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Nintendo, can we get some black male characters?

Sea lion

Sea lion

Banned
Nov 8, 2017
903
I mean, do we have any at all?

We've recently got Twintelle from Arms and Marina from Splatoon on the girl side which is awesome, and kinda Elma from XBX. But what about the dudes?

There's Basilio from Fire Emblem Awakening, but he's not that major and isn't playable in the main campaign. I mean, you can't even choose to be black in Fire Emblems character creator, and it's only recently been introduced in Animal Crossing, a game all about customization.

I guess they're getting better, but I wouldn't call any of them iconic despite them making some of the most recognizable video game characters.

How come? I guess we have an evil overlord in Ganondorf, kinda? Cool I guess.

I'd rather we start a movement for this rather than an evil Peach driven by hentai fans. I dunno, priorities an all that.
 
Alastor3

Alastor3

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
8,297
I mean, Nintendo is pretty conservator, they just started showing more and more female protagonists, just give them time
 
SinCityAssassin

SinCityAssassin

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,172
latest


/s
 
OP
OP
Sea lion

Sea lion

Banned
Nov 8, 2017
903
Btw I know there's minor characters like Pokemon gym leaders, but I'm talking about some iconic enough to make it into Smash / be the main protagonist if their game.
 
SiG

SiG

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,485
It's a shame ARMS isn't as popular as it could be. It genuinely has some good character deisgns, too.
 
Hiro Protagonest

Hiro Protagonest

Member
May 1, 2018
563
RestEerie said:
Nintendo, as a japanese company, doesn't even feature Japanese in most of their games.
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Well, inklings specifically look pretty Japanese to me in their facial features. But yeah, not Mario or Hylians.

Inklings and Octolings (who look more European) can also have a variety of skin and eye colors. My avatar has been black for the majority of my time in Splatoon, my inkling was the darkest tone before recently changing to Latino while I waffled on the octoling for a while (first darkest, then palest, then Latino/Hispanic) before settling on the chocolate-brown tone closest to Marina's.
 
Waluigilicious

Waluigilicious

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,497
Why single out Nintendo of all companies? Why not make this a general topic? Or have other Japanese companies been a lot more diverse and I've missed it? Just curious.
 
Vankash

Vankash

Member
Oct 27, 2017
174
Germany
I don't get this request.

I was happy that ARMS featured a diverse cast.
Splatoon allows dark skinned inklings.
Sea lion said:
Btw I know there's minor characters like Pokemon gym leaders, but I'm talking about some iconic enough to make it into Smash / be the main protagonist if their game.
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What Character do you suggest for Smash?
 
Eolz

Eolz

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
7,601
FR
Animal Crossing, Splatoon, some FE characters and some from Pokemon, that guy in Arms, etc.
Those threads usually end up in "this doesn't count" so...

Edit: play codename steam, ever oasis...
Unless only big budget protagonists count but others don't, again, for some reason.
 
NoKisum

NoKisum

Member
Nov 11, 2017
4,913
DMV Area, USA
Eolz said:
Animal Crossing, Splatoon, some FE characters and some from Pokemon, that guy in Arms, etc.
Those threads usually end up in "this doesn't count" so...
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Animal Crossing legit doesn't count because you can't make your character "black" without going to the island and letting your game sit as your character stands in the sun for a few hours. And you gotta repeat the process often if you want to stay "black".
 
TheYanger

TheYanger

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
10,153
I feel like the sea of EXTREMELY niche side characters in this thread is only proving the OP's point.
 
Principate

Principate

Member
Oct 31, 2017
11,186
I'm not sure why people keep posting "this is the best your going to get" considering the divulge of Black female characters over the past few years since you easily could have said that before about them. It's almost like people aren't paying attention.
 
Eolz

Eolz

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
7,601
FR
NoKisum said:
Animal Crossing legit doesn't count because you can't make your character "black" without going to the island and letting your game sit as your character stands in the sun for a few hours. And you gotta repeat the process often if you want to stay "black".
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I thought that wasn't the case anymore in the mobile game? The tan thing won't happen ever again after that controversy.
 

Deleted member 8593

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
27,176
Waluigilicious said:
Why single out Nintendo of all companies? Why not make this a general topic? Or have other Japanese companies been a lot more diverse and I've missed it? Just curious.
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The burden doesn't solely fall on Nintendo but it's not necessarily wrong to single them out. They are an immensely recognizable brand that speaks especially to children. Having prominent, and especially playable, black characters would be a big deal. They are improving in this area, as the OP rightfully points out, but there's still a long way to go.

NoKisum said:
Animal Crossing legit doesn't count because you can't make your character "black" without going to the island and letting your game sit as your character stands in the sun for a few hours. And you gotta repeat the process often if you want to stay "black".
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They changed that with Pocket Camp, where you can pick your skin tone but it sadly ranges from "very pale" to "very tan". Hopefully it improves in the Switch version, alongside hair styles.
 
LinkStrikesBack

LinkStrikesBack

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,364
NoKisum said:
Animal Crossing legit doesn't count because you can't make your character "black" without going to the island and letting your game sit as your character stands in the sun for a few hours. And you gotta repeat the process often if you want to stay "black".
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They changed this in both happy home designer and pocket camp to a menu choice and there's no reason to assume it will go back to that method.
 
BlandrewYT

BlandrewYT

Member
Nov 27, 2017
342
Principate said:
I'm not sure why people keep posting "this is the best your going to get" considering the divulge of Black female characters over the past few years since you easily could have said that before about them. It's almost like people aren't paying attention.
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I think people mean currently. Anyways, Nintendo does seem to be doing a lot for characters of color recently. Twintelle, Marina, Splatoon 2 Poster Child having tanish skin, Making Black Tethu the poster child for Ever Oasis despite the fact that you can customize both gender and skin color, etc.
 
HMS_Pinafore

HMS_Pinafore

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,154
Straya M8
NoKisum said:
Animal Crossing legit doesn't count because you can't make your character "black" without going to the island and letting your game sit as your character stands in the sun for a few hours. And you gotta repeat the process often if you want to stay "black".
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I believe pocket camp and happy home designer allow you to make your villagers black when starting the game nowadays.
 
Crayolan

Crayolan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,766
Also from Punch Out:
mr_sandman_by_ask_theangelofsouls-db4h590.png


You were saying a character iconic enough to get into smash, well I don't think he'd ever get in but if they were gonna choose a Punch-Out boss it'd probably be him or King Hippo.
 
Oniletter

Oniletter

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,245
NoKisum said:
Animal Crossing legit doesn't count because you can't make your character "black" without going to the island and letting your game sit as your character stands in the sun for a few hours. And you gotta repeat the process often if you want to stay "black".
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Fixed in Happy Home Designer.
 

Deleted member 5535

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
13,656
TheYanger said:
I feel like the sea of EXTREMELY niche side characters in this thread is only proving the OP's point.
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Just because it's ~niche~ don't mean that it don't count. The one that I posted for example is a protagonist from a game made by Grezzo. As for an actual black protagonist, I doubt this will happen with Nintendo in a major new IP. I will be surprised if it happens.

If that is already not common in the west, in Japan that's even less since the majority on the country are japanese and asians, along that white people are the ones in the imagination of them as foreign.
 
Pancakes R Us

Pancakes R Us

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,344
Waluigilicious said:
Why single out Nintendo of all companies? Why not make this a general topic? Or have other Japanese companies been a lot more diverse and I've missed it? Just curious.
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Why not single out Nintendo? I've yet to play a mainline Animal Crossing game (haven't played Pocket Camp, talking about OG, Wild World, City Folk and New Leaf) where I could have a character of colour.
 
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