So recently a guild mate and i noticed that other than azlar and kelile(whose outfits ahem…anyway) there is not a single African American male hero. with the number of heroes that have come out it just seems odd that they can have green orcs, purple guys with leprosy, blue guys who need oxygen, several sexy goatee white guy yet not one dark skinned hero.
just and observation but feel that at least one male should have some heritage.
First off, I think this is a valid topic worth consideration.
And second, there was a thread that attempted to address a similar topic before, though it quickly went off the rails and had to be closed. I think amongst other things, Bane and Joon were pointed out as potentially intended to be African American or men of color.
I’m linking that other thread for reference because there were some useful points made in it. Hopefully this thread you’ve created leads to more productive discussion. 
There actually is Shaarkot. I would not call that an improvement over “no male heroes [of color].” The game is Finnish, so they’re unlikely to be African American…
look if overwatch can create doomfist(a guy who broke out of prison smh) we can get more than a 2 star. little bit of love. he can have an awesome name like Blackmanovich or something
Like I said, he’s not an improvement over no heroes of color. I wasn’t disagreeing with your premise at all. Just pointing out that there is one [very problematic] example.
all three that we have look like the are from Africa 1956 and you know theybdont speak English. let me at least get one that looks similar to r kelly…wait no…I mean O.J…wait no…Tiger woods… -.-
Here we go again… Another race thread. ITS A GAME!!!
are you kidding? Really?
Most of the people in the world don’t speak English.
This is a fantasy game. Nobody actually speaks anything in it. And it isn’t designed to be a reflection of the real world. Otherwise, we would need overweight people, children, hospitals, politics, religion, addiction problems, schools, traffic jams and lots of other additions I have no need for when playing a game.
The game is NOT a representation of the real world. Please speak out about real world issues in the real world.
I don’t understand why people are mad about a simple request??. we have characters of all colors so sorry me and a few alliance mates found it rather odd there was not a single 4 or 5 star of African American decent. I at no time acted hostile or demanding towards anyone yet immediately get nothing but negative for asking a legitimate question. we have a homosexual character in Olaf didn’t think askung for an African American one would cause an issue but your responses made it clear. thnx for clarifying
I think it’s a fair point that representing people of color need not represent African Americans in particular. After all, there are players worldwide.
But I do think it’s fair that if some characters have what appear to be references to real-world characteristics of actual people that asking for some diversity isn’t unreasonable. Sure, every unique trait can’t be addressed, but I think representation for people of color is a reasonable one to consider.
I think the whole point ought to be precisely that it doesn’t matter what race heroes are. They should be able to be diverse without being stereotypes.
I don’t have a problem with people asking for diversity. That is fine.
It is the statement: they don’t speak English. What has that got to do with it?
We could just as easily say: they don’t speak Taiwanese. Or Austrian. Or Finnish.
@DoctorStrange is not asking for people of colour - he is asking for English speaking people of African American descent. I think that is a strangely precise kind of request for a game of this kind.
everyone one of the African American charactera in the game have on feathers and tirbal paint yet every other character has on CLOTHES which when looking would make sure you knew they were from Africa almost in the ■■■■■ woods and not on other continent thus leading to the belief that they would not be speaking English.
anything else sir???
I certainly can’t speak for @DoctorStrange, but I read this comment a bit differently than you did, @Witch.
You’ve focused on the English-speaking part, I took the date and that comment together to depict the premise of stereotyped Africans during the tail end of the Jim Crow laws era in the US, when issues of race and predjudice were prominent, and derogatory depictions were common.
So my interpretation of that comment was more that @DoctorStrange was saying those characters of color seem to play on stereotypes, and ones that are quite dated and anachronistic at that.
Almost everything in the game plays on stereotypes.
Women heroes that wear practically nothing to protect them in battle?
Big, muscular men…
to say nothing of the fantasy stereotypes.
It is a fantasy game. with fantasy characters. Why would we want to inject reality into it?
I understand the real world issues. But they belong in the real world, in my opinion. Issues of race and prejudice are still prominent - everywhere in the world. They need to be addressed. But I don’t think this is the way to address them.
you read this post asking for at least one character of African American decent and you came up with reality??? I’m done you can close this please
The issue is valid.
Most of the myths and legends are european in nature, which feature european characters. There have been strides recently to include other races, but I would not dismiss it out of hand.
I do not fault SGG for not including dark skinned characters from US American culture, because it is a fine line. You have to honor without creating stereotypical (racist) characters or perpetuating archetypes. Unless you pick a character named Bam Barrackson, you may risk offending. Dangerous territory.
However, i think the discussion should continue, because the world needs to evolve beyond archetypes, color-washing, placating, cultural appropriation and other forms of exclusion or “false diversity” for the sake of quota.
It would be very easy to create a character of any skin tone with any back story, and to include all backgrounds and cultures. Make cool characters, theyll stand on their own.
Im white, middle class, average in every way. One of my kids wanted to be Black panther for halloween…because he was an awesome character with cool powers. He wasn’t an african-american spiderman or another character who has had another african american (conveniently) “take up the mantle” in a transparent attempt to be inclusive. Black panther was cool because he was unique.
SGG can do this too without ruffling feathers or making a showy scene.
It isn’t just a game. Our lives and perceptions, memories and sense of self are cobbled together, aggregated from all of our inputs.
So with that, we need to be cognizant that we do not maintain the status quo and force ourselves out of what we know in an effort to consider all people.
Its better for everyone, in the end.
/soapbox
I actually think these are very valid observations — and in previous discussions on similar topics, those points have been raised too. The depiction of women vs men certainly plays on well-worn stereotypes and tropes too.
Are these things problematic or something to “fix”? I don’t know.
I agree with your premise that ultimately a fantasy game isn’t reflecting reality (nor should it), and games certainly aren’t the place we’re going to solve cultural racism or sexism. It’s not like this game came up with the premise of scantily clad female warriors.
But I do think that it’s worth reflecting on media we consume — games, tv, etc. — and how they reflect or enforce cultural stereotypes. To me, it’s a useful starting point to even be having the conversation.
Next hotm is kunchen. His skin is pretty dark that will make u happy
Of course it is worth reflecting on.
I don’t know if DoctorStrange was really objecting to anachronistic stereotypes - or just requesting another sort of stereotype - a hero of African American descent that speaks English? 
I wonder - I saw the heroes like Azar as actually paying tribute to the roots of African American people. In much the same way as Black Panther does.
I am very much aware of the way the dominant peoples of the world have, in the course of history, forced their view of the world upon other peoples. This continues to this day. Every day.
I am very much for diversity. Of every kind. As long as none of it tries to get rid of other diversity. Be it language, religion, way of life…
But - this is a fantasy game. As stated - I am all for diversity. Here also. Bring on varied heroes. Even if I am not fond of most of the Atlantis heroes. I am sure - because they are stereotypes - they will appeal to some people somewhere in the world.
Im going to guess you are joking a little bit. Kunchen’s leaked artwork neither qualifies, nor does it fit the aforementioned culture.