WayForward: Not all sexy characters are attractive

Recommended Videos

I’ve got a full interview from Sean Velasco, the director of Mighty Milky Way, coming up for you tomorrow. In the meantime, here’s one of the more choice comments from the piece, one that I’m afraid might end up buried under the rest of the text of the full post. When asked about the process of designing a female lead in a game, Mr. Velasco had this to say:

“We like our characters to be attractive and appealing, but it’s important to let the personality dictate the look. It’s easy to make a sexy-looking design, but not necessarily an attractive character. Discerning audiences can tell the difference, and it’s easy to turn people off.”

That’s an distinction that I’m not sure a lot of us keep in mind. It seems that a lot of developers are big on getting attention for their work by throwing a “sexy” lead in their games, but in the process, their characters lose the potential to provide genuine charm and personality. To me, being “sexy” means appealing to our baser instincts, while being “attractive” means forming a genuine connection to the viewer through something more sophisticated. It’s not impossible to create a character that is equal parts sexy and attractive, but it definitely takes more skill to pull that off. Most developers seem content to just go one way or the other.

Or at least, that’s how I see it. What do you think? Do you find it hard to connect with overtly sexual characters on a more personal level, or do you find it easy to get sentimental about characters that you lust after first and learn to love second?


Destructoid is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more
related content
Read Article Celeste dev’s Earthblade no longer coming out in 2024, but progress is being made
Earthblade
Read Article The next big Final Fantasy XIV Live Letter update is on April 12
What to expect during FFXIV LLXXX
Read Article Helldivers 2 players receive Quasar Cannon and Heavy Machine Gun Stratagems to support Automaton obliteration
helldivers 2 heavy machine gun HMG quasar cannon stratagems unlocked
Related Content
Read Article Celeste dev’s Earthblade no longer coming out in 2024, but progress is being made
Earthblade
Read Article The next big Final Fantasy XIV Live Letter update is on April 12
What to expect during FFXIV LLXXX
Read Article Helldivers 2 players receive Quasar Cannon and Heavy Machine Gun Stratagems to support Automaton obliteration
helldivers 2 heavy machine gun HMG quasar cannon stratagems unlocked
Author
Jonathan Holmes
Destructoid Contributor - Jonathan Holmes has been a media star since the Road Rules days, and spends his time covering oddities and indies for Destructoid, with over a decade of industry experience "Where do dreams end and reality begin? Videogames, I suppose."- Gainax, FLCL Vol. 1 "The beach, the trees, even the clouds in the sky... everything is build from little tiny pieces of stuff. Just like in a Gameboy game... a nice tight little world... and all its inhabitants... made out of little building blocks... Why can't these little pixels be the building blocks for love..? For loss... for understanding"- James Kochalka, Reinventing Everything part 1 "I wonder if James Kolchalka has played Mother 3 yet?" Jonathan Holmes