final Fantasy as to how relevant stereotyping is.
 

Mr. Squirrel

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Aug 28, 2008
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Erana said:
I think I like him.
It takes a real man to fraternize with adorable baby birds.
Wait... I'm supposed to care that he's black?
You do know he's not real, do you?
 

Magnikai

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Oct 29, 2008
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SuperFriendBFG said:
Uh. This is news to you guys? FYI Barret in FF7 was goddamn black, and I don't even like the Final Fantasy series.
Obvious joke is obvious...yes they knew about Barret
 

Erana

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Feb 28, 2008
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Mr. Squirrel said:
Erana said:
I think I like him.
It takes a real man to fraternize with adorable baby birds.
Wait... I'm supposed to care that he's black?
You do know he's not real, do you?
You realise that I would have said, "he's hot" or "He is a sexy beast" or something to that effect if I was sexually attracted to him, right?
Or does "Like" mean sexually attracted nowadays?
 

shadow skill

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Oct 12, 2007
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Sion_Barzahd said:
To me it honestly doesn't matter that he's black.

But as a point, how come no one ever chimed in about how stereotypical Cole from Gears of War is?

I mean i don't see the difference between Gears and Final Fantasy as to how relevant stereotyping is.
I have, in the past here on the Escapist.
 

BigbadaBEEF

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Jan 5, 2009
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darthzew said:
Wow, now this was unexpected. There's going to be a black guy in a Japanese game. Is this a first or are there other black dudes in Japanese games?
well to my understanding Resident Evil 5 will be pretty much nothing but slaughtering black people
 

Akas

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Feb 7, 2008
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I knew that this was going to come up...

Japan suffers from the same exact societal syndrome that we do: we ADORE our celebrities, fawning over them no matter how badly they mess up or crash. Think about the number of Black celebrities people in the States have: we have a whole diverse range, from the "stereotypical angry black male" (Chris Rock, Chris Tucker, off the top of my head) to the "subtle, narrator, tired, intelligent black male" (Morgan Freeman, Bill Cosby for a while). We in the states might not have perfect racial equality, but at the very least blacks are portrayed a lot more accurate than 50 years ago.

Let me list the black celebrities that Japan has had in the past decade:
Bob "The Beast" Sapp

Bobby Ologun



That's all I can think of off the top of my head. A lot of Southern Japan (like around Yokohama) has a huge fascination with Hip-hop culture, and Blacks who act like ballers down there are the shit, with Japanese girls swarming over and Japanese guys trying to be like them. They love certain aspects of Black culture, but they don't necessarily understand them.

But even so, give S-E a chance. Don't get offended that they're parading it around: they do that with every new tidbit of info. They actually might surprise you and give the black guy an interesting and thought-provoking story, which even most western developers haven't done so far. The worst case scenario is that they just use him for comic relief, but if that happens, who cares? Don't most people here hate JRPGs anyways? Commend them for trying something instead of getting pissed.

Now back to the image: does anyone here thinks he looks a little like Richard Pryor?
 

NC3

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Jan 12, 2009
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Codgo said:
Ohh man, this thread gave some peeps the banhammer.
Who didn't see that coming?

Another thought occurs to me: has anyone ever noticed any prominent Hispanic characters in the series? Indian? Canadian?(j/k) Whether from a cultural or just costume design aspect, I don't remember anyone besides the obvious (Barret, Amarant maybe?) who was a main party member that wasn't Asian or Caucasian based. I think they've had a few somewhat interesting second-bananas, but only Raijin comes to my mind.

I understand that marketing for the games is a big issue, and that their writers most likely aren't college graduates majoring in cultural studies; however, I do think an RPG could benefit from having protagonists of a darker skin blend. It can be done well, with the right subtext.

As I said though, I'm not holding my breath for it to happen.
 

PrinnyGod

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Sep 25, 2008
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"No matter what you do someone somewhere will be offended."

From that I say, Oh those crazy writers... baby choco in his hair... Who keeps pets in their hair? Must wash it frequently...
 

Jamash

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Jun 25, 2008
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Akas said:
I knew that this was going to come up...

Japan suffers from the same exact societal syndrome that we do: we ADORE our celebrities, fawning over them no matter how badly they mess up or crash. Think about the number of Black celebrities people in the States have: we have a whole diverse range, from the "stereotypical angry black male" (Chris Rock, Chris Tucker, off the top of my head) to the "subtle, narrator, tired, intelligent black male" (Morgan Freeman, Bill Cosby for a while). We in the states might not have perfect racial equality, but at the very least blacks are portrayed a lot more accurate than 50 years ago.

Let me list the black celebrities that Japan has had in the past decade:

Bob "The Beast" Sapp

Bobby Ologun


That's all I can think of off the top of my head. A lot of Southern Japan (like around Yokohama) has a huge fascination with Hip-hop culture, and Blacks who act like ballers down there are the shit, with Japanese girls swarming over and Japanese guys trying to be like them. They love certain aspects of Black culture, but they don't necessarily understand them.

But even so, give S-E a chance. Don't get offended that they're parading it around: they do that with every new tidbit of info. They actually might surprise you and give the black guy an interesting and thought-provoking story, which even most western developers haven't done so far. The worst case scenario is that they just use him for comic relief, but if that happens, who cares? Don't most people here hate JRPGs anyways? Commend them for trying something instead of getting pissed.

Now back to the image: does anyone here thinks he looks a little like Richard Pryor?
Didn't Sakuraba and some Japanese Pride commentators affectionately refer to Kevin Randleman as Donkey Kong?

I remember that caused a lot of controversy in the west because people assumed that it was a Black People=Monkey slur, but he said it because of the way Randleman jumps up and down like Donkey Kong and because of his strength & physique, not because of his skin colour or race.
It was meant in a complementary way, comparing him to a popular video game character, but it seemed racist to outsiders.

So aren't the Japanese sometimes a little naive of certain (western) racial stereotypes in their adoration of black people?
 

ChromeAlchemist

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Aug 21, 2008
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Richard Groovy Pants said:
So guys, how long 'till 4chan pimps the guy up with "watermelons" and such? (it's what they do.)
Well it's been out for a bit now so I think it probably took them about four minutes.

Also I notice the Mods are going full steam on this thread, and while I disagree with some of the bans they dish out (and you guys know what I am talking about, because you banned me because you claimed i requested it) I am glad they are strict on this one. Hell I appreciate it.

By the way, this is final fantasy. They aren't going to give him a crew cut or something are they? That's too plain for them.

PedroSteckecilo said:
He'd be better without that goddamn afro, it makes him look like a stereotype. Other than that he looks fine.
I'm not sure if I agree, but it's what they do. In final fantasy: advent children they had barret with canerolls (or cornrows if you prefer).

This actually reminds me of that article on here not too long ago 'what if the player is black?'. It was interesting and this kinda fits into it.