30 Days of FE, Day 14: Best designed character/artwork
Okay, so. This is a pretty unexpected question. I could try to answer it objectively, which is probably what you're supposed to do, or I could just answer with that one character from each game whose artwork makes me want to stare at it forever and ever
Like Guinevere, or Louise, or Elena, or Nyna, or Soren (I don't even know why Soren is here, really, he feels very out of place. I blame the pretty, long hair.)
But I think I'm going to go with the first one, because I'm pretty sure my taste in video game character prettiness makes absolutely zero sense. Or alternatively, I could just attempt to explain why I think the above characters have such gorgeous official art, but it would probably boil down to "it's the hair" most of the time. Eh idk whatever I'm going to start answering the actual question now!
FE4/5:
This is a bit of a toss-up between Diadora and Nanna for me. When I first saw Diadora, I could actually almost understand Sigurd's love-at-first-sight; she's really very pretty. Her long shiny hair obviously plays some part in this, but I believe her character design gets across her personality fairly well, too. The light pastel colors and wide eyes give off an air of innocence about her, which definitely fits.
As for Nanna, I think this may have been partly influenced by some fan art I've seen for her, but I just think she's very cute-looking. At the same time, there's a bit of defiance and stubbornness in her expression, giving me the impression that she's still quite strong as a person. The wing-like accessory in her hair is very cute, too - and I think it works a lot better on Nanna than on Priscilla, because Priscilla to me seems like too much of a melancholy character for me whereas Nanna feels more hopeful.
FE6:
Male - I kind of want to go with Elphin on this one, because he seems so graceful and serene in his OA (much like a heron, actually). His outfit is rather plain, however, which is actually fitting when you consider that he's supposed to be disguised as a bard and doesn't want to draw attention to himself. The bird in his OA is an interesting addition, but at most I'd say it suggests he's rather peaceful? I'm terrible when it comes to judging male character designs, lol. Is that why I tend to like the more "girly" ones?
Female - ... yeah I'm going with Guinevere on this one. I mentioned not usually liking melancholic characters - which still holds true, in a sense - but even so, I really adore Guinevere's design. Perhaps my love for long trenchcoats plays into this? Disregarding that, though, the color scheme (red and gold) most definitely matches her status as a princess, and her somewhat solemn expression is a clue as to her character. You can't really ask for much more in a design, I guess.
FE7:
Male - ... I think Pent. And I don't even know why. All I remember is seeing all the Rekka artworks for the first time, looking through all of them, and picking out one male and one female character I thought had the most interesting artworks. Pent and Louise. Imagine my surprise when I actually played the game and found out they were married.
Female - Louise, definitely, which I've already mentioned. I'm not the only person who thinks she's the most beautiful woman in the game, either, I think? So I can at least say that I'm not just picking my favorites. Kind of. Maybe.
I'm not 100% sure what makes her a popular choice for this kind of thing, though. The kind of sleepy-looking eyes? The hair twirling, which is quite cute and perhaps a hint at her childishness? Again, though, I'm going to mention the color scheme. Pink, violet, and white - all are colors commonly associated with the female gender, so I guess I can take this to be a clue about her rather girly and ditzy personality.
FE8:
Male - going to go with Knoll here, because out of all the FE8 characters, he immediately jumped out at me as a quite mysterious character, perhaps with a tragic past of some kind, once I saw the art. This was, yet again, before I played the game. I guess it's not a too surprising conclusion, since most of his body (even his hair) is completely obscured by his clothes; they don't even give you a sense of form, since they mostly consist of loose robes and cloaks.
Honorable mention to Joshua, for the incredibly awesome hat. And the red hair. Red hair is a pretty cool thing
Female - Ismaire. Maybe I just have a thing for anime artwork of melancholy noblewomen? There are some other similarities to Guinevere, too, most notably the yellows and reds.
FE9/10:
... okay, this is actually really hard, if I'm trying to stay unbiased. Or, well. The rest this answer was hardly unbiased, but I'd like to choose a design in a more objective manner for once. There are artworks/designs that appeal to me personally, and then there are ones which are very successful in portraying a character's personality (Tibarn, PoR!Kieran, Nailah) or intentionally deceptive (Reyson, Leanne) or just plain odd (Makalov, Valtome).
So I guess what I'm saying is that... I can't choose - at least not for the males. :(
For female characters, I'm very fascinated by Sanaki's artwork, though. I've attempted to draw her on several occasions, and each time I notice how very intricate her clothes are, especially the patterns. Her incredibly poofy pants are pretty amusing, but it's rather obvious that her outfit isn't supposed to be comfortable (what with her tripping over her cloak) but rather present an aura of regality. Even so, it's easy to see that the clothes are much too big for her, showing that - in spite of her status as Begnion's empress - she's technically still just a young girl.
FE11 (based on the artwork only, since I haven't actually played this game yet):
Okay so this is kind of here because I really needed to mention Nyna somewhere. So pretty - especially the hair! /shallow
Also, this is a little unrelated to the question, but... I can't be the only person who has noticed that FE characters in general tend to have incredibly long legs, can I? I wonder if that has anything to do with most of them being very pretty-looking.
(I sometimes wonder if people come across a post like this, read it, and then decide that the writer must have been terminally insane. Or just an incredibly boring person with a lot of time to waste.
Clearly, the correct answer is that I'm all of the above.)
Like Guinevere, or Louise, or Elena, or Nyna, or Soren (I don't even know why Soren is here, really, he feels very out of place. I blame the pretty, long hair.)
But I think I'm going to go with the first one, because I'm pretty sure my taste in video game character prettiness makes absolutely zero sense. Or alternatively, I could just attempt to explain why I think the above characters have such gorgeous official art, but it would probably boil down to "it's the hair" most of the time. Eh idk whatever I'm going to start answering the actual question now!
FE4/5:
This is a bit of a toss-up between Diadora and Nanna for me. When I first saw Diadora, I could actually almost understand Sigurd's love-at-first-sight; she's really very pretty. Her long shiny hair obviously plays some part in this, but I believe her character design gets across her personality fairly well, too. The light pastel colors and wide eyes give off an air of innocence about her, which definitely fits.
As for Nanna, I think this may have been partly influenced by some fan art I've seen for her, but I just think she's very cute-looking. At the same time, there's a bit of defiance and stubbornness in her expression, giving me the impression that she's still quite strong as a person. The wing-like accessory in her hair is very cute, too - and I think it works a lot better on Nanna than on Priscilla, because Priscilla to me seems like too much of a melancholy character for me whereas Nanna feels more hopeful.
FE6:
Male - I kind of want to go with Elphin on this one, because he seems so graceful and serene in his OA (much like a heron, actually). His outfit is rather plain, however, which is actually fitting when you consider that he's supposed to be disguised as a bard and doesn't want to draw attention to himself. The bird in his OA is an interesting addition, but at most I'd say it suggests he's rather peaceful? I'm terrible when it comes to judging male character designs, lol. Is that why I tend to like the more "girly" ones?
Female - ... yeah I'm going with Guinevere on this one. I mentioned not usually liking melancholic characters - which still holds true, in a sense - but even so, I really adore Guinevere's design. Perhaps my love for long trenchcoats plays into this? Disregarding that, though, the color scheme (red and gold) most definitely matches her status as a princess, and her somewhat solemn expression is a clue as to her character. You can't really ask for much more in a design, I guess.
FE7:
Male - ... I think Pent. And I don't even know why. All I remember is seeing all the Rekka artworks for the first time, looking through all of them, and picking out one male and one female character I thought had the most interesting artworks. Pent and Louise. Imagine my surprise when I actually played the game and found out they were married.
Female - Louise, definitely, which I've already mentioned. I'm not the only person who thinks she's the most beautiful woman in the game, either, I think? So I can at least say that I'm not just picking my favorites. Kind of. Maybe.
I'm not 100% sure what makes her a popular choice for this kind of thing, though. The kind of sleepy-looking eyes? The hair twirling, which is quite cute and perhaps a hint at her childishness? Again, though, I'm going to mention the color scheme. Pink, violet, and white - all are colors commonly associated with the female gender, so I guess I can take this to be a clue about her rather girly and ditzy personality.
FE8:
Male - going to go with Knoll here, because out of all the FE8 characters, he immediately jumped out at me as a quite mysterious character, perhaps with a tragic past of some kind, once I saw the art. This was, yet again, before I played the game. I guess it's not a too surprising conclusion, since most of his body (even his hair) is completely obscured by his clothes; they don't even give you a sense of form, since they mostly consist of loose robes and cloaks.
Honorable mention to Joshua, for the incredibly awesome hat. And the red hair. Red hair is a pretty cool thing
Female - Ismaire. Maybe I just have a thing for anime artwork of melancholy noblewomen? There are some other similarities to Guinevere, too, most notably the yellows and reds.
FE9/10:
... okay, this is actually really hard, if I'm trying to stay unbiased. Or, well. The rest this answer was hardly unbiased, but I'd like to choose a design in a more objective manner for once. There are artworks/designs that appeal to me personally, and then there are ones which are very successful in portraying a character's personality (Tibarn, PoR!Kieran, Nailah) or intentionally deceptive (Reyson, Leanne) or just plain odd (Makalov, Valtome).
So I guess what I'm saying is that... I can't choose - at least not for the males. :(
For female characters, I'm very fascinated by Sanaki's artwork, though. I've attempted to draw her on several occasions, and each time I notice how very intricate her clothes are, especially the patterns. Her incredibly poofy pants are pretty amusing, but it's rather obvious that her outfit isn't supposed to be comfortable (what with her tripping over her cloak) but rather present an aura of regality. Even so, it's easy to see that the clothes are much too big for her, showing that - in spite of her status as Begnion's empress - she's technically still just a young girl.
FE11 (based on the artwork only, since I haven't actually played this game yet):
Okay so this is kind of here because I really needed to mention Nyna somewhere. So pretty - especially the hair! /shallow
Also, this is a little unrelated to the question, but... I can't be the only person who has noticed that FE characters in general tend to have incredibly long legs, can I? I wonder if that has anything to do with most of them being very pretty-looking.
(I sometimes wonder if people come across a post like this, read it, and then decide that the writer must have been terminally insane. Or just an incredibly boring person with a lot of time to waste.
Clearly, the correct answer is that I'm all of the above.)