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Would FE4 be any different if Julia and Julius' hair colors were reversed?


Dragoncat
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Was talking to Ana today, told her about the orange kitten at the animal shelter I volunteer at named Julius, and despite neither of us having played FE4, the conversation turned to FE Julius. I said, why is it a trend in fiction to have opposite gender twins be like clones of their parent of the same gender? I've designed twin 2nd gen OCs that probably have more realistic genetics, but I won't bore you guys with that, even though my OCs kick butt and I love them so much. Rickson and Violet, twin children of the Heir to the Monado, say hi anyway.

Instead, I'll throw out the idea of what if Julius had Deirdre's lavender hair and Julia had Arvis' red hair? Would the story be different at all? Would Seliph be psyched out and reluctant to fight Julius because he looks so much like his mother, more so than he probably already is given that they share a mother? Would Julia have to work extra hard to earn the trust of her comrades because she looks so much like her evil father, and even Seliph is on edge?

Discuss!

Edited by Dragoncat
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3 minutes ago, Jingle Jangle said:

Julius would look like a glam rock singer, and Julia could alter her appearance to resemble  Arvis less.

Fixed it for you.

Lol, would Julius be like Berkut then and have a band follow him everywhere he goes playing his theme song? Because that's totally what the Berkut Opera is. And I guess Julia could do stuff so she doesn't look too much like the spawn of Barbecue Loptr Worshipper Boy. But who knows how much, because I doubt hair dye exists for her.

Keep in mind I played very little of FE4. I'm waiting for a remake before I try again.

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Julius inherited his mother's "fluff hair" so he would just look like evil boy Deidre. For differences this could make:

  • Creates a contrast between 1st Generation and 2nd Generation. Sigurd and Deidre meet and fall in love. Their children, who greatly resemble their parent, meet and fight to the death.
  • Removes the parallel between Sigurd vs. Arvis and Seliph vs. Julius.
  • Julius may have also inherited Major Naga blood.

For Julia, there's not much of a difference.

  • Makes it less obvious she's Deidre's daughter.
  • Implies she may have a bigger portion of Fala blood. At the very least, she looks more like a typical Velthomer noble. 
  • Because she resembles Veltomer more, there's a much more obvious theme of reunification. The Houses Chalphy and Velthomer are now joined in fraternity, ending their rivalry. Reunification is a big theme for FE4, with conflict serving as a barrier to peace. Making a more obvious relationship between the 2 most powerful houses will signify this. Of course this is done anyways, but Julia's appearance will make it more obvious.

TL;DR: makes the themes of the game more obvious and replaces a parallel with a contrast.

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8 hours ago, Dandy Druid said:

Julius inherited his mother's "fluff hair" so he would just look like evil boy Deidre. For differences this could make:

  • Creates a contrast between 1st Generation and 2nd Generation. Sigurd and Deidre meet and fall in love. Their children, who greatly resemble their parent, meet and fight to the death.
  • Removes the parallel between Sigurd vs. Arvis and Seliph vs. Julius.
  • Julius may have also inherited Major Naga blood.

For Julia, there's not much of a difference.

  • Makes it less obvious she's Deidre's daughter.
  • Implies she may have a bigger portion of Fala blood. At the very least, she looks more like a typical Velthomer noble. 
  • Because she resembles Veltomer more, there's a much more obvious theme of reunification. The Houses Chalphy and Velthomer are now joined in fraternity, ending their rivalry. Reunification is a big theme for FE4, with conflict serving as a barrier to peace. Making a more obvious relationship between the 2 most powerful houses will signify this. Of course this is done anyways, but Julia's appearance will make it more obvious.

TL;DR: makes the themes of the game more obvious and replaces a parallel with a contrast.

Yeah, basically all this! The holy blood thing was something I didn't consider. Man there really needs to be a FE4 remake already so I can enjoy it! FE4 in its current state is...primitive imo.

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3 hours ago, Dragoncat said:

Yeah, basically all this! The holy blood thing was something I didn't consider. Man there really needs to be a FE4 remake already so I can enjoy it! FE4 in its current state is...primitive imo.

Oh yeah it is. It's one of my favorites, but it's pretty evident it was made in the 90s. It may be years before it's made though, although I can see it coming out within the next 5 years.

Also to clarify, the parallel between Sigurd vs Arvis and Seliph vs Julius is still there, but takes a back seat.

There's probably some more overarching themes I may have missed, but the parallels between Parent + Child and Reunification are the most important though, imo.

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I think the "children are clones of their parents" is a trope that runs through anime-styled (and far beyond) media as a whole; for a few examples:

Luna, Noctis, and their kids (note: the first picture is actually Noct and Luna as kids, and in the second picture, the two kids ARE their kids):
http://071bc3d04e2671665c74-5a267f839fbe60d0845a37698418bb02.r26.cf5.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/final-fantasy-xv-child-noctis-and-luna-playing-with-dog-artwork-xbox-one-ps4-official.jpg
http://s.newsweek.com/sites/www.newsweek.com/files/styles/full/public/2018/04/06/ffxv-picnic-art.jpg

Amelia and Doppler (admittedly infants and aliens, but still):
https://78.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lrhedoCizN1qkdj60.png
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/disney/images/4/43/Treasure-planet-disneyscreencaps.com-10529.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20160715000019

Lady and Tramp (kind of low-hanging fruit, but this is one of the worst one's I've seen):
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/disney/images/8/89/Lady-And-The-Tramp-Wallpaper-classic-disney-7326007-1024-768.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20111029010913

It's not just twins, and I can appreciate that Fire Emblem didn't at least fall to the "twins are identical clones of each other/their identity is only defined by the fact that their basically a hivemind" trope (but it probably wouldn't have worked for the story to be fair); though personally, if Julia and Julius had their designs reworked, I think it would be better to actually make them look like siblings?  Swapping their hair colors would just make them weird hybrids of their parents instead, which isn't that much better tbh (especially when you get cases of kids looking more like, say, uncles, aunts, grandparents, etc. instead of their parents - you can get creative with a kid's design, but most people don't seem to?  Idk).

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44 minutes ago, Soleater said:

I think the "children are clones of their parents" is a trope that runs through anime-styled (and far beyond) media as a whole; for a few examples:

Luna, Noctis, and their kids (note: the first picture is actually Noct and Luna as kids, and in the second picture, the two kids ARE their kids):
http://071bc3d04e2671665c74-5a267f839fbe60d0845a37698418bb02.r26.cf5.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/final-fantasy-xv-child-noctis-and-luna-playing-with-dog-artwork-xbox-one-ps4-official.jpg
http://s.newsweek.com/sites/www.newsweek.com/files/styles/full/public/2018/04/06/ffxv-picnic-art.jpg

Amelia and Doppler (admittedly infants and aliens, but still):
https://78.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lrhedoCizN1qkdj60.png
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/disney/images/4/43/Treasure-planet-disneyscreencaps.com-10529.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20160715000019

Lady and Tramp (kind of low-hanging fruit, but this is one of the worst one's I've seen):
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/disney/images/8/89/Lady-And-The-Tramp-Wallpaper-classic-disney-7326007-1024-768.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20111029010913

It's not just twins, and I can appreciate that Fire Emblem didn't at least fall to the "twins are identical clones of each other/their identity is only defined by the fact that their basically a hivemind" trope (but it probably wouldn't have worked for the story to be fair); though personally, if Julia and Julius had their designs reworked, I think it would be better to actually make them look like siblings?  Swapping their hair colors would just make them weird hybrids of their parents instead, which isn't that much better tbh (especially when you get cases of kids looking more like, say, uncles, aunts, grandparents, etc. instead of their parents - you can get creative with a kid's design, but most people don't seem to?  Idk).

Good points, and omg, that hivemind trope sounds awful.

Swapping their hair colors would work better imo, hybrids of their parents is probably better than clones of their parents, but that's just me.

Getting creative with a kid's design is exactly what I did with Shulk and Fiora's twins that I mentioned in the OP. They're both blonds because their parents are, but Rickson (if you played Xenoblade you know one of his namesakes, he's got two, the other being Fiora's father who I named Richard) has his uncle Dunban's eye color. Violet's eyes are a blueish gray, she got incomplete dominance from her father and uncle's eye colors. Incomplete dominance, in case you don't know, is a thing in genetics where the traits blend, like red flower + white flower = pink flower.

PM me if you want me to ramble about my fankids to you xD

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48 minutes ago, Dragoncat said:

Good points, and omg, that hivemind trope sounds awful.

Swapping their hair colors would work better imo, hybrids of their parents is probably better than clones of their parents, but that's just me.

Getting creative with a kid's design is exactly what I did with Shulk and Fiora's twins that I mentioned in the OP. They're both blonds because their parents are, but Rickson (if you played Xenoblade you know one of his namesakes, he's got two, the other being Fiora's father who I named Richard) has his uncle Dunban's eye color. Violet's eyes are a blueish gray, she got incomplete dominance from her father and uncle's eye colors. Incomplete dominance, in case you don't know, is a thing in genetics where the traits blend, like red flower + white flower = pink flower.

PM me if you want me to ramble about my fankids to you xD

Oh the hivemind trope is just like...my name for when like a twin finishes the other's sentence perfectly, they dress the same, act the same, and are only defined by the fact that are two of them - basically like the "(always) identical creepy twins" thing, if you know what I'm talking about.

It does work better, but it's not not good imo - mainstream should put more effort into kid designs instead of just falling back on the "mix-n-match" or "iz just a clone" tropes.

That definitely sounds much better though - the incomplete dominance kind of reminds of stuff they do in B/MHA (which is also a show that actually has kid-in-relation-to-parents designs).  You can pm me if you want (and if you want criticism, I'll give it), but word of warning - I don't know the first thing about Xenoblade, so *shrugs*

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2 hours ago, Soleater said:

Oh the hivemind trope is just like...my name for when like a twin finishes the other's sentence perfectly, they dress the same, act the same, and are only defined by the fact that are two of them - basically like the "(always) identical creepy twins" thing, if you know what I'm talking about.

It does work better, but it's not not good imo - mainstream should put more effort into kid designs instead of just falling back on the "mix-n-match" or "iz just a clone" tropes.

That definitely sounds much better though - the incomplete dominance kind of reminds of stuff they do in B/MHA (which is also a show that actually has kid-in-relation-to-parents designs).  You can pm me if you want (and if you want criticism, I'll give it), but word of warning - I don't know the first thing about Xenoblade, so *shrugs*

Yeah I get what you're saying. But honestly I don't think I've ever seen the hivemind trope in action, do you have any examples? 

Maybe the reason a lot of 2nd gen characters are either mix and match or clones is because the parents are the only relatives that are characters most of the time? Sometimes there'll be aunts and uncles, but a lot of times the creators of these things don't have the time or energy to create grandparents, great aunts and uncles, etc. So they make the 2nd gen clearly resemble their parents so they're obviously theirs.

If you haven't played it I don't see the point in PMing you, so I won't. I'll just show you the designs of the parents and uncle so you can get a good idea of the genetics that would be going into them.

Shulk(father): http://www.creativeuncut.com/gallery-19/xb-shulk2.html

Fiora(mother): http://www.creativeuncut.com/gallery-19/xb-fiora1.html

Dunban(uncle): http://www.creativeuncut.com/gallery-19/xb-dunban2.html

Dunban is Fiora's older brother, and believe it or not, they aren't half siblings, they share both parents. That crazy genetic lottery, right? Somehow we have a set of full blooded siblings where one is blond with green eyes and the other has dark brown hair and gray eyes. Their parents are never shown though, so I assume one looks entirely like one parent and the other looks entirely like the other.

Oh and Rickson's other namesake since you haven't played is Shulk's adoptive father (dude was orphaned at the age of four and adopted) Dickson. They had him named before the birth. Violet was named when she was born and they saw her eye color, similar to the flower of the same name.

Edited by Dragoncat
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IDK how this got on the topic of Xenoblade but here's my 2 cents.

I haven't gotten too far into Genealogy, so I don't really know how much of a spoiler the Julia-Arvis and Julius-Dierdre connections are. I'd assume that swapping their hair colors would sort of kill the mystery if that were the case. But that begs the question of what if their roles were reversed as well?

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1 hour ago, Scoot said:

IDK how this got on the topic of Xenoblade but here's my 2 cents.

Basically kid designs and how they're usually either clones of their parents or mixed and matched, and I used my Shulk and Fiora fankids as examples of a good way to design kids if the parents are also characters you get to see.

But you have a good point, unless their roles were reversed, some plot mystery might be killed.

Edited by Dragoncat
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  • 5 weeks later...

I like the idea of a red head Julia, as it'd make her less of a clone if Deirdre, but Julius is already pretty distinct from Alvis characterise and I think they do a good job if highlighting those differences with subtly in the character design. I also can't help but think the evil dragon god having gentle lavander hair would look a little ridiculous. So I make them work ubder Awakening rules if genetics, where the father's hair colour influences the child 100% of the time.

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  • 4 years later...

Just a quick question whilst on the topic of Seliph's and Julia's dad's having some intense, messed up beef. Do they never bloody talk about this? Like I swear with Seliph's whole mission to avenge his father and kill Arvis at some point, and I haven't heard a single thing about Julia's supposed reaction to such a thing.

Does she not bat an eye? They must know their dad's history with one another?! Do they just *Not... Talk...* about this?

Like her dad, lured his dad, into a trap, backstabbed him, by toting his missing wife, of, most likely a long time at that point, who lost her memories in front of him, then, before they can even talk, or before she can fully recognise who he is, takes her away forcefully, then incinerates him to death, and kills at least half his army/friends, with meteorites, then, makes it seem as if he's a traitor to the country (technically he did mess up and get himself into that mess but at least Sigurd can admit it, gotta respect that) and basically orphan's Seliph overnight (more like day, it happened in broad daylight, the audacity--) then, once he finds out Deirdre is his sister, instead of I dunno, saying something to her, he keeps this information from her, doesn't tell her anything, marries her and has two children with her, full well knowing everything. What the heck? Just cus he was a little hot under the collar for his mum and she looks like her?!

Ewwwwww.

Then her (Julia's) older brother gets possessed kills their mother and nearly kills her. I- wow, Geez. And y'know what? Even after all of that, in front of her son, who just killed the guy (Arvis) in revenge and the departed soul of her husband this lady has the gall to mourn/lament the death of a man who I doubt really even loved her, because if you did you'd talk about at least half of that shit instead of hiding it (not even counting her and Sigurd's relationship being WAY too fast, but at least he didn't murder the father of her child and mentally torture the guy by toting her around in front of him before killing him painfully, and orphaning her only child at the time, then also not letting her know any of this including the fact they have the same mother.) Right in front of them, and no one says anything, would that 'not' make it a 'little' awkward? I even, if I had such feelings would probably a) keep it to myself, or b) maybe don't say that as the last thing your child hears from you.

Is there no lines where they talk about this or even discuss or mention it at all? I mean- personally it's be hard to look the other person in the eye with that kind of history between your dad's, I'd at least try and clear the air or something...

 

It just baffles me. Do they not ever talk about this once they know who each other is?

Edited by anon413
Grammar and spelling corrections from typing too fast.
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35 minutes ago, anon413 said:

Just a quick question whilst on the topic of Seliph's and Julia's dad's having some intense, messed up beef. Do they never bloody talk about this? Like I swear with Seliph's whole mission to avenge his father and kill Arvis at some point, and I haven't heard a single thing about Julia's supposed reaction to such a thing.

Does she not bat an eye? They must know their dad's history with one another?! Do they just *Not... Talk...* about this?

Like her dad, lured his dad, into a trap, backstabbed him, by toting his missing wife, of, most likely a long time at that point, who lost her memories in front of him, then, before they can even talk, or before she can fully recognise who he is, takes her away forcefully, then incinerates him to death, and kills at least half his army/friends, with meteorites, then, makes it seem as if he's a traitor to the country (technically he did mess up and get himself into that mess but at least Sigurd can admit it, gotta respect that) and basically orphan's Seliph overnight (more like day, it happened in broad daylight, the audacity--) then, once he finds out Deirdre is his sister, instead of I dunno, saying something to her, he keeps this information from her, doesn't tell her anything, marries her and has two children with her, full well knowing everything. What the heck? Just cus he was a little hot under the collar for his mum and she looks like her?!

Ewwwwww.

Then her (Julia's) older brother gets possessed kills their mother and nearly kills her. I- wow, Geez. And y'know what? Even after all of that, in front of her son, who just killed the guy (Arvis) in revenge and the departed soul of her husband this lady has the gall to mourn/lament the death of a man who I doubt really even loved her, because if you did you'd talk about at least half of that shit instead of hiding it (not even counting her and Sigurd's relationship being WAY too fast, but at least he didn't murder the father of her child and mentally torture the guy by toting her around in front of him before killing him painfully, and orphaning her only child at the time, then also not letting her know any of this including the fact they have the same mother.) Right in front of them, and no one says anything, would that 'not' make it a 'little' awkward? I even, if I had such feelings would probably a) keep it to myself, or b) maybe don't say that as the last thing your child hears from you.

Is there no lines where they talk about this or even discuss or mention it at all? I mean- personally it's be hard to look the other person in the eye with that kind of history between your dad's, I'd at least try and clear the air or something...

 

It just baffles me. Do they not ever talk about this once they know who each other is?

Okay, you're reopening a four year old topic here, probably better to start a new one. That being said, no, they don't talk about in the game. Because Seliph only finds out Julia's identity after she's been kidnapped, and the next time he sees her she's brainwashed trying to kill him while he's busy trying to kill Julius.

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