So I want to mention Qhira because I know 99% of users here will have no idea about her and she's kind of amazing. She was released several months after the announcement that HotS support was being scaled back and as far as I remember she wasn't received that well as she's an original character not *insert favorite blizzard IP character that isn't already included*, but she is such a joy to play I went back to this allegedly dead ass game for months in 2019, I still occasionally log in mostly to play more Qhira.
Her VA did an incredible job as well, honestly my disappointment here is that they used this awesome character for this particular game where she won't see much exposure. I think Blizzard could easily have her show up in other projects considering her dimension/realm hopping background.
Hmm I know this thread is more of a project by one user but I couldn't help myself, I have to celebrate Qhira. MOBAs are my favorite and most played genre and Qhira is about the most fun character I've ever played in one.
So I want to mention Qhira because I know 99% of users here will have no idea about her and she's kind of amazing. She was released several months after the announcement that HotS support was being scaled back and as far as I remember she wasn't received that well as she's an original character not *insert favorite blizzard IP character that isn't already included*, but she is such a joy to play I went back to this allegedly dead ass game for months in 2019, I still occasionally log in mostly to play more Qhira.
Her VA did an incredible job as well, honestly my disappointment here is that they used this awesome character for this particular game where she won't see much exposure. I think Blizzard could easily have her show up in other projects considering her dimension/realm hopping background.
Hmm I know this thread is more of a project by one user but I couldn't help myself, I have to celebrate Qhira. MOBAs are my favorite and most played genre and Qhira is about the most fun character I've ever played in one.
DAY 16: RODIN (BAYONETTA)When PlatinumGames first hit the scene, they made two games alongside Sega: Bayonetta & Vanquish. The former of which ended up being a recurring franchise with the help of Nintendo directly funding later two games in the franchise (we're still waiting for the third game as of when I wrote this, which we haven't seen since its initial reveal back in 2017). Bayonetta came roaring into the spotlight with fun combat & even more fun characters. One of them was Rodin, the fallen angel turned merchant/bartender/weapon smith in the Gates of Hell. You see him quite a bit across the two Bayonetta games that are out, but you can actually get to fight him if you amass enough cash. Full disclosure, this was probably the hardest section I had to write due to the circumstances. As for when this was written, there was an internet outage for both my home & mobile (Sprint) internet. To circumvent this, I had to use my dad's phone (Verizon is still working despite the cold snap-induced outage) to do the research I couldn't do in Bayonetta 1 & 2. But fortunately, my internet is back now, so no delays to worry about. So let's get to Rodin's story.....or at least what we know of it.
Behold, this is boss fight Rodin! The last thing you will ever see......at least it was for me within the context of Bayonetta 2.
To many who may not know any better, Rodin is just a powerful demon who can freely walk between the human & demon realms and is really damn good at making weapons, using his Gates of Hell bar as a front for his actual job as a weapon smith. And while the most of that is very much true (he did create most of Bayonetta's weapons, after all), the part about Rodin being a demon isn't entirely accurate (he has a demonic form, but there's a reason behind it). In truth, Rodin is actually a fallen angel who used to be in charge of a sizable portion of Paradiso & was in charge of creation. The ironic part of this job is something that is instrumental to his current job as a weapon smith with regards to how Rodin creates weapons in the first place, that being that Rodin had to destroy in order to create. That said, the weapons he did create even at the time allowed for outnumbered soldiers to mow through the demonic forces they faced. Rodin was & still is a master class in his craft. But he eventually turned his back on Paradiso when he joined an insurgency against the very realm he held power over. And before you ask, no, I couldn't find anything on what the insurrection was about, how it came to be, or any of the other specifics about it. What we do know is that the insurgency failed, with Rodin being stripped of his power (ruing power, not necessarily his strength power) & cast out of Paradiso. From there, Rodin would roam Inferno for a while before going to the human world to set up shop (I.E. his Gates of Hell bar/weapons store), leading to the Rodin we know today. Not much else is known about Rodin beyond this, as the information that's already known is pieced together from excerpts that can be obtained throughout the Bayonetta series. But it does give a decent amount of insight as to how Rodin got to where he is now. Going into Rodin's personality, he's actually a very chill individual, as not much actually phases him. Though given how long-lived & powerful Rodin is, that's not unjustified at all. That said, he's very much passionate about his work (both bartending & creating weapons), & gets motivated when he finally gets to flex his muscles on any front. Yes, this extends to when you actually fight him in Bayonetta 2. Rodin doesn't really act too extravagantly, often letting things happen as they will & generally does only what he has to get the job done to the best of his ability. This approach also extends to his fighting style, as he just prefers to keep things straightforward. This is actually a nice change of pace from black guys in games being overly bombastic (which is a common stereotype in media), even if the aloof black guy archetype also isn't rare. And like I said, it all makes sense within the context of Rodin's story (or however much we know about it, anyway).
Rodin has had a ton of designs over the years. I wonder if he'll get a new one for Bayonetta 3.
Rodin has a number of designs from his canon appearances (plus his famous Santa outfit he wears at the beginning of Bayonetta 2), putting aside his appearance in The Wonderful 101. Those designs are his Bayo 1 & 2 looks as well as his Father Rodin & Infinite One forms (basically his fallen angel forms). Rodin's Bayonetta 1 design has a lot more going on than the outfit he would eventually wear in the sequel. His human appearance is that of a black man with tattoos all around his body (more on that later) & sunglasses that hide his glowing red eyes. Clothing-wise, he rocks long light brown leather jacket lined with black fur that also has the collar popped up & sleeves rolled up (can't have your movement be inhibited while making weapons, after all). This is paired with a similarly-colored pair of leather pants, with the red scarf & light gray shirt (featuring diamond patterns) to break up all the light brown. His Father Rodin look isn't too far removed from Father Balder, with just a bit more black & red to let you know that it's Rodin. Otherwise, lots of individual feathers, as well as white & yellow dominating the palette. Both designs are solid & do what they set out to do, but I feel like his base form design in Bayo 2 ended up sticking with me more. Speaking of which, his Bayo 2 design is much more simplified in its look due to the more Japanese-inspired outfit. Not to mention that it was actually the one used for his assist trophy appearance in Smash Ultimate. Funny enough, it's thanks to Smash Ultimate's spirits that I got to write this section first as a result of the internet being out where I am (damn you, Texas cold snap). Anyway, Rodin has 2 main colors for his Bayo 2 design, black & gold. He wears what appears to be a vest with a jacked draped over it, paired with gold pants (including black knee padding within the pants) & black boxing shoes. He's also decked out with bling, be it his gold chain necklace or his bracelets. But what draws your attention the most are the tattoos across his body. And since he's bald to begin with, there's nothing on his skin that takes your attention away from them, beyond him wearing his sunglasses. It's weird, it kinda looks like he has a mustache & goatee from a distance, but it's actually just his tattoos. There's a reason for these patterns, as they actually correlate with his Infinite One form (the optional boss fight in Bayonetta 2). The once-black tattoos turn red, as do a good chunk of his body, as an accent color to the dark gray skin. The jacket carries over from the base form, but in a more demonic style. But the main things that sell the fallen angel look are the huge wings, the tail, the arms having extra spikes coming out near the elbow area, his bird-like feet (which line up with the angels of Bayonetta), & his single horn. The horn in particular was actually outlined in his base form's tattoos, which is a neat touch. And while the Infinite One form is more "fallen" than angel, Father Rodin is more "angel" than fallen (even though he still has the demonic red parts of his design going for him. As I mentioned earlier, I prefer his outfit from Bayonetta 2 of the two base form looks. It's generally easier on the eyes & has a more clear silhouette. But that's not to say that his Bayo 1 design is bad by any means. No matter how you slice it, the man has style to spare.
Damn right, Rodin. Damn right.
Ultimately, I don't really have any complaints about how Rodin is handled. If anything, they did a good job in going against the typical "overly hyped black guy" stereotype, as I brought up earlier. I guess Rodin being a fallen angel would open up a whole other can of worms regarding his blackness, but it's not like they pulled an Elma with Rodin (god, that situation sucked). Plus his English voice actor (Dave Fennoy) did a fantastic job conveying Rodin's personality perfectly, from his aloof lows to his motivated highs. And he only got better with each appearance: gaining a more iconic silhouette, a wild boss fight in Bayonetta 2, & even playable status in Bayo 2's multiplayer mode. If anything, it makes me sad that he only got in Smash as an assist trophy. He'd be great as fully playable character. Maybe next time. But all the same, great job PlatinumGames.
Thanks for taking the time to read today's post. Be sure to come back tomorrow for the next character in the Action Section of Black Characters of Gaming Celebration. As for tomorrow, let's just say this character certainly knows how to follow their own music rather than that of her family.
A small thing but this part isn't accurate. You can fight him in the first game as well! Also stay safe in Texas. <3
Thanks, I guess I never got to that fight in Bayo 1. The inaccuracy has been fixed.
That was for the Rodin post, which I lucked out on since my internet came back today. Still, thanks for the well-wishes.
DAY 17: CHERRY HUNTER (STREETS OF RAGE)I was about to start writing Cherry's section in the thick of the winter storm. But thankfully my internet is back now, so I can continue with my research with no roadblocks. Anyway, Streets of Rage 4 ended up being a breakout hit & a solid-ass revival for the franchise. Along with that were a number of newcomers, one of which is actually the daughter of a series veteran. I'm talking about none other than the rock-&-roll pogo brawler Cherry Hunter. To be honest, I didn't really pay too much attention to the game when it first came out. But once people sang the game's praises as well as seeing Cherry as a character in action, I knew I had to start paying attention. And I'm glad I did, because both her & the game as a whole are great. Granted, I could have gone with Adam Hunter (her father), who's been around since the first game. But on top of there not being a ton of black women in games, her not being a police officer (more on that later) gave her the edge over her old man automatically. Also, I would normally wait until 8-9 AM CST to post this. But since I have no idea if Xfinity is gonna maintain their internet or not in the morning, I figured it'd be best not to risk it & post this section now. This won't be a regular thing, but more of a preventive measure so you can enjoy Cherry's section on schedule. So anyway, let's get to the write-up.
You seriously thought they would take you bribe, Mr. Y? Really?
The story section is probably gonna be shorter than you're used to since Streets of Rage doesn't have a shit-ton of lore. But I should probably preface this with a bit about her father, series veteran Adam Hunter. Adam was in the original Streets of Rage game & actually quit his police force due to the corruption within. Though ironically enough, he returned to police work via Special Forces despite now having a daughter. Cherry actually inherited a lot of her father's fighting prowess, but didn't really want to follow in her dad's policing footsteps despite being quite the daddy's girl (good on you for not joining the police, Cherry). Until the events of Streets of Rage 4, Cherry was a guitarist for Wood Oak City's. Though when Blaze sent the call to fight the new incarnation of the Syndicate to Adam, it was Cherry who ended up answering due to her dad being busy with another assignment. If this scenario of Adam being busy & someone else in his family taking up the call sounds familiar, it's because her uncle (Eddie "Skate" Hunter) did the same thing in Streets of Rage 3 after rescuing his brother in 2. And I guess this makes sense within the context of Streets of Rage 4, as Cherry actually has more in common with her uncle mechanically than her father in the sense that she's a fast-but-weak character (A.K.A. right up my alley)……which would explain why Skate didn't return but Adam did (he's an unlockable character). Anyway, being the only character in the game who can run, the game-plan with Cherry is to get in & out of trouble with quick strikes when you do get in close. It's actually quite a rush (no pun intended) playing as Cherry & it complements her energetic personality well. It was alongside the team of old & new fighters that they were able to take down the Y Syndicate (the name of the new group), led by Mr. Y. So yeah, not too bad for her first outing.
Her design is just too good, plain & simple.
Beat-em-ups take a lot after fighting games in their design logic in that they have to communicate everything you need to know about the character at a quick glance, originally out of necessity since you need to decide to who play quickly since you spent a quarter to play. Obviously that's not very common these days now that everyone's moved to console & PC play, but those same mindsets are very much in play today when it comes to the genres that dominated the arcade scene. And even though Cherry Hunter is a child of the console era when it comes to the beat-em-up genre, she's very much one of the best examples when it comes to character design in the genre (or in general, honestly). Everything about Cherry's outfit, from her loose & torn yellow t-shirt to the black tube top underneath to her ripped jeans to her black shoes, everything about Cherry's design screams "rock star". Though the bandages around her arms & her pleasantly-surprising amount of muscle remind you that she's still a very capable fighter. Actually, this is something that I appreciate about Street Fighter's women, as sexualized as they tend to be (especially as of recently). I even love Cherry's hair, which are big poofy dreads with a magenta fade down to the tips (living up to her namesake). She even rocks her guitar into battle, which adds to the rock star look. Even the use of yellow & black is a uniting element between the other playable members of the Hunter family throughout the series, which is a cool touch. If you're expecting me to tear into a specific element, I don't really have anything. It's just a fantastic design. Granted, I'm not too sure about he significance of her black necklace, but it looks great & lines up with the black tube top. Not to mention that she isn't objectified in a way that takes away from her character, so that's a plus. Either way, the devs fucking nailed it with Cherry's design. And the sprite work done for Cherry is top-tier, which I didn't expect to be any different given how well the other characters were handled.
Case in point about yellow & black being the uniting Hunter family colors. But yeah, welcome to the Streets of Rage family, Cherry.
I have literally no complaints about Cherry, none. Like I said, normally I'd give some sort of critique about the game, be it some instance of colorism or the voice actor not being black. But here, nothing. Granted, the lack of a VA mention is due to the lack of voice acting in the game, but that's besides the point. They absolutely fucking hit it out of the park with Cherry Hunter, & I couldn't be happier. I did warn you this would be shorter than usual. But honestly, I'm glad it was. There's not much more I could add without feeling like it drags on. Go play Streets of Rage 4 if you get the chance, you'll thank me later.
Thanks for taking the time to read today's post. Be sure to come back tomorrow for the next character in the Action Section of Black Characters of Gaming Celebration. As for tomorrow, I'd be worried about the rest of the United Assassins Association if this character is ranked in 8th.
I Ioooove Cherry. I never felt more badass in 2020 than when playing as her in Streets of Rage 4
Will we ever see another Jet Set Radio game....Excellent choice and write up for Cherry.
For Sega franchise action games, Piranha from Jet Set Radio also stands out for me.
Oh wow, thanks for that concept art. I was looking for it when my internet came back for Rodin Day but I couldn't find it. I've since added it to the Rodin write-up.Bringing out some shoutouts to Rodin
Welp, today's her day. Time for the write-up on Shinobu.I don't love how sexualized she is, and she fights in heels (which is one of my biggest pet peeves), but Shinobu still strikes me as being super cool. She is easily my favorite character in the No More Heroes series.
DAY 18: SHINOBU JACOBS (NO MORE HEROES)It takes a lot to become a ranked member of the United Assassins Association. It takes even more do hit the Top 10 when you're only 18 years old (as of the first No More Heroes game). That describes none other than the young assassin Scarlet Jacobs, better known by her pseudonym Shinobu Jacobs. And before you ask, no, I didn't pick her for today just because we got more information on No More Heroes III yesterday. Seriously, I was already planning on doing her write-up today (I was writing it the night before the Direct & was planning to finish in the morning, but then the internet temporarily went out). So yeah, one hell of a coincidence. Anyway, let's get to her lore.
Even if her rage was pointed at the wrong person, I could understand Shinobu's fury.
Shinobu herself was an 18-year-old student at Santa Destroy High School during the time of No More Heroes 1 (likely as a senior given her age). Shinobu's father was Master Jacobs, Travis Touchdown's assassin idol (to the point where Travis wore out all the tapes he had of Jacobs Sr.). When he was killed (likely by Travis' twin brother, Henry Cooldown), Shinobu mistook her father's actual killer for Travis. And given that Shinobu was both impatient & hella bloodthirsty as of NMH1, she was obviously ready to serve a nice slice of vengeance. And funny enough, Travis almost defuses the situation with a reasonable explainer. But the second he showed his beam katana, Shinobu was committed to killing Travis' ass (since his sword looked like Henry's). Shinobu did end up losing the fight as well as her right forearm, but Travis ends up sparing her life since he isn't comfortable with killing female assassins (a fact we learned in his win against Holly Summers). Shinobu eventually recognized that Travis wasn't the real culprit of her father's death & wound up helping him against Jeane (with a new prosthetic right arm) & got her to let go of Travis' heart…..but cutting off the hand that was grabbing it. From then on, Shinobu shadowed Travis to learn his secret to ranking up. By the time we get to No More Heroes 2, a 21-year-old Shinobu had already graduated high school. In fact, she's actually playable in this game for two levels, which was nice to experience. It was also by this point where Shinobu begins to refer to Travis as her mentor (much to his dismay). Her desire at this point is to become as strong as Travis, going as far as to train & become a champion in Asia to make the that happen. She returned figuring that Travis could use some help with the battle royale's ever-increasing difficulty, something she figured that Travis would be overwhelmed with (which annoyed Travis). Even though Travis initially rejected her help, Sylvia did eventually have Shinobu take over for Travis for two of the ranks, those being Million Gunman & the recently-resurrected Destroyman (now New Destroyman). It was actually after the defeat of the former that she visits the grave of Bishop Shidux, leading to her meeting a mystery man who gives her a sheath to give to Travis. Shinobu then offers to take down more people for Travis while also flirting with Travis, but Travis shoots down both offers, saying that he would feel too much like a pervy teacher in a porno (probably the first time he recognized Shinobu as his student) & not wanting to take advantage of her. Heartbroken, Shinobu leaves & doesn't return for the rest of the game (besides a fake head Jasper Batt Jr. uses to trick Travis into thinking she's dead). Between NMH2 & Travis Strikes Again, Shinobu (who's 28-years-old as of Travis Strikes Again) establishes a dojo meant to teach Bushido to kids that she pays for with assassination jobs. When she eventually tracks down Travis to his trailer to let him know of various challenges from other assassins, Travis recommends that she not tell the kids how Shinobu pays for the dojo (which came up because Shinobu suggested the dojo as a place to fight Henry's underlings).
I couldn't find a good full picture of her Travis Strikes Again design, so bear with me on this.
Shinobu's consistent design elements are her white hair (an unfortunately-common trend for black women in Japanese games), her black scarf &, from NMH2 onwards, her prosthetic right arm (often covered by a glove). Her hair is often poofy & unkept, but more in a straightened way. As for the game-specific designs, her NMH1 design is a modified version of her white-&-purple school uniform paired with patterned fingerless gloves & thigh-high tights? (I'm not sure about the correct term, they're basically what Female Byleth wears). They're paired with black 80's style shin-high socks & black shoes. White, purple, & black end up being her main colors for this design, & it does its job of communicating who she is pretty well (a student moonlighting as an assassin). Obviously this wouldn't work for NMH2 now that she's older (something Capcom took until SFV to learn for Sakura), so she now rocks black dress in the place of her high school uniform alongside her tights being held up by whatever those thigh holders are (someone please help me out with this) & high heels instead of school dress shoes. This sadly veers more into the objectified direction for Shinobu (more on that later), a trend that would be further iterated on for Travis Strikes Again. She now rocks a yellow-&-black look that appears as if it was pulled out of Game of Death or Kill Bill (which was inspired by Game of Death). She wears yellow sleeves, an exposed yellow bra, & yellow pants with one leg exposed. This is all paired with black trim & a black left shoulder guard (featuring silver trim), keeping in line with the glove & her scarf. If it weren't for the overly sexualized elements, I'd be down for this look in terms of the colors used since it stands out much more than black-on-black-on-black. If nothing else, I respect that Suda51 tries something new with each appearance of Shinobu, even if I'm not super-fond of how she's being more & more objectified with each subsequent appearance.
I'm so critical about certain parts of Shinobu because I genuinely love her character.
I do have a few complaints about how Shinobu's character is handled. For one, she's often sexualized to the point of objectification, which falls into the various colorism concerns regarding black women in games. Not to mention her romantic infatuation with Travis, something that even Travis felt uncomfortable with. My issue with this mostly stemmed from the circumstances of which they met, their master-student relationship (at least in Shinobu's eyes), & the age gap. This was dialed back a decent bit in Travis Strikes Again to be in a more playful way. It was nice to see, as it shows that she clearly does grow as a person over the course of the series & is shown to be plenty capable in her own right. Plus it's not often that you get a dark-skinned black woman in a Japanese-made game, so Suda51 deserves credit where it's due. That plus the stellar performance of long-time career black voice actress Kimberly Brooks, who's been at the role consistently since 2007. So I guess it's one of those things where you take the good with the bad. And honestly, I really do like Shinobu in spite of it all. I'm glad she was playable in NMH2 & Travis Strikes Again (albeit as DLC), and I hope that she's playable again in No More Heroes III. Not to mention that Suda51 actually isn't afraid to have Shinobu age & grow, which is a plus (especially considering how a number of Japanese games are afraid of aging up their ladies). So yeah, you rock, Shinobu.
Thanks for taking the time to read today's post. Be sure to come back tomorrow for the next character in the Action Section of Black Characters of Gaming Celebration. As for tomorrow, I'm not actually breaking any of my rules despite how it initially looks. You'll understand what I mean tomorrow.
I know were not in the genre yet but it blows me away that freaking ubisoft managed to make Marcus
The fact that Travis didn't reciprocate the feelings actually made hit me respect him a little bit more, as he recognized how creepy it'd be. But as I said in the write-up, I still like Shinobu in spite of all that.
Travis is a scumbag, but he's not his brother's (former) voice actor.
All the more reason why it stuck out to me when even Travis noted how weird it'd be. And yeah, thank god Henry was recast.
I am actively mad about that casting and have no faith in Kevin being anything close to faithful to the character. All he knows how to be is "Kevin Hart in..."
DAY 19: CERE JUNDA (STAR WARS)Look, I can explain. Yes, she is a Star Wars character, a franchise that started as a movie series. But despite the franchise's origins, Cere herself is in fact a video game character given that she didn't take her debut until Jedi Fallen Order. She wasn't even a minor character in Clone Wars or Revenge of the Sith. So yeah, she's fair game. And even if she wasn't a Star Wars character, Cere is a fascinating character in her own right who I feel could have easily carried the game on her own if given the chance. Not to mention that black women who are Jedi are hard to come by. With that being said, let's get to Cere's lore. However, since Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order is a relatively recent release, I'll put spoiler tags over any text that may imply plot elements out of respect for those who may not have played the game yet but plan to in the near future.
For what it's worth, she tried her best to protect or Padawan.
Like many Jedi during the Age of the Republic, Cere Junda was discovered by a Jedi seeker when she was just a baby. From there, Cere was taken to Coruscant to begin her Jedi training, with her being a Padawan (I.E. student) to Eno Cordova. In time, Cere would be come a Jedi Master herself, taking on Trilla Suduri has her Padawan. Then…..Order 66 happened. Cere, Suduri, & some other Jedi younglings initially got away, but Cere was eventually captured to get the Empire's attention off the younglings. And despite Cere's best efforts, she was eventually forced to give up Suduri's position. This led to Suduri falling to the Dark Side & becoming the Second Sister of the Inquisitors (a group of Empire-sanctioned Jedi hunters, first introduced in their canon incarnations in Star Wars: Rebels). Weighed down by the guilt of what became of her Padawan, Cere ended up trying to suppress her Force connection due to the power of the Dark Side trying to claim her (leading to her crisis of faith that would serve as her main internal conflict). In that time, she would join the Stinger Mantis crew alongside Greez Dritus, with whom they would find Padawan Cal Kestis (who also survived Order 66) on the planet Bracca. Cere, Cal, & Greez went on a quest to find the Jedi holocron that would lead to more Jedi younglings in the hopes of using it to find other surviving Jedi younglings to rebuild the Jedi Order, all while Cere trained Cal as his new Jedi Master (albeit an informal one). Their quest would lead them to Fortress Inquisitorius, where the holocron in question was. It turned out to be in the possession of Suduri, which obviously led to fighting. Cere tried to make amends afterwards, but that was cut short (literally) by Darth Vader killing Suduri. Cere & Cal barely made it out of the fight alive, not to mention making it out with the holocron. Ultimately, they decided to destroy the holocron, deciding that the information on it was too dangerous to get in the hands of the Emprie. Cere is a strong-willed individual, albeit one with limits (though in her defense, she held her tongue to the best of her ability against Darth Vader). And despite her own internal struggles, she puts the needs of others over her own, & tries to do the right thing when she can. Even after all that happened, Cere still upholds the ideals that the Jedi are supposed to strive for through said internal struggles against the Dark Side (even trying to make up for her past mistakes in training Cal).
It's actually refreshing that we get these kind of character sheets. I was worried at first when I couldn't find any PNGs for Cere.
Back when the Jedi Order were a thing, Cere wore robes not unlike other Jedi masters (such as Obi-Wan Kenobi). Basically tan on tan on tan, with dark brown knee-high boots & a belt around the stomach. Her main signifier are her braids, which she adds blue & brown clips to for a bit of color contrast. It fits perfectly with what was expected of Jedi Masters of the time while adding a bit of her own personal flair to set herself apart where she can. In a post-Order 66 world & Cere having her crisis of faith, she would adopt an outfit not to dissimilar to other rebels of that era. She ended up cutting her hair short, which later grew into a bit over the years. Likewise, she now wears dark gray pants with black boots, but also a black vest with a yellow underside for a bit of color contrast. The tan shirt she wears kinda acts as a visual anchor to her Jedi Order days, as does the darker tan leather belt. And her emerald necklace tops off the design, which serves to give her a bit of personal flair. Said necklace also ties into her lightsaber, as it also has triangle for the clip's shape. The lightsaber even ties into Cere's belt with the leather hilt, which was actually an intentional design decision (was was the triangular clip). Everything about her two outfits & her lightsaber are practical while also allowing Cere's character to shine through where they can. A lot of work went into nailing her character, & all parties (Respawn Entertainment & Lucasfilm) involved deserve props for sticking the landing.
Cere trying to reconnect with her former Padawan, doing her best to make up for past mistakes (too bad the cause of said mistake cut it short).
I know this may make for a short section, but I have no complaints about Cere. Her character arc is great, I love her designs, & Debra Wilson's performance is fantastic (not that I expected anything less from a talented Hollywood actress like her). Plus she avoids the typical pitfalls of colorism that plague black women in games worldwide (not just in Japan). I can't sing the praises of everyone involved in Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order enough. My only gripe is that we didn't actually get to play her. All due respect to Cal, but a game focused on Cere would have been much more exciting from the get-go. Hopefully this is something that can be rectified with a sequel…….please?
Thanks for taking the time to read today's post. Be sure to come back tomorrow for the next character in the Action Section of Black Characters of Gaming Celebration. As for tomorrow, even New Orleans had its own assassin protecting them.
Lol I completely agree. I don't think I've seen him in anything where he wasn't just being Kevin Hart. What does "put on his dancing shoes" mean in this context? Is that an idiom for changing an acting style?
I'm curious too lol.
Dancing around the screen like a clown, no deeper meaning intended.
I did actually note that Adam is willing to go against the corruption of the police when the situation calls for it.
Oh that makes much more sense than what I thought the phrase meant lmao. Thanks
