Question about Pharaoh Nidalee...

Zero Shingetsu·10/22/2019, 3:47:15 AM·1 votes·2,984 views

Why is her skin so dark for this specific skin? It's modeled after Cleopatra, yes? All seven Cleopatras (Cleopatra VII being the most well-known) were Egyptian queens during a time when Greeks were in power. Greek people are quite light-skinned, aren't they? I'm curious why they chose to darken the skin of Nidalee, who is quite fair in all her other skins, for this specific skin and no others. (Classic is somewhat dark, but Pharaoh is considerably darker, and classic is more reddish in tone as well) Did they ever say anything about it?

11 Comments

KestrelGirl10/22/2019, 3:50:02 AM3 votes

Nope, it's not modeled after Cleopatra to my knowledge and is just supposed to be a generic Egyptian skin.

Jhins Girlfriend10/22/2019, 5:19:23 PM2 votes

https://i.gyazo.com/f9b734ec3ad4bf279a47966e2b7a1021.png

https://i.gyazo.com/12fd4ece809cf8ce810b7315e56edc0c.png

https://i.gyazo.com/d0233edd8256fb2d98dce4f4a164ea04.png

https://i.gyazo.com/c8ccad87502c90dfcaf02392bf3182e4.png

Nid's just got dark skin. The only one she's light in is snow bunny.

Der Lindwurm10/22/2019, 3:57:03 AM1 votes

Keep in mind that after Alexander the Great a lot of those lands became Greek culturally while remaining the same as they'd always been racially. Furthermore, Alexander actually encouraged Greek leaders to marry women from other cultures. So, even if this were something worth worrying about, being "Greek" in the centuries to come after that didn't necessarily say anything about the color of one's skin.

But, I think (per above) that it's more likely she's just supposed to look Egyptian rather than like Cleopatra in particular.

GreenLore10/22/2019, 9:08:23 AM1 votes

Because she is supposed to look egyptian, she isn't supposed to be a 1:1-copy of Cleopatra. Most people don't know about Cleopatras racial background, so if she was light skinned, then that would have likely only caused confusion.