Strong male Champions and that one Taric Pose
So I wanted to start off by saying, I think Rito has done a pretty great job with the cast of male champions in League of Legends. They are diverse, interesting, and compelling. From Nunu to Gragas to Ezreal the male cast reflects a large spectrum of personalities and player fantasies. With that being said, lets talk about Taric. From a marketing standpoint, he's the star of the show. He's a great Champion. When we look at the way he's portrayed in promotional media, lore, and art in game we know a few things about him..
he's truly.
he's truly.
he's Outrageous.
he's a „good“ Friend ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°).
His body seems to be comprised of about 95% fabulousness.
Almost all of his art reflects this. He got cool skins:
he's got fun poses:
he's got amazing animations:
All of this art reinforces the great character you've built around taric.
Then out of seemingly no where we have this pose:
WHAT? What about this pose has anything to do with the character you're building in taric? It's not fun, its not silly, it has nothing to do with being a fabulous elite kil-... support. It just reduces taric to another bland male sex symbol.
We aren't looking at a ezreal pose here, this isn't a character who is in part defined by flaunting his sexuality. This pose says to the player base, oh we've got all these cool diverse characters, but at any moment we are willing to reduce them to sex symbols to help boost our investment game.
Getting art into a triple A game isn't a small task, it has to go through an implementer, a team lead, an art director, and a creative director. This is a team effort. And I believe the team is responsible for upholding the great example overwatch can set to the rest of the industry for creating strong male characters.
I have a young brother that everyday when I wake up doesnt want to watch the League of Legends Cinematic again. He has no idea who taric is, and as he grows up, he doesent give a sh*t.
What I'm asking is that as you continue to add to the LoL cast and investment elements, you double down on your commitment to create strong male characters. You've been doing a good job so far, but shipping with a taric pose like this undermines so much of the good you've already done.
