I’d be happy with an increase in the number of heroes of Latin descent. A “pancho [sic] and sombrero” would seem both sadly stereotypical and indicative of weird cultural and geographical ignorance, but people are generally pretty tolerant of clumsiness if it’s well intentioned (see Tarlak).
If you wish to start a thread advocating the introduction of more heroes of Latin descent, you’ll get my vote.
yeah i think am wrong, the black color is only his elemental and his gloves lol…
Vinny, I was actually agreeing with you and responding to your post.
I was saying somehow the argument to treat people equally is being rejected in this thread for reasons I can’t quite fathom. And giving an example from a different post.
Yeah, exactly.
It can be or not, it depends if YOU want to see that way.
He obviously lived in a totally different reality, and that’s probably why many fantasy races are considered “white”
Now many fantasy games takes reference from the past and typical character design. I don’t see any racism in it, only if people WANT to see it.
Small Giant bit by bit release new kind of hero that reflect and show concern about this topic.
And i already see several new kind of hero that are not “white”, and the trend go in that direction.
So i don’t really know what OP wants.
50 new black heroes released all at once?
Fine for me, but i don’t really bother.
This.
I would drop a pineapple for a HotM called “Matilda” that looked like a red kangaroo on steroids.
There’s a rich vein of African history and mythology that could be strip mined for heroes, just as E&P happily and effectively strip mine Norse and Arthurian legend, and Tolkein’s fiction. (Not to mention history and legend from Persia, India, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Polynesia and Melanesia, off the top of my head. Some indigenous Australian heroes might find a place, maybe some Maori, maybe some Native American (north or south). A world awaits, and most of it isn’t pearly white.)
@brobb of that there is no doubt. But OP seemed to ask specifically about African American heroes, so I was curious about that. Maybe she/he meant African cultural references, and I couldn’t agree more. Same for Central and South American heroes, and all of the others you mentioned (I can tell you that Indigenous Australian and Maori legends will throw up heroes that will blow the E&P community’s collective minds!)
I also think that there is a rich vein to be mined in Eastern European and Russian folklore.
I guess the game has plenty of room to grow!
I think making a card for a legend like Mohammed Ali will be awesome.
5☆ sniper Dark … Skill Massive Box …Fast mana speec …415% to the target and chance to stun the target for 3 turns 700 atk 710 def 1200 hp.
Also you can make 5☆ dark hero Beleh the Brazilian football legend. Skill Massive Kick … 280% damage to the target and nearby enemies and a chance to reduce mana gerantion by 30% for 3 turns. 640atk 730def 1210hp
I for one, love this suggestion! “Floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee”!
fantasy games taking reference from possibly racist source material maybe isn’t ideal.
racism is a tricky subject. Especially for me as a middle aged white dude living in the suburbs in America. I try to avoid the subject honestly. Like. Keeping my mouth shut hah.
It’s hard to skirt that line of “fk I just don’t want to say anything offensive man!!” And trying to still weigh in on potentially Race related issues.
For what it’s worth, I don’t think this is a racism issue. I think it’s a (poor) design issue.
Look at Rigard, jahangir, Gunnar… it would be easy to have them have a different color skin and still look fine. I haven’t perused the entire 5* roster lately but I’m sure there are some heroes that they could’ve just chosen black skin for, and they’d look fantastic. That design decision makes a difference.
It’s hard for me to imagine how much… and what it really means. Like when you tell a little boy growing up “you can be a firefighter when you grow up!” And a little girl she can be a ballerina. Ya know as society we did that for a long time. And people are opening their eyes to the potential harm this does to children and young adults…
At the same time, when our entertainment doesn’t depict little girls doing kickass things it sends that same kinda message. And if people with dark skin can’t be a HOTM well then, isn’t that the worst message to send at all?
You’re right that there’s a large element of perspective present in this discussion. And I can honestly say that my perspective is very limited.
I don’t know what else to add.
In summary, our heroic fantasies are usually aspirational. Wouldn’t it be nice if this game gave us all something to aspire to, instead of just a subset of the population?
Me? I want to be Boldtusk. That dude is cool AF.
I totally agree with you when you say you try to avoid racism topics. I pretty much do the same in real life as you don’t ever know how people react.
Even more now that here in Italy we are very racist.
And thats why i think fight for racism should have the right time and the right place.
If people see racism every moment, then that fight loose value and became a neverending polemic.
If every time developers makes a hero they must think how much have already of this or that color, if it may offend anyone with that rappresentation or are politically correct, then thats not a game anymore.
I don’t know how diverse people expect. This game ranges from mythical beasts, heroes of legend, pirates, sand people, Asian, black, white denominations. How the hell do you know that a HOTM coming up won’t be black? You’re all making assumptions and wild claims for a game that is diverse as can be. For all we know, colen could be gay, Azlar. Could be a trans lion. It may not be stated but who are we to know what is fact or fiction? There is still plenty of time left in this game, with Atlantis we have seen mer-people and sea creatures introduced, now with the addition of characters such as mitsuko and kageburudo. Clearly based on the Chinese dynasty era. Instead of whinging about what could be, is it so hard to appreciate what it has done so far?
@Enigma-MT Colen could indeed be gay, but if Olaf isn’t, I would be sacking the graphic artist!
Of the 5* heroes who appear to be human and of an identifiable ethnicity, 52 appeared to be Caucasian and 14 non-Caucasian, in a count made in October by a very clever mod (@Kerridoc).
More diverse than 52:14.
We don’t know. We have no idea. But at the moment at the 5* level there are 52 white heroes and 14 non-white.
So far, heroes have mostly been white. That’s probably not something to be appreciated. There have been notable steps in the right direction, including Tarlak, Mitsuko and Kageburudo (the latter two clearly not “based on the Chinese dynasty era” 
), and I think those heroes have been widely acknowledged as positive steps. We appreciate them. More would be good.
From your perspective this isn’t an issue and this waters down more dangerous or ‘obvious’ occurrences of racism.
In northeastern USA, I think largely those more ‘obvious’ instances are gone, and the issues we now deal with are like the ones the OP is pointing to… that in a lot of ways darker skin is underrepresented in positive forms of media / entertainment.
Which brings us back to perspective. If slavery were a thing locally, then this would be a dream discussion. If things are worse in Italy than where I am, then to you this might seem like a senseless discussion.
But like I said. It’s like handing a little girl a ballerina or Barbie and saying “you can be anything! (That wears a skirt!”
Inclusivity is a pain in the ■■■ for a lot of people. Game designers included.
That doesn’t mean it’s the wrong thing.
Small Giant, be ashamed, I have not yet seen plans for a great Portuguese hero, in which he would have a big mustache and a bottle of wine, his attack would be a tomahawk of the Cristiano Ronaldo while drinking from the bottle.
That would be an all-inclusive hero.
These things aren’t mutually exclusive.
Beta leaks 
But in all seriousness… we don’t know. Maybe there’s 5 kick ■■■ black heroes gonna get released next week. That’d be cool.
But the game has had plenty of time, and OP isn’t impressed with what they’ve done to represent dark skinned people to this point.
Personally I think it’s a fair point and a worthy discussion