If Cloud was black..

[Makoeyes987]

I think his skin color is meant to represent his dark soul, not to paint any specific race as evil.

Eh, I wouldn't say that. Because that'd be...a rather offensive connotation, right there.

Black is evil now? That's so 1860's

I just thought Nomura did the design as an aesthetic choice and character design. I don't think there was any negative associations meant to be related to his skin color. Lighter colored characters are shown succumbing to darkness too.

 

[Max Payne]

I completely disagree right there.

It's the dark tone that's meant to represent it if you ask me. And dark soul=/= evil either. None of Org XIII was really evil.

NOT OMG HE'S AFRICAN EVIL. That's freaking stupid.

Dark Skin tones are not singular to africans. Nor do they represent evil, it's just more appropriate given how sinister he looks with dark skin, red eyes, and white hair. It's aesthetics. It's like Scar from FMA, he immediately looks like someone who you don't want to fuck with.

People need to get over this silly racial shit.

 

[Alex]

NOT OMG HE'S AFRICAN EVIL. That's freaking stupid.

I wouldn't be so sure of that. Black people were the villains in Resident Evil 5

 

[Max Payne]

No, they were the victims.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Dude, the connotation is THERE.

There were people who literally believed that black people were dark skinned because they carried with them the mark of Abel, and thus were cursed by God and thus inferior to light skinned people. They were inherently evil, because their skin tone was black, which came from Abel. That shit used to believed by the Mormons until a few decades ago.

It doesn't even have to be specified to African culture. Dark skin = evil is a shit connotation that has its basis in racism of all cultures here in reality.

And his eyes are gold, not red.

@Ashes

HAHAHA...no. They were the victims, and it wasn't just Africans. There were other cultures and ethnicities in Kijuju who were shown carrying the Majini. That RE5 racist crap never blossomed into reality.

 

[Alex]

No, they were the victims.

They seemed pretty villainous to me

 

[Makoeyes987]

Then you should play RE5 more and look at its plot.

 

[Max Payne]

Dude, the connotation is THERE.

No it isn't. I said Dark Soul, not evil stupid. And dark tones are more imposing that light ones, that's a fact of color and art. Xenmas wasn't evil, he was more sad and desperate.

If you want to play the damn associating colors with anything is wrong, then the entire concept of the game is offensive (darkness vs light). A color can be used to represent someone, without it being meant to cast an entire goddamn race in a bad light.

There were people who literally believed that black people were dark skinned because they carried with them the mark of Abel, and thus were cursed by God and thus inferior to light skinned racist. They were inherently evil, because their skin tone was black. That shit used to believed by the Mormons until a few decades ago.

It doesn't even have to be specified to African culture. Dark skin = evil is a shit connotation that has its basis in racism of all cultures here in reality.

Blah blah blah, pointless rant about shit I never said.

And his eyes are gold, not red.

And? It's still much more striking and imposing.

 

[Alex]

Was I the only one that noticed the connection between Wesker's dark clothing and the dark skin of the African enemies? Tbh thats too strong to JUST be a coincidence. They were all obviously painted with the same broad villainous brush.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Well Xehanort is pretty evil and a dark soul/heart/existence/etc. Making him have black skin because he's a dark soul again..cuts real close to the religious prejudice I just stated. Media doesn't exist in a vacuum.

@Ashes

.....Wow. Just...no. Way to go at drawing ridiculous and inane conclusions.

 

[Max Payne]

He doesn't even have black skin(NO ONE DOES). He has a brownish yellow skin tone.

also

If you want to play the damn associating colors with anything is wrong, then the entire concept of the game is offensive (darkness vs light). A color can be used to represent someone, without it being meant to cast an entire goddamn race in a bad light.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Don't pull that silly crap. Anyone, unless they've lived in a hole their entire lives understand the etymology of "black" in regards to human skin color. Black is the name for the brown skin pigmentation of people around the world. That's its meaning. Don't play word games.

And yeah, you're right. I don't think its like that personally. I'm merely criticizing you in saying that making Xehanort's heartless black would be a good symbolic choice of representing him being a soul steeped in darkness. That's a "bad idea."

 

[Max Payne]

Don't pull that silly crap. Anyone, unless they've lived in a hole their entire lives understand the etymology of "black" in regards to human skin color. Black is the name for the brown skin pigmentation of people around the world. That's its meaning. Don't play word games.

That doesn't make it any less stupid, or silly.

And yeah, you're right. I don't think its like that personally. I'm merely criticizing you in saying that making Xehanort's heartless black would be a good symbolic choice of representing him being a soul steeped in darkness. That's a "bad idea."

Too bad for you.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Well that's the reality of the word and its usage. Good luck arguing with the millions of people who are using the word as intended in terms of skin color.

Well too bad for you too

I guarantee you that if Nomura said something that racially stupid, he'd have hell thrown on him.

 

[Max Payne]

It's all stupid.

People claim to want to be treated equally regardless of skin color but still base their operations on making such dumb claims. The make a bigger deal out of race than anyone.

It's dumb, and there's no arguing around that. And the reality of it is stupid.

 

[Makoeyes987]

So you're advocating ignoring the factors of racial prejudice that already exist. Yeah, people want equality but you don't get it by completely ignoring the reality that prejudice and racism exist. You achieve it by calling that shit out and doing something about it. Nothing changes by just ignoring everything and trying to say its equal when its not.

People make claims because they exist. I agree that some claims are stupid and end up making shit out of nothing, but you're not supposed to pretend that everything is fine and perfect, either.

 

[Ryushikaze]

While I don't deny Xehanort had dark skin, he did not appear black to me. Literally, it didn't even cross my mind. I thought he was an English/ Indian mixed heritage, or perhaps middle eastern, not african.

As for whether his dark skin is supposed to represent evil? Nah. I'd expect them to keep with that theme, then, and lilywhite darkness incarnate Sephiroth cocks that up.

Granted, Disney does have a habit of the different being the evil, but they tend to be blue or green rather than dark of skin, though Jafar and Scar were 'darker' than the others.
Of course, some of their most memorable and meanest villians were again lilywhite or even paper white like Cruella. Or Susan Sarandon in Enchanted.

 

[Max Payne]

So you're advocating ignoring the factors of racial prejudice that already exist. Yeah, people want equality but you don't get it by completely ignoring the reality that prejudice and racism exist. You achieve it by calling that shit out and doing something about it. Nothing changes by just ignoring everything and trying to say its equal when its not.

People make claims because they exist. I agree that some claims are stupid and end up making shit out of nothing, but you're not supposed to pretend that everything is fine and perfect, either.

You are an idiot. I'm not advocating anything.

I said it was all stupid. You're just projecting some other kind of bullshit that's not even relevant to anything I've said.

No one said everything was fine and perfect, and it never will be. But perceiving racism of out nothing, is and always will be STUPID.

Dark colors are more striking and imposing than light ones. That's always been the case, and choosing a dark tone for a character's skin to make them stand out more because of who their character is, is not racist, and it's not evil.

It's only bad when people make it bad.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Yeah, that's a good point Ryushikaze. That type of character design choice of skin color would be pretty inconsistent anyways.

I don't see how you don't see a black character in Xemnas or Xehanort. I can see maybe Indian as a choice for his form Xemnas but he could very well be black, since Master Xehanort looks like an old black man too.

@Dacon

NO U, fucker.

And it's not only bad when people see it bad. That's again, retarded. Because you're saying perceived racism only exists if you choose to see it. That's bullshit.

 

[Max Payne]

color would be pretty inconsistent anyways.

I don't see how you don't see a black character in Xemnas or Xehanort. I can see maybe Indian as a choice for his form Xemnas but he could very well be black, since Master Xehanort looks like an old black man too.

His skin is brownish, that kind of tone is not singular to Africans.

And it's not only bad when people see it bad. That's again, retarded. Because you're saying perceived racism only exists if you choose to see it. That's bullshit.

What the fuck, what makes it perceived racism is that people CHOOSE to see something as racist when it's not, sometimes it is, but most of the time it isn't. And a lot of things are only bad when people choose to make them bad. Not because they always are. And I was talking about fucking character design you tard. And saying that things are aesthetically chosen because of racism all the goddamn time is stupid. It's about what's appropriate for the character and makes them stand out.

 

[Ryushikaze]

Dacon's got a point, Mako. People kept seeing ethnic stereotypes in Star Wars species, for example. Like the folks who thought the trade feds were chinese or something.

Of course, there's making a race which is nothing but a singular stereotype, like the ferengi, but that's a different matter entirely.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Well clearly I'm not talking about the times when it's nonexistent.

I misunderstood since he made such a generalized/vague statement. My bad.

And yeah, funny you mention the ferengi. That is rather shit, right there.

@Dacon

Hence why I said it's also possible Xemnas is Indian.

 

[Max Payne]

He could also be cuban, pakistani, hell anyone from that side of the world. Some of the people over there have skin that's brown like that too, and don't look unnatural either.

There's no point in labeling him because it's irrelevant anyway.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Yeah, and he could also be black.

Yeah, there's no point in labeling but in terms of character design analysis, unless the character is an alien or something clearly not humanoid, a character is always created from a look and culture, based in reality.

 

[Max Payne]

Yeah, and he could also be black.

Yeah, there's no point in labeling but in terms of character design analysis, unless the character is an alien or something clearly not humanoid, a character is always created from a look and culture, based in reality.

Not really. A lot of characters that are humanoid are created out of imagination.

There aren't green multicolored humans with no skin in real life. But that shit still exists in books.

Character design isn't always based in reality nor is it required to, unless the character is specifically supposed to.

But it doesn't matter enough to discuss unless that culture and look specifically plays a role in who that character is.