His design and specifically his hair got… ALOT of hate when he was revealed in the demo then later in the teaser. I do agree to some extent that his design is (somewhat) lazy (sounds harsh but I don’t know what other word to use, his design compared to others just doesn’t look that great) and not as different from his current design (which was apparently intentional according to Sam on discord)

Due to this I tried to just think about it and come up with my own little theories / headcanon that I think would be kind of realistic given the context to his situation (being the fact he is from dragonspyre and having to transition to a life much different than what he was used too back home)

In my own headcanon I think that when he came to Wizard city he (obviously) would have some form of trauma from being in the army, his childhood, etc. he also would have physical traits especially from his culture that the people of Wizard city I don’t think really liked. It’s clear that people from Wizard City (not everyone but some) does not like Dragonspyrain’s as they are thought to have a pretty nasty reputation.

One of these physical traits being his hair, I imagine in that culture they would grow their hair and wear them in very elaborate warrior braids regardless whether you were a man or woman. It was tradition to grow out your hair then dependant on the position you were in while in the army you could either continue to grow it out or cut it short, but still long enough to braid if wanted.

I think Malistaire wore his hair long for years before he came to Wizard city and was taught by his peers to braid them himself and adorn them with charms and cuffs alike over time. When he came to Wizard city people looked at him and treated him like a warmongering savage basically, they made their distaste for him and his culture very evident. Sadly in order to attempt at fitting in he tried changing parts of himself whether it was not wearing the traditional garb or uniform esque clothing, all the way to cutting his hair short in order to hide himself and where he came from

I want to preface this by saying I do not think he’d do that out of shame for his home and his culture / family ties. But out of the sheer want to belong and fit in amongst his peers. I also think that due to his past and his own reasons he wanted to cut his hair short due to the fact that whenever he saw himself in the mirror he saw no one but a soldier, his father’s son, a mage that had to do things he was not proud of for the sake of conquest and power. So he wanted to try and rebrand himself and create a new identity, still himself but altering it in a way that maybe he can be seen as an equal and blend in a little more to his new surroundings.

When he cut his hair he didn’t know what to do. He’d never been to a salon / barber shop before but when he visited one he did not know what to even ask for other than “make it short”. The person that cut his hair tried their best but once they were done Malistaire was one, mortified at the sight of his hair he’d been growing for years just lying on the floor around him, and two, unsure whether he liked it or not but it was too late so he paid the person for their efforts and left. Silently telling himself he will never step foot in a barber shop ever again and he will just grow it out again (hence why it’s long and back in braids later on)

Idk just a silly thought from my silly brain who is putting waaayyy too much thought into this game that hasn’t even been released yet.