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Female Characters and Attractiveness

Chromatic Eagle·7/31/2015, 5:31:36 PM·13 votes·5,143 views

So this conversation pops out every now and then, and it will for a long time.

Now, whether or not you're a player or Riot, or your stance on the subject, these are some questions that should be asked,

Should a woman always be attractive regardless of her profession? Consider for a moment Leona and Diana. Neither of them are described as being beautiful, or at least defined by it. Should they have scars, burns, and less hair as a result? Then there's Tristana. She was the farthest thing from sexual, but was remade with a midriff.

Should a woman be made unattractive because of her profession? Cassiopeia is defined as losing her beauty, but only her lower half is affected. For a woman based off of Medusa, should she be more snakelike? Kalista isn't sexual, but attractive. Should a spctre be like this?

How do we even define attractiveness? Jinx is half naked, but is flat chested. Does this make her sexualized or not? Sona is always in a dress, but is busty. Both women are popular with men and women. Katarina has a scar, but she's attractive despite regardless, or even because of it. Vi has short hair and wears a suit, but she's curvy and the outfit is very tight.

Is it ok for women to be attractive, but to promote diversified ideas of it? If you want unattractive women, should it be by conventual standards? Warts and burns? Scales?

92 Comments

Xulsigae7/31/2015, 6:28:23 PM20 votes

It's important to note that showing skin isn't necessarily sexual or attractive (otherwise nude champions like Zac would be way too much) and being covered up isn't necessarily nonsexual (skin tight out fits and such). What makes a champion attractive is a variety of aspects. A common complaint I hear is that people focus too much on females being uncovered or sexualized and not enough on males. This misses the point of uncovered not equating necessarily to sexualized. Just because Tryndamere/Braum/Pantheon/Varus/Ryze has a bare chest doesn't make him sexualized automatically. How a champion poses, what their kit and story is like, what quotes they say and their personality matter in how sexualized they are. Cultural context too, as a shirtless man in Western society isn't seen as sexual as a shirtless woman.

Being attractive or unattractive is similar. I (as a straight male) don't find Jinx attractive because she's crazy and I don't like homicidal people. Her personality and story makes her unattractive to me. Even if she wasn't flat chested, that wouldn't make her more attractive to me, but she would likely be more sexualized depending on how much focus was put on her chest. On the flip side, I don't think a few scars, scales, or a wart or two makes someone automatically unattractive. It's certainly okay for a champion to be attractive, but different body shapes, faces and such should be part of it and flaws not ignored. Being conventionally unattractive is the same.

What's important is how they are presented visually and thematically I think. A champion's looks should reflect their character and profession or background. Far too often someone will claim that asking for a more thematically appropriate costume is 'slut shaming' or 'too politically correct.' This is wrong. I don't mind Ahri being sexual in her appearance because it fits her character and role as a temptress, same as Eve. The first Cassiopeia made sense too (not much anymore due to that stupid curse in the tomb). If every female champion in League was a temptress sort and wore appropriate attire, it would be thematically appropriate. Lacking diversity sure, but appropriate. Even on champions like Sona it makes a bit of sense because she's a more social character and performer and her outfit might go with that aspect. Being attractive as a performer can be important, though obviously not necessary.

Other champions, being sexualized and wearing impractical outfits are not so appropriate. It didn't make sense for Sejuani to be going around in a metal bikini on the tundra (she doesn't have to be uncovered to be a badass). It doesn't make sense for Zyra to be just a lady with a few leaves stuck on her and with her feet in the shape of heels. It doesn't make sense that Leona wears heels either. Nami is based on a mermaid, but rather than just being a half human half fish, she's pretty fishy all around...but still has her skin split to have rather human cleavage. Caitlin is a highly competent and practical cop...with a miniskirt. They can be attractive sure, but at some point their appearance loses touch with their character and themes. If Caitlin likes to wear a miniskirt off the battlefield or when not on a case, that's just fine. If Leona likes heels, that's fine too, but not in a battle situation. Context for attire is vital. Impractical outfits in skins are fine as those aren't canonical and are just for fun (mostly, as sometimes they can get a bit too much). Splash arts are a common offender in that regard too. Spine breaking poses and other sexualized aspects can push a champion away from what they are as a character and into just an action figure or fan service. See Sivir and such. Champions like Vi I don't really see as sexualized (though her behind in her splash art is a bit exaggerated), but I do find her attractive. She's tough and scarred and that's okay. Same with Katarina (though her splash arts are a bit wonky at times and there was that debacle with her candy cane stripper pole). I like Kalista's look and think it fits her thematically, but I don't find her attractive physically. Leona and Diana are certainly attractive and I'd say even beautiful, but for the most part are practical and in appropriate attire (though Leona's heels...grr...).

Merxamers7/31/2015, 8:17:33 PM7 votes

I've been pretty happy with the variety of female body types Riot has designed in the last year or so; Jinx , Kalista , for example, are a nice change of pace from the previous string of identical body types we had (Elise, Zyra, etc.).

I don't have a problem with 'sexy' champs; i just feel awkward when it feels like they're meant exclusively to arouse a minority of the userbase with the back-breaking poses and impractical clothing (this mostly only happens for the splash arts). To use an example, Mortal Kombat has a problem with this, in my opinion. If I play as Sonya Blade or Kitanna, I want them to kick butt, not spill their jiggle-physics breasts out of their gauzy barely-there clothing.

Unfortunately, I give this thread about 10 minutes before it's infested with Goobergate-esque garbage

Hellioning8/1/2015, 5:26:11 PM7 votes

My primary issue isn't that women are generally attractive, it's that every woman is attractive. Every humanoid female that doesn't look like a child (or is a child) in this game has an attractive face and an attractive body type, bar maybe Kalista with the claws and such (and yes, Cass' upper half counts). Doesn't matter if they're a career soldier or a magical musician, they are, at least, cute. Even the female yordles tend more towards 'cute' in a human way, with their smooth skin.

In comparison, there are a bunch of male characters who are less attractive. We have old men, fat men, more weirdly proportioned men (Singed, for example.) Sure, we have a bunch of hot dudes, but we have things BESIDES hot dudes. The male yordles, for example, are all much closer to animals than the females. When someone says Kennen is cute, they're saying he's cute because he reminds them of a hamster. When someone says Lulu is cute, she's cute because she reminds them of a little girl.

Then there's the fact that female characters tend to have more skin showing; skins, I think, are some of the worst about this. We have straight up fetish wear for a lot of female characters, but very few 'male stripper' outfits.

I don't have a problem with Ahri being sexy, or for MF's beauty being a big part of her character. I'd just like some variety. Give us a horribly scarred woman, or an old hag, or something.

Iamawalrus7/31/2015, 11:57:18 PM7 votes

I think a game like League needs a pretty diverse set of types of attractiveness just because it's a large game. I don't particularly mind if every champ aside from monsters or typical icky types (twitch, etc) is attractive or cool in some way, as I see most of the champs in League as a sort of hero with good physical and mental traits or a set of skills, not average Joes, so not too unlikely.

That said, it's important to me that a wide variety of "attractiveness" is cool. A strong woman in proper armor is cool and a more elegant classical beauty is cool (I'm personally usually not a fan of more temptress type chars unless they're implemented in a particularly cool way).

It would be interesting to explore characters that are cool or enticing for other reasons than beauty, though! It could be a bonus.

Jungle Lux God7/31/2015, 8:03:35 PM5 votes

Every champion, whether the champion is male, female, or something else (eg. Bard ) should have some degree of attractiveness.

In my opinion, this kind of attractiveness doesn't simply involve whether or not the champion is beautiful or whether the champion has an idealized body shape, but instead may refer to the champion simply looking good. You can look at champions like Lissandra, Diana, or Kalista and consider them attractive. Are they beautiful? Not really. Do they have an hourglass figure? Maybe. But are they still attractive? I'd say so, because they look pretty good despite not having any ordinarily "attractive" features about them.

sp4417/31/2015, 10:33:46 PM4 votes

Also, a problem with this topic is that most times it devolves into calling the designers sexist. As if the only explanation for design trends is disdain for women. And then it all becomes a sjw vs anti-sjw war and it all goes to shot and whatever debate that could have been is ruined.

Crowe Stalker8/1/2015, 12:00:12 PM4 votes

I think what needs to be done is that females need to be made without sexual attraction being a focus. If it's in the character like Leblanc then go ahead and tease, but Sona is beautiful and it shouldn't be a priority to make a Pool Party Sona just for money. The real key about it is not asking 'Is she attractive?' but rather 'Is she sexualized?' if the answer is yes, you need to go back to the drawing board and start over. The difference is really easy when you look at the characters, their personalities, and what they do:

Elise Acceptable. Irelia Unacceptable.

Wakamune8/1/2015, 2:22:18 AM3 votes

What's an attractive male?

What I don't understand is why is attractiveness only a relevant issue for females. If male characters are not "attractive" then they wouldn't see as much playrate. Keep in mind personalities that are "attractive" in fiction runs on a different scale from reality.

Celio Hogane HD8/1/2015, 3:17:24 AM3 votes

Diana is beautifull, but not for her aspect. Diana is a precius character that i will seal in my heart for ever, she did so much to me, she is league of legends to me, she is what maked me like lore. The sadness of her history and what happen to her is all what she did make the character so beautifull.

And i know that is not the point, but i just want to say you are wrong in something, Diana has a shit ton of scars, she was tortured, inside her armor should have a full scared body, or at least her back.

Ah, but you can actually see one of her scars, you know the lunari symbol of her face? Im going to explain to you how she did got it with a single image: http://thumb1.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/960055/122255680/stock-photo-a-metal-cattle-brand-with-the-word-brand-as-the-marking-area-on-an-isolated-background-122255680.jpg

sp4417/31/2015, 8:46:35 PM2 votes

Characters are pretty much idealized concepts, even more so in League of Legends. Until their design calls for unnatractiveness, a champion will be beautiful.

Darius ,Garen ,Yasuo ,Jayce , all of them are pretty attractive for somebody of their station, even though they are war-harded veterans who probably had their share of wounds, a fugitive that probably doesn't have a lot of time to shower and groom, and a hot-headed mechanic.