How to make a female lead? [observations]posted Dec 27th 2009, 9:38PM
Mood: Work-A-Holic
Music: Utada Hikaru - Passion
After spending most of my time researching female leads like Orihime & Rukia from BLEACH, Clare from Claymore, Lightning & Fang from Final Fantasy XIII, Ashe & Fran from Final Fantasy XII, Kid from Chrono Cross, Elly from Xenogears & even the ill-fated Claska from BERSERK, it has come to my attention that the some of the characters I have listed gain more favor from the women base of these fandoms than others. It is no surprise that Orihime is well hated among most BLEACH fans while Rukia is highly favored above her and that Ashe is more dynamic towards women fans of FFXII than Fran is. After spending some time researching as to why that is, I've decided that perhaps it would be best to make my character Noelani like the other and less like a girlie girl.
It seems that girlie girl characters are disliked by most female fans while the somewhat tomboyish or masculine female characters tend to get more favor. I know this is a generalization at best of several very different fandoms but I see some resemblance between those who like Rukia and those who like Ashe.
It seems that overall, characters like Orihime or Aerith(FF7) have a tough time earning the respect of female fans because of their passive roles in the story. Yuna(FFX) is a special case since she actually rose beyond her passiveness to defeat Seymour, who in short is her ultimate rival in the game. Yuna's growth in FFX continued within the highly criticized FFX-2 which solidified her as a girl who is willing to crack a few skulls to get what she wants. While this is also true for early Claska in BERSERK, I would like to note that if female characters are too brutish in their design; male fans will not be attracted to them.
Lightning from FFXIII is a prime example of that considering many male fans on various FF based forums think that SquareEnix made Lightning too masculine for their liking. This is a constant and ongoing problem the Japanese are widely known for in character development. They think that the only way to make a successful female protagonist is to make her very similar to her male counterparts. Lightning lacks any femininity other than her appearance and it was quoted that they given those aspects to Oerba Yun Fang(another character from FFXIII) in order to make Lightning a more serious character. While I am slightly fond of Lightning, I really think SE may have made a bad choice by just making her the 'Female Cloud Strife' of FF13.
This idea of feminine characters being too silly to take the main role is a slightly misogynistic thought in my opinion but maybe its more chauvinistic at best. I firmly believe there is a way to allow a main female protagonists to be feminine without them losing that certain level of coolness that makes them attractive to male and female fans.
Claska from BERSERK is an example of this unsaid coolness but eventually her bad ass edge is dimmed and diminished after being raped during the God Hand ceremony by Griffith, a plot twist that never ever sat well with me. Claska was a character who was both tomboyish but attractive, a character who've faced tons of hardships and managed to overcome the expected role that the women of the Midlands were expected to have. She was a unique character of dark mocha complexion, a Moor girl in the middle of nearly all White medieval Europe setting. Her partnership with the lead, Gutts, was a trickery one and her relationship prior to the God Hand incident was just as slippery.
However, Claska's character was was heavily derailed thanks to the brutality she endured in the God Hand ceremony which has forever altered her character into a helpless and mindless fool. Claska's sudden change in character caused both by the horror she witnessed of her friends being murdered and by her rape was one of the saddest moments for female leads. After being raped as a child by a horrid rich bastard who her family sold her to and battling outrageous beasts that seemed to use rape as a tool to instill fear into women, I do find that Claska's end to be tip of a dick to be rather "Fucked up" for a lack of a better word.
Another character in BERSERK who I used to admire was Rosine(Roshinu) one of the Apostles. She was a child who wanted to become an elf, a wayward girl beaten by an abusive father and pacified by a weak mother. Rosine's story arc was rather brutal for its slightly innocent and child-like role she took as the Elf Queen, Pikaf. Her entire arc was a beautiful nightmare that came to a tragic end.
To quickly note one more character before ending this short essay, I would like to bring up Clare from Claymore. Clare is like Lightning, completely devoid of femininity other than her appearance. Her role in Claymore is so genderless that I can picture a male protagonist filling in her shoes rather easily. If it wasn't for Clare's fondness for Raki, I would have forgotten that she was female considering how much of a blank slate Clare is. However, like many other Claymore characters, Clare is not the only woman who lacks a both femininity and personality.
In conclusion, with my designing of Noelani's personality I would like to keep in mind all the aspects used to create some of the most famous female characters known to date. Instead of making her a girlie-girl character, I have opted to make her a tomboy, instead of making her too boyish, I have decided to give her layer of femininity about her. This will be a tricky feat to accomplish.
A young artist who has dreams of becoming a cartooning and illustrator in the near future.
With goals to attend the famous School of Visual Arts, she takes classes currently at Cooper Union in Astors Place, New York for fine art classes.
Drawing since the age of five, Sharlene taught herself how to draw and is attending art classes for the first time ever.
thank you! i'm glad to hear it! sometimes people compain about how fat they are and it makes me a little bit nervous to try and sell them but i'm glad you like them^^
...They must not be aware of Japanese comics in general. lol Usually mangakas draw their chibis fat, round-eyed and adorable for the whole 'cute' factor.
It would be creepy to see a SKINNY chibi gawking at you. ANOREXIC CHIBI FTL!
Anime-haters complain about everything. I try my best to avoid those people because to be frank, I don't care to listen to their opinion because of their biased opinions. Its bad to be surrounded those kinds of people if you are interested or like a certain art style. Most people who hate anime just hate it because it is so popular these days. Ironically enough, most anime haters are fans of comic books and view American comics to be superior to Japanese mangas despite how totally unrealistic American comics are.
They claim there is more realism in American comic book art versus the Japanese but I highly and strongly disagree.
Both art styles are very non-realistic for I never seen huge bulging men in spandex before walking down Madison ave or something.
Its good to be original! Keep up the good work with your chibis. They are just plain adorable~
yeah i have a lot of friends who don't care for anime so i usually just don't talk about it. i tend to get along fine with them unless someone mentions how i like anime. i figure, it's only part of who i am so it doesn't have to get involved with everything i do. plus i live to prove that anime fans can be fun to hang out with too. but it really annoys me when they occasionally try to pick a fight with me for the lols. if they do, i usually just wave it off. i mean, if i were to get angry, i'd be giving them just what they want.
yeah i think american stuff is pretty rediculously unrealistic. i like batman, spawn and xmen but a lot of the other stuff is pretty crazy. anime can be crazy to but it's fun to be imaginative sometimes.
What!? You do? O.o
Is it because of my latest comic? I think it got FP or something... I'm not sure =/
But thanks~
I'm glad it made you laugh
Then it has done it's job to entertain! 8D
The last comic caught my attention and so far I really LOVE your characters. They are so weird and different, not the usual cast of characters! Plus I like your art style, even though I am sure you would punch me for saying it reminds me of a BETTER version of Akira Toriyama's stuff.
He he thanks a lot! 8D
And why would I punch you for that! D8
Akira Toriyama is the main reason why I stated trying to draw manga and was my Idol when I was young. I even wished to become a mangaka tho I changed it comic artist now
But still he was the main reason why I started to like comics and stuff. So I take that as a compliment^__^
Submit Artwork 
Manage Artwork 
Manage Journal 
Messages 
Watch List 
Settings 
Logout 
Upgrade 
Featured Artwork
Artwork
!['Nao [Demon Sketch]' by chibiandor](http://art1.server06.sheezyart.com/preview/209/2099725.jpg)
Favorites
Watchers
Webcam
Profile
Shout
I know who you are! LOL! Your latest artwork made me laugh a bit. I love your icon! 
