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Super Smash Bros Ultimate has 19 white male characters (6 of which are blue eyed / blonde hair), and 0 women of color

BigBlue

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Jun 6, 2019
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I've been looking at the roster recently, and with the addition of Terry, it really makes me realize how terrible the roster is when it comes to diversity.

On top of that, just how many white males are on the roster, and then how many of them have blue eyes or blonde hair.

Does anybody else find this a bit....problamatic? It's one of the biggest games in the world and it doesnt have a single person of color in the cast whilst having plenty of white/white-passing fighters.
 
Derachi

Derachi

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Oct 27, 2017
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It's a damning fact of the industry that this celebration of games and the characters in them is so lacking in diversity.
 
SputnikMonroe

SputnikMonroe

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Oct 30, 2017
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While I see your point, I don't think we can necessarily fault Smash Bros since they aren't creating the characters, they are simply pulling iconic characters from games that have been around for years.
 

Spine Crawler

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Oct 27, 2017
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i think it has been pointed out that the main issue here is that in general videogames have always favored male protagonists and then white ones.
therefore it is no coincidence that a game like smash where the most popular ones (in the nintendo eco system) get together would be male and white.

so is it a problem? yes it is, but its a problem that can only gradually be fixed.
 
Dyle

Dyle

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That's mainstream media for you. Games are generally pretty bad but not that much worse than all major forms of media which all fail to meet standards representative of the real world
 
udivision

udivision

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Oct 25, 2017
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Only two characters were designed outside of Japan. That's part of it.
Banjo and K Rool.

Edit: And D. Samus and Diddy
 
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Deleted member 4037

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Its problematic, we have had this thread before. The main issue though is Smash is a reflection of the industry and there is a lot more work the industry needs to do to promote minorities, I dont necessarily think this is a smash problem
 
OP
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BigBlue

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Jun 6, 2019
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Jessomadic said:
No not really.
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Well, Diversity and Inclusion isnt important for everyone.

But for some of us, it would be great to feel somewhat represented in our favorite games. I realize that Nintendo (and Japanese games in general) only represent Japanese and White people, for the most part.
 
_zoipi

_zoipi

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Nov 23, 2017
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Blame the industry.
Support games with more diverse characters.

Smash is just using what they let them so old white males are considered to be in smash since are the most recognisable ones.
 
StraySheep

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BigBlue

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Jun 6, 2019
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udivision said:
Only two characters were designed outside of Japan. That's part of it.
Banjo and K Rool.
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Then why are so many of them blonde hair and blue eyed?

If Japanese designers are capable of making eurocentric male characters, why arent they capable of making women of color or even just fighters with darker skin tones?
 

sanstesy

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Nov 16, 2017
2,471
Yeah, I'm not sure why people are always targeting SSB when the problem obviously lies elsewhere.

SSB just picks from the most known (mostly Japanese) IPs in gaming and the real problem is the lack of representation in Japanese video games over the last 35 years period. Representation got a tad better this decade but this small effect won't be seen until the next few SSB installments.
 
Trevelyon

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Oct 30, 2017
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It really is quite disheartening. Probably why I don't think I will buy it anytime soon. I doubt the next fighters pass will rectify it even a little bit.
 
Tagg

Tagg

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Unfair comparison. They are almost all Asian or Caucasian characters created by Japanese companies in the 80s/90s. Show me some popular POC in video games during this time. Not saying it's right, but you can't blame Smash Bros for a problem that is systemic in the industry.
 
PillFencer

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User Banned (1 Month): Racist Trolling and Hostility
BigBlue said:
it doesnt have a single person of color
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latest
 
Hero.of.Lgnd

Hero.of.Lgnd

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
85
I mean, diversity is important but it's not like they can create characters out of thin air. They are limited to characters created by other developers. I'm bi, and it would be awesome to see that represented in a game like Smash, but right now it is unrealistic since there aren't that many gay/bi characters in video games. And I can't even think of one that would be popular enough to make the cut.

Now that doesn't mean Smash can't improve, but we have to be realistic. For example, Devil May Cry is a popular series that many people would love to see represented in Smash. If Nintendo did decide to add a character, it would be a little ridiculous to add anyone but Dante.

To reiterate, diversity is important and we definitely need more of it in games. But, unlike most other video games, Sakurai can't actually create new characters himself to be in Smash.
 
Beastie91

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Thats why I felt like the inclusion of Lil Mac was pretty dope because of his black trainer coach even tho he dont fight but yeah OP sadly I agree. I dont really blame Sakurai or Nintendo too much just the Industry as a whole.
 

Deleted member 13707

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Ah yes, Nintendo clearly should have pulled from their available pool of barely anything in this category.

This category of Twintelle and nobody else who realistically stands a chance of making the cut.
 
MarvelousIntent

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Aug 13, 2019
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Kind of. It isn't exactly Smash Bros fault that Black and Latinx protagonists are so rare in video games, let alone in Japan where most of these characters originate or are popular.
 
Spacejaws

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Is the blonde hair blue eyes thing supposed to be even worse than just being white?

Are you suggesting Smash Brothers is 1940s Ayran propaganda?

Just the fact that the roster is full of white dudes is enough to suggest it needs more diversity but yes it is problematic due to the lack of that in games of old and due to that I don't think I'd have prefered them to ignore iconic characters like Snake and Little Mac due to being too white.

Hopefully it gets better though. I'm sure it can't have gone unnoticed.
 
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