We Like IKE! Or do we...

[Thane of Blue Flames]

I don't get Japan's culture.

I also don't get the United States' culture.

Or India's.

I'm a severe misanthrope is what I'm trying to say. Also people are dumb.

 

[Neo Zero]

If Ike's a gorilla, what's DK to them?

 

[Deleted member]

A manly man.

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

Me: "******* please, Ike is manliness incarnate (even moreso than Chuck Norris himself)."

 

[Hong]

I'll go on record to say that the idea that any gender should have to be anything in terms of attributes or phyqisue, in a fantasy world or our modern world, is lunacy. A lot of folks in those comments are criticizing Asia for liking so called "effeminate" men, when really, the idea of masculinity and even the idea that masculinity is valuable is subjective, to an extent. We are not in the bronze age anymore. You got lots of scrawny nerds doing lots of wonderful things out there. I can lift literally a tonne with the press of a button.

THAT SAID, Ike being a total BEAST makes sense. Not because he is a man, but because is a warrior. One who leads some of the toughest and certainly the most prestigious mercenaries in all of Tellius, if not the seven realms and Fire Emblem entirely. For someone who wields a massive sword in one hand and moves with such fluidity as he does, one could only have a body of perfection.

And yeah, it's fantasy. You have a toothpick like Cloud who wields a massive iron dildo like it's made out of cardboard. I won't be so silly as to criticize the lack of realism, but I personally prefer that characters look their part. I think it's cooler.

 

[Mr.Seven]

What the hell is with the Japanese mainstream passion for androgynous girly-men? (I am pointing at you Tetsuya Nomura.) Where are the muscles? This is what man should have, especially lifting a sword that's as heavy as Cloud's Buster Sword. He lifts for his friends. It's fine if Ike was like Marth, who's supposed to be nimble and give off a flamboyant vibe, but he's not. He's blunt, powerful, and never really lived the life of luxury. He's lived most of his whole life in the gritty. And then there's the fact that Ike got older. In Radiant Dawn, he is 3 years older. A lot can happen in three years. I should know, I went from fat to average in three years.

Then again, this is Japan we are talking about. I've seen quite a bit of Japanese reactions. The most vocal were the ones who were calling (sometimes caps-locking) for Japan-only characters that very few people outside of Japan would have even heard of.

 

[Igneous42]

What the hell is with the Japanese mainstream passion for androgynous girly-men? (I am pointing at you Tetsuya Nomura.) Where are the muscles? This is what man should have, especially lifting a sword that's as heavy as Cloud's Buster Sword. He lifts for his friends. It's fine if Ike was like Marth, who's supposed to be nimble and give off a flamboyant vibe, but he's not. He's blunt, powerful, and never really lived the life of luxury. He's lived most of his whole life in the gritty. And then there's the fact that Ike got older. In Radiant Dawn, he is 3 years older. A lot can happen in three years. I should know, I went from fat to average in three years.

Then again, this is Japan we are talking about. I've seen quite a bit of Japanese reactions. The most vocal were the ones who were calling (sometimes caps-locking) for Japan-only characters that very few people outside of Japan would have even heard of.

I also like that everyone seems to space that his more "bulky" look is very true to Radiant Dawn's artwork and such as well. This might be reading too deep into it, but I almost feel like Sakurai designed him with "American" bias on purpose. From what I've been told (but can't confirm myself) Ike is more popular/well liked in America/West than he is in Japan. From my personal experience Ike is definitely popular, if I had to guess in an official u.s. poll I think Ike would be pretty close to first. Supposedly in Japan he isn't too popular, so I wonder if Sakurai purposely designed him to appeal to American/Western fans since he was already much more well liked by them anyways. Most people I've seen talking about Ike seem to love his new look, me included.

 

[True Blue Warrior]

Ike looks cool. That is all.

 

[Crap-Zapper]

After looking at the New and Old Ike model...
DAMN did Ike and Marth look alike in Brawl !!!

Now they feel like 2 Completley different characters.

 

[Crap-Zapper]

If a character starts out as default, he's always default.

Ness? Captain Falcon?

 

[lilt]

They seem to have a different understanding of beauty.
Look at how most of their masculine Manga characters look really boyish or feminine, whereas it's the other way around here in the west. Another point may be that there Manga culture is really important to them, in a way where they tend to identify with their beloved characters. It isn't comparable with comics or movies in the west. Japan is on a whole other level. The thing is that maybe 0,5 percent of them actually look like Ike bodywise. For the other 99,5 percent it's hard to identify with a gorilla.
In that regard I can kinda see why they do not like him.
However, it's just a thought. I don't have that much insight on the Japanese.

 

[True Blue Warrior]

Ness? Captain Falcon?

They debuted as unlockable characters, so that's not a very legitimate comparison.

 

[Mypantisgone]

After looking at the New and Old Ike model...
DAMN did Ike and Marth look alike in Brawl !!!

Now they feel like 2 Completley different characters.

Agreed. In Brawl, Ike just looked like Marth had gone through a sex change.

 

[TechPowah]

Plus, Brawl made everyone that was secret in 64 and Melee stay/return to secret. Probably from now on you either stay starter or stay locked.

 

[DMurr]

Marth for Japan, Ike for North America. Chrom for everyone?

 

[Neo Zero]

I regret nothing.

 

[BBG|Scott-Spain]

Trends say he will be a starter. Plus, I do not want to work for him. I must be able to play him asap.

 

[SmashChu]

http://kotaku.com/ike-joins-super-smash-bros-gets-compared-to-a-gorilla-1580543165

Japanese people think Ike's manly look is a gorilla.

Haters.

Do any of these people lift?

 

[DraginHikari]

They seem to have a different understanding of beauty.
Look at how most of their masculine Manga characters look really boyish or feminine, whereas it's the other way around here in the west. Another point may be that there Manga culture is really important to them, in a way where they tend to identify with their beloved characters. It isn't comparable with comics or movies in the west. Japan is on a whole other level. The thing is that maybe 0,5 percent of them actually look like Ike bodywise. For the other 99,5 percent it's hard to identify with a gorilla.
In that regard I can kinda see why they do not like him.
However, it's just a thought. I don't have that much insight on the Japanese.

That's the interesting thing though, it's not like the new version of Ike was a creation by western developers that took the character and just muscle bound Ike. It was created by the same team that worked on the original PoR design. So they literally took Ike in a direction which goes against most of the conventions of the Lords throughout most of the series. It's definitely a riskier character design in Japan then it is in the west, but I think it also plays into why Ike is a more interesting Lord to all regions he's been exposed to rather then just being another Lord in the series, so much so that even Chrom in Awakening was drawn with slightly less of the of the manga-cliche appearance though not as much as they did Ike.

Any culture though can get too attached to their viewpoint, even in the west we've had many... questionable character designs coming from making Male characters masculine to the point of insanity.

 

[Sonicguy726]

If Ike's a gorilla, what's DK to them?

DK's Godzilla

 

[MasterOfKnees]

Japan seems to love small and thin guys with enormous swords, there's a reason guys like Cloud and that dude from Bleach are huge characters over there.

I never liked it personally, it never quite feels like the sword actually gives the punch it's supposed to because of their physique. Ike suffered a bit from this in Brawl too, so I'm psyched to see his look actually reflecting his strength.

With that said, I will be shouting out "GORILLA!" when I blast people to hell with Ike now.

 

[MasterOfKnees]

I'm personally banking on all confirmed characters except 3rd parties and perhaps Luigi to be starters. So yeah, I'm fairly certain he's a starter, the unlockable FE spot will likely go to Chrom then.

 

[Tepig2000]

DK's Godzilla

And what is Bowser?

 

[Overtaken]

I know, it's like if Americans were develloping all of these titles, all of these male characters would look like steroid abusing, gun-toting, world policing cowboys rampaging through 3rd world villiages shooting people in the head, like Chris Redfield.

Oh s***, wait, that was the Japanese...

 

[RomanCenturionX]

And what is Bowser?

Gamera

 

[RomanCenturionX]

You must unlock him only after testing your manliness by defeating the entire cast with Captain Falcon, Ganondorf, Bowser, Little Mac, and DK all of your kills must be done with the neutral special only with the exception of Bowser where you must kill with the Bowser bomb. Then you must enter the Konami code which unlocks Contra mode there you will have to be the entirety of Contra with only three lives and no cheat codes. Once you have defeated Contra (Spoiler alert: You won't), you will then have to beat the entirety of Battletoads as Player 2. Then after doing all of this you will have the privilege of facing Ike in combat.

(In all seriousness, he will probably be a starter but I like my solution better)

 

[Altais]

Heh, I could really see this becoming a widely-used nickname for Ike.

 

[Overtaken]

Go-ree-rah! Aaaiiyyeee!

 

[Aninymouse]

I know, it's like if Americans were develloping all of these titles, all of these male characters would look like steroid abusing, gun-toting, world policing cowboys rampaging through 3rd world villiages shooting people in the head, like Chris Redfield.

Oh s***, wait, that was the Japanese...

That was RE5, right? Yeah, everything about that game just looked wrong, WRONG.

 

[GraveJoker]

I am not gonna miss the old, PoR look. I love this new look.

 

[bellboy64]

I liked old Ike but new Ike...
I'm not gay. But I can see their point.

 

[Deleted member 212841]

Maybe Sakurai will respond to this with an inclusion of PoR Ike?

Gorilla memes are a good silver lining, too.

 

[Deleted member 212841]

I think the sentiment was expressed by somebody else in another thread but..

I largely preferred PoR Ike to RD Ike as far as the actual FE games went. RD Ike just looked ******** in the actual sense of the word. Can't really put my finger on the art detail that gives that impression but it wasn't helped with the random, giant ass arm plate he ended up getting along with the way he just lobbed his sword around in comparison to the Greil style we saw in PoR.

However, Smash Ike is a completely different story. I liked the brawl model but I didn't even recognize the RD inspiration in this new model when I first saw it. It has really eased my dislike for that Ike design and I'm pretty on board with this manly man hype train. Plus, the Brawl Ike just seemed kinda rougher and watered down compared to the youthfulness of Ike's design in PoR. It was recognizable and pleasant but at the same time always felt a tad off.

 

[Aninymouse]

I think the sentiment was expressed by somebody else in another thread but..

I largely preferred PoR Ike to RD Ike as far as the actual FE games went. RD Ike just looked ******** in the actual sense of the word. Can't really put my finger on the art detail that gives that impression but it wasn't helped with the random, giant *** arm plate he ended up getting along with the way he just lobbed his sword around in comparison to the Greil style we saw in PoR.

However, Smash Ike is a completely different story. I liked the brawl model but I didn't even recognize the RD inspiration in this new model when I first saw it. It has really eased my dislike for that Ike design and I'm pretty on board with this manly man hype train. Plus, the Brawl Ike just seemed kinda rougher and watered down compared to the youthfulness of Ike's design in PoR. It was recognizable and pleasant but at the same time always felt a tad off.

I don't think I've ever agreed with anything so much in my life. Hahaha!

 

[Spinosaurus]

Path of Radiance Ike > Radiant Dawn Ike for me.

Though RD Ike is perfect here, he actually fits his archetype and doesn't look stupid. Brawl didn't do POR Ike justice, really.

 

[Igneous42]

Even before his Smash 4 announcement I would have chosen RD Ike based on the artwork. I've always liked the older, more bulky look for him. Fits his character better IMO, and is just better looking.

 

[Ultinarok]

Canon or not, Great Aether needs to stay because its so damn cool looking. Power buff maybe, but stay for sure. Love it even more than Triforce Slash, although Critical Hit is my favorite (that delayed hitbox and the sheer satisfaction of that quick, decisive hit). Overall, it should stay.

 

[ProjectAngel]

This is coming from a land where bad teeth are considered beautiful.

"I fight for my friends, ook ook."

 

[Substitution]

Well, here's food for thought.
Do they look at bulky characters the same way America does?

 

[CardiganBoy]

This may sound stupid but a lot of people are probably hating on Ike because they won't be able to draw him in cute yaoi-esque fanarts with Marth or Link anymore.
What's even funnier is that Marth and Ike are like the same age.