#sameface syndrome

Fate’s Red Saber Nero - No, you can not unsee it. You’re Welcome! 

Since Fate’s fandom is the way it is, I decided to dedicate a very special stream redesign to them! 

When we commented on Fate: Last Encore’s version of “Saber”, the fanboys predictably, as with many previous posts on that franchise, rushed in to explain to us that this is not the same Saber we used as a positive example before (Artoria, aka waifu King Arthur). No, apparently it’s just a completely unrelated character who happens to look exactly the same, allegedly because the designer for the franchise has a fetish for this one particular appearance, affectionately referred to by fandom as “Saberface”. Which justifies the shitty sameface syndrome how...? ¯\_( ͠° ͟ʖ ͠° )_/¯ 

[Yes, those are four different people in various parts of the franchise. Only two of them are related. And yes, there are plenty more Saber clones.] 

Also, Fate’s lore is an incomprehensible mess with no single continuity. If we were to fully explain that every time a new Saber with giant boobs or stupid butt window comes out, our posts would be ten times longer. 🙄 

So, considering that this here Red Saber (not confused with the one with spiky hair) happens to be emperor Nero, I decided to right that wrong and make it abundantly clear that this is who this character is supposed to be. 

Enter anime waifu Nero. 

While usually I redesign the outfit, leaving character’s face more or less intact, this time I’m leaving the body and the awful boob-and-ass-window (plus visible panties) dress entirely unedited. After all, it fits her personality, or so I’m told. It’s the exact same sexualized anime girl, except she happens to have the face of an ancient Roman ruler, neckbeard included. 

And if you respect Nero’s own choice of clothing, please don’t shame her choice to grow out a beard. She rocks that look so much harder than she did Artoria’s face and haircut. 

Obviously I used the most famous Nero statue as a reference and did my best to recreate the cell-shaded anime look. Which is also why I incorporated her original eyes into the new design. Of course she needs to remain consistent with Fate aesthetic. I’m not an art-ruining barbarian. 

Overall this was a really fun stream and I’m pretty happy with the results. Not likely to happen again, but who knows? 

Once again, YOU’RE WELCOME. 

sources for the texts:

- Vision and difference: Feminity, Feminism, and Histories of Art, Griselda Pollock, p. 121 f. - Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud, p. 43 f. - Beautiful Fighting Girl, Saito Tamaki - The Body and the Archive, Allan Sekula, p. 54

The thing that bothers me about sameface syndrome (particularly in animation production companies like Disney) is that it’s such a waste of talent, time and resources. In an environment that requires team effort, it’s essentially saying that at the end of the day there is only one way for a woman to look. 

Why bother going through all the trouble of concept art, bringing so many different artists together to create a great character when in the end you just slap Rapunzel’s face on the final model and call it a day?

What kind of morale do you think is going to be reinforced on the production team when the animation director tells an artist to create a wonderful, powerful, unique female character who will influence millions of girls. And then at the end of the day throw all that away just to make Elsa 2.0? 

someone unironically put this on my dash