Kieran Dixon Final Major Project: Task 4 FMP Research

Research- Armours and Weaponry

This document will follow the research I have made pertaining to armours and weaponry in Sci-Fi and Fantasy games; tropes, clichés, and other such things will be addressed, as well as how the public see such things.

Fantasy- Armours:

The armours in most fantasy games are usually gender-based, with very little meaning other than to appease the audience- which, in my opinion, is often hormonally challenged teens. To explain this, the armour for most male characters is often bulky, with the weapons being over-exaggerative and completely impractical. Females, on the other hand, oftentimes have very revealing or skimpy armours, that are completely impractical, and are seen with weapons such as daggers and short swords that are thin and small.

With this in mind, many fantasy games suffer from large amounts of scrutiny under public eye- mostly from the fairer sex, but that may be just because they feel that women are being overly-sexualised within games.

NOTE: Most games this occurs in are MMORPGs, and thusly you should not think that all fantasy games are like this. Some actually despise such a thing for their characters, and while the armour can sometimes be lacking, it is never to the point of sexualisation. Examples of said games would be Dragon Age franchise, or Dragon’s Dogma, both of which have female characters in more realistic armour, and both of which, while they do show skin, have armours that can at least be called practical.

Fantasy- Weapons:

Many fantasy weapons are ridiculous in both practicality and usefulness, oftentimes being portrayed as large weapons that one would have to use two hands to even lift in the real world, while in fantasy they swing them around as easily as a foam sword with one hand.

While it can be worthy of a good eye-roll, it captures attention from both sexes for looking ‘cool’ and thusly is massively under-appreciated as a means to bring in a large audience. While the weapons themselves seem impractical, they seem to follow some sort of code- the larger the weapon, or the more impractical it is, the higher damage it deals.

Most are also based off of some sort of mythical weaponry that exists- or used to exist- in our history. As an example, many weapons in different fantasy games almost resemble the sword Excalibur, from English folklore, while others resemble the famed swords of Masamune or Muramasa, from Japanese history.

Some fantasy weapons incorporate the use of sci-fi elements within them, such as guns within the blade or handle, or the weapons transforms into something entirely different (SEE: RWBY CG Animation). To the public, these kinds of weapons and additions attract the masses of young people interested in the science-fictional part of the two-pieced genre game. In essence, most MMORPGs are rated 12+ because of the young audience their content can attract, though some are rated the incorrect rating; examples would be an MMORPG being rated a 12+ when its content is clearly that of a 16+ audience, or even worthy of an M Rating, though sometimes it is simply due to the MMO being Indie-developed and no one having the time to properly rate it, or they just hadn’t seen all of the content.

Sci-fi- Armour:

Armour in the sci-fi world is largely different than that of the fantasy universes, in the sense that the armour is mostly protective, versatile, plated and- regardless of gender- covers most if not all of their bodies. Most of the time these armours follow a cyberpunk feel, or are based in some aspects on real life armours; usually from PMCs or militaries. Military outfits such as the USAF and SEALS, have allowed their armours to be made public- so many of the armours today in sci-fi films, games and even picture books have been taken from, to some extent, pre-existing real life armours.

Sci-fi- Weapons:

While, like fantasy weapons, sci-fi weapons can be impractical, they’re not ridiculously oversized and completely beyond possibility of being created or wielded in real life. Also, unlike fantasy weapons, sci-fi weapons are usually guns, or some form of firearm. An example would be the rather over-sized rifles often seen in many sci-fi MMORPGs, or even just normal video games.

Many weapons of the sci-fi genre have become a bit cliché over the last decade, with weapons being almost expected to be a firearm of some sort, or for a laser or some other futuristic trope to be involved- the fact of the matter is that sci-fi does not necessarily need that to become sci-fi. Most of the time it just needs a futuristic or highly technological setting to become sci-fi, but since I’m mixing the fantasy genre with the sci-fi genre, I wouldn’t necessarily need to involve much tropes from ether genre, as they are both similar in terms of clichés and what you’d usually expect from weapons of both genres.

Research: Races and Species

As I have searched the internet, I have found that most races in fantasy games, or sometimes in games with a mixture of fantasy and sci-fi, involve mythological beings, theological beings- religious beings- and imaginative humanoid creatures- most of the time depicted as aliens (For sci-fi) or a new race made up by the creators of the game (One such example is the Qunari, from Dragon Age, or Asari, from Mass Effect).

In most fantasy and sci-fi games respectively, there are anthropomorphic animals, or some form of ancient alien race that is of some dominance.

The most common mythological races are elves, dwarves and orcs, while other such as mermaids and different sub-types of elves appear in more modernised sources.

Elves:

Elven (Elvhen? Research spelling) society in games is usually depicted as magically adept and technologically sufficient and advanced beyond all other races. More often than not their hierarchy consists of an overlord of some sort, or some form of king. They are usually seen as beautiful creatures that enchant everyone they look at with their beauty, and their prowess with machinery is unmatched. More often than not they are depicted as thin, lithe creatures that stand full heads above humans, with pointed ears ad pale skin- for the females they are depicted to be scantily clad in clothing with often cloth clothing and low-cut robes, while the males wear armoured and regal robes.

Elves originate from Nordic and Norse culture and religion, seen as immortal creatures that prefer to play tricks and have a high standard while also looking down on human society- in the case of more westernised Norse beliefs, however, elves are seen as regal and kind, willing to help humans along with advancement in technology and furthering themselves from their primitive sides. They are often seen as “more beautiful than the sun” with an exalted sense of self- seen as descendants from gods and goddesses. Elves seem oftentimes willing to aid the sick and feeble, seen as charity-givers and portray themselves as the caretakers for humanity, with some beliefs setting them to be cold but kind, with a harsh kind of love.

“Elves commonly cause human illnesses, but they also have the power to heal them, and seem especially willing to do so if sacrifices are offered to them.” This sentence makes it seem as though my previous assumption of elves believing themselves to be a higher being rings true; sacrifices are what a mortal would give a god in return for a favour, so this makes them seem elevated when they know that they have ‘lesser’ races practically worshipping them.

In modern culture and in many video games, elves are seen to be numerous and one massive race home to many sub-races of elf; for example, in World of Warcraft, Elf is the race, while Blood Elf for example is the sub-race.

Another common game or franchise this is seen in is the Elder Scrolls Series: Man being humans and Mer being Elf, with Mer at the end of what they represent in their names- example: Altmer would be High Elf, Elves gifted with understanding of all forms of magic (magicka) from their birth.

All types of elf sub-race include:

- Altmer- High Elf (Born with understanding of magic)

- Dunmer- Dark Elf (Born with natural resistance to fire)

- Falmor/Falmer; White/Snow/The Betrayed Elf (Born with advanced form of magic and resistance to cold)

- Bosmer- Wood/Tree/Forest/Nature Elf (Born with understanding of nature and animals, able to sooth them)

- Chimer- Predecessors of the Dunmer (N/A)

- Dwemer- Stone/deep Elf (Considered Dwarves) (N/A)

- Orsimer- Cursed/Gifted/Beast/Mountain Elf (Considered Orcs) (Born with thickened skin and ability to fly into a blinding rage)

Of course the above may not be used- as they are owned by Bethesda Softworks, of course.

Dwarves:

Dwarves are usually depicted as small, hardy, stocky peoples with a shrewd manner in dealing with the other races, and often tricking others into servitude or to become indebted to them. Many cultures see dwarves as shrewd businessmen, preferring deals and bargains to fighting and wars, though a lot of other cultures see them as war-thirsty, small and stocky warriors, often renowned for their prowess with heavy weapons.

Dwarves, in many beliefs, are often seen in either light or heavy armour- respective for their shrewd or war-like tendencies- but both have a commonality in which dwarves are rarely seen out of their armours to other races, and in many cases live underground.

Dwarves originate from a little bit of everything, even having been mentioned in Christianity once or twice, though not directly through the bible and more through tales that were written down in books. To many different beliefs they are shrewd, uncaring of others’ plights, and only get involved if it requires that they do so, or if their way of life is threatened; they are often depicted as despising religion, instead placing their faith in technology and brutal underhanded tactics.

In many video games Dwarves are either on the brink of endangerment and have hidden themselves away, or are extinct and praised as masters of technology.

Orcs:

Orcs are almost always depicted as a bloodthirsty people, capable and willing to do completely unnecessary and savage things to attain what each individual, or each group, wants. Depicted as warlike, bloodthirsty, and completely primitive in terms of technology- but they make up for their lack of technology with brutal savagery and harsh training regiments often used to breed soldiers. In fact, for orcs, it seems as though they accept that they are mostly warlike and even seem to enjoy it, turning themselves into perfect soldiers. They are often green skinned, with an under-bite/overbite, and large teeth protruding from the top of their jaw to the bottom, or the opposite. They are often seen as mortal enemies of elves, and hold a grudging respect for humans, as they feel that the human need to expand no matter what- including starting wars- is a healthy goal, while they despise elves for their peaceful ways.

To modern culture orcs are often depicted as rapists obsessed with sex, blood and war, while in older texts in which they were introduced, they are seen as kind people who enjoy the thrills of war and train their children as soon as they started walking to fight for their country/city/town/place of origin.

References/Quotes:

1: “More beautiful than the sun”, http://norse-mythology.org/gods-and-creatures/elves/

2: “Elves commonly cause human illnesses, but they also have the power to heal them, and seem especially willing to do so if sacrifices are offered to them.” http://norse-mythology.org/gods-and-creatures/elves/