The non-white characters of Soulsborne
! I will forewarn that I might have forgotten someone during writing this post, so it could be a subject for updates after posting it! Characters that had dialogue or substancial presesnce all things considered will also be highlighted in bold font! I've decided to separate characters by their respective games!
Demon's Souls
Old Hero, Doran, Oolan (+her tribe), that one guy from Shrine of Storms Archstone, Urbain, Disciple of God, Satsuki
(Very good references for Old Hero ( x ), as well as for Doran and proof of Oolan's asset flip ( x ) are by amazing Boletarian Archives!)
I am not sure whether the Shadowmen and their descendants are inspired by any culture in the real world? They appear to be the fantasy species! I would very strongly assert that Doran himself has Shadowmen descent that he willingly forsaken ( x ), but whether you subscribe to the theory doesn't matter in the end! ...well, and obviously, the person with torn lips depicted on the Archstone is the same race as Old Hero too.
As for Oolan, she is definitely a subject for a redesign! She uses the White Bow, a weapon otherwise unique only to the long gone nation of the Shrine of Storms! Japanese script confirms that she should not be white, in stark contrast to an average white European Boletarian:
็ฐๆฐๆใฎๅ่ ใ้ทๅผใฎใฆใผใฉใณใจใๅฝผใฎ่ฎๅ ตใใก
"(The) hero of foreign species / different ethnicity, Oolan of the Long Bow, and (by one's side), barbarian/savage solders". (the ๅฝผ 'kare' here also doesn't necessarily equal he/him pronouns due to the older and royal dialect of Ostrava, as 'kare' used to be used for either gender and not even to refer to a person objectively! obviously always feel free to have your headcanons anyways though!)
At the same time, the situation with Oolan is even a little bit more complex than that. The Giants, associated with the unused Northern Limit in Demon's Souls, are Japanese-coded in this setting and interestingly, in the Shrine of Storms we DO see a lot of Japanese weapons and warriors amongst the commonly-Shadowmen ones! The Makoto, a sword Satsuki is looking for, is also named after a Giant, and where Satsuki is? Right, in the Shrine of Storms! Oolan's White Bow is also said to be impossible to wield by "merely a human" (we don't count since we use aid of the Demonic powers in the story)... So, not only Shadowmen and Giants intermingled, but Oolan also descends from the Giants! Sure, she is human-sized, but so are Tarnished in Elden Ring that descend from the Giants too!
So, Oolan might also look visibly Asian! She could be mixed but in the sense of fantasy races, however, they are inspired by something. She also sure should be a bit larger than what NPC creator allows us to see...
'Follower of God 2', also commonly known as Disciple of God, looks very much like he was intended to be a black character, but... well, you know. It took Fromsoft until Elden Ring to finally make the NPC creator good with darker skin tones. ๐ I assume that Urbain only has identical skin tone to him because they've finally managed to make a brown skin tone in their creator and were scared to disturb it shhdfsfds But I would count him as brown for what it's worth.
Satsuki is Japanese but unusually has dark grey eyes, which cannot be blamed on the creator since it does allow creating brown eyes. I wonder if he is meant to be mixed?
Dark Souls 1
Shiva, Shiva's Bodyguard, Makoto, Queelag, Quelana*, Izalith*. + Possibly Male Undead Merchant
Dark Souls 1 had many things return from Demon's Souls, and it seems that Shiva was meant to be a trope successor to Satsuki, although his questline got cut! Fittingly, he is also mixed, having blue eyes and some white (?) features.
As for the Daughters of Chaos, I've decided to include only the two we have seen being "Japanese"! They might be all rather different, especially considering a very possible theory that Jeremiah was either Izalith's husband (and so, their father) or related to her! Worth to mention that Izalith (the place, not the character) is inspired by Angkor Wat, Cambodia, so they certainly might be not all Japanese-coded family!
* But it is important to note that Quelana is very likely meant to have grey skin, like Izalith, as both her concept art and trophy depicting her show it! A very big argument for it is also that it is impossible to create grey skintone in Dark Souls 1 NPC creator! However... more correctly, it is both.
She appears to have something I tend to call "moonlight affinity skin", even though not all characters with either grey or literal bleach white skin are this! The reason why Izalith would have Moonlight affinity is such a tangent that it would derail the post, so I will save it for a separate one!
My point is, grey or (literal) white skin tone is not a permanent feature; Gwyndolin is a display on-screen we have of it, as in Dark Souls 3 time their true skin tone was revealed! A very healthy, even a bit tan skin, perhaps similar to Gwyn's or Priscilla's. So, Izalith and especially Quelana are not necessarily a fantasy race, but are very likely still just Japanese-coded, just with grey "moonlight skin" overlay obscuring it at times!
As for the (male) Undead Merchant!! He wields Uchigatana in a fight if you aggro him, and drops it! However, it is not one of the wares he sells, but a weapon of choice.
....and yeah. Makoto, a mentioned character that Shiva has been looking for is there too, I guess.
BONUS: these unused concepts! For what the Japanese text is worth, this might have been a scrapped character, if not an enemy type, meant to be connected to either Shiva's """foreign land""" or to Lost Izalith! Both are linked to Japan, both were torn by the war. I do wonder if this was an enemy type similar to the Bell-Ringing Women from Bloodborne meant to be in Lost Izalith before they decided to only populate it with the Demons?
Meanwhile, the lower skirt of the character on the right seems to be soaked in deep blue, similar to the liquids seen in multiple chasms all over Oolacile. Abyssal corruption? Should have been a summonable Phantom against Kalameet or Artorias? Fromsoft whyyyy......
In terms of representation, Dark Souls 1 was really Japanese lol. There is literally no other nonwhite race in this game. I guess they tried to go for majority of Catarina being black/brown only to make Siegmeyer and Sieglinde not look the part fdhhdfshdfs
Dark Souls 2
Alonne, Rosabeth, Maughlin, Straid, Felkin, Velstadt, Gryth (aka the Sunken King), Aurous, Mytha, Benhart and Sharron. + Possibly Durgo
Alonne, as we remember, is also Japanese, nothing to dwell on! So it probably makes more sense to move onto FEEBLE CURSED ONE and others fsdhfdhfd
Personally I really like how Straid and Maughlin appear very different whereas both, obviously, being Black! They sure could have done better work with textures though... -_-" I am just glad they remembered that Black also have very varying features and skin tones. I've seen several people finding Maughlin's scleras strange but scleras darkening due to excessive melanin in the eyes is a real thing! Perhaps this was the devs' intention.
Rosabeth and Felkin are both from Melfia, which seems to be very intercultiral! Carhillion, a white guy, is also from there. This makes perfect sense as Melfia was built by multiple Undeads thrown into the sea by King of Olaphis who made it to the shore. Rosabeth looks a bit Indian to me, and Felkin looks to me like someone from Middle East? Maybe around Turkey or Saudi Arabia? What do you guys think?
Shulva, inspired by Mesoamerica, is a really interesting one to me! Shulva is also the only one of the former kingdoms that had a way to coexist with Drangleic at the same time for several reasons.
Granted, it is debatable whether Velstadt himself is native to Shulva! He could be! In any case, his dark brown skin tone appears to be genuine and not the result of Hollowing. Hollowing typically takes dark pink, green or grey colors, and his skin is neither!
And yes, Jugo. The titular desert country. Concept art of Desert Sorceresses reveals what they looked like before the Hollowed state! Both Benhart and a Sorceress appear to have brighter skin tone and grey eyes. Seems like Jugo is also inspired by Middle East. Some people in this region have brighter skin!
If you don't remember who Sharron is; it is complicated. It is an Invader Phantom you killed once and forgot, but needless to remind that in Dark Souls 2 Phantoms are just built differently and have a lot of personality packed. x) Here ( x ) is a brief one, but to say the least, much like Benhart, she collects clothes from defeated adversaries like trophies! Maybe it is even customary for the warriors from Jugo- and, man, does it provide a nice slide to Wolnir, whose kingdom did evolve from Jugo, forging his crown from the crowns of the kings he defeated fsdhfhds But, about him later. As for Aurous, he is a mentioned character and founder of Jugo!
As for Mytha, she is possibly a Jugo girl too, which would explain why Desert Sorceresses serve her! And Jugo is a land of courageous warriors... and here is Mytha, capable of wielding a spear (fits Iron King's habit to surround himself with warriors) and with necklace of fangs. Jugo Sorceresses also drop Dragon Charms, so maybe Mytha's necklace represents slaying Drakes/Wyverns? At the same time, what does turning into a nagini entail? ๐ค
Durgo is not really a mentioned character... More like, a character they've included in vanilla Dark Souls 2, but did it wrong, and then simply nuked them in SotFS version! :> More about it here ( x ), but:
Blue-eyed Durgo, the nomadic bowman, had many a valiant victory in battle, half owing to the boon of this ring.
The description that already sounds like they refer to Ironeye lol suggests that for some reason, this character having blue eyes is a big deal? I feel like it would only make sense to point out the eye color if, say, having blue eyes was a very unusual feature for their race? And... well, the last time I checked, for white people, blue eyes were a regular feature. It is literal too: ่ผ็ผใฎใใซใดใผใฏ, 'aoi me'.
Alternatively, it might be not literal, but a nickname, because:
Hat worn by merchants from Lanafir, where blue represents knowledge. Wearing this increases item discovery.
So, if blue represents knowledge, then honoring someone as 'blue-eyed' would mean they have "knowledgeable eye" for the detail, always notice everything and so. Which Durgo most likely have been!
Lanafir is the farthest land to the south and follows a strict edict of isolationism. The rare visitor from Lanafir is always a little odd.
Nothing about Lanafir suggests that the Southern-most end of the world would refer to Southern pole, of course. So, instead, it might refer to areas like Southern America or Australia? However, Magerold being white and us having an opportunity to create a Bearer of the Curse from Lanafir (which means character of any race if you are willing to put up with their awful NPC creator fdshfdhs) suggests that despite their "isolationist politics", this country is multi-national!
A greatbow made of animal bone. The fine craftsmanship suggests that it originates in Lanafir.
The unusual design appears to have ceremonial implications, but may simply be intended to intimidate foes.
Although it says "of animal bone", the greatbow actually straight up includes whole animal's skull!
The hero Durgo, an expert bowman, and his brother-in-law defended their homeland from aggressors.
('His' is a localisation liberty) So, there is a country located as far on the South as the continents go, that has an interesting culture and ceremonies involving skulls of animals, known for their hunters, which is very isolationist and has to deal with the outside agressors? And either, it was somehow unusual for Durgo to have blue eyes or they received a nickname highlighting their talent in their culture? Or even a mix of both? Assigning a talent at birth due to some circumstances as a cultural practice...?
I wonder if Fromsoft implied that people like Durgo are natives in Lanafir, and politics of isolationism is an attempt to protect and recover their culture? If they keep dealing with agressors, of course they would get extra protective of it! However, 1) rare merchants are being sent out to not completely lose touch with the rest of the world and new inventions and 2) aside of literal invaders that keep attacking Lanafir, there were just foreigners that arrived and settled down? ๐ค again, people like Magerold, or Bearer of the Curse from this land who could be any race, or Durgo's brother-in-law that was an Elite Knight who was also nuked from SotFS?
So Durgo in some way might be coded as a Native? Maybe specifically a Native Australian? And From would hide it under like 20 layers of subtliety? .....also as usual, the NPC model used for them doesn't look the part because it is a reused asset. Haha, classic (c)
Bloodborne
Djura's Ally, Djura's Apprentice, Simon, Henryk, Suspicious Beggar, a Yahar'gul Hunter with Tonitrus guarding the entrance, a Yahar'gul Hunter using beastly transformation, a Yahar'gul Hunter with Threaded Cane, a Yahar'gul Hunter with the Rifle Spear, a Yahar'gul Hunter found in prison under Research Hall, Yamamura, the first Hunter of Hunters. + Possibly Madaras Twins and Eileen
Yeah yeah I know that Djura's Apprentice should have probably been in the 'possibly' section and developers just felt lazy and reused Simon's data but! This is my post and I get to choose the cope Hear me out: with Fromsoft's love for the twins as a concept, going from game to game, it is not even an outlandish theory that Simon might have also had a twin brother. I think that going by it being what it is just works better, and 'possibly' section is better saved for the characters that we never see at all!
Henryk and Suspicious Beggar both have descent from Loran, an ancient country in Bloodborne settings that was swallowed by the sands. I find it a bit diffucult to point to the exact real world's country inspiration, but perhaps it was somewhere in North African countries region? I see it commonly pointed out that Loran might be Egyptean-coded, and you can certainly get the feeling from the Darkbeast's OST!
I also believe that the two characters are implied to be the older and the younger brother! Not only both are connected with Loran, but both, despite having very clearly distinct appearances, have 100% identical (in sliders) mole on their nose. x) However, whereas Henryk is at battle with his heritage, even wearing clothes with the biggest resistence to lighting (and his set used to be called 'Set of Gremia' back when Gremia was name of Loran instead), Beggar has given into it.
This is actually my favourite because Yahar'gul Hunters actually have some lore despite lacking even one description! It is all put together via equipment and behavior, as it commonly is in Soulsborne games! To not derail the post completely, I've put it all together here ( x )! We meet total of seven Yahar'gul Hunters in the game, with five not being white obviously, one white Hunter (Antal) and one whose race is up to interpretation as he uses default placeholder face. All of them, save for the Beasthood one, use weapons of the Healing Church which seems to imply most of the Yahar'gul Hunters were victims of the Church's agenda against foreigners and left with no choice but to turn to the School of Mensis for safety and, well, "employment".
The hunter that we find in the Hunter's Nightmare is especially interesting due to his potential connection to Yamamura! He is found in the Underground Cell, which is Healing Church's place to imprison the people that knew too much about it. Gratia and Yamamura were also imprisoned here, however, Yamamura is a summon in the Research Hall and in Yahar'gul! This Yahar'gul Hunter very likely betrayed School of Mensis before Antal made it cool and freed Yamamura (since Yamamura died in Healing Church's prison, not in Yahar'guls one). They probably had plans to unveil the Church's dark secrets, but oh well...
Now, to move to the potential ones:
I'd say Madaras Twins might be Indian, since their story is inspired by the story of Mowgli and their name, ใใใฉใน, is very likely reference to the word Madras (which is what Chennai used to be named until 1996). Otherwise name Madaras has no real etymology, so, why not?
As for Eileen, she might be Tibetan! On the one hand, the lore says that just the first Hunters of Hunters came from this setting's version of Tibet, where the tradition of Sky Burial is from! Eileen might have arrived later. Bloody Crow might have formerly been a student of her before their falling out (to put it lightly), so practices of Hunters of Hunters are not exclusive to people from this land! But on the other hand, what if she did actually arrive from "Tibet", and the reason she decided to become Hunter of Hunters is because she was fond of its connections with the practices of her home? After all, many Hunters of Hunters arrived from that land, so there was a good point of interaction between it and Yharnam! I say, why not count her?
* Yurie kinda should not be here, but I needed to adress her in case if someone says that I forgot her for the list! She is often portrayed as Japanese due to how her name sounds and lacking the visible hairstyle, but Japanese script reveals that her name, ใฆใชใจ, reads as yu-ri-YE, not yu-ree! The Japanese name you might be thinking of would be written as ใฆใช, since the ใจ is not silent. ใฆใชใจ is more accurately translated as Julie, a Czech variant of Julia, and considering that Yharnam is inspired by Middle Europe around Czechia, Poland and Hungary ( x ) it makes even more sense! And although she lacks the hairstyle, her NPC data suggests she is blonde, as well as her eyebrows are blond visibly! Seems like she is Slavic, and native to Yharnam. It should be obvious that there is nothing wrong with the headcanons though, but it is just worth pointing out that unlike with Madaras Twins and Eileen there isn't anything I could really cling to. ๐ค
Dark Souls 3
Kamui, Wolnir, Sword Master, Zoey, Cornyx, Rapier Champion
Dark Souls 3 notoriously has a very big problem of reshared faces in the way where they can not be chalked down to the characters just being twins *looks at Rosaria's Fingers group*, so in many cases you just have to pick! Also everyone is bald. Why everyone is so bald. You guys will never be Patches. I'd say that the reused face data here feels like it fits Kamui more than Gotthard; this data definitely looks like an attempt to create an Asian person, which Gotthard is not! But regardless, Kamui is certainly Japanese, and so is Sword Master!
Zoey, of course, counts for the same reason why Benhart and Sharron count, as a person from Jugo! She does continue the trend of visibly paler skin tone but not of the grey eyes, having teal/green ones instead, so maybe she is mixed? And needless to mention that Carthus was what Jugo became, making Wolnir also a person with Middle East origins!
As for Cornyx, one might make a point that this is simply how skin of people from the Great Swamp becomes as it looks green-ish if you squint really hard, but this is also instantly debunked by how Laurentius and Cuculus look? So I'd say Cornyx is simply like this!
Elden Ring
Nepheli, whoever Godfrey rizzled for Nepheli to even be born, Rogier, Istvan, Ansbach, Nataan, Dane, Freyja, Hornsent, Grandam, Madding Hand, Nanaya, Romina, Ornis, the Lamenter, Meera, Labirith, Jori, Yura, Rakshasa, Okina + the Inaba, Red Bear, Logur, Boggart, Jolan and Anna. + Possibly Kale + Nomads, GEQ and Daedicar.
Istvan is a bit of a false advertisement since he is referred to as very old but absolutely doesn't look like it, but to think of it, he might be a Tarnished of Numen origin! Numen are said to be very long-lived and their preset does have brown skin!
And whereas Rogier looks Latino to me and Boggart might be mixed (or this setting's equivalent of a Black American?), I struggle to point out who Nepheli could be! Badlands are kinda found all over the world, and clothes of the heroes from there seem to be a mix of inspirations. ๐ค And, well, Godfrey had some unseen lover besides Marika at some point, but since he is very white then the dark skin was likely hers? It might depend on how many generations you believe Nepheli had skipped! At the very least, there is someone in the family tree like this.
Dane is like, monk-coded. Like, very monk-coded. Appearance, behavioir and fighting style all. Whereas maybe not 1:1 to real life, but I certainly feel he would be from the setting's version of East Asia!
And Nataan feels like how people of Jugo could look like if Fromsoft did a rehaul of the concept? Although both he and Ansbach look to me like people from different parts of West Asia. And Although Freyja is inspired by Gladiators I never really felt like she was "just tan"? Maybe she is most similar to someone from the northern-most parts of Africa? Geographically would be close to Italy as well, too.
Of course, all Hornsent characters fall into the non-white category! That includes the Hornsent guy we've been following, Hornsent Grandam, Elder Inquisitor Jori, the Lamenterwe fought, Madding Hand NPC who ambushed us in the Abyssal Woods, and some a bit more obscure ones:
Long ago, before theย landย was overshadowed byย invasion, this scourge was shunned, and the curseblades wereย imprisoned. It was during this confinement that Meera metย Labirith, and upon her death, Labirith was plunged into a devastatingย darkness.
Ashen remains in whichย spiritsย yet dwell. Use to summon the spirit ofย Ornisย theย divine bird warrior. Spirit of the divine bird warrior from whom theย horned warriorsย claimed descent. Clad inย goldenย armor, and grantedย wingsย andย feathersย ofย divine invocation. Ornis succeeded in taming theย divine birdย and made its wings his own as he soared through the sky. When he finally fell to earth, he lived on as theย guardian deityย of theย temple quarter.
For why Romina is from Belurat and not from Rauh... Again, currently what I have is a bit of a long post that is more about connected origins of the fly disease and her Scarlet Rot than about her individually. But, as for shorter pointers towards that idea, 1) the whole action of Messmer's fires in the trailer where she appeared happened in Belurat and 2) even under the assumption that frame with her was an exception, her church is very close to Enir-Ilim and near the sealing tree you burn to access it has some saints of the Hornsent near it so maybe this chapel is Hornsent's small domain in Rauh ruins! She simply counts as a Hornsent too!
So, who Hornsent are, exactly? I very strongly recommend you to check out the post ( x ) by @blasphemousclaw with a lot of good images that shows how Hornsent culture is inspired by Assyrian culture! Mesopotamia used to be in Middle East, where countries like Turkey, Iraq and Iran are now! It is just a very good post, check it out!
Nanaya and Midra are married couple in which one has descent from the Shaman's Village, another is from Hornsent (although born without horns)! Above, you can see my attempt to illustrate why Nanaya would be a Hornsent and Midra would have connection with the Shamans! A man from society of Numens, where only women really matter, and a woman from society of Hornsent, for whom horns mark one's importance and "divinity"... How sweet that they've found each other despite being condemned in their respective cultures. Also, Nanaya is literally named after a Mesopotamian Goddess, even further connecting her with Hornsent!
Yura, Okina and his followers (the Inaba) are Japanese, but with Rakshasa it is not very clear? It seems like she would come from the Land of Reeds as well, but Rakshasa is the Indian word! She might still have Japanese origins, Indian origins, or a mix of both?
Interestingly enough, Rakshasa is also an Albino! Her "green" eyes don't appear to be her real eye color! Eyes of Albino people are far not always very pale blue or reddish; they can look dark purple or dark blue too, which is definitely the case with her! Below the green clouding effect, she has dark blue eyes. Okina similarly has "green" eyes, although for him it was selected manually rather than achieved through clouding effect, but I believe it is intentional. Okina and Rakshasa are very alike, both aspiring to achieve "demonhood" through losing self on the path of countless murders! This particular warm green color happens to be the color of "forged" Gold in Elden Ring setting ( x )! The Rune that Godrick possesses assumes the same warm green hue.
This is to say, they are not necessarily green-eyed Asians, but rather they gained some """grace""" in their eyes through endless battle!
(Sorry for Jolan and Anna's images being a bit deep-fried, I forgot to recreate them so I took them from Zullie's video ( x ))
Of course, the concept for the warrior that imitated a bear existed since Dark Souls 1's artbook, and even back then it seems like they already intended for this hypocthetical character to have the dark skin! I don't know why it took them until the DLC to add dreadlocks, but better late than never fdsdfshf I suppose he would be just a black person, then. When I was trying to seek etymology of the name Logur it stubbornly linked back to the Eastern European suggested origins, however, Turkey is very close to there. I would say he might be setting's equivalent of Turkish! What do you guys think?
Jolan and Anna might be the case of fantasy species! They are very likely Nox, maybe an early attempt to raise the Black Knives, but more importantly: they are the case of one soul being split between the twins, like Irina and Hyetta, or Devin and Darian! That would make Anna an Albino as well, whereas Jolan represents what Anna also would look like if she wasn't. Her skin might also be a bit greyed compared to her true skin tone, which also happens with the skin of the Nox.
Now, as for the possible ones!
I will link this tangent here ( x ), but basically: Gloam-Eyed Queen very likely was born within the Gelmir's tribe! Ancient Gelmir's people had Mesoamerican inspirations, a lot like Shulva, though in their case the culture of Azula/early Stormveil was integrated too. However, in general, the figure of Feathered Serpent was important for Mesoamerican tribes, and so was Obsidian. I really feel like Fromsoft drew inspiration from there. Daedicar was very possibly one of the descendants of this long-go nation!
As for the Nomads, opinions differ. They share a lot in common with Ukrainian Kobzars, but also with the Romani people, but also Middle Eastern and North African people. Maybe it is all of them? Personally, I was first thinking of Romani people! ...well, they are mention as such in the game files, though by a different word (g*psiะตs). Although an outdated term that is also considered a slur (I'd suggest the devs didn't know), it could hint at what inspiration was the "main" one when they were creating the characters.
Nightreign
Recluse, Witch of the Wheel, Raider, Ironeye, Fulghor, Crucible Knight and Reedlander Tarnished that make Executor (and Executor themselves)
Nightreign was such a good step in the right direction! But whereas they are notorious for the assets reuse, I would say that Witch of the Wheel is not the same situation as the "Monster" or White Fang! Not only Recluse and Witch of the Wheel come from the same place, but also unlike those other two examples, there is not even the slightest attempt to conceal the Witch's looks! It is very apparent that she simply IS the same race as Recluse, although her face features and maybe partially clothes should be a subject for a redesign!
They appear to be fantasy species, as witches with pure white hair regardless of age and none of the strong ethnic features despite having very dark skin, but of course they count!
Ironeye has a very unusual appearance, although for lore reasons. Whereas generally he looks like a very West Asian or Middle Asian man, his eyes were corrupted by the Night itself and his kind of Those Who Live in Death were borne of Godwyn's curse making them grow his blond hair! I wonder if his hair is all blond, or it is a chaotic mishmash of blond and black like his eyebrows and facial hair is?
Again, Executor's colors are also a bit of a tangent. x) I will just leave the post where I dived into what we could conclude from their change in data depending on the clothes here ( x )!
What is important here is that Executor is a fusion of the two characters! One is Eastern Asian Tarnished from the Land of Reeds, who are usually Japanese, and her skin was pale brown color! If Executor combines appearances of the two, it means the Crucible Knight had an even darker skin tone! Or at the very least the same as Executors, because all this melanin clearly didn't come from the painter.
And I know that Fulghor and Raider might be a little debatable because it is not clear where his horse skin ends and his human part's skin begins + "what if Raider is just very tan" but I say why not fdhdfhsfd The whole point of a centaur is that upper half is the human one and his human part is visibly brown, and pirates were famously all races indiscrimatory anyways! I do think he is probably an ancient Mediterranean pirate at the very least (who were based in Cilicia, found somwhere where Turkey stands nowadays)
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Thaaaaaat's all, I think! :> Thank you so much for bearing with me!
This is the part where I should make some sort of conclusion, whether an optimistic one or a critical one, I guess? Well. I don't feel competent enough to objectively rate Fromsoft beyond the basic observations hahah; I'll let everyone rate how did Fromsoft do on their own, my job was to simply deliver the information! :>
I did notice that they had intention to include some nonwhite people even from their very first Soulsborne game, only for some reason leaving DS1 and DS3 out of darker skinned characters? It could be the fault of the awful earlier NPC creators; notice how the dark-skinned characters od DS2 are unique models, not NPC ones! I think they are improving. Whereas their settings are commonly Europe-based, but their stories also suggest arrival of many foreigners from all over the world. There could have been much more nonwhite characters but personally, I can't tell they are not even trying. Bloodborne is my favourite one in this, as it addresses themes of xenophobia and racism and you can feel its impact seeing the fates of everyone who isn't white in this story.
Maybe I have missed some characters (though I obsessively double-checked at least 30 times!!), or maybe I didn't address some obvious inspirations so always feel free to contribute! I did notice that a LOT of these characters could definitely use more discussion and attention in the fandom though ั.ั
