So, I'm not entirely sure if this really deserves its own thread or not but I felt like it'd probably just get lost in one of the existing threads. If the mods disagree, feel free to close.
With that out of the way, I am incredibly disappointed with the game's depiction of Cleopatra VII. We've now seen glimpses of both her CG, as well as her in-game model and she just looks all wrong IMO. They've made her adhere far too closely to modern, Western beauty standards, they've made her too pretty in general and her outfit looks too stereotypically Egyptian. Let's have a look at what Cleopatra looks like in the game:
Some things to note:
As for them prettifying her, while we do not know for sure what Cleopatra VII looked like, we've got a rough idea thanks to a few depictions on coins and in sculpture. Let's look at the coins first:
Some things to note:
Next, let's look at two busts which are widely thought to be contemporary depictions of Cleopatra VII (or ancient copies thereof):
These certainly seem to be a bit more flattering than the coin portraits and, of course, they are stylised in their own way and shouldn't be taken completely at face value but they still maintain many of the same features. The large eyes and nose, the slight chubbiness/baby fat, etc. The main differences are probably the chin/jawline being softer/less prominent and the nose not being hooked (though, of course, one of them is missing the nose almost entirely so it's hard to tell whether it did or did not feature a hooked nose). Also note the cheekbones not being very prominent.
Regarding her clothing, I'm not an expert on Hellenistic fashion but this is probably closer to what Cleopatra would've actually worn on a day-to-day basis (though, of course, the face and figure are probably a bit off again, as is the backdrop):
Source: https://kelleybean86.deviantart.com/art/Cleopatra-301708027
As you can see, ACO's Cleopatra design does not only not look anything like what the real Cleopatra probably looked like, it also feeds into tired, old stereotypes about her which have little to do with the facts all to try and squeeze her into our society's restrictive, oppressing ideas of beauty. And I could understand the need to maybe pretty her up a little if she were the game's protagonist - attractive characters simply are more marketable - but she isn't. This would've been a great opportunity to break away from all those other mainstream depictions of Cleopatra, to actually educate people on what she may have really looked like but Ubisoft have instead ended up just borrowing those same old stereotypes and that's somewhat disappointing. It also feeds into some of the things Jim Sterling recently noted in his Jimquisition episode about Shelob. It looks like many developers/publishers still have a hard time including female main characters in their games who aren't generically pretty or don't look like supermodels.
Feel free to use this topic to discuss any other historical inaccuracies or things that bother you about AC:O's depiction of the time period and its historical figures, as well as about the general issue of sexed-up/prettified female characters in video games or the general depiction of Cleopatra in mainstream media.
TL;DR: ACO's Cleopatra design is historically inaccurate and too generically pretty/sexed-up.
With that out of the way, I am incredibly disappointed with the game's depiction of Cleopatra VII. We've now seen glimpses of both her CG, as well as her in-game model and she just looks all wrong IMO. They've made her adhere far too closely to modern, Western beauty standards, they've made her too pretty in general and her outfit looks too stereotypically Egyptian. Let's have a look at what Cleopatra looks like in the game:
Some things to note:
- Slender figure
- Small nose
- Small eyes
- High, prominent cheekbones
- Face that would be considered quite pretty by today's standards
- Outfit that looks very stereotypically Egyptian.
As for them prettifying her, while we do not know for sure what Cleopatra VII looked like, we've got a rough idea thanks to a few depictions on coins and in sculpture. Let's look at the coins first:
Some things to note:
- Large nose (hooked in some depictions)
- Large, bulging eyes
- Face looks slightly chubby/has some baby fat
- Prominent chin
- Greek hairstyle and royal diadem instead of an Egyptian crown
Next, let's look at two busts which are widely thought to be contemporary depictions of Cleopatra VII (or ancient copies thereof):
These certainly seem to be a bit more flattering than the coin portraits and, of course, they are stylised in their own way and shouldn't be taken completely at face value but they still maintain many of the same features. The large eyes and nose, the slight chubbiness/baby fat, etc. The main differences are probably the chin/jawline being softer/less prominent and the nose not being hooked (though, of course, one of them is missing the nose almost entirely so it's hard to tell whether it did or did not feature a hooked nose). Also note the cheekbones not being very prominent.
Regarding her clothing, I'm not an expert on Hellenistic fashion but this is probably closer to what Cleopatra would've actually worn on a day-to-day basis (though, of course, the face and figure are probably a bit off again, as is the backdrop):
Source: https://kelleybean86.deviantart.com/art/Cleopatra-301708027
As you can see, ACO's Cleopatra design does not only not look anything like what the real Cleopatra probably looked like, it also feeds into tired, old stereotypes about her which have little to do with the facts all to try and squeeze her into our society's restrictive, oppressing ideas of beauty. And I could understand the need to maybe pretty her up a little if she were the game's protagonist - attractive characters simply are more marketable - but she isn't. This would've been a great opportunity to break away from all those other mainstream depictions of Cleopatra, to actually educate people on what she may have really looked like but Ubisoft have instead ended up just borrowing those same old stereotypes and that's somewhat disappointing. It also feeds into some of the things Jim Sterling recently noted in his Jimquisition episode about Shelob. It looks like many developers/publishers still have a hard time including female main characters in their games who aren't generically pretty or don't look like supermodels.
Feel free to use this topic to discuss any other historical inaccuracies or things that bother you about AC:O's depiction of the time period and its historical figures, as well as about the general issue of sexed-up/prettified female characters in video games or the general depiction of Cleopatra in mainstream media.
TL;DR: ACO's Cleopatra design is historically inaccurate and too generically pretty/sexed-up.
