I know. It's not like all there IP's are the generic badass white guy that everyone else seems to do. Nintendo seems to be getting better. We just got these this year:
It's a step in the right direction.
Sun & Moon was last year, we need moar!
WHAT identity
the whiteness of Samus isn't what's iconic about her character
tl;dr colored people need a reason to exist, white people don'tUnless they pull a Zelda and have it be a different Samus then I would be against it. There's diversity with purpose and then there's diversity for its own sake and this would 100% be the latter. Diversity needs to be done with intent to be truly impactful and not just 'cause. Samus would not be the same character if she were black and it doing so would defeat the purpose of acknowledging how racial diversity affects people. Even if the story would never touch on it specifically, how people accept or reject aspects associated with their race, gender or sexuality inform a well written character. Having black Samus be exactly the same as current Samus would completely gloss over this and imo would ultimately be a step backwards for racial diversity in games.
But at the same time, I do understand the want to just have a black female protagonist since we are in desperate need of having them and while it wouldn't be imo the best first step, it's in a sense far better than what we're doing now. Ideally we would just have games with diverse casts and protagonists be the norm and not have there be a 'default' character type but expecting that change to happen overnight is unrealistic.
Extra Credits have a few good videos on the subject of gender and racial diversity in games and I would recommend checking them out:
Rust - Representing Racial Diversity in Games (This video talks about the importance of diversity and the struggles that non-white people may have in just trying to find a character they relate to)
True Female Characters - How to Write Deep and Interesting Characters (This video talks about how societal pressures and how a character reacts to them are important to defining a character, among other things)
Race in Games - Racial Tensions in LA Noire as Character Development (This video is less related to the Black Samus discussion but is still interesting)
So yeah. Conclusion: I would be mixed on it. I can see the appeal and I wouldn't be fundamentally upset if it were to happen but I do believe it's very far from an ideal solution and that we, and the Metroid series, would be better served with a new playable character rather than just changing an established character if it were to go the route of having a black protagonist.
tl;dr colored people need a reason to exist, white people don't
tl;dr colored people need a reason to exist, white people don't
tl;dr colored people need a reason to exist, white people don't
tl;dr people of colour should be able to be their own people not reskins
I'm sorry, what?tl;dr colored people need a reason to exist, white people don't
Samus was a brunette in Metroid 1 but was changed to a blonde in later games, this situation would be no different.
He literally starts by sayingHow do you even come down to that conclusion? That's not what he said at all, nor what the links were about...
then follows up withUnless they pull a Zelda and have it be a different Samus then I would be against it. There's diversity with purpose and then there's diversity for its own sake and this would 100% be the latter. Diversity needs to be done with intent to be truly impactful and not just 'cause
I mean outside of Other M, samus is pretty much a walking badass in armor who rarely talks. Her whiteness has nothing to do with any of her backstory depicted in the manga either. She could literally be any race and would change nothing about her character.Samus would not be the same character if she were black and it doing so would defeat the purpose of acknowledging how racial diversity affects people. Even if the story would never touch on it specifically, how people accept or reject aspects associated with their race, gender or sexuality inform a well written character.
So having a different hair color is the same?
He literally starts by saying
then follows up with
I mean outside of Other M, samus is pretty much a walking badass in armor who rarely talks. Her whiteness has nothing to do with any of her backstory depicted in the manga either. She could literally be any race and would change nothing about her character.
She's blonde in all of her games bar this one. What if she just got a different color at the space hairdresser?you got it! samus' genetics don't have a consistent canon
WHAT identity
the whiteness of Samus isn't what's iconic about her character
you got it! samus' genetics don't have a consistent canon
tl;dr colored people need a reason to exist, white people don't
But hair color can naturally change though.
I don't think that was the point of the post. But I do wonder how does the whiteness of Samus define her, how does it show in her actions and thoughts. What would be the dissonance for Samus being black. How would the character be different if she was made black from the start. Other than the visual appearance.
"How is a black/asian character different when s/he's white in a movie adaptation?"
I would be interested to see a black Samus, female Link, gay Mario or an Arab Professor Oak. They're just fictional characters.
What does being athletic have to do with anythingBut she's been white and athletic forever. Since more than a decade, we've seen her often outside her suit (since Zero/Fusion). She's been marketed heavily since that time, and even more since she's in Smash Bros Brawl.
She has an established look. I really don't see what's hard in understanding that. We're not about changing the design of the armor, which already irritates many fans.
It's about taking the name of an existing character, and slapping it on a different one. She's not Master Chief or Batman, she has an identity.
Can we stop acting as if people were only thinking about her armor? Hell, there's even the bad Other M ZSS design available as an avatar for the Switch.
edit: it's not a question of "it's not iconic so we can change her race for no reason". It's part of her identity.
Nathan Drake being white isn't what is iconic about him either. Same for Lara Croft.
I don't think that being white is what make someone iconic at all (unless you count Michael Jackson I guess...). This is some really illogical reasoning.
"If you want a black Samus, just make a new character!"
Yeah, and if people of color want an education, they should open their own schools!
I don't understand. Who is this quote from and what is the context.
This post. I don't even..."If you want a black Samus, just make a new character!"
Yeah, and if people of color want an education, they should open their own schools!
And if they want jobs, they should open their own businesses!
And if they want nice homes the should go build their own neighbourhoods!
I would be interested to see a black Samus, female Link, gay Mario or an Arab Professor Oak. They're just fictional characters.
It's the equivalent of you saying "What would be the dissonance for Samus being black. How would the character be different if she was made black from the start. Other than the visual appearance.", but the other way.
Seriously, at this point I wonder if those threads are just not made by some people angry that an established character that was either female or non-white got gender/race swapped in some adaptation.
It happens for Hollywood movies, but I've never seen it happen for any videogame character.
There still hasn't been a single good reason in any of those threads shown on why an established character (be it Samus, Link, etc) should be completely changed. None.
Just "yeah but it wouldn't change her/his icon status". But why? Especially more intriguing when those are characters existing since 25+ years, with an established lore, canon, fanbase, etc.
I don't think that was the point of the post. But I do wonder how does the whiteness of Samus define her, how does it show in her actions and thoughts. What would be the dissonance for Samus being black. How would the character be different if she was made black from the start. Other than the visual appearance.
Pretty much this, but to go into it further it's not about race defining a character but how it is a part of who a person is, it's an integral part of who we all are just as much as gender or sexuality. It informs how people react to that character as well. Admittedly of all games and all characters, Metroid/Samus is sparse when it comes to character building and character interaction but it's about the principle of it being something that should be thought of when designing a character and not treated as an afterthought in the way that simply changing her skin to be "diverse" would make it. Maybe the characters in Other M would treat her differently if she had different skin, maybe they wouldn't, but it's the thought process in writing it that makes it important."How is a black/asian character different when s/he's white in a movie adaptation?"
"If you want a black Samus, just make a new character!"
Yeah, and if people of color want an education, they should open their own schools!
And if they want jobs, they should open their own businesses!
And if they want nice homes the should go build their own neighbourhoods!
"If you want a black Samus, just make a new character!"
Yeah, and if people of color want an education, they should open their own schools!
And if they want jobs, they should open their own businesses!
And if they want nice homes the should go build their own neighbourhoods!
I would be interested to see a black Samus, female Link, gay Mario or an Arab Professor Oak. They're just fictional characters.
What does being athletic have to do with anything
Samus has little to no identity outside of her suit with the exception of other m. Acting like whiteness is such an integral part of her character is stupid and false, because it isn't. Before zero suit samus was a smash character "metroid is a lady" was a trivia fact. acting as though her being white is important to her identity is pure garbage
It's the equivalent of you saying "What would be the dissonance for Samus being black. How would the character be different if she was made black from the start. Other than the visual appearance.", but the other way.