Most characters caucasion?

Hypotheses for, and analyses of, the various Suikoden characters.
KFCrispy
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Re: Most characters caucasion?

Post by KFCrispy »

yeah it seems that the norm of characters in this game series is actually asian. games like Final Fantasy love using blonde and brunette "white" people.
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RangerDeon
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Re: Most characters caucasion?

Post by RangerDeon »

when I buy a game that's from Asian makers I automatically assume that they're all Asian. .

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Paler than Moon
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Re: Most characters caucasion?

Post by Paler than Moon »

I agree. I think character models in WoW look more like westerners while Asian RPG's characters such as most of FF characters are asian (even if they have light colored hair).
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Re: Most characters caucasion?

Post by Redheim »

Maybe I see them as being white because i'm white. >_>
Maybe Deon looks at them and thinks they're all black. You never know. O_O
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Kagiya
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Re: Most characters caucasion?

Post by Kagiya »

I agree with pale here. It depends on animation style but usually you can tell if they are intended to be Asian or Caucasian not only by name but a slight difference in eye shape. I always found it odd that some characters in FF seemed like they should clearly be caucasian by name but still had the eyes of asians in FMVs plus the odd hair color and eyes.

There are more whites in jrpgs because there are more white people in japan. Even with tourists most of them are white too. Last time I went I only saw two black guys, seriously for the duration of the trip. Yeah so that's my theory.

As for the origin of black people in suikoden. There is probably region they originate from that hasn't been covered. Suikoden countries don't seem to have much in the migration regulation other than closing down the borders during war times.
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Mio
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Re: Most characters caucasion?

Post by Mio »

Huan will win this caucasian contest

there's also Yu

Ugetsu

okay i can't name anymore...

the reason?

because you're conversing with people from all over the place

it wouldn't feel like a huge adventure to save the country if you were to deal with a singular culture now wouldn't it?
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Re: Most characters caucasion?

Post by Redheim »

Well, just because the creators of the game are Asian doesn't mean the characters are also. My real point is, if there are discernable asian characters like Shu, and Yu, then how come the caucasion characters aren't caucasion? And I know for sure Blackman and Hauser are of (African?) descent.
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Vextor
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Re: Most characters caucasion?

Post by Vextor »

Nah, Blackman isn't black at all. I suggest you look at his art.

http://www.suikosource.com/images/chars ... kman01.gif
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Mio
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Re: Most characters caucasion?

Post by Mio »

Redheim wrote:Well, just because the creators of the game are Asian doesn't mean the characters are also. My real point is, if there are discernable asian characters like Shu, and Yu, then how come the caucasion characters aren't caucasion? And I know for sure Blackman and Hauser are of (African?) descent.
heck, do the people in Suikoden even know anything about Caucasians or any of the skin color that we from Earth have?

perhaps things would be different if we were to discern the world of Suikoden from our own world

my point, they're a completely different dimension

they prolly don't have a Japan or an Asia or an Africa
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Re: Most characters caucasion?

Post by Redheim »

Vextor wrote:Nah, Blackman isn't black at all. I suggest you look at his art.

http://www.suikosource.com/images/chars ... kman01.gif
I totally didn't see that coming... O_O
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JanusThePaladin
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Re: Most characters caucasion?

Post by JanusThePaladin »

Redheim wrote:Well, just because the creators of the game are Asian doesn't mean the characters are also. My real point is, if there are discernable asian characters like Shu, and Yu, then how come the caucasion characters aren't caucasion? And I know for sure Blackman and Hauser are of (African?) descent.
I just love that everyone is trying to be politically correct about it and not just calling the few black characters black. There is not africa in Suikoden, Thus they are BLACK not african.

Anyway, i have always placed characters into their race brackets when called to think upon it, more by action than by how they look. As stereotypes exist because they are in the majority true, stereotypes dont just appear out of thin air. In video games races usually follow stereotypical personalities, especially in RPGs and Fighting games. The thing i like about silent protagonist RPGs is that the main character will less often fit stereotypes, allowing you to feel atleast a bit more in touch with the character.

(disclaimer: I am not racist, however, being unable to say certain things because other people can take it as racist has always bothered me.)
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Re: Most characters caucasion?

Post by Redheim »

When I said (African), I obviously meant black people. I was just implying that black people came from Africa...
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Vextor
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Re: Most characters caucasion?

Post by Vextor »

Here's an article I wrote more than 4 years ago on this very same subject.

http://www.suikox.com/ed/race40318.php
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Re: Most characters caucasion?

Post by Antimatzist »

Nice article. I agree that black people don't play such a big role in Suikoden, because it doesn't reflect japanese society(which could be some sort of inspiration for the Suikoden authors...). If I was to make a game/write a book, I wouldn't think about including black people, either (even though Germany had some colonies in Africa, I don't see a lot of black people regularly.)
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Re: Most characters caucasion?

Post by JanusThePaladin »

That effectively answers the question asked here. Well done!
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