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[Ms.Galaxy]

like an olive green, yes

it was even more green in the game

That's the lighting of the environment, even looking at his armor makes it obvious.

I don't see a single tint of green. He's brown

 

[Giever]

Dude, for all intents or purposes he is supposed to be dark-skinned as he is a Gerudo. Again, why should his skin colour be green again?

Ask Nintendo? He's green. This isn't a matter of downplaying some social issue, it's just.. h-he's actually green. Feel free to compare the brown of his armor to the green of his skin.

 

[Alienfan]

True. Disney is the WORST at this.

Are they still though?

 

[jon bones]

"most villains are white"

That's probably because most characters in games are white. Period. Doesn't change the fact that this happens far too often. I can't even list all the times as a kid i'd play a game and the only character with darker skin like mine was either a villain or generic enemy.

basic statistical concepts are very difficult for large swaths of the country

 

[WhiteRabbitEXE]

"blabla in RE5 you kill black persons, it's racist" (yeah because Spanish persons in RE4 was perfectly fine)...

That was literally never the argument.

It's true we often say "black side" "dark side" as the opposite of "bright side", it's not about race... Wait, in night, it's actually dark... Are nights racists then?

This is some damn weak shit yo. This is the kind of bizarre, nonsensical direction folks always take when trying to argue race and sex issues don't exist. Come on man, try harder.

A LOT of vilains are white, in fact most of them.

Proportionality.

Fewer dark skinned characters in general, but disproportionately more likely to be villains.

 

[khaaan]

... make them blue or gray

But Proud Family taught me that blue skinned people are actually ashy black people.

 

[Osukaa]

And stop being afraid to put brown skinned characters as playable characters in JRPGS!!!!! God! Man, that angers me.

Wow ...i never really thought about this. but I cant seem to think of a brown/tan/dark skinned character that was ever a main character in an JRPGS. Id love for Atlus to have Persona 6 take place in Okinawa where they seem to define them as people with tan complexions.

Spoiler

I miss you Japan !!

 

[Emperor_Uriel]

Also worth noting is how none of these brown-skinned characters look like actual brown people. Just palette-swapped/tanned white characters.

If you want to make a black villain, make a black villain. Pucci from JoJo's is one of the few great examples that comes to mind, and his design both incredibly stylish and unusually respectable for a Japanese artist's rendition of a black man.

 

[The Adder]

SHIT NEEDS TO STOP ALREADY,
YES.

I say this as though the people who skipped the video in the OP to voice their opinions will bother watching this one.

 

[RowdyReverb]

Star Wars is the worst offender. Light side vs. Dark side, Sith wear black robes, space is black, the list goes on

 

[JayEH]

Stop whitewashing evil characters I say

Fuck you Nomura.

Ansem was so badass in KH1.

Bring back Billy Zane.

 

[Lulubop]

Also worth noting is how none of these brown-skinned characters look like actual brown people. Just palette-swapped/tanned white characters.

If you want to make a black villain, make a black villain. Pucci from JoJo's is one of the few great examples that comes to mind, and his design both incredibly stylish and unusually respectable for a Japanese artist's rendition of a black man.

Pucci the GOAT

 

[TheRealTalker]

.

 

[WesFX]

The full first page (50) doesn't mention any examples that fit, or still fit this idea to me. Not denying it happens, but OP could have mentioned some, or maybe GAF is failing to have a decent discussion about this.

EDIT: Third page delivers.

 

[rhandino]

Edit: All of the antagonist Plegians are dark skinned and all the Plegians that you get in your party including Tharja, Henry, and Robin are all light skinned. I know you can recruit Aversa and Gangrel in the DLC, but shit...

I would have a problem with that normally but since 2 of the main units you get are Flavia and Basilio

Also I am pretty sure all the Pleagian units are white.

 

[WillyFive]

The one game that bothered me the most:

...she instantly lost her darker skin when she got 'upgraded' to Zelda.

But this has not bothered me in games as much as it has in movies, where you get stuff like this:

 

[KillLaCam]

He looks italian to me and i'm italian.

He's always looked Indian or even middle eastern to me as a kid lol

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

The ones that everyone else views as thieves, pirates, and are scared of?

YAAASS! TELL EM!

 

[WhiteRabbitEXE]

Ganondorf is green-ish in OoT, but come on. That's debating technicalities while circling around the obvious.

 

[Basketball]

Star Wars is the worst offender. Light side vs. Dark side, Sith wear black robes, space is black, the list goes on

but what side is cool tho

 

[diaspora]

YAAASS! TELL EM!

The ones that everyone else views as thieves, pirates, and are scared of?

FWIW, BoTW course-corrected this at least.

 

[pizzacat]

Also worth noting is how none of these brown-skinned characters look like actual brown people. Just palette-swapped/tanned white characters.

If you want to make a black villain, make a black villain. Pucci from JoJo's is one of the few great examples that comes to mind, and his design both incredibly stylish and unusually respectable for a Japanese artist's rendition of a black man.

not to mention everything else on that part relating to race and the KKK

 

[EatinOlives]

The badass brown desert people. What's the problem?

They're portrayed fairly negatively in OoT. Thankfully that's not the case with BotW but that's a very recent, albeit welcome, change.

 

[Flame Lord]

I... Can't really think of to many examples of that, but by the look of his examples maybe Disney should take heed of that.

 

[diaspora]

I would have a problem with that normally but since 2 of the main units you get are Flavia and Basilio





Also I am pretty sure all the Pleagian units are white.

All of the Plegian units you get are white. Robin, Tharja, and Henry. All the Plegians you don't recruit are brown including Gangerl, Validar, Aversa, and other bosses. This is largely compounded by the fact that the player's own father is the most brown-ass dude and you're white as damn snow.

edit: AFAIK 7/9 Pleagian antagonists are brown, one of which is the light-skinned character's father.

 

[Dark Ninja]

Um Ganondorf IS green which is why he is green in every other game.

 

[Wozman23]

Just realized that Ganondorf is just a buff Roger

Or a weak Blanka.

And Blanka is just Hulk with alopecia.

 

[sanstesy]

The ones that everyone else views as thieves, pirates, and are scared of?

They're portrayed fairly negatively in OoT. Thankfully that's not the case with BotW but that's a very recent, albeit welcome, change.

They are a strong, powerful tribe of dark-skinned women. While they were thieves I never thought of them being evil as they also fought against Ganondorf. Nabooru was the one who granted Link access in the Spirit Temple after earning her respect.

 

[autoduelist]

I mean, there is a reason for it, and it's not inherently racist. We're instinctually afraid of the dark. This is ingrained in our ancestral history, lighting fires to keep away the baying wolves. The dark = black, the light of day = white. It's why many major 'gods' from major religions are, or are based on, sun gods.

It's the use of symbols to quickly allow the viewer to understand something is 'evil' [just like 'red' is often used for dangerous due to the color of predatory eyes in the night as well as the color of many poisonous berries]. It is why the bad guys wear black hats, and the good guys wear white hats in westerns, not racism.

Is it misused on occasion? Sure. But it's important to recognize that the use of darker palettes for 'evil' has non-racist roots in our history. [and yes, like I said, it can be abused... but something like 'Dark Samus' is clearly due to non-racist symbology.

 

[sephi22]

I feel like Overwatch is also guilty of this. One of the games primary villains in Reaper is a black/Hispanic hybrid. Orisa, who's supposed to be a killer robot model that was part of the omnic crisis that killed millions has an African accent. Widowmaker is a good white girl gone bad through brainwashing, and they gave her a huge butt and dark skin. She's purple but that's as subtle as you can get without going full blackface. Roadhog is Maori and Junkrat is a dark skinned Aussie (excuse being he charred himself)

The heroes like Mercy, Tracer, Reinhardt, Torbjorn or Soldier 76 are full aryan on the other hand. And this game is supposed to be a bastion of diversity or whatever.

 

[MattKeil]

Ganondorf is green-ish in OoT, but come on. That's debating technicalities while circling around the obvious.

I mean he is unquestionably green in OoT, but the fact remains that "main villain, give him darker skin than the good guys" is still in play there.

 

[LotusHD]

It is pretty ridiculous.

To you clearly. But nonetheless it is something that minorities including myself have noticed as we've grown up.

 

[potatohead]

They should all have white hair because old people are all jerks like me I would know

 

[rhandino]

The ones that everyone else views as thieves, pirates, and are scared of?

In fairness, by the time of Breath of the Wild nobody think of them like that to the point that one of them is asigned as a guard of Zelda herself and given control of a Divine Beast.

 

[phanphare]

Ganondorf is green-ish in OoT, but come on. That's debating technicalities while circling around the obvious.

I agree with this, it's clear that they were going for a middle eastern/desert type vibe, I just found it odd that people were being obtuse about him being green. especially with the olive bit considering that's a word typically associated with the skin tone of people from the middle east.

I also think they went green as a good contrast to his orange hair. it just looks good.

 

[BLAUcopter]

I like dark colored villians, and i like dark colored good guys, what's the problem here?

There isn't one but let's manufacture one because the internet hasn't been outraged at something for 2.5 seconds.

 

[Vital Tundra]

Even though for the most part Ganondorf is more green than brown, his entire people are brown, so it doesn't hold as much weight. I do agree, though. Why is Ryu and Ken darker skinned when evil? That makes no sense.

 

[Basketball]

I mean, there is a reason for it, and it's not inherently racist. We're instinctually afraid of the dark. This is ingrained in our ancestral history, lighting fires to keep away the baying wolves. The dark = black, the light of day = white. It's why many major 'gods' from major religions are, or are based on, sun gods.

It's the use of symbols to quickly allow the viewer to understand 'evil'. It is why the bad guys wear black hats, and the good guys wear white hats in westerns, not racism.

Is it misused on occasion? Sure. But it's important to recognize that the use of darker palettes for 'evil' has non-racist roots in our history. [and yes, like I said, it can be abused... but something like 'Dark Samus' is clearly due to non-racist symbology.

shhh reason .... We need more examples of baddies

 

[Carl2291]

This cries out as reaching for the sake of hits. Trying to generate some kind of controversy to gain hits. There's literally thousands of evil white guys in games. A few having brown skin isn't a problem.

The problem is a lack of POC main protagonists.

 

[WhiteRabbitEXE]

I mean he is unquestionably green in OoT, but the fact remains that "main villain, give him darker skin than the good guys" is still in play there.

Exactly what I'm saying.

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

I mean he is unquestionably green in OoT, but the fact remains that "main villain, give him darker skin than the good guys" is still in play there.

Right! It's like they don't understand.

 

[fhqwhgads]

There isn't one but let's manufacture one because the internet hasn't been outraged at something for 2.5 seconds.

Go ahead, talk about how we're "triggered" and we're a bunch of "SJWs". It's okay I know you're just itching to say it.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Sad shit. If the black character ain't evil, they're angry(Barret) or an idiot(Sazh) or a mix of both(Cole Train).

? Cole isn't angry nor an idiot... I mean "idiot" is subjective, he's a typical Boisterous Bruiser, not really the "dumb" variant though, just a bit goofy. I get that he might still be considered a stereotype, though.

 

[DryvBy]

Dark = Absent of Light; Bad Guys. When you're depressed, someone may use an idiom about falling on dark times.

But let's make it about something else.

 

[atr0cious]

so some 30 second twitter clip that only shows one game is proof this horrible pattern?

The horrible pattern is that people of dark skin tones are rarely seen in games to begin with unless they're the antagonist on some way or canon fodder. Even TLOU, with it's decent representation, some how has almost every black character die for reasons. So seeing shit like this the pop up in all forms of media(games and animation both use this narrative crutch) makes it stand out.

Just checked this list http://www.gamesradar.com/top-100-villains-video-games/ to see if maybe I was missing this pattern, but again, most on that list are actually white.

This is a list of people favorite villains, which has no bearing on this conversation.

Folks are acting like this is a new concept, when Mormons literally thought people of color were cursed because of their skin tone. Many parts of the world share this belief, the Krishna (the Hindu holy book) revels in this.

 

[SixMachine]

One of the reasons why I dislike Akuma as a character. The satsui no hado magically made a Japanese guy go from yellow to brown.

They did Thailand dirty too making all their reps evil with Adon, Sagat and Bison. Atleast Sagat got a face turn.

As glad as I am that Indians are the good guys with Dhalsim and Dudley, Street Fighter is still evil minorities the video game.

Play Guilty Gear instead, y'all.

We never seen a young Akuma in game but in the Alpha Generations anime he was the same skin color so there isn't really any skin change. The only skin change is the fan made Assassin's Fist but that wasn't really a high budget production and it was 2 different actors.

Sagat and Adon are not even evil. Sagat is less of an asshole and quit Shadaloo, as you mentiomed but Adon hasn't done anything evil, he is just an asshole. His goal is just to kick Sagat's ass.

It's pretty disingenious to say it is evil minority the game when most of game's characters aren't even evil and also the fact that a lot of them are asian (though I don't think you are thinking of them as such). The only really evil guys are are from evil organizations like Bison, Fang, Vega, Gill, Seth, etc., with some crazy dudes like Rolento and his military fetish. In SF5 they had to pad the evil villain count with the Cammy swap dolls and they aren't even really evil, just mind controlled.

Also it's useless to ask people to play Guilty Gear, I've tried.

 

[Xbro]

It is certainly possible that they designed the Gerudo as a whole to match Ganondorf's backstory as a thief. It is true that the OoT Gerudo have very little role outside of being Ganondorf's followers. Breath of the Wild was the first time the Gerudo escaped that role as thieves, pirates, and brigands.

If you don't count Four Swords Adventures

 

[WhiteRabbitEXE]

This cries out as reaching for the sake of hits. Trying to generate some kind of controversy to gain hits. There's literally thousands of evil white guys in games. A few having brown skin isn't a problem.

The problem is a lack of POC main protagonists.

As has been said, the majority of villains are white males because the majority of characters are white males. It's an issue of proportions. A dark-skinned character is more likely to be a villain, or at least "bad" than a light-skinned character.

You are right though, there is a severe lack of diversity in main protagonists.

 

[phanphare]

As has been said, the majority of villains are white males because the majority of characters are white males. It's an issue of proportions. A dark-skinned character is more likely to be a villain, or at least "bad" than a light-skinned character.

You are right though, there is a severe lack of diversity in main protagonists.

yeah I'd like to see the diversity of villains be matched in the main protagonists of games

 

[professor denim]

The one game that bothered me the most:

...she instantly lost her darker skin when she got 'upgraded' to Zelda.

Are you for real? Sorry to ask