Saying "women wear heels", as another poster did, is ignoring what we know about her as an individual character in favor of making her fit into a category better.
I never said "women wear heels", I said "women in Japanese games tend to wear high heels". Well, they tend to be a lot of very specific things, but heels are one of them.
If you look very carefully at my comment, you may notice that I explicitly pointed out that it was another poster who had said that. Further examination of the thread reveals that it was [Kira Must Die].
However, your specific comment still ignores the fact that, despite repeatedly being a woman in Japanese games, Samus specifically has generally avoided wearing high heels.
However, your specific comment still ignores the fact that, despite repeatedly being a woman in Japanese games, Samus specifically has generally avoided wearing high heels.
Where does it say she can't wear heels or avoid wearing heels? Granted, I haven't played all the Metroid games, but I don't think any of them get into that specific detail.
Just because a woman wear heels doesn't make them less tough, which was what I was trying to get at. Hell, like I mentioned, she uses them as a weapon, not to look pretty. I don't think Samus would care how she looks, considering the bulky armor she usually wears. Also, the fact that she can fight in heels, which is very difficult to do, just makes her tougher, at least to me.
I dare anyone who tries to justify their inclusion to go buy a pair of heels and wear them for an hour.
All the technobabble aside there is no reason why regular ole boots couldn't work just as well. If Samus was a man her boots wouldn't have heels on them, so it just seems to me that they put Samus in heels just because Samus is a woman. Its a pretty lazy choice, but considering how ugly the things are it wouldn't surprise me if little thought was put into the design. The only reason why sexulization is brought up is because heels are not practical shoes. They just aren't practical shoes, full stop. So when they are included into to the wardrobe of fictional warriors that aren't riding horses the only reason why is for looks, and the only reason why its just for looks is because the only reason why women wear them in real life is for looks.
Saying "women wear heels", as another poster did, is ignoring what we know about her as an individual character in favor of making her fit into a category better.
I never said "women wear heels", I said "women in Japanese games tend to wear high heels". Well, they tend to be a lot of very specific things, but heels are one of them.
If you look very carefully at my comment, you may notice that I explicitly pointed out that it was another poster who had said that. Further examination of the thread reveals that it was [Kira Must Die].
However, your specific comment still ignores the fact that, despite repeatedly being a woman in Japanese games, Samus specifically has generally avoided wearing high heels.
Saying "women wear heels", as another poster did, is ignoring what we know about her as an individual character in favor of making her fit into a category better.
I never said "women wear heels", I said "women in Japanese games tend to wear high heels". Well, they tend to be a lot of very specific things, but heels are one of them.
If you look very carefully at my comment, you may notice that I explicitly pointed out that it was another poster who had said that. Further examination of the thread reveals that it was [Kira Must Die].
However, your specific comment still ignores the fact that, despite repeatedly being a woman in Japanese games, Samus specifically has generally avoided wearing high heels.
]Where does it say she can't wear heels or avoid wearing heels? Granted, I haven't played all the Metroid games, but I don't think any of them get into that specific detail.
We see that Samus doesn't wear heels from all the times we see her not wearing heels. Much in the same way we know Gimli from Lord of the Ring doesn't use a sword. Nobody tells us he doesn't use a sword, he never says he doesn't use a sword, but the simple fact that he goes through three movies without ever picking one up is a pretty clear indication that he's not really into swords.
[Kira Must Die said:
]Just because a woman wear heels doesn't make them less tough, which was what I was trying to get at. Hell, like I mentioned, she uses them as a weapon, not to look pretty. I don't think Samus would care how she looks, considering the bulky armor she usually wears. Also, the fact that she can fight in heels, which is very difficult to do, just makes her tougher, at least to me.
Assuming that she doesn't care about how she looks, and that fighting in heels is difficult to do, can you explain why she wouldn't get rocket boots that are flats? Something like the boots from her armor, or Iron Man's boots? Wouldn't that be the smarter choice?
Saying "women wear heels", as another poster did, is ignoring what we know about her as an individual character in favor of making her fit into a category better.
I never said "women wear heels", I said "women in Japanese games tend to wear high heels". Well, they tend to be a lot of very specific things, but heels are one of them.
If you look very carefully at my comment, you may notice that I explicitly pointed out that it was another poster who had said that. Further examination of the thread reveals that it was [Kira Must Die].
However, your specific comment still ignores the fact that, despite repeatedly being a woman in Japanese games, Samus specifically has generally avoided wearing high heels.
If anyone would bother to notice no one seems to care that Princess Peach wears heels. So it's not like heels are a no go in all cases. Ever think that that might have something to do with what the chracter has been depicted wearing in their own games? The zero suit is less of a problem, its more how Samus is posed sometimes. It actually makes sense that she would were some sort of under armor. The heels are a combination of ugly, unnecessary, and slapped on just because Samus is female. I don't even understand why Zero suit Samus needs a power boost, being less powerful and working with what little power she had was part of the reason for the suits increased prominence in the Zero Mission game.
Saying "women wear heels", as another poster did, is ignoring what we know about her as an individual character in favor of making her fit into a category better.
I never said "women wear heels", I said "women in Japanese games tend to wear high heels". Well, they tend to be a lot of very specific things, but heels are one of them.
If you look very carefully at my comment, you may notice that I explicitly pointed out that it was another poster who had said that. Further examination of the thread reveals that it was [Kira Must Die].
However, your specific comment still ignores the fact that, despite repeatedly being a woman in Japanese games, Samus specifically has generally avoided wearing high heels.
]Where does it say she can't wear heels or avoid wearing heels? Granted, I haven't played all the Metroid games, but I don't think any of them get into that specific detail.
We see that Samus doesn't wear heels from all the times we see her not wearing heels. Much in the same way we know Gimli from Lord of the Ring doesn't use a sword. Nobody tells us he doesn't use a sword, he never says he doesn't use a sword, but the simple fact that he goes through three movies without ever picking one up is a pretty clear indication that he's not really into swords.
That doesn't really prove anything, though. Just because we never see her wear them does not prove that she doesn't like or never worn them before. We haven't seen her do many things, that doesn't prove she hasn't done them.
theNater said:
[Kira Must Die said:
]Just because a woman wear heels doesn't make them less tough, which was what I was trying to get at. Hell, like I mentioned, she uses them as a weapon, not to look pretty. I don't think Samus would care how she looks, considering the bulky armor she usually wears. Also, the fact that she can fight in heels, which is very difficult to do, just makes her tougher, at least to me.
Assuming that she doesn't care about how she looks, and that fighting in heels is difficult to do, can you explain why she wouldn't get rocket boots that are flats? Something like the boots from her armor, or Iron Man's boots? Wouldn't that be the smarter choice?
In the end of the day, though, it is a video game, and Super Smash Bros. isn't exactly the most grounded game.
I'm just tired of people going apeshit over a pair of heels. It just seems like something so small, and something that I highly doubt was ever the developer's intention. If they wanted to sexualize her, you'd think they'd take it further than just "she wear heels, now." To me it never mattered as long as she's still Samus. A pair of heels isn't gonna change that. Zero Suit Samus is one of my best characters in SSB3DS next to Little Mac. I thought she played better here than she did in Brawl.
Most of all, though, I'm just sick of people throwing sexism accusations at what seem to be the most minor of things. It's honestly has gotten me rather irritable lately, and I'm seeing this more and more these days. Maybe I just need a break from the forums.
Every time I hear someone decry Nintendo for 'oversexualizing' Samus by adding heels to her Zero Suit, it's all I can do to keep from laughing in their face.
Did everyone suddenly forget that the reward for 100%ing a Metroid game is usually just an image of Samus in either a bikini or a small tanktop and boyshorts? Because I didn't. You know how people found out that Samus was a girl? 'cause when you finished the game, she took her clothes off for you, the player. Jeez.
"Reward for 100%ing a Metroid game is usually". By saying a Metroid game usually does this you make it sound like most games in the series give out this "reward". I've only played 2 games in the series, but I'm pretty sure only the 1st game hands out that "reward". You can count Other M I suppose for showing Samus in her Zero Suit more often than other games in the series, but that is more something that shows up constantly throughout the games rather than a reward for speedrunning or 100%ing.
Also, people have already addressed that the first game did this and why that doesn't matter. I'm sorry if this comes off as rude, but instead of actually reading through the defenses of people who dislike the heels and taking them into consideration you decided it'd be easier and, most importantly, funner to just make fun of these people. You don't even give them a chance (I keep saying "them" because, while I empathize with both sides of this argument, I'm actually indifferent to this whole thing); you just dismiss them. I don't think that's cool, sorry.
The_Kodu said:
[Snipped the other quotes so my post is less messy for those wondering what this is responding to]
I'd suggest they could be meant to be some kind of combat aid to maintain speed. Not quite so good at slower movements but like Runners blades etc as the heel in the boots seems slightly curved and not actually fully fixed in position hence why the shoes wrap wrong her ankles more too
I used to be a runner in high school. I did both Cross Country and long distance events for Track and Field. Trust me when I say high heels can't help you maintain speed...AT ALL. They're impractical on multiple levels.
Fun fact actually: High heels were originally meant for male horseriders. Their original purpose was to help hold your foot in the stirrups better. This can be traced back as early as the 9th century, possibly even earlier. They fell out of fashion in regards to this functionality and then somehow became a female accessory. Now, they have a cultural relevance as a womanly thing even though the majority of wearers were originally men. They continue being a female thing because society realized it helped emphasize the "sexy" aspects of a woman's figure and helped satisfy any people who have shoe fetishes or dominatrix fetishes.
PikaPika2 said:
I don't even think that they ment it that way. If you watched the direct, you'd see that the heels enhance her fighting abilities. And in SSBB, she was wearing heels, just not as noticeabley. I'm not complaining any about Other M if you couldn't tell; I didn't care. I didn't mind Other M much, but I understand your frustration. But I'm talking about SSB4 here.
In regards to enhancing fighting ability see what I said to user The_Kodu literally right above in this here post. I should probably also mention that I did karate for a little bit, not just running. I can't imagine doing karate in high heels. They enhance nothing. Their impracticability far outweighs the convenience of being able to "stab" someone with the pointy bit or use them as rocket jets especially when you could just put rocket jets in any footwear, heels or not. Iron Man uses limb rocket propulsion, for example.
As someone who owns SSBB, Zero Suit Samus was most certainly not wearing high heels. If you consider the above image high heels you have a very loose definition of high heels. I know you said "heels", not high heels, but the height those heels give is pathetic compared to legit heels. If we're going to call what Samus wears in SSBB heels then I guess I, a man, wear heels too. Whenever I go to a fancy party I wear my fancy shoes that have a similar, small raised arch as Samus's Zero Suit footwear in Brawl. To put it simply, there is a reason shoe stores don't label my fancy shoes as heels; they're not. They're arched shoes. They don't go high enough to be considered heels. Neither does Samus' footwear in Brawl.
I am not asking you to lose anything. I'm asking you to recognize that the developers made a poor choice (from a character design perspective). This was an opportunity to tell us more about Samus, by showing us what sort of rocket shoes she would pick. Instead, they gave her rocket shoes that clash with what we already know about her. We know she prefers function over appearance, which is why it's jarring that she's wearing shoes that are essentially the modern symbol of emphasizing appearance over function.
I am not asking you to lose anything. I'm asking you to recognize that the developers made a poor choice (from a character design perspective). This was an opportunity to tell us more about Samus, by showing us what sort of rocket shoes she would pick. Instead, they gave her rocket shoes that clash with what we already know about her. We know she prefers function over appearance, which is why it's jarring that she's wearing shoes that are essentially the modern symbol of emphasizing appearance over function.
Except I don't recognize it as a poor design choice. That was never my initial thought when I saw them.
Maybe the fact that we didn't expect that shows us that we don't know as much about Samus as we thought we did. If I were to read much deeper into this, I'd say that she's simply utilizing what she's given. Give her high heels and tell her to fight in them, she'll probably use them to stomp on her enemies. It tells me that she's adaptable, and practical. Give her anything and tell her to use them as a weapon, she'll find a way to make it work. But that's just my justification. I could very well be pulling this out of my ass.
My only issue with Samus in ssb4 is that voice! She sounds like such a smug son of a gun.
I know thats the Other M samus, but come on.
They should bring back the samus from the Prime series.
Anyways OT: Since the first game she has been sexualized, depending on how well you do less and less clothing, but the heels in my opinion are fine, mostly because they serve a function that isn't just fashion.
Rocket heels! Thats the pinnacle of an awesome person. I mean heels are hard enough to walk in with out breaking your ankles, so now weaponizing them with Rockets to fly around in and kick people in the face with fire, thats pretty awesome.
]Maybe the fact that we didn't expect that shows us that we don't know as much about Samus as we thought we did. If I were to read much deeper into this, I'd say that she's simply utilizing what she's given. Give her high heels and tell her to fight in them, she'll probably use them to stomp on her enemies. It tells me that she's adaptable, and practical. Give her anything and tell her to use them as a weapon, she'll find a way to make it work. But that's just my justification. I could very well be pulling this out of my ass.
This is a very interesting explanation, but it begs the question of who is giving her the high heels, and why. If they want to help her, why not give her more practical shoes? If they want to hinder her, why give her shoes that actually help? If she just found them, who made them, and why were they available to find? This leads down a whole rabbit hole, and about the best place it goes is the intern/CEO conversation that evilthecat provided in post 99.
On the other hand, if the boots had a more functional aesthetic, we can easily say Samus acquired them to serve as a backup for when her full armor is unavailable for whatever reason. Not only does this answer the question of the shoes' origins, it also makes Samus an actor(she's taking steps to make her life better) instead of a reactor(she's been handed a thing and has to make do with it).
Saying "women wear heels", as another poster did, is ignoring what we know about her as an individual character in favor of making her fit into a category better.
I never said "women wear heels", I said "women in Japanese games tend to wear high heels". Well, they tend to be a lot of very specific things, but heels are one of them.
If you look very carefully at my comment, you may notice that I explicitly pointed out that it was another poster who had said that. Further examination of the thread reveals that it was [Kira Must Die].
However, your specific comment still ignores the fact that, despite repeatedly being a woman in Japanese games, Samus specifically has generally avoided wearing high heels.
What we need here is some rigorous market study. Would high-heel rocket boots be a pain to wear any more than regular rocket boots, and if so, how would they impact on the wearer's self-esteem?
Just because it's a video game doesn't mean that it should get away with throwing proper characterization out the window. Especially since part of the point of the game is to pit favorite characters against each other.
A character's sense of style is a part of their characterization. As I said in another post no one cares that Peach wears heels. It could be pretty much assumed that she always wore heels. I mean, what else is she gonna wear that matches a bubblegum pink ball gown? The heels, as impractical as they are, match her character and go along with the whole princess thing.
Samus, however, doesn't really do the heel thing. Even when you look at the old powersuit-less Samus images posted in this thread, she may not be fully clothed, but she still doesn't appear to be wearing high heels.
And again with her wearing boots.
And again with her wearing boots.
I think the only other depiction of her with heels are the wedges attached to her Zero suit for Other M...and do we really need to bring up how that game messed with her character?
]Maybe the fact that we didn't expect that shows us that we don't know as much about Samus as we thought we did. If I were to read much deeper into this, I'd say that she's simply utilizing what she's given. Give her high heels and tell her to fight in them, she'll probably use them to stomp on her enemies. It tells me that she's adaptable, and practical. Give her anything and tell her to use them as a weapon, she'll find a way to make it work. But that's just my justification. I could very well be pulling this out of my ass.
This is a very interesting explanation, but it begs the question of who is giving her the high heels, and why. If they want to help her, why not give her more practical shoes? If they want to hinder her, why give her shoes that actually help? If she just found them, who made them, and why were they available to find? This leads down a whole rabbit hole, and about the best place it goes is the intern/CEO conversation that evilthecat provided in post 99.
On the other hand, if the boots had a more functional aesthetic, we can easily say Samus acquired them to serve as a backup for when her full armor is unavailable for whatever reason. Not only does this answer the question of the shoes' origins, it also makes Samus an actor(she's taking steps to make her life better) instead of a reactor(she's been handed a thing and has to make do with it).
That's a fair point. To me, though, it's kinda like asking "What would character x do in a zombie apocalypse?" You can ask "Why put him there in the first place?" but I feel as though you can learn more about a character by putting them in a situation we have never seen them in. However, your point is a valid one, too, although I'd argue that despite how they look, they are helping. Just look at her fight with them.
Is it really that hard to believe Samus would wear heels? Looking at those images, Samus has gone through quite a few design renditions. Is it really hard to buy a rendition of Samus that has heels? Let alone ones that aid her in combat?
Also, I've never played Other M, but the problems I hear about Samus in that game had nothing to do with her heels.
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