Androgynous Males or Manly Men?

Guernsey

Guernsey

Final Fantasy Nut
Joined
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Hello, I was wondering if you believe that the FF series is getting more androgynous with all the girly looking guys in the series? Dn't get me wrong, there pretty GAR guys post FF7 but seems that a large majority of the post ff7 characters are androgynous. I wonder if you had noticed that ever since they switched character designers that they had a lot more androgyny than I see in most games ost FFVI or is is just me noticing all this? do you prefer the Manly Men of the earlier FFs or the androgynous guys of the later ones? I actually prefer a little of both.
 
Well each character is different, as long as each one is different from the next and as long as the character has some depth and plot significance (glares at Vaan) then I'm happy.

There haven't really been a whole lot of "manly men" as FF protagonists. They're usually just other party members.

I personally prefer a balance of the two characteristics.
 
I guess I prefer the androgynous...to an extent. If they ever start lisping, I'll get pissed.

Plus, the effeminancy brings the lulz. I love that part where Vaan and Kytes are leaving the sewers in the beginning of the game, and Vaan says something like, "Migelo is going to tan our hides!" More games need interspecies homoeroticism.
 
i'm not sure if you could really say it's a trend that's changed at all through the series. seems to me that most of the characters in FF's have had a slight feminine quality to them except for maybe FFVI (sabin, locke etc were all pretty manly). but i think it makes for better storylines if the leads are androgynous men vs. manly. the love story is usually more potent and the leads tend to be more youthful and energetic...as weird as that sounds...
 
I honestly can't say I've ever found them androgynous or manly, they just seem likes males to me. :wacky: I mean, yeah, you can really call Tidus, Squall, Vaan etc "manly" but at the same time I'd say they're far from girly tbh xD
Snow Villiers looks more of a manly man though :monster:
 
I'm not really sure I see any of the characters in the latter games as being too androgynous. I mean, Zidane was part monkey, so I don't really see him being all that androgynous, maybe anthropomorphic, but definitely not androgynous.
 
I don't think it's a trend, but it is possible that they are adapting to this era. A lot of young males these days tend to have long, but not too long, hair. Or they have their hair spiked up and stylish. That's just the style known now. As far as facial features and things, I don't really think they look girly in any way. It's just the way the artwork is created. Plus, it's animated, so it's going to look a bit different than if you actually had those males in a real movie or something of that sort. Just my two cents though.
 
too many girly dudes. I swear it's just getting worse. Every guy doesn't have to be nitty gritty, but there's just WAY TOO MANY transexuals in FF. If it isn't there cloths, it's the character design. What's up w/ the lil jackets that Square Enix loves so much? I wouldn't mind if there was a couple or a few in each series, to you know. just seperate em from the other guys have a spectrum. it's just too damn rare to find a guy that looks like a guy w/out having to ? it.
 
DoomTra1n said:
too many girly dudes. I swear it's just getting worse. Every guy doesn't have to be nitty gritty, but there's just WAY TOO MANY transexuals in FF. If it isn't there cloths, it's the character design. What's up w/ the lil jackets that Square Enix loves so much? I wouldn't mind if there was a couple or a few in each series, to you know. just seperate em from the other guys have a spectrum. it's just too damn rare to find a guy that looks like a guy w/out having to ? it.
Click to expand...
Just curious, which games are you referring to? The only main characters I've seen with these characteristics are Cloud and Tidus.
 
Guernsey said:
Hello, I was wondering if you believe that the FF series is getting more androgynous with all the girly looking guys in the series? Dn't get me wrong, there pretty GAR guys post FF7 but seems that a large majority of the post ff7 characters are androgynous. I wonder if you had noticed that ever since they switched character designers that they had a lot more androgyny than I see in most games ost FFVI or is is just me noticing all this? do you prefer the Manly Men of the earlier FFs or the androgynous guys of the later ones? I actually prefer a little of both.
Click to expand...

It's hard to make comparisons between the NES and SNES Final Fantasy character designs and the designs from Final Fantasy VII and beyond because of the vastly different graphics. I won't say it started with VII though, in fact I think it was prevalent in the series pretty much from the very beginning. If you look at some of Amano's concept art from the earlier games, you will see that he generally favours an androgynous style when drawing male characters. It just didn't become noticable before the series got rid of the sprites and ventured into 3D and started using CGI cut scenes.
 
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doomsickle said:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3040/3058574652_de2dda06b7.jpg?v=0

http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0WTb_4N4...ttp://www.ffshrine.org/ff5/amanoart/ff5_3.jpg

Ya you are right. I totally forgot about the concept art in the earlier games. Can't say the same for Cecil or Kain though :)
Click to expand...

Cecil and would probably have been rather feminine too if FF 4 had been made in the PS1 era and not for the SNES :P he looked rather slender and girly in most of Amano's concept art. Kain looks a bit more bulky and masculine in his concept art though.
 
Androgynous males is a trend in Japanese pop culture; not just FF. (Almost every anime I used to watch had some pretty-boy that could basically kill at will, and an underage hero). Also, though, it's been a trend in American pop culture. (I'm not ascared of vampires anymore, because I want to punch Edward Cullen. And Pirates of the Caribbean is ruled by two of the prettiest men I've ever seen...and a peg-leg who's just about the ugliest thing this side of the seven seas.) The metrosexual has taken over Ahnold's spotlight. This is changing a bit lately here, what with MMA and Vin Diesel and all.
However, back to the topic some whippersnapper brought up, androginism has been fairly prevalent in the series. The main dude in 2 even looked a bit so to me. I also don't think it was the ruling male archetype by any stretch in IV, but in VI, you've got Locke, Shadow, Setzer, even Edgar, I'd say. In VII, they made Cloud look pretty young/girly, as well as Vincent. I'd even argue that Cloud's chip on his shoulder might have been the result of overcompensation. Sephiroth was also fairly effeminate, but not really youthful... VIII was a turning point, with only Zell, Ward, Seifer, Cid, and Fujin going the other way. IX was better, but not cured: Zidane and Blank (though I'd say Zidane's design was geared more toward relating to a young audience than the effeminate. Blank, not so much.), and Kuja, who was, well...basically straight out of a Victoria's Secret catalog (or catalogue to you Brits). X jumped the shark though. Everyone wears a fashion statement, and Tidus, it has been said, looks like Meg Ryan. XII only had androgynous males in the main party; even Basch was metrosexual after shaving. Dude was the scrawniest tank ever I saw (besides Cloud).
Remember Vagrant Story, with Ashley Riot's booty all hangin' out? Plus, he could prolly take on most of the FF roster single-handedly. Guy reminded me of Grace Jones. But you snot-nosed pukes wouldn't know who that is, wouldja? *spits*
 
Well Androgyny in FF isn't going to stop. I prefer a balanced out character, not too woman-like, nor steroids pumped up freak. Just a regular muscular character.
 
There have been afew but I wouldn't say it's gone over ly over the top with girly men, I guess Kuja would be the biggest culprit there, but IMO he's the only one in IX I can think of, I don't think their are any in VIII, other than Seymours hair, I don't think there are any overly girly men in X either, and ther eare none that really spring to mind in XII...but that might just be me...the ONY person I can think of post VII would be Kuja if I'm honest
 
Really don't mind what the men look like
As longs as they have a good personality then it doesn't matter much.
Vaan could of had long flowing hair to his feet that was blonde and curly, or wear a jacket hiding his skin. It doesn't matter. Still would of disliked Vaan.
[ Though the jacket would of helped a little bit >_> ]

Guess sort of between the middle. Don't want a character wearing a army singlet bald with tattoos and walks around carrying a bazooka. Don't mind a little bit of the long hair or Androgynous charms. =)

But like Kain Highwind because he's - Kain Highwind- and like Kuja- because he's Kuja.
Really don't mind what they look like. Would still love them both. :hug:
 
well if you look at Cloud in AC, he didn't really look all that girly but he did look kinda pissed off most of the time. The only girly thing about vincent would be his hair.

None of the male characters in VIII looked girly.

I SWEAR i thought kuja was a girl. When I found out he was a boy I thought somebody made a mistake somewhere lol.

Tidus....well he just needed a change of clothes. Seymour was the girliest of them all. I still don't understand his outfit to this day. It looked like his clothes were hanging off of him so everybody could see the taco meat on his chest. I think Auron is the manliest in the game lol.

I never liked the way Vaan looked. I wouldn't say he's girly, more like a girl that looks like a boy. A tomboy. Balthier looked kind of girlish even tho I thought he was kool. I think it was mostly due to his outfit and hair.

It doesn't really matter to me whether the males look more feminine than masculine, as long as it's a good game to play.
 
Yeah, Final Fantasy, annoyingly, does like its girly looking men...but that's probably a Manga thing. The series needs more Barrets, Steiners and CID (FF VII) in it. Seriously, how about making the main character like one of these for a change? FF VIII wasn't so bad, nor was FF IX (which had a very fairytale feel to it).
 
I STILL can't believe Larsa from FF12 is a male.:wtf: I still refer her as a she.

I'll prefer manly men than androgynous men on any day, although I would pick someone who is in between but more towards the manly side if the option is available.
 
I'd definitely like a sort of balance between the two, for my idea of the ideal character. Anywhere in-between the two extremes is a little more believable for a character, in my opinion.
 
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