Why is armor so freaking ornate in fantasy?

[RandV80]

Yeah I wouldn't really complain about fantasy armour being overly ornate when even standard armour isn't used realistically. Real full platemail knight vs knight sword combat would be a slow tedious affair where they bang their swords off each other until they collapse from exhaustion. Either you find a small vulnerable part in the armour, or your sword will just bounce right off it.

 

[Grunt_Man11]

We already have too much realism in our shooters. We do not need it in our fantasy RPG's!

Please, people, for the love of God, don't start this. I don't want boring realism in my fantasy. It's fucking fantasy, for cryin' out loud! It's supposed to be unrealistic and fun!

I do understand it if you think that armor in modern fantasy games is unsightly, though Skyrim is far from a bad offender of that. I think that a lot of Skyrim's armor is fairly awesome looking. The bland and boring ones are for the blander and more boring common armors, and they're supposed to get more decorative as you get better stuff.

Gotta agree here. With all the complaining about FPS shooters focusing too much on realism, or authenticity, and the whining about chest-high walls on this site. It amazes me that here we have a thread whining about something that gets away from boring, brown realism.

Can we make up our minds already?

Do we want realism or creativity?

Pick one!

And don't go saying, "Can't we have both?" because the answer is NO.
It's not really possible to have creativity when you have oppressive realism handing over head.

 

[JoesshittyOs]

I agree with you, but only because I thought Skyrim and the setting they were going for was trying to be a more realistic and gritty take on the universe.

Once I got the Steel plated armor, I decided that it was a little bit too much for my taste. I even changed the difficulty from the second easiest difficulty to the easiest, just so I could wear lower brands of armor to look more like a bad ass.

I do agree that at a certain point, there is too much embroidery and flamboyant armor effects, and I think that Skyrim kinda reached that.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

For Skyrim and other Bethesda RPGs, I really think this is a non-issue since you have the option of playing in first person. It gives you all of the advantages of the flamboyant armors without having to look at the ones you don't like aesthetically. As for fantasy games where you can't look anywhere but at the armor...I imagine they make it look fantastic so as to keep with the overall fantasy theme. Nothing is really practical about equipment in fantasy.

 

[ensouls]

Well there is more to it.

Stuff like magic gives an extra element beyond function that cannot be broken down. Ritual suits has always been ornamental so its acceptable in that sence.

Then there is the ideas of uniforms. Funktion as well as being extravagant. Being being awe inspiring does have its advantages.
-snip-

Ofc they can go to far, but its a hard line to walk.

The Winged Hussars had absolutely gorgeous armor. Those suits are awesome.

Yes they are.
I agree with the OP, at least in those fantasy games where absolutely everything isn't styled to the point of cartoonishness. There are a lot of very ornate, practical armour and weaponry that were used in various historical periods. I got to see an exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art on just that, it was fantastic. Not a ridiculous shoulder spike in sight, either. The problem is that to remain practical, a lot of that adornment has to be very subtle, like fine engraving or slight differences in luster and shape. Some of that is just hard to render, and some of it just isn't showy enough for fantasy gamers..

 

[jimmy_curbstomp]

I think there's a big difference between "realistic" and "functional." My brother is an amateur armorer, and while he makes many fantasy pieces that have no grounding history, they are all functional. He has to be able to wear them.

A lot of developers create such gigantic ornate misshapen suits that the parts clip through each other. I've always hated the giant shoulder spikes for this reason.

There is no enchantment that allows seven inch spikes to clip through your head every time you raise your arm.

I got no problem with whatever ornate insane-o armor a developer creates. I just want them to remember that a person has to able to fit inside of it and move around.

Trust me, when you're bicycle jousting, you don't want to fall on that stuff.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

I like to find that mix between mundane and fantasy for armors. I don't think it hurts to have something in the middle ground. After all, I don't want to look like some jackass wandering around a medieval fair or something.
Also, this is why you should bring back the medium armor! I like the perks of light armor, but I also don't like being stuck always wearing leather. I do love my dragonscale armor in Skyrim though.

 

[DustyDrB]

I like most of Dragon Age's (both games) armor. The Templar armor is just sexy. But I do agree that most fantasy armor is overdesigned.

 

[Yokai]

[img src="http://images.wikia.com/witcher/images/2/22/Tw2_journal_Stennis.png"/]


I always thought King Stennis' armour, and that of some other higher-ups in the Witcher 2's society, had such a great-looking but still believable plate armour! (Too bad the guy's an asshole.)

Yes! The Witcher 2 had brilliant examples of detailed and ornate but still functional armor. The art direction in that game was just all-around really, really good.

And I certainly agree with the OP for the most part, although I think Skyrim's a pretty minor offender. Even the higher-level armors almost never fall prey to the Pauldrons of Doom and inexplicable spiky bits that aren't attached to anything. Also, the fact that majority of the armor is muted in terms of design (take the steel plate, it's just grey-green metal with some very basic engraving on it) it actually makes the fancier stuff like glass and dragon armor unique and impressive, rather than just another set of inexplicably overwrought armor amongst dozens.

I always prefer to deck my character out in armor that looks functional and strong, as opposed to decorative and colorful. One of the great things about Skyrim is that if you like the look of a certain set of armor (Leather in my case), you can upgrade it to the point where it's still perfectly serviceable in the endgame. I love that.

 

[Bad Jim]

Yeah I wouldn't really complain about fantasy armour being overly ornate when even standard armour isn't used realistically. Real full platemail knight vs knight sword combat would be a slow tedious affair where they bang their swords off each other until they collapse from exhaustion. Either you find a small vulnerable part in the armour, or your sword will just bounce right off it.

Or they could ditch swords and bash each other to death with maces. That hurts even if you're armoured. Or charge them on horseback.

 

[TheMadDoctorsCat]

I will be the exception to this particular rule, because I'm contrary like that. I want my armour to have studs. I want my armour to have spikes. I want my armour to have little embroidered snakes running all around it. I want shoulder pads the size of small animals. I want MORE, MORE, MORE.

If you can tell what species of humanoid is inside the armour just from the shape of it, then dammit, it just ain't enough for me!

 

[Jaime_Wolf]

I think the fact that better TES light armor looks heavy is fully intentional.

It's better than any conventional light armor could ever be. Functionally, it is heavy armor (it protects much better than conventional light armors), just made with exotic, lighter components. To me, this actually seems much more reasonable than all of the games that keep the better light armor looking very light: exactly how is it offering so much more protection?

In TES, better light armor is just heavy armor made with lighter materials. In other games, better light armor is light armor made with increasingly heavier materials. Somehow, the first makes more sense to me.

 

[ATACpilot112]

I agree with the OP to an extent.
But what a lot of people are saying is that this is fantasy and that mitigates over-the-top armour. Honestly? It doesn't. It's like the difference between a functional, nice looking car and an SUV with monster truck tyres; one looks and IS functional, a pleasing aesthetic of its own, while the other is a hilariously over-compensatory abomination and an eyesore.
But other people are saying that realism will ruin their fantasy. I would like to point out that almost all fantasy is derived from myth and lore AND art of older cultures.

http://www.draconika.com/images/saint-george-dragon.jpg
http://russkiyimperatorskiydom.ru/picture/img/Janna.jpg

These suits of armor are worn by figures of myth and they look quite adequate as protection and ornate enough. The reason that realism (of a degree) is essential in any work is because once you have godly characters walking around wearing half a scrapyard, it becomes irrelevant; why should we care about an unstoppable juggernaut? How are we supposed to relate? I know that in most RPGs the goal is to create an idealized version of ourselves, but really.

Take a look at Lord of the Rings. That had excellent armour and character design, and Aragorn hardly ever wears full armour and Gandalf is a goddamn wizard. That whole story was about the physically weakest of all (the hobbits) triumphing in the face of insurmountable odds with the most meager of resources.

But finally, many people say that practical armour looks boring because it isn't detailed or ornate enough. may I present to thee, the Lion Armour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJMBRq_RnPk


Post Script: Fighting between two knights was not long and boring as some people seem to think; all of a knights weapons were capable of defeating armour, even their daggers, because they were trained on how to use them properly. And they were not slow or unwieldy in their suits. They were taught all their lives about speed and agility in armour, which took the form of a sort of medieval parkour in full plate.

 

[Stu35]

On a related note to this thread - I despise Glass armour in TES.

It doesn't look QUITE as hideous in Skyrim as it did in Oblivion and Morrowind, but it's still called GLASS armour.

I don't approve of Armour made of Glass (or, if you want be a knob and point out that it's made from Moonstone and Malachite, Armour calling itself 'Glass').

I can't be the only person who hates it? Can I?

 

[The3rdEye]

More or less because you're supposed to be some sort of god of war and victory as a main character in a video game.

I agree.

Higher levels of detail imply more elusive materials, which implies higher cost, which implies status. If you're a badass dragon slayer who strikes down nations with a swing of your sword, you COULD use half of the dining room table as a shield (or the whole thing if you specced strength), but that's not nearly as visually impressive as having a metal sculpted wolf's head on a field of gilded steel. Sure it's not practical, but it's intricacy implies that you did something worthy of that level of detail. But in the end it is a matter of personal taste. Siegfried in Soul Calibur 4 for example... that's pushing armor design off a cliff.

On a related note to this thread - I despise Glass armour in TES.

It doesn't look QUITE as hideous in Skyrim as it did in Oblivion and Morrowind, but it's still called GLASS armour.

I don't approve of Armour made of Glass (or, if you want be a knob and point out that it's made from Moonstone and Malachite, Armour calling itself 'Glass').

I can't be the only person who hates it? Can I?

I took greater issue with it being called glass armor before Skyrim explained what it was actually made of. But what are the alternatives? Emerald armor? Pass. Volcanic armor? Maaaaybe. Although for perspective, ebony is a type of wood, and that's one of the stronger heavy armors.

 

[Dexiro]

Some ridiculous looking armour armour can kind of be justified. I mean you could argue that the spikes instill more fear in the enemy, and intricate decorations are a sign of wealth and quality. As for weight you can usually just say "magic" and be on your way.

With some games however the armour is just a competition for the designers to make the coolest looking robot.

 

[ImperialSunlight]

On a semi-related note, I find it hilarious to wear Daedric armour in Skyrim since my character is supposed to be a "good guy" so it's hilarious when people thank him or act kind towards him. Also in the quest to save some tree, some guy is all surprised that I'm so violent. Seriously? You think a guy in this kind of armour would be nice?

But anyway, yeah, some of the light armour looks a bit too heavy in Skyrim, the heavy armour looks fine to me, though.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

You see your armor?

I'm in first person unless doing stealth...I never get to see it.

I'm more annoyed about the stupid looking spiky weapons.

 

[Macgyvercas]

We already have too much realism in our shooters. We do not need it in our fantasy RPG's!

Please, people, for the love of God, don't start this. I don't want boring realism in my fantasy. It's fucking fantasy, for cryin' out loud! It's supposed to be unrealistic and fun!

I do understand it if you think that armor in modern fantasy games is unsightly, though Skyrim is far from a bad offender of that. I think that a lot of Skyrim's armor is fairly awesome looking. The bland and boring ones are for the blander and more boring common armors, and they're supposed to get more decorative as you get better stuff.

But theres currently no games that cater to boring people like me! I want 1 fantasy game that doesen't make me want to play with the first few armors because the best ones look so ugly.

Not all great armor looks bad. My Paladin in DDO has a +5 adamantine suit of full plate that grants +5 to Fortitude saves, and forces the foe to make a balance check if I roll a natural 20 on my attack. You know what that armor looks like?

Spoiler

Rather sensible if I say so myself.

That does look good, I like the beard aswell.

I quite like that toon. He's pretty BA against pretty much everything, and totally anihilates undead.

 

[ATACpilot112]

I think there's a big difference between "realistic" and "functional." My brother is an amateur armorer, and while he makes many fantasy pieces that have no grounding history, they are all functional. He has to be able to wear them.

A lot of developers create such gigantic ornate misshapen suits that the parts clip through each other. I've always hated the giant shoulder spikes for this reason.

There is no enchantment that allows seven inch spikes to clip through your head every time you raise your arm.

I got no problem with whatever ornate insane-o armor a developer creates. I just want them to remember that a person has to able to fit inside of it and move around.

Trust me, when you're bicycle jousting, you don't want to fall on that stuff.

This. Go home everybody. This man has solved the issue, and take it into consideration when designing your character's armour.