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Why are JRPG villains so pretty?
- Thread starter SolVanderlyn
- Start date
ArkhamFantasy
Member
Not gonna lie, after Beatrix whoops your party at the end of the disc 1 and Kuja comes flying in on his dragon i was like "man that chick is fine".
Boogalogist
Member
The recent Disney villain, Hans in Frozen, is a pretty boy too!
Vulcano's assistant
Banned
no to me, Maleficent is a hottie
foxuzamaki
Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
Lucifer in the christian religion
Lol. Your examples of ugly include the Queen and Maleficent? They might not be hot (although I had a thing for Maleficent as a kid), but ugly is a stretch.
"... On th' other side up rose
BELIAL, in act more graceful and humane;
A fairer person lost not Heav'n; he seemd
For dignity compos'd and high exploit:
But all was false and hollow; though his Tongue
Dropt Manna, and could make the worse appear
The better reason, to perplex and dash
Maturest Counsels: for his thoughts were low;
To vice industrious, but to Nobler deeds
Timorous and slothful: yet he pleas'd the eare..."
~ John Milton, Paradise Lost
Well in Frozen that was pretty much a requirement to give a good reason for Anna to fall for him.
In most JRPGs, the villains don't get any extra attention for being pretty. Actually almost nobody does.
dreampeppers99
Member
what are you talking about?
SoulUnison
Banned
Is Sephiroth really "pretty?"
I get that his original design leans really heavily into Bishounen territory, but his look in Advent Children and the CG in Crisis Core makes hims look more "ghoulish" than "good-looking."
Even that shot you used in the OP, especially his nose - he looks like a goblin.
I get that his original design leans really heavily into Bishounen territory, but his look in Advent Children and the CG in Crisis Core makes hims look more "ghoulish" than "good-looking."
Even that shot you used in the OP, especially his nose - he looks like a goblin.
What? I thought they look evil, like they show their hearts on their faces.
NipplesAndToes23
Member
A lot?
Well none of those animal ones are ugly to me nor Captain Hook, The Roger Rabbit one is just goofy, the snow white witch got some nice eyes actually. The hun leader just looks badass. Dude with the arrows looks like a pretty boy though. Scar looks suave to me. Clayton looks alright, and the man from The Princess and the Frog just looks goofy too. Frollo just looks stuck up. Pete is just big boned. Frozen guy looks like a prettyboy too.
foxuzamaki
Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
He only looked like that after he turned mad, and even then he still isnt bad looking, throughout crisis core he looked fine
SolVanderlyn
Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
For those wondering, this is canon. It's revealed through his fan club's e-mails in Crisis Core.
SoulUnison
Banned
A lot?
Why is Gaston part of that image when his entire deal is being, like, the village's most eligible bachelor?
Snow White's Queen was beautiful, she was just hung up on not being the "most" beautiful.
Cinderella's step-mother seems pretty well put together for what I imagine is meant to be a slightly elderly woman.
Is Clayton "ugly?" His design seems like a rugged outdoorsman with "slimy" notes mixed in.
Shan Yu would probably be decent looking if he wasn't intentionally given demon eyes and an unnatural skin color to make him the designated bad guy.
Why is Big Hero 6's villain there? His design is more "slick" than "ugly," and the person beneath the mask is average looking, at worst.
Also, Shere Khan? Prince John? Scar? Who judges how "ugly" an anthropomorphic animal is, anyway?
Oogie Boogie? A villain from a Halloween-themed *existence* is intended to be "icky." Like...How else would you design this character?
This image is just terrible, honestly.
I feel like the only truly "ugly" character on there is the villain from Pocahontas, whose name escapes me.
predalien27
Member
They didn't have to give Kuja hips. But they did and you know what? I'm completely ok with that.
How About No
Member
And then there's FFII featuring David Bowie. This pretty villain thing has been going on for a while
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And in the FFIV sequel they apparently turned armor-clad Golbez into a muscular half-naked shaman. I say improvement?
Apparently lifestream goo gives hair a nice sheen
And in the FFIV sequel they apparently turned armor-clad Golbez into a muscular half-naked shaman. I say improvement?
Apparently lifestream goo gives hair a nice sheen
Vulcano's assistant
Banned
That's right, but I was more curious about the long hair bad guys in manga and whatnot. Was there such a trope in literature in japan dealing with long hair that may look like women's hair?
They certainly look like they have devious intentions, but why does that automatically equate to ugly?
PerfectFlaw
Member
I feel like some of these bad guys would be getting a mani/pedi while summoning a meteor to Earth.
Bonus points for stabbing a beloved main character through the chest while updating his Instagram.
Bonus points for stabbing a beloved main character through the chest while updating his Instagram.
OnimaruXLR
Member
these games are aimed at japanese teenagers, who only want to see either
A) The most insanely unrealistically pretty people possible
B) Horrifying monsters (usually only as cannon fodder though)
C) Some fun combination of the two (possibly as a final form)
Plus there's the fact that fighting obviously grotesque monsters is "obvious" (which is why you do it in DQ) so fighting pretty weirdos/angels/god is the more "mature" option (To a shitty teenager's mind, at least)
A) The most insanely unrealistically pretty people possible
B) Horrifying monsters (usually only as cannon fodder though)
C) Some fun combination of the two (possibly as a final form)
Plus there's the fact that fighting obviously grotesque monsters is "obvious" (which is why you do it in DQ) so fighting pretty weirdos/angels/god is the more "mature" option (To a shitty teenager's mind, at least)
A lot?
A bunch of those aren't ugly. I'm assuming you just posted a pic of disney villains. lol
Scrooge McDuck
Member
Come on. That image is obviously a list of Disney villains instead of an exclusive list of ugly Disney villains. The point is quite a bit of them are still ugly.
I mean look at Kuja, he looks like an angel, that's a truly pretty villain.
It's not like I made that image. I didn't say all of them were ugly. I just started to look up images for Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, 101 Dalmations, Hercules, Princess and the Frog, and Cinderella's villains before I just decided to post one image with a bunch of them in there.
Thank you. Apparently I should have just searched "ugly disney villains" instead.
John Kowalski
Banned
It's almost always that thing about how cannot expect those who have an excess of charisma to have an excess of good morals. Also villains usually have big egos and vanity goes very well with egocentrism.
Scrooge McDuck
Member
EDIT: Welp, non-double double post.
ichtyander
Member
Found a rather long-ish post about the history of bishonen, only skimmed through it but it seems like it has some good info: http://www.hoodedutilitarian.com/2010/08/1000-years-of-pretty-boys/
There's an unfortunate trend of femininity in men being perceived as sinister.
For example, this is how Satan looks in The Passion of the Christ.
Often comparing the villain and the hero, the villain will be more stereotypically feminine while the hero will be more stereotypically masculine. Guts and Griffith, Simba and Scar, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, Thor and Loki, Sora and Riku...
SolVanderlyn
Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
Something I should have added to the OP: it's not just "pretty boys," either. It extends to women, as well.
Legretta, Tales of the Abyss
Jihl Nabaat, Final Fantasy XIII
Legretta, Tales of the Abyss
Jihl Nabaat, Final Fantasy XIII
Astral Dog
Member
A lot?
Excuse me? Malecifent is beautiful, Lady Tremaine looks very regal for an old lady, and more if you count her live action version.The Queen only became ugly due to a potion, Frollo is not suppossed to be physically ugly (at least compared to Quasimodo) Hans is the handsome prince and the BH6 mask man is just a typical school teacher.
Edit: also, thats a handsome tigger
JonnyDBrit
Member
As mentioned, its in part a matter of perceived subversion. Beauty as a blessing for (or representative of) virtue is an ancient concept, and going against that image similarly old.
With JRPGs in particular, I'd say its a trend in imitation of wider literature, particularly anime and manga. Several of the most popular and influential series have had villainous figures who either were handsome or became handsome, perhaps even being revealed as the true villain after knocking off an uglier initial villain. And since many JRPGs had their roots in imitating (and even today can still take from, as much as they influence) popular genres and stories, its not hard to see how they picked up those sorts of trends.
With JRPGs in particular, I'd say its a trend in imitation of wider literature, particularly anime and manga. Several of the most popular and influential series have had villainous figures who either were handsome or became handsome, perhaps even being revealed as the true villain after knocking off an uglier initial villain. And since many JRPGs had their roots in imitating (and even today can still take from, as much as they influence) popular genres and stories, its not hard to see how they picked up those sorts of trends.
Tar-Miriel
Banned
Im pretty sure 3rd guy down on the far right isn't disney
SatelliteOfLove
Member
That's Shan-Yu from Mulan.
They tend to be less "fabulous" than the male villains though.It's JRPG, half the male protags are fabulous or at least handsome af.
See: Zidane vs Kuja, Cloud vs Sephiroth, Sora vs Xeanhort, etc. It's rare to have the inverse.
He's from Mulan.
Hindenblewp
Banned
Shan Yu from Mulan?
SilverArrow20XX
Walks in the Light of the Crystal
The Lord of the Rings and the Bible. As someone said earlier, Lucifer was said to be beautiful. Sauron, a fallen angel analogue, was also said to be very beautiful before losing his body.
I think it stems from the idea of charisma being frightening. An evil person who is beautiful and oozes charisma is very dangerous. He can easily get into positions of power through sweet talking and blending in with good people. He can trick good people into helping him commit evil. Eru (lotr God analogue) eventually gets fed up with Sauron's use of charisma for evil and destroys his body, reducing him to the towering super evil looking suit of armor we see in the movie flashbacks.
Other examples include popular culture's depictions of Jack the Ripper, as a charismatic man.
Key thing I think is that evil with charisma comes off as more "dangerous" and "intelligent". This is why evil leaders are so often depicted as attractive.
That's my theory anyway.