D&D 4E Women in 4E

[Wik]

That second picture is AWESOME. third one confuses me, though.

 

[Rechan]

I just plonked "Barbarian" into google images and came out with these on the first page...

Donno what to tell you, Billy. I can take a screenshot of my web browser if you don't believe me.

Also, the third one is totally a photoshop. That cannot be that guy's real head.

...which leads me to believe that, not only are the pictures you "couldn't find" easily, easily found, but they are in fact...the norm

Perhaps on Harlequin Romance novels. But in D&D manuals?

 

[Teflon Billy]

Donno what to tell you, Billy. I can take a screenshot of my web browser if you don't believe me.

Also, the third one is totally a photoshop. That cannot be that guy's real head.

Yeah, but my point is that even that picture met your requirements...and it came up on page one.

Perhaps on Harlequin Romance novels. But in D&D manuals?

You think the pictures I pulled from Google are more common to Harlequin Romances than RPG supplements? :\

 

[Rechan]

You think the pictures I pulled from Google are more common to Harlequin Romances than RPG supplements? :\

My guesses as to origins:

First: Off a medium-skilled artist's web page.

Second: Conan comic or something.

Third: Straight up Harlequin novel.

Fourth: Not sure, actually. Maybe a pulp novel. It's not Romance, because there's no girl, and there's a monster about to get slain.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

I like half-naked women in fantasy art. Voluptuous and sexy is iconic. The virgin-harlot thing is iconic. The mother-goddess thing is iconic. Sexuality is powerful. Done well, it can be mythic. (Done poorly, it can be porn.) I like muscled barbarians cleaving skulls in fantasy art, too. That's iconic and powerful, as well. These things are "traditional" and even "cliche" for a reason. Sex, Birth, and Death are three of the most powerful (and common) visual themes for a reason.

Not realistic? Sexist? Whatever.

 

[Teflon Billy]

I think you are just being disingenuous now. You entered the thread claiming that pictures of half naked male swordsmen were so rare as to be basically unfindable with an internet search...as compared to cheesecake Sword and Sorcery art.

Here it is...

[bq]The point is that Conan was the only picture I could find because I couldn't find any other "Barely Clad Beefcake" fantasy art.[/bq]

Then you upped that ante when I literally missed the point of your post because it was so unlikey...

[bq]I used Conan only because I simply COULD NOT FIND another picture of a half-naked buff guy wielding a sword that emphasized his body.

I swear, I went through so many pages of Google Image.[/bq]

Mid-thread you moved on to the idea that famed "Half Naked Swordsmen" artists Frank Frazetta and Boris Vallejo (arguably the two biggest names in fantasy/sword and sorcery art, well, ever) had something to do with Dragonball z.

That one was a puzzler.

Then you decided that we weren't talking about how common the pictures you had trouble finding were, but rather where they've appeared before.

[bq]
Perhaps on Harlequin Romance novels. But in D&D manuals?[/bq]

I mean, correct me if I am wrong, but you seem to be rallying around two points to support your argument about the non-existence of Beefcake Sword and Sorcery art. They are...

A) You aren't very capable with Google, and...

B) You know very little about Fantasy Art (or the artists) in general.

Neither of those really back up your original statement (that such art can't be found)

So you moved on to the fact that none of the pics I pulled are specifically froma D&D book...


And as far as RPG's go--D&D in particular--male beefcake art abounds. I'm not sure how you can say otherwise.

I've got the old D&D Rules Cyclopedia here in front of me...Shirtless Dude Fighting a troll, Shirtless Dude looting a treasure room...I mean, it's here at the beginning of D&D.

I've just grabbed some 1E stuff...Deities and Demigods is rife with the art you can't find in a D&D manual.

I'm looking at all the buff musclemen with swords throughout 2E's Dark Sun right now.

Look, I'm not going to dig out my entire collection to disprove your point. I don't need to.

Your point is nonsense.

 

[Teflon Billy]

I like half-naked women in fantasy art. Voluptous and sexy is iconic. The virgin-harlot thing is iconic. The mother-goddess thing is iconic. Sexuality is powerful. Done well, it can be mythic. (Done poorly, it can be porn.) I like muscled barbarians cleaving skulls in fantasy art, too. That's iconic and powerful, as well. These things are "traditional" and even "cliche" for a reason. Sex, Birth, and Death are three of the most powerful (and common) visual themes for a reason.

Not realistic? Sexist? Whatever.

I should learn to post with your brevity and focus.

 

[Brewhammer]

D&D already became anime. Ever heard of "Lodoss War"?

"Leylia--!!"

 

[Gloombunny]

If Hennet can do those buckles, and Tordek can weave his beard, and Gimble can oil his beard, the least we can ask is for Mialee to do a little eyeshadow...

I really, REALLY don't want realistic pictures of sweaty beaten adventurers to appear in my books very often. They're fantasy heroes, that would be a bit too much brutal realism. I want characters that I want to be, poster children for the lifestyle of goblin-slaying and treasure-taking. They should all be beautiful, glamorous, powerful, and generally everything we all wish we were.

That's not quite what I meant. I too enjoy having lots of good-looking people in my fiction. But I also want variety. Male characters get to be good-looking, or plain, or ugly. Female characters are almost universally depicted as very pretty, unless they're hideous, like a harpy or something. I'd like to see both more of a range, and some women who are good-looking but not in the conventional "pretty" way. Particularly among warriors, I'd like to see women with more muscle and shorter hair than you're likely to see on a magazine cover. Some scars wouldn't hurt either - and if it's done right, a scar can be very prominent without detracting from the character's hotness. (Baiken in Guilty Gear provides an excellent example of the scar thing, I think, though she isn't very butch and her pendulous parts hang out a bit more than is strictly necessary.)

 

[Rechan]

I don't appreciate the tone of your post, Billy. Every comment I made was completely forthright and I don't care for being accused of being disingenuous or just not knowing how to use the internet.

Mid-thread you moved on to the idea that famed "Half Naked Swordsmen" artists Frank Frazetta and Boris Vallejo (arguably the two biggest names in fantasy/sword and sorcery art, well, ever) had something to do with Dragonball z.

Scout's honor. Thought that was some intentionally mocking misspelled/cobbled together between Freeza, Vegeta and Picollo (Well, Vallejo and Picollo sound similar phonically), three characters from said source, and you were making some sort of lame "Lol half-naked girly men=Anime" crack.