This is a feature that took some time to pull off–around a month from concept to execution. But I am very happy with the results. I’ve had the idea for a long time, since Kane and Lynch first debuted. It was refreshing to see such unapologetically unusual looking characters at the helm of a game. And it seemed a bit risky. But the dysfunctional duo make the game and their appearance has much to do with it. So I started looking for other characters who looked slightly off the beaten path. Not ugly characters like Kane and Lynch, but characters that aren’t quite perfect. And really, there is no reason for all game characters to be flawless. They are much more interesting when they aren’t. So enjoy the feature!

Cookie-cutter bodies and perfectly painted faces are a thing of the past. Instead, developers are making a point to flesh out distinctive, flawed and entirely fascinating protagonists. Sure, Nathan Drake and Lara Croft are admittedly attractive, but they don’t stand out much among the crowd of other ideally proportioned and intentionally unblemished gaming icons.

Whether it’s a crooked smile, a small scar, or a meaningful tattoo, these characters have been meticulously crafted to be hard to forget. We’re not saying that having character makes one ugly. Instead, we are calling out and congratulating developers who don’t simply look at their protagonists’ visage as a collection of necessary parts.

Lucky for us, we were able to go straight to the source for several of these leading lads and ladies. We picked the brains of a handful of developers and dove into the process of creating each character from the ground up. Some even provided us with concept art. For those unable to participate, we instead provided our own musings as to why the particular character is memorable. Read on for the scoop.

Faith, the face of DICE’s Mirror’s Edge, is a hard lady to forget—and not just because of her distinctive tattoos and athletic body.

“Faith was created to be a strong and iconic female character that would appeal to women as well as men,” explained producer Tom Farrer. “We wanted to break away from the clichéd videogame look where all the men are muscle freaks and the all the women are well endowed. The idea was to create a more grown-up, minimalist, and fashion orientated character. There was an ‘edgy’ attitude that we wanted to capture, a punk-like rebelliousness. This attitude is communicated through her body art and the controlled use of bright red on her glove and shoes. The look never becomes dirty or trashy though, it conforms to the clean minimalist aesthetic of the game which was very important to us. Faith is of course also a very athletic heroine which is reflected in the proportions of her body, she is attractive but she isn’t overly sexualized. It was important to us that she felt human not superhuman, inspirational not unattainable, a real hero.”

We have to give the DICE team props. Not only is Faith’s build and attire appropriate for her profession—a level of practicality you rarely see in the game industry—but the team managed to keep her femininity intact. Still, some don’t appreciate her diminutive assets as much as others, as evidenced by a fan redesign that caught the attention of the DICE developers themselves. The redesign saddened the team, upset that some fans would rather Faith looked like a “12-year-old with a boob job” than a sharp-witted athlete. We have to agree with them. The fan recreation depicted an entirely generic character—one devoid of the charm that landed her on this list in the first place. That’s why we wouldn’t change a thing about Faith. Her rough and tough demeanor paired with a petite frame and features gives Faith a well-deserved place on our list.

Click here to read the entire feature.

Be Sociable, Share!