Final Fantasy main characters always look kinda girly?

i love ff games and ff10 is my favourite game of all time. but i never understood why the main characters always look like girls. ff13 obviously being the exception cuz the main character is a girl. now that they released footage of ff13-2 and all that the main character dude also looks girly. same with the dude from versus 13. i mean they look cool and all and it doesnt bother me that much or anything but im just curious why its always like that. its not like they're not capable of making manly looking dudes. they've had many like Auron from ff10 and Basch and Balthierfrom ff12 to name a few. why do you think they always have girly dudes as main characters?

Thats just your personal view of them. If you grew up in japanese society, perhaps you would think of them otherwise. Its easy to forget that everyone lives around the world grows up in varying societies that change the way they view things and holds certain things more valuable than others. Its odd that here in America overly huge space marines that have no emotion other than anger is the norm for main characters.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan

^to the guy above me, they do look feminine, even if you grew up with it.

^to the guy above me, they do look feminine, even if you grew up with it.

Zathic

But certainly not out of the ordinary. Everyone seems to make japanese characters as the odd man out, but had you grown up in japan then certainly it would be the norm.

Certain features are considered appealing in Japanese culture. High cheekbones, narrow face, light skin tone and large eyes are an asset for both men and women. FF even uses Gackt as a reference for many characters (and he's the face-model for Genesis) because he's the 'hottest' guy in Japan... achieved by anorexia, insomnia and botox

And I assure you that if the main character looked like Sev or something similar it wouldn't sell nearly as well.

In the newer ones, yes. From FFX - FF 13, it was like the main characters were gradually morphing into a full-fledged female. They weren't so feminine in some of the older ones, though. In FFVII, Cloud just looked like a punk rocker (though his newer depictions look more feminine than the original), Squall looked plenty masculine and Zidane just had moderately long hair.

lol think its so they look more attractive

The Japanese culture prefers feminine males in the lead rolls. The original protagonist of FFXII was going to be Basch, but they felt that he was too masculine, so we got Vaan shoehorned into the game as the "hero".

The Japanese culture prefers feminine males in the lead rolls. The original protagonist of FFXII was going to be Basch, but they felt that he was too masculine, so we got Vaan shoehorned into the game as the "hero".

WhiteStormy

Dang that would've been a way better choice waaaaaaaaaaaaay

Besides Vaan and how he dresses, how exactly do they look feminine? And who? Cloud? Why, cause he has no facial hair? He doesn't look like a girl to me. Tidus? Not at all to me. Who are you talking about.

Besdies Hope, who looks like he isn't even at puberty yet, but still he looks like a kid, not a girl.

Besides Vaan and how he dresses, how exactly do they look feminine? And who? Cloud? Why, cause he has no facial hair? He doesn't look like a girl to me. Tidus? Not at all to me. Who are you talking about.

Besdies Hope, who looks like he isn't even at puberty yet, but still he looks like a kid, not a girl.

gotdangit

If cloud didn't look like a girl he wouldn't have crross dress to try to save Tifa.

It's pretty funny, actually. Whenever you see a big, buff, dude coming to fight you in a Final Fantasy game, they're usually a joke character. A skinny, pretty boy shows up? Prepare to get wiped out.

They've always looked girly, but in XIII-2, good grief...I honestly could not tell if that was a guy or a girl.

I dunno, some weird Japanese thing I guess. I'm not terribly interested in knowing the specifics behind it. :?

The art style of Final Fantasy is supposed to be that way. but until you mentioned it, I didn't pay attention to the charater design butYes the male characters are somewhat morefeminine.

But the Final fantasy games are not Gears of War which requires a more normal tough look for the Male characters. I guess that creaters of FF series wanted it this way for some reason?

It's pretty funny, actually. Whenever you see a big, buff, dude coming to fight you in a Final Fantasy game, they're usually a joke character. A skinny, pretty boy shows up? Prepare to get wiped out.

stizz-

HAHA. LOL. that is one of the funniest things I've heard in a while. But yea, you're definately right.

To the TC, there's no doubt FF Male leads are feminine. I remember a forum post about a year ago about this same question. Supposedly, if the male characters looked like females then more girl gamers would play the game, therefore you get you typical guy gamer and a new audience in girls. IDK if true but i remembered that. But as another poster already said, it wouldn't look right if Sev/Cole/GeoW (all characters)/Shepard were in as lead characters. More masculine but definaltely not another bald headed marine.

Thats just your personal view of them. If you grew up in japanese society, perhaps you would think of them otherwise. Its easy to forget that everyone lives around the world grows up in varying societies that change the way they view things and holds certain things more valuable than others. Its odd that here in America overly huge space marines that have no emotion other than anger is the norm for main characters.

tutt3r

Skinny with no facial hair and medium length hair means feminine now?

Skinny with no facial hair and medium length hair means feminine now?

gotdangit

Yes. Skinny, baby faced, long haired, whiney teenage, pretty boys = feminine. Granted Cloud wasn't a teenager, but he still fit the mold. The only time I've seen Square make a game with a manly main character was Vagrant Story, and even that one came dangerously close to being feminine. Ashley Riot was a little too "pretty" and he did have a girl's name.

I think JRPGs in general have feminine looking male main characters not just Final Fantasy, and often I noticed they wear clothes showing their bellies which just doesn't look right on males.

Some culture thing I guess but sometimes I wish they would look more masculine.