Personally I always wanted a Link and/or Zelda with a Gerudo background, sounds like that'd have a lot of potential
I could get behind this for sure.
Personally I always wanted a Link and/or Zelda with a Gerudo background, sounds like that'd have a lot of potential
I'm not sure why when black people ask for black representation, other minorities feel like they...can't?
If anyone wanted to claim Tetra as brown, they're free to do so and I would support that, nor would I characterize it as dismissive of black people. In general, I, nor this thread, nor other Black Era members who agree with this one author's premise are getting in the way of other groups asserting the kind of reclamation and representation they want to say. Hell, I would take a Zelda game that actually leans into an East Asian culture, because there's no reason why it has to remain rooted in the basic Medieval get-up.
There's no reason to make this thread into one that's exclusionary. Y'all have free reign to make your cases too.
I can see why most of the people who are against the race change thing, because it would be a temporary measure, it wouldn't be permanent. the character would go back to their original race over time, look what happened with DC and wally west they race changed him to make him the new wally west new kid flash only to bring back the old white one in the comics. people want new characters that will stay for a long time not a character who would change race temporarily, they wan permanent diversity not temporary diversity
This sorta drives me nuts when it comes to a lot of Japanese media...the insistance of "it's just a tan" is...so WEIRD. I wish they'd commit
Also we know it would likely just be a one off and they would get to the usual or something different for the next games.I understand some people having the problem here with how the character will just be thought of as "the black Zelda" as opposed to having their own characters.
I think what they mean is that whenever this topic arises around other PoC groups it doesn't get half as many interactions or support (which, looking at Resetera and general social media, it's extremely on point with reality). That's why they make that point.
I do think however this thread is not the place for it, since the topic is specific to black women.
A bunch of Gina Rodriguez types lolThat's what they're getting at though. People will come into a thread talking about an article specifically asking for more black rep, saying what about other minorities, when instead they could just simply make a thread on that if they wanted to.
Always kinda rubbed me the wrong way, because while obviously all minorities could use way more representation, sometimes it comes across as people implying the black community needs to "share the wealth". But the reality is that even though black people are doing increasingly better, we still have a long way to go in terms of representation in media, and we only got to where we are because we keep bringing it up.
Insert that Paul Mooney quote.That's what they're getting at though. People will come into a thread talking about an article specifically asking for more black rep, saying what about other minorities, when instead they could just simply make a thread on that if they wanted to.
Always kinda rubbed me the wrong way, because while obviously all minorities could use way more representation, sometimes it comes across as people implying the black community needs to "share the wealth". But the reality is that even though black people are doing increasingly better, we still have a long way to go in terms of representation in media, and we only got to where we are because we keep bringing it up.
I don't quite understand your argument here. Like will certain people turn their nose up at a game with a black lead? Ok. But why is that any reason not to make one anyway?There is a reason why some IP's and brands might benefit from a race swap diversity move and its purely based on popularity and the overall acceptance of general audiences.
Just think about it for a second.
Theres alot of patronizing goin on in the thread and virtue signaling. But lets be 100% honest and real for a sec.... If we actually did get that New IP with a Black Lead, id very much argue that not even half of yall in this thread right now would even be interested or pick it up, despite what you saying/posting.
We can simply look at existing history to support this behavior. Look at how Hollywood treated black films for the longest. They were considered " Black Films" not films for general audiences. Right off the bat, they were considered to have a smaller audience pull simply by containing black characters as the majority of the cast
There is a very real paradox that happens within this discussion. When it comes to socialization, Black People in the US have been forced to socialize with White People and their entertainment. We've seen nothing but White Characters since the inception of entertainment and Hollywood, and the few bits of diversity that we ever got were terribly tinted with bigotry and white racial bias until as of recent modern times. This is why some of these IPs and Brands are so big to begin with... There was no other choice of the matter
Luke was always going to be a white man. Captain America was damn sure going to be a white man. James Bond was always going to be nothing but a white man. There was 0 discussion in the matter creatively and Black Audiences were always going to accept it because thats the way shit is.
However, White People don't have to consume their entertainment this way. There is an endless amount of content supporting white leads and identity that entirely lack diversity. If a White viewer doesnt want to particiapte with diverse entertainment. They legitimately don't have to. They can always opt out, there is always more content available. The same cannot be said for the reverse. At All.
Marvel and Star Wars are always going to be huge brands because at their time of inception, all those characters were going to be white without debate. Everyone was going to accept this, it was the status quo. Imagine yourself to be in the rooms at the time of creation of these IP's. Imagine yourself suggesting some of these main characters be black.... or gasp.... even a black woman....
What reaction do you expect to have? Laughed out the room? You bet.
These brands have decades of attachment and success associated with them. tried and true products, so of course there would be backlash on messing with the "identity" of the brand however there still is a place for it
Because if we want to be realistic and truthful about our society. Diversity will have to be injected into long standing popular brands AND supplemented with New IP in order to find true acceptance because if it simply gets relegated to New IP, it will simply be ignored by white audiences.
This will be even more exacerbated in the Gaming World, because "gamers" tend to be troglodytes on race to begin with
That Black New IP yall speak about supporting? Here's the criticisms:
"I cant identify with the MC, it turned me off"
"The game itself sucks, not gonna support a shitty game just because the lead is black"
"I know nothing about this game, Ill wait till it has some buzz before I give it attention"
"I've never heard of the development team etc etc etc"
"Its not the genre of gameplay I enjoy"
Every excuse in the book pulled out to justify why they shouldnt give a damn. Would you expect to hear any of those complaints for a Nintendo made black Zelda game? Probably not, blows all those excuses out the water.
"I cant identify with the MC, it turned me off"
- People who say this sort of thing will also say it about an establish IP changing to have a black MC. So honestly, who cares what they think?
"The game itself sucks, not gonna support a shitty game just because the lead is black"
- I mean, yeah, if the game is bad it won't sell well. Once again, doesn't stop someone from saying the Zelda game with a black Zelda is bad. Make a good, fun game with a black lead. Don't make it a budget title just to say you did it. People will play it.
"I know nothing about this game, Ill wait till it has some buzz before I give it attention"
- This is really on Nintendo to market and advertise the game. This is also a challenge for any new IP.
"I've never heard of the development team etc etc etc"
- We're talking about a new Nintendo IP here.
"Its not the genre of gameplay I enjoy"
- Again, this is unavoidable. Some people don't enjoy action adventure games like Zelda.
That's what they're getting at though. People will come into a thread talking about an article specifically asking for more black rep, saying what about other minorities, when instead they could just simply make a thread on that if they wanted to.
Always kinda rubbed me the wrong way, because while obviously all minorities could use way more representation, sometimes it comes across as people implying the black community needs to "share the wealth". But the reality is that even though black people are doing increasingly better, we still have a long way to go in terms of representation in media, and we only got to where we are because we keep bringing it up.
What does that have to do with having a Person of Color lead?I like Nintendo games because they don't attempt to make political statements in favor of or against anything.
I like Nintendo games because they don't attempt to make political statements in favor of or against anything.
For some people, "This is a main character. They are black" is a political statement. There's a word for those people.
I like Nintendo games because they don't attempt to make political statements in favor of or against anything.
What? How is this even political? A character's skin color has nothing to do with politics. Well, at least it shouldn't...I like Nintendo games because they don't attempt to make political statements in favor of or against anything.
When your white heroes are constantly battling a dark-skinned, Arabic-themed villain who is destined to be evil and lose constantly, even when he might have a point sometimes, and on top of that people feel strangely attached to the heroes being white despite never actually providing a justification as to why this attachment is of the utmost importance, it is perfectly fine to say that the series is engaging in colorism, even if it's not consciously intended by Nintendo.When you think that's what the game is suggesting, you need to get off your computer and re-calibrate your entire shit.
Yeah, sadly we're gonna stay with that boring Link for several years...they won't do that considering how much no character botw link got praised
The lore of the Zelda universe doesn't present any reason why Zelda should be black in any game."Black people are just as valid as any other people" shouldn't be treated as a political statement, but the year is 2021 and here we fucking are.
100% agreed.I'm black and I just think no. This is not how diversity should be handled.
Stop with the painting existing characters to a different colour. That's not how it should be.
Black panther is the prime example of how it should be done a character with his own lore and origin not a recolouring of existing characters.
I definitely don't agree with this thread at all.
I can't believe you typed this.The lore of the Zelda universe doesn't present any reason why Zelda should be black in any game.
That being said, I would buy a Zelda game with black characters.
The lore of the Zelda universe doesn't present any reason why Zelda should be black in any game.
That being said, I would buy a Zelda game with black characters.
The lore of the Zelda universe doesn't present any reason why Zelda should be black in any game.
How is the existence of black people political?I like Nintendo games because they don't attempt to make political statements in favor of or against anything.
The lore of the Zelda universe doesn't present any reason why Zelda should be black in any game.
How does this make sense in the context of TLOZ? Link and Zelda are always different characters. WW Zelda is a different character than OoT Zelda and both are different characters than BotW Zelda who are all different from the original LOZ Zelda. Why couldn't the royal family become mixed after all these millennia and have a dark skinned princess?
Except the GerudosAnd finally, specific to Zelda... I have always thought about characters in the Zelda games as Japanese. Aside from the Gorons and other non-humanoid characters and groups, I always assumed Zelda and Link and Impa and other Hylians and Sheikah as Japanese... not white or caucasian or whatever. I mean, these games are developed almost exclusively by Japanese people.
I don't think introducing more skin tones necessitates bringing in cultural or political implications from real life. They could either add another new race/civilization, make the existing Hylian population more diverse, have Gerudos be less segregated from Hylians, etc. There's plenty of conceivable options.So if they were to recreate the characters going forward as another Earth race (let's say Black) as a mode of diversification or representation... like, who would make that game? Black Japanese Nintendo staff? Outsource it to a team of Black developers at another company? And, if "representation" is the goal of this effort... would this Black Hylian culture have to represent Black American life? Or Black central African life? Or Black Caribbean life? What exactly does simply darkening the skin color of some of the characters of a Japanese game accomplish?
It's not saying that directly but it is absolutely contributing to the larger trend in media that has these undertones. I'd argue the message is even worse than usual in Zelda because of the reincarnation/destiny aspect of the lore.I'm not surprised that the author of the piece sounds confused, so confused as to concoct this embarrassing bullshit of a sentence:
"Zelda and Link always being portrayed as white suggests that only white people are capable of protecting the world and frankly that they rightfully control it".
When you think that's what the game is suggesting, you need to get off your computer and re-calibrate your entire shit.
That's a fair point. Like I already said, I'd buy such a Zelda game.It's a different person pretty much everytime. So I'm not seeing a lore reason why she shouldn't be.
Why does there need to be a reason, though. There's no lore reason Zelda has to be anything besides a princess, and even that, she sometimes isn't (see WW).The lore of the Zelda universe doesn't present any reason why Zelda should be black in any game.
Makes me think about what traits I really want in my Zelda characters. For Link, it's left-handedness. Ganondorf, I do like having red hair. But I think blonde would work too, even if many people would probably not recognize him at first. Which could be a plus for a big reveal.I wonder if people would get mad at super pale blond Ganondorf 🤔
Don't do thisThe lore of the Zelda universe doesn't present any reason why Zelda should be black in any game.
That being said, I would buy a Zelda game with black characters.
When your white heroes are constantly battling a dark-skinned, Arabic-themed villain who is destined to be evil and lose constantly, even when he might have a point sometimes, and on top of that people feel strangely attached to the heroes being white despite never actually providing a justification as to why this attachment is of the utmost importance, it is perfectly fine to say that the series is engaging in colorism, even if it's not consciously intended by Nintendo.
There doesn't need to be. Just like there isn't a reason why Zelda should be white.The lore of the Zelda universe doesn't present any reason why Zelda should be black in any game.
This is Nintendo, where light is always good and anything dark is evil. While everyone should be welcoming to this, there's an ice cubes chance in hell of it ever happening.
This why I took matters into my own hands during my first BOTW playthrough. Cus I know Nintendo would never give it to me.
That's really cool.This why I took matters into my own hands during my first BOTW playthrough. Cus I know Nintendo would never give it to me.
How is more representation a political stat... you know what, just continue and get yourself banned.I like Nintendo games because they don't attempt to make political statements in favor of or against anything.