The (Not So) Secret to Ephraim's Appeal
Mar. 22nd, 2011 07:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mark_asphodelThis is totally the fault of ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
xirysa and rethira , and I can barely type but WTH.
So. Ephraim.
The first time I encountered him was as an unlockable sticker in SSB:Brawl, and I have to admit that I laughed. All I knew of FE8 from word-of-mouth was pretty poor, and seeing this slender young thing with the requisite cape and the requisite mop of bluish hair was... laughable. As in, "Come on now, IS, could you try a little harder?" OK, he had a lance instead of a sword. Big whoop.
[I also laughed upon initially seeing Leaf, but for totally different reasons. Look, the kid has a metal flower-petal skirt, like Sailorsaturn's sailor fuku!]
Some more immediate exposure to Ephraim's charms won me over pretty quickly, though. In the words of the always-interesting Meelu the Bold, he's "hot-as-hell." And I don't say that about a lot of Fire Emblem characters. A lot of the guys and gals are cute, yes, or pretty, but actually... sexy? Sexy from the perspective of a married adult and not a fourteen-year-old who's nervous of anyone "manry" enough to have stubble?
[I don't find a lot of the fan-fave chicks sexy, actually. Lyn? Pass. Various laguz ladies? Pass. Tethys? No thanks. Calil? No thanks-- I'd rather have Tanith. Seriously, I think Tanith is cute. I definitely gravitate to the peg knight model of character, so a BIG yes on Palla, Catria, Fury, and so forth. Not the little 'uns, though-- a big NO for Est, Thany, Florina, and Marcia. And Fee. Yick.]
So what makes Ephraim the, uh, "sexual Chuck Norris of FE," asxirysa put it? Well, he fulfills all the criteria that Kaga and the original IS crew had in mind when developing the likes of (SNES) Marth and Celice, who were aimed to appeal to young females per the FE4 designer's notes. (No lie-- dig up that Monshou no Nazo television ad sometime. The goal there was, if not 100% teenaged fantasy wish-fulfillment, at least 80%.) So Eph's got the boots, the swirly cape, the mop of hair, the slim build... but he's got something else going for him. A big something.
Dude's not sixteen. Or seventeen. We don't know his actual age, but I take my cues from the fact that he and Eirika are consistently referred to as adults in the game script, even by their enemies. He's an adult, and everything in the game paints him as a vigorous-- dare I say "virile"-- specimen of healthy young manhood. To the point where other men get a little unhinged with jealousy at his ability on the battlefield, the dueling ground, the practice ground, and so on. Plus he's packing that oh-so symbolic long-shafted lance. Nowhere in the game is Eph's, uh, aura of potency undercut by some sort of woobification. Is he troubled at the end of his route? Hell yes. Is he a woobie? Hell no.
In summary: Ephraim hews by design to a template that clearly resonates with fangirls and fanboys the world over, but unlike most of his predecessors, he is showcased as a physically magnificent and active young man, not some precious widdle kiddle (hi, Leaf) or even a borderline case (hi, Eliwood). Both the game script and his gameplay stats bolster the idea that this guy is a beast, so you don't have an attractive character design undercut by shitty stats or eye-rolling script decisions. In short, Ephraim has the whole package-- he's legal, he's sexy, he can clear a whole map by himself, and he's got half the other male characters cowed by his awesomeness.
Not Moulder, though. Moulder is not cowed by anyone, for he has the 'stache.
ETA: Thanks to this post, Google Ads is now taunting me with ads for "Cheap Ephraim Motels." Yeah, somehow I doubt I'll find what I'm into by going there, guys.
xirysa and rethira , and I can barely type but WTH.So. Ephraim.
The first time I encountered him was as an unlockable sticker in SSB:Brawl, and I have to admit that I laughed. All I knew of FE8 from word-of-mouth was pretty poor, and seeing this slender young thing with the requisite cape and the requisite mop of bluish hair was... laughable. As in, "Come on now, IS, could you try a little harder?" OK, he had a lance instead of a sword. Big whoop.
[I also laughed upon initially seeing Leaf, but for totally different reasons. Look, the kid has a metal flower-petal skirt, like Sailorsaturn's sailor fuku!]
Some more immediate exposure to Ephraim's charms won me over pretty quickly, though. In the words of the always-interesting Meelu the Bold, he's "hot-as-hell." And I don't say that about a lot of Fire Emblem characters. A lot of the guys and gals are cute, yes, or pretty, but actually... sexy? Sexy from the perspective of a married adult and not a fourteen-year-old who's nervous of anyone "manry" enough to have stubble?
[I don't find a lot of the fan-fave chicks sexy, actually. Lyn? Pass. Various laguz ladies? Pass. Tethys? No thanks. Calil? No thanks-- I'd rather have Tanith. Seriously, I think Tanith is cute. I definitely gravitate to the peg knight model of character, so a BIG yes on Palla, Catria, Fury, and so forth. Not the little 'uns, though-- a big NO for Est, Thany, Florina, and Marcia. And Fee. Yick.]
So what makes Ephraim the, uh, "sexual Chuck Norris of FE," as
xirysa put it? Well, he fulfills all the criteria that Kaga and the original IS crew had in mind when developing the likes of (SNES) Marth and Celice, who were aimed to appeal to young females per the FE4 designer's notes. (No lie-- dig up that Monshou no Nazo television ad sometime. The goal there was, if not 100% teenaged fantasy wish-fulfillment, at least 80%.) So Eph's got the boots, the swirly cape, the mop of hair, the slim build... but he's got something else going for him. A big something.Dude's not sixteen. Or seventeen. We don't know his actual age, but I take my cues from the fact that he and Eirika are consistently referred to as adults in the game script, even by their enemies. He's an adult, and everything in the game paints him as a vigorous-- dare I say "virile"-- specimen of healthy young manhood. To the point where other men get a little unhinged with jealousy at his ability on the battlefield, the dueling ground, the practice ground, and so on. Plus he's packing that oh-so symbolic long-shafted lance. Nowhere in the game is Eph's, uh, aura of potency undercut by some sort of woobification. Is he troubled at the end of his route? Hell yes. Is he a woobie? Hell no.
In summary: Ephraim hews by design to a template that clearly resonates with fangirls and fanboys the world over, but unlike most of his predecessors, he is showcased as a physically magnificent and active young man, not some precious widdle kiddle (hi, Leaf) or even a borderline case (hi, Eliwood). Both the game script and his gameplay stats bolster the idea that this guy is a beast, so you don't have an attractive character design undercut by shitty stats or eye-rolling script decisions. In short, Ephraim has the whole package-- he's legal, he's sexy, he can clear a whole map by himself, and he's got half the other male characters cowed by his awesomeness.
Not Moulder, though. Moulder is not cowed by anyone, for he has the 'stache.
ETA: Thanks to this post, Google Ads is now taunting me with ads for "Cheap Ephraim Motels." Yeah, somehow I doubt I'll find what I'm into by going there, guys.
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no subject
Date: 2011-03-23 12:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-23 12:29 am (UTC)Eph strikes the balance of "pretty boy" and "manly dude" juuuuust right.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-23 12:43 am (UTC)Yeah, I appreciate that about him. Shows that a man can be manly without being all bulging muscles and coarseness, they can also be "man-pretty" (as my friend David would put it, lol).
no subject
Date: 2011-03-23 02:17 am (UTC)*cries forever*
no subject
Date: 2011-03-23 04:35 am (UTC)But legitimately, this post was just about perfectly written. Ephraim is a BAMF and you can't contest it--whether in game script, stats (in my game he once got four critical hits. In a row. With a javelin), or design (look at the guy--Marth has his hand on his hip like he's all "girlfriend please!"; Eliwood has an elbow up displaying courtesy; but Ephraim is in a total battle stance. And look at that steely gaze! Man means srs bzns.
...I thought I couldn't agree more with you until I read this: ["Not Moulder, though. Moulder is not cowed by anyone, for he has the 'stache."] SO TRUE.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-24 01:44 am (UTC)Good catch on the "steely gaze," too-- stock poses do communicate a lot, and Eph's speaks very effectively to what the man is about.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-23 12:02 am (UTC)Tanith IS hot. I love me my pegasus knights in pretty much every incarnation: Palla, Tanith, and Syrene are especially nice-- and it's telling that Minerva was a pegasus knight, seriously. :D
The only laguz female I find to be hotness incarnate is Nailah. The others are babies.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-23 12:32 am (UTC)Personally, Innes is more my type. I likes the smart ones, and Innes is a fine young specimen himself. Plus he has the long coat thing goin'...
*cough*
But a lot more people seem to be on the same page regarding Ephraim, and I think it's a fairly explicable trend.
The only laguz female I find to be hotness incarnate is Nailah
Yeah, but Malice is basically Nailah without the critter qualities. Or, rather, Nailah is Malice with critter qualities added. So, given my preference for humans over beast-people, Malice wins that round.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-23 12:14 am (UTC)I am a filthy, filthy liar.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-23 12:15 am (UTC)It wasn't really until I played FE7, and soon after that FE8 for the first time, when I was fifteen or sixteen that I actually realized that I found Ephraim more attractive than, say, Hector, and that's exactly for that reason you mention. Of course, I really didn't like boys all that much until a relatively recent time ago (like, a year and a half lol) so.
Now that I think about it, the FE guys I find most attractive now (and in the past) somehow have this trait, in a way--Ephraim, Heath, and Rath. (But with the latter two--Rath especially lol--there's really... Not much personality and such to go on. xD)
no subject
Date: 2011-03-23 12:43 am (UTC)I'm still making my mind up on Ephraim. But Moulder? The power of the 'stache cannot be denied.