Female Marauder

[newcomplex]

Actually, unit portraits serve to create a unique personality to differentiate one unit type from another. This helps make them memorable, colorful and 'fun'. Hence, why the Siege Tank is a crazy sergeant, the Battlecruiser a Russian admiral and the Vulture a biker who happens to look somewhat Amish. It doesn't necessarily mean that they are 'the norm' of individuals in that division. Otherwise, most Terran unit portraits would have the same personalities. I mean, how does the Valkyrie being a female German make it stereotypical? The valkyrie myth is Norse! It's to separate her from the other unit types.

As it currently stands, lots of Terran units (namely the Marine, Reaper, Siege Tank and Thor) are known to already have the personality of the 'macho male'. Making the Marauder that as well doesn't help distinguish it from other units. Giving them all similar personality traits makes them boring. At least by making the Marauder a 'tough girl', it puts a spin on it to differentiate it from the Marine, Reaper, Siege Tank and Thor.

Your right about the role of the portraits. Their not to be unique or mundane, but to create a distinctive stereotype for the unit.

-however-

We don't currently KNOW the voice set of the marauder however. Both the seige tank and the marine have very similar personalities, but you can't tell me you get them confused, or something their not uniquely distinctive.
It could very well be that the marauder remains unique.

Second of all, distinction is good, but blizzard makes distinct units that are also thematically correct. This is true for most starcraft terran units, case and point being the firebat. The firebat shows that blizzard puts more emphasis on thematic correction then distinction. The firebat portrait looks and talks very similar to the marine one, blizzard could have easily made a totally random and unique portrait, but they felt like a marine like unit spewing random lines from old 'nam flicks would be better, because it would fit the theme of a firebat better, if not nessicarily make it super-distinct.

I don't think theirs any real problem with the marauder being too similar to other untis. In starcraft, the marine, firebat, ghost and battlecruiser were all voiced by the same person, who isnt even a voice actor (lore writer metzen). Now that blizzard has the money to hire proffesionals, I don't think they'll run into the issue of too similar unit portraits.

btw...the marauder is black. The marine seige tank pilot are white, and the reaper is (presumably) white as well. Since they're no other black people in unit portraits, if nothing else, that creates distinction.

[mr. peasant]

btw...the marauder is black. The marine seige tank pilot are white, and the reaper is (presumably) white as well. Since they're no other black people in unit portraits, if nothing else, that creates distinction.

True. I'm not saying the only create a distinction between the Marauder and other units but rather it is defnitely a way. The reason this came up was because some people wanted more female units for the Terrans. The Marauder makes a good candidate since it requires the least amount of work for a successful sex change. Rather than having to build a whole new portrait from scratch, they could already use the existing one (minus the helmet lifting off, of course). At most, they would only need to swap the black guy's head for a female along with some minor tweaks if at all.

And as final enticements, here are some ideas on what they could have as 'pissed' quotes:

"What do you mean I take up two seats?!"
"Does this power armor make me look fat?"
"Well, I guess it beats bikini chainmail."

[Triceron]

There are pros and cons to this though.

As unique and distinct as this could be, this is also going to be representative of all marauders. The image that comes up will be that every Marauder is female, not just a handful or the main representative. This would work if it's one unique character unit, but to represent every marauder unit in the game as a female goes against its stereotype as a big, bulky, rocket-firing unit. I think it's a juxtaposition to have a female voice out of it, even if it's a butch chick voice.

Even with the Valkyrie, the name itself hints at a female unit. Marauder doesn't hint anything at all.

[mr. peasant]

There are pros and cons to this though.

As unique and distinct as this could be, this is also going to be representative of all marauders. The image that comes up will be that every Marauder is female, not just a handful or the main representative. This would work if it's one unique character unit, but to represent every marauder unit in the game as a female goes against its stereotype as a big, bulky, rocket-firing unit. I think it's a juxtaposition to have a female voice out of it, even if it's a butch chick voice.

Even with the Valkyrie, the name itself hints at a female unit. Marauder doesn't hint anything at all.

So, does this mean that everything is male by default? Also, things like Dropships did not specifically suggest femininity either.

[newcomplex]

So, does this mean that everything is male by default? Also, things like Dropships did not specifically suggest femininity either.

But as I said previously, when we think of woman in the armed services, most people immediately think of a non-combatant or pilot role.

[Aldrius]

But as I said previously, when we think of woman in the armed services, most people immediately think of a non-combatant or pilot role.

And since when should common unconscious belief decide how things are designed? I'm not really for female-marauders (actually I'd probably prefer the old 'randomly female or male' thing, but eh.) but I don't see why they COULDN'T be.

And when you say 'women in the military', my first thought is an army brat turned soldier. Like Ashley in Mass Effect. And I despise Ashley in Mass Effect!

[Triceron]

The point is not what should be popular belief, but what the popular belief already is.

We're talking in terms of archetypes, not characters that break the mold. It's all about familiarity. Ashley works because you actually SEE her as a feminine character. She's not suited up in a bulky, behemoth that fires rockets. The fact you can't see anything visually indicating it is female, including the portrait, is going to be very confusing to the player. Unless more about this unit is changed, it's going to be hard to convince people with voicework alone.

When it comes to female unit types, typically they will be seen in passive aggressive or support roles. The Marauder could be considered a support unit, but everything else about it is very masculine.

[Keltik]

Hmm, well my preference would be to put a female unit in a support role of some sort. I lean to the protecting the women and children side of things. (I have no doubt that women are tough, as I have seen my wife endure pain that would make me cry like a baby. :-) )

However, I completely agree that it would be nice if a female character wasn't barbie in unrealistic armor/outfits. I am a red blooded male and have an appreciation for feminine beauty, but I also have two daughters and don't want them always being bombarded with images of barely clothed women with unrealistic bodies. I know my video game playing wife would appreciate that as well.

[Quirel]

Completely off topic but it kind of bugs me how many people like to call every bad character design a mary sue. Mary Sue is a super likeable character...that is NOT the main/main supporting character. Hence, making a irrelevent character super-likeable detracts from the plot.

Rosemary is like the main supporting character of the story. And isnt that likeable anyway lol.)

Gotta call you out on this:
A Mary Sue (Or Gary Stu) is a character that is SUPPOSED to be super likeable, but ends up dragging the story down. They can do, will do everything, look perfect, have the main characters fantasizing about her/him, or have everyone admiring them. There are no character flaws in a Mary Sue, or not enough to make the reader actually like them.

So, in short, a Mary Sue IS a sort of bad character design, and Rosemary Sue Dahl fits right in.

[Pandonetho]

That tropes site says this.

"The closest thing to a widely agreed-on definition is a character who has too many positive characteristics, and too few genuine flaws to be believable or interesting"