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How would you react to a Metroid reboot w/ a black Samus

(mat)

Member
Why change a character to a different ethnicity at all? To fill a quota? That seems... inappropriate, for lack of a better word at the moment.

I'm all for having a different character take the lead role, assuming it still plays like Metroid, but this isn't GTA. Changing the color of your car isnt just a solution to get the social justice police off your back. If you want to introduce some more proper diversity in gaming, let's add some new compelling characters, and celebrate them as amazing characters instead of shoehorning change in for the sake of appearing to be sensitive to the times.
 

Trojita

Rapid Response Threadmaker
But we already had one

51N9Dh4ZARL._SY445_.jpg



Terrible joke aside. This is a complicated issue. A lot of people like these characters and don't want to see their looks fundamentally changed. It isn't that they are racist but resistant to change. Then there are racists and diet racists that don't want a black character at all.

The other problem with the notion of creating new characters is that all of most popular characters, that have a long history, are mostly white.
 

Bergerac

Member
The franchise is hardly worth the effort anyways so maybe this would give it the shot in the arm it needs.

I'd embrace it. Nobody knows or gives a shit about who Samus is at this point anyways.

If that were true, why use a 'dying' icon as a springboard for diversity? It's kind of a 'can't get any worse' resignation.
 

Platy

Member
Where does rewarding the player by letting you see her in a bikini fit into this progressive narrative about the original Metroid?

Representation works at baby steps =P

PSY・S;237393915 said:
2017 and people want to use race as a simple gotcha... a punchline...

how is this any better than "it's a trap"

Because "It's a trap" actualy plays with the idea that trans women are men disguised as hot women to make other men gay.

The only thing we would be doing here is making people like a game just so that later they discover that their hands don't fall off for playing with a black woman protagonist.
The identity of the black woman is being respected and the thing that is being challenged is prejudice against black women protagonists instead of heterosexual fragility of not wanting to date a woman.
 

deriks

4-Time GIF/Meme God
Nobody will care. Everyone plays Metroid because the game is like Mega Man with exploration, and it's fun. Nothing else.
 

PSqueak

Banned
Honest question, what is more important, Samus the character or the mantle she represents?

Some people in this thread have brought up mantle passing in super hero comics, and it reminded me how one of the GBA F-zero games has Captain Falcon pass the mantle to that japanese cop kid, so would it be that less of an impact if nintendo did take the idea already been posted a bunch of times of Samus passing the mantle of the Hunter to a new character?
 

_Aaron_

Member
I would wonder why they didn't just give the character a new name, identity, and personality.

If you're going to make the effort to change their appearance substantially, then why not create a new character entirely?
 

JustenP88

I earned 100 Gamerscore™ for collecting 300 widgets and thereby created Trump's America
If that were true, why use a 'dying' icon as a springboard for diversity? It's kind of a 'can't get any worse' resignation.

Huh? Why not? If you're going to arbitrarily breathe life into this franchise, why not use that as an opportunity to mix it up? If the next entry in this series achieves any sort of commercial success, the only people who would even notice that Samus was no longer white would be the small minority of people who have been clamoring for Metroid and Gamergate garbage.

I say just relegate Metroid to low-budget 2D titles that have most of their development handled by trusty indie studios and let the real resources go to a new IP that might have some legs.
 

Kwame120

Banned
The look of a character is important in terms of how we recognise them, but ultimately, not necessary. While a knee-jerk reaction is always "no", I honestly think that as long as we keep the core aspects of a character, we should be free to change other aspects. As a rare female gaming icon, Samus should always remain female. But her skin colour isn't a core part of her character - so a black Samus should be able to work.

It's the exact same reasoning that allows us to have a white Hermione on the screen and a black Hermione in theatre, for example. This is not saying that skin colour isn't a part of one's identity, as it certainly is, but just that what makes a character a particular character are aspects of their background and personality that can be independent of their age, gender, skin colour, etc.. The aspects you change leads to a different take on the character, but their core aspects remain the same.
 

Onivulk

Banned
To this day one of my favorite things to do is play Smash Bros. against a young male family member or friend and have them choose the badass space warrior, take a few dives so they feel like Samus is the coolest guy ever and then be like "Yeah, she's super strong".

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN "SHE"?"

Everytime.
 

Ran rp

Member
The only thing we would be doing here is making people like a game just so that later they discover that their hands don't fall off for playing with a black woman protagonist.
The identity of the black woman is being respected and the thing that is being challenged is prejudice against black women protagonists instead of heterosexual fragility of not wanting to date a woman.

or you could just make dope games with dope, visibly poc mpcs and let racists whine until they eventually give in because you know they still want to play.
 

Glass Rebel

Member
Same thing as said in the other threads about the same topic from the same usual suspects?

I think that when a canon has been established by creators, and that a genre isn't made for that (aka there's no canon dragonborn in skyrim for example), it's better to respect that story, the fans, and the creators.

Seriously, why aren't people pushing for more/better new characters instead?
Why don't you have a black Josuke avatar for example? Why isn't Poison a male or black in my avatar?

There's literally no reason to push for changing established characters.
And the Iron Man example is terrible. Samus Aran is her name, not a monicker people can get, like Captain Falcon for example, who could be black.

It's a fictional character that already has inconsistencies in characterization between games in the same entry. So the demand to preserve the purity of a character doesn't really have any pull.

People are pushing for more minority characters. That doesn't mean one can't voice the desire to change "established" characters that were created during a time where diversity and minority representation wasn't a concern.
 
But how did you know where those people are from/where they live? How much data did you gather? And may I ask where you live? I'm having a hard time believing you on this. Like I said, the term "African American" is not really relevant outside of America.

There are some posters in this thread who say where they're from/their nationality who say or suggest they associate "black" with "Americans who are black."

It's anecdotal though—there's not much else to it. I met people in Morocco and from France who thought that, bit it came up in passing, and wasn't an in-depth discussion.

Honest question, what is more important, Samus the character or the mantle she represents?

Some people in this thread have brought up mantle passing in super hero comics, and it reminded me how one of the GBA F-zero games has Captain Falcon pass the mantle to that japanese cop kid, so would it be that less of an impact if nintendo did take the idea already been posted a bunch of times of Samus passing the mantle of the Hunter to a new character?
Sounds like a Batman situation.
 
I'd be into it. You look at Samus in Smash 4 and Samus in Super and the only thing that's stayed consistent is her being blonde and white. If everything else about her can be changed, I don't see why her skin color couldn't change as well.
 
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Say a future Metroid game is marketed as a reboot, and at the end, Seamus Samus removes her helmet revealing she's a black woman. How would that make you feel?

What if she were a different character with Chico armor, and never outright named throughout the game?

EDIT: definition added because term is not universally understood the same way


SJW movement is out of control. We cant and should not rewrite history, nor destroy beloved old characters.

However, I would love a Black, or Hispanic, or Asian etc character in any companies marque franchises, however just make them a additional character or new character. No need to destroy past story cannons, just add to the story. (If it matters I'm Hispanic and don't know why we would replace beloved old characters...)

Just IMHO
 

7Th

Member
A Metroid game in which you play as an artificial intelligence in a body shaped like the Varia Suit that has been programmed to believe it is Samus; the twist ending will shock everyone.
 

Eolz

Member
It's a fictional character that already has inconsistencies in characterization between games in the same entry. So the demand to preserve the purity of a character doesn't really have any pull.

People are pushing for more minority characters. That doesn't mean one can't voice the desire to change "established" characters that were created during a time where diversity and minority representation wasn't a concern.

You mean that Samus, a character that was created when nearly no female protagonists existed in video games, isn't established, nor important for minorities?

And good job not replying to the other questions.

Seriously, this thread went to shit quicker than the "Link should be a girl" threads from the same creator, due to having even less reasons behind it. No point for this change, this thread, or to continue this "discussion" (that doesn't happen due to people just doing "lalala I don't hear you" when getting counter arguments, and a fake sense of self superiority making it even harder to try to talk).

Seriously. Stop and think next time. And read your own posts.
 
I would question why they thought that rebooting a character that people obviously love would somehow save that flailing franchise. Then I'd be angry that they changed Samus and didn't just use a different character or have Samus somehow pass along her suit.

To spell it out though:

Not wanting a character changed =/= racism or sexism, no matter how much some of yall want it to.
 
Could be a fun new character design. Toss out the thin, waifish Zero Suit Samus design in favor of a bulkier, 'Woman of the Amazon' build.

The series needs a fresh coat of paint, and this could be a could way to break new ground.

Samus was mostly there with the amazonian women design in Super Metroid and possibly Prime 1.

She was also 6'3" in every game up until Other M and Smash 4 where they shortened her to 5'1"


Still my favorite design for her outside the Power suit
 

nynt9

Member
I don't mind a black protagonist but why even reboot Metroid? Just make a spinoff with a new black character. There's no point to making Samus black. It's not like she's an archetypal character like link. There's continuity in these games. This isn't comic books.
 

Epcott

Member
I'd wonder why not just make a new franchise/character... preferably one who isn't always (or mostly) in a bulky, face obscuring suit.

Or an ignored franchise for that matter.
 

neilyadig

Member
You never even see Samus without her suit... I guarantee people would be pissed that they changed the skin color of a character whose skin you never see. This doesn't make sense.

That being said, who cares - its like making James Bond black, why not change it up?
 

Clearos

Member
No issue what so ever. Granted I'm not big on story or anything of that nature so as long as the game play was good. I wouldn't care if samus took the helmet off and it was earth worm jim the entire time.
 

azyless

Member
There are some posters in this thread who say where they're from/their nationality who say or suggest they associate "black" with "Americans who are black."

It's anecdotal though—there's not much else to it. I met people in Morocco and from France who thought that, bit it came up in passing, and wasn't an in-depth discussion.
I don't know what kind of people you were talking to but either you misunderstood them or they were taking the piss. Anyone from France is a thousand times more likely to meet black french people or african immigrants than they are to meet african americans. Same for Morocco.
Specifically in the context of an american website ? Yes, maybe. But in general, equating "black" with "african american" ? No chance.

In fact the only people I've ever seen claim that there were no black people anywhere else, were americans right here on this forum.
 

Dantrist

Member
It would be silly.

I'm all for diversity in games, but Samus isn't black. Why would she all of a sudden be black? Make new games with more diverse characters.

No issue what so ever. Granted I'm not big on story or anything of that nature so as long as the game play was good. I wouldn't care if samus took the helmet off and it was earth worm jim the entire time.
This would be absolutely hilarious, though.
 
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