What kind of males appeal the female demographic?

[drisky]

Dante- Used to be a yes till they dialled the smugness up to 9000, now he's just a dickhead.

Aww, now you've made Dante feel sad and loney


I personally find his smugness enjoyable. Also, motorcycle nun-chucks.

 

[Beautiful End]

The way I see it, a girl would look for a strong male out of basic instinct. In nature, a female would look for a strong mate that can protect her and her cubs and fertilize her with a good seed so that her cubs have a bigger chance of survival. Likewise, males look for someone fertile and healthy.

But yeah, I know that's wild nature. Still, I think some of those traits carry over. For example, a woman might be attracted to the alpha male more easily than to the beta male. With time, she might like the beta male more after getting to know her. Maybe he's more committed, less wild, smarter...I don't know. But those are traits that a woman would cherish more than "because my boyfriend can kill you".

Buff guys in videogames are meant to attract females at first and then guys. They just represent what they want to be, what they wish they'd look like. Buff, strong, an alpha males, a chick magnet. Like I said, girls are more easily attracted to those type of guys over a flabby, nerdy looking guy.

Now, the reason why some characters that don't look like a big package of meat still appeal to girls is because they still display the same traits as the alpha male but not to the extreme. Muscley guys scream "Hey, look at my muscles! Wish you could touch them, huh?!" while well-clothed, pretty guys say the same in a passive manner. No one likes to be yelled at, right?
Also, characters like Could or Squall or Sephiroth have that "troubled past" that just makes it more mysterious to woman. People love to decipher stuff. It's just something that keeps forcing you to come back. And if you do manage to decipher that and solve it, you feel accomplished because YOU helped out with that. You're not gonna walk away from that accomplishment! it's also YOUR accomplishment now!

So, I suppose if I had to choose, I'd choose a more docile alpha male (Link, Squall, Alistair, etc.) over the strong alpha male (Marcus and his buddies). It's like choosing between the frat boy and the good guy. Frat boy might be hot but come on. He's still a frat boy for now.

I don't know. That's what I think. Could be awfully wrong.

 

[Realitycrash]

Fenris- Sexy.

-Insert obligatory "girls like whiny emo-guys" joke here-

(Then again, I'm a straight guy, and even I find Fenris rather attractive)

 

[Realitycrash]

Oh God, not the whole Alpha Male, Beta Male shit. That stuff is made up by Pick Up Artists to justify their bizarre hypothesis in which 10% of men get ALL THE LADIES (apart from the fat ladies and the over 30 ladies because ewwww) and the other 90% get none of the ladies and are desperate for the ladies (apart from, still, the fat ladies and the over 30s ladies because ewwww) and so must resort to the Pick Up Artist manual of creepy passive-aggressive douchebaggery.

It's because the top 10% have found a niche that works on their particular "hunting-grounds", and have a fairly general-appealing look.
Take the same 10% and put them somewhere else (even something as simple as in another club) and watch them fail.

 

[Phasmal]

Fenris- Sexy.

-Insert obligatory "girls like whiny emo-guys" joke here-

(Then again, I'm a straight guy, and even I find Fenris rather attractive)

It's the voice. I don't know if I'd have liked him so much without the voice.
And a little self-deprication is good. Maybe its just me, but I tend to be put off by dudes who are too into themselves.
Like Dante.

 

[Realitycrash]

Fenris- Sexy.

-Insert obligatory "girls like whiny emo-guys" joke here-

(Then again, I'm a straight guy, and even I find Fenris rather attractive)

It's the voice. I don't know if I'd have liked him so much without the voice.
And a little self-deprication is good. Maybe its just me, but I tend to be put off by dudes who are too into themselves.
Like Dante.

You mean you like the snarky attitude, and not just the voice ^^
I think I do too, or perhaps I'm just a sucker for white-haired prettyboys.

Edit: What do you think of Maxi and Keilik from Soul Calibur?

 

[Ryotknife]

Its not Marcus Fenix's personality that puts me off (though theres not much to speak of there), it's the fact he looks like a fridge made of meat.
Not. Sexy.

Fenris- Sexy.


Also, don't think of it in terms of alpha and beta, thats just some creepy shit pick-up-artists tell themselves. Women aren't wolves.

Thats the funny thing about the over muscled guys that tend to show up in video games, they are designed to appeal to makes. I heard somewhere that the biggest buffest guys are just there for male eye candy, that women like strong but too many muscles and its just for the guys.

funny as big muscled men dont appeal to guys power fantasy at all. It is their actions that appeal to us. Kratos ripping a god's arms off and beating him to death with it = appealing, but you can have the same affect with a normal or possibly even a fat looking guy. Add a big muscled guy who does nothing and there isnt a single male who wants to be like him, especially since there are so many negative attributes attached to being overly muscled (stupid, rage issues, shallow).

compare a big muscled man who does relatively nothing special and compare him to original Dante from DMC and Dante wins hands down.

 

[Cerrax]

Dante in DMC 1 was an excellent character: strong confident, attractive, but never as smug as his DMC 3/4 persona was. He knew when to stop cracking jokes, and he was genuinely afraid of the demons he fought, but reflected that fear in his actions rather than his words. He projected an "alpha-male" persona while have a genuine personality underneath. By the end of DMC 2 he was just a generic gun-slinging anti-hero.

As a straight male though, I find my favorite female characters are the ones that don't sacrifice their dignity. Faith from Mirror's Edge, Chell from Portal, Hilde from SoulCalibur; they all look and act like genuine heroes rather than pin-up models.

 

[ElPatron]

On a tangentially-related note, the whole Alpha/Beta thing never fails to crack be up because it's basically generalizing old wolf behavior theories we now know are incorrect to mammals that aren't wolves.

We still use the expression "sun rise" even though we have proven that the Sun isn't rising anything. For years I have never seen a black pot or a black kettle, now everything is stainless steel.

We call AI the code that rules the behavior of NPCs in games, but go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence and you'll see that the way we use the term AI is incorrect.

It's jargon. Just because it exists doesn't mean it stays true when you compare to other fields.

Romantic appeal is more about substance. You want to know why so many girls just love Edward Cullen? Because he is solely devoted to Bella. No matter how much she strays from him and lets him down, he's always there to catch her.

Women will consider that person too clingy and needy in real life. Steph Meyer is the last person I would want to talk about human relationships, she struck gold by appealing to ages 12-18 but that's about it.

Thats the funny thing about the over muscled guys that tend to show up in video games, they are designed to appeal to makes. I heard somewhere that the biggest buffest guys are just there for male eye candy, that women like strong but too many muscles and its just for the guys.

It has to do more about respect and appearing menacing than actual eye candy.

It's a power fantasy. The character is like that to make the player feel his presence is imposing.

Just like beards. Big Boss is known for his manly beard. Beards intimidate people, they are still a way of judging your manliness in some cultures.

 

[saintdane05]

Skinny, dependent socially awkward pretty boys.

Muscular people don't get as much attention as those who looked like they came out of Hetalia.

(Yay! An excuse to post this!:

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EDIT: The whole "Alpha-beta" is being said wrong. The way us yaoi fans say it is "Uke(Bottom)/Seme(top). It is ment to refer to positions during anal sex.

 

[DoomyMcDoom]

Its not Marcus Fenix's personality that puts me off (though theres not much to speak of there), it's the fact he looks like a fridge made of meat.
Not. Sexy.

Fenris- Sexy.


Also, don't think of it in terms of alpha and beta, thats just some creepy shit pick-up-artists tell themselves. Women aren't wolves.

Actually the terms alpha and beta do have relevance when it comes to personality types, trust me, you'll know beta males by whether or not they carry themselves with any degree of confidence.

Alpha males: Not pack leader persay, but possessive of a more dominant personality(thus more likely to be called upon for leadership, though true leaders possess a specific set of skills, most of them are pretty high on the alpha scale, though there are exceptions to this), it generally refers to a man who follows his chosen path regardless of threat, or risk, these men are likely to speak up, or fight when they see it as nessecary, they carry themselves with the confidence of owning their actions, and not letting others threaten them, or drive away from their goals.

Beta males: Are generally self depreciating, tend to be followers, never speak up, fear confrontation usually to the point where if anyone, even a slightly less wimpy beta, goes for the same goal, he will back down with no contest.

EVERY man has elements of both personality types, it's just whether you choose to allow your fear to best you, and succumb to a completely beta personality.

And no, by goal I don't mean woman, I mean goal, could be a career position, or an auction item, anything where there is competition and it is desirable.

So no, it's not just a creepy pickup artist term, it's just a general term used to widely categorize reactionary and social behavior patterns, there are alpha and beta females too, it's just that most people don't talk about that, at least most men don't.

I'm no mind reader but from what I can tell, physical traits that appeal to women tend to be along the lines of fit but not ripped, relatively symetrical facial structure, and an appearance of relative well-kemptness, if the guy's a warrior in a battle it's not like anyone expects the guy to have perfect hair or a perfectly clean shaven gob.

Personalitywise, as long as the guy isn't bitching and moaning, and has the confidence in himself to face what challenges he may face, throw in a sense of humour, and a relatable personality, and there ya go.

I may be firing blindly into the dark here, but my results in relating to women as a man, seem to say otherwise, but please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Smeggs]

"MAGIC MIKE IS A BOX OFFICE HIT!"

Says the narrator for that commercial for the movie about muscular male strippers...

I'm fairly certain that it isn't because a bunch of guys went to watch it with their girlfriends.

 

[Radoh]

Okay look, you know how different men may not have the same tastes when it comes to what floats their boat? Believe it or not, women are the exact same way.
I've met women (and some men) over the years who've found me attractive for my ass, others for my voice, some for my personality, others because of my humour, the only thing they all seemed to agree on was cock.

As for your Alpha/Beta thing, body type has nothing to do with it, it's all personality.
Alphas can be more aggressive than betas and do tend to take charge of situations if no one else does.
Betas are more likely to be perfectly okay not running the show, sort of just go along with whatever the boss says.
Some women like a man to be dominant, some like those who are submissive, some like variety, etc... mileage and the variation thereupon.

 

[Phasmal]

Actually the terms alpha and beta do have relevance when it comes to personality types, trust me, you'll know beta males by whether or not they carry themselves with any degree of confidence.

Alpha males: Not pack leader persay, but possessive of a more dominant personality(thus more likely to be called upon for leadership, though true leaders possess a specific set of skills, most of them are pretty high on the alpha scale, though there are exceptions to this), it generally refers to a man who follows his chosen path regardless of threat, or risk, these men are likely to speak up, or fight when they see it as nessecary, they carry themselves with the confidence of owning their actions, and not letting others threaten them, or drive away from their goals.

Beta males: Are generally self depreciating, tend to be followers, never speak up, fear confrontation usually to the point where if anyone, even a slightly less wimpy beta, goes for the same goal, he will back down with no contest.

EVERY man has elements of both personality types, it's just whether you choose to allow your fear to best you, and succumb to a completely beta personality.

EVERY guy?
Does every girl? Or is this just a guy thing in your opinion*?
I just don't see it.
My boyfriend (just as an example) doesn't fit either of those descriptions, doesn't even seem a mix of the two.

I'll grant that not every guy uses alpha and beta in the creepy way but everytime it comes up there will be someone who swans in talking about women like they're a freaking nature proffessor and us women are just run by our instincts which OF COURSE they know all about. It's enough to make my skin crawl.

*Not being sarcastic. `In your opinion` always sounds so snarky.

 

[Weaver]

Never use Alpha/Beta when trying to define personality types. I've only seen it used by douchebag 19 year olds to justify why acting like a prick to everyone is perfectly normal. Believe it or not, there is a world outside of late teens/early 20's clubs, university bars and meeting women who think the duckface is a sexy way to take a picture.


My second problem with it, is it implies there are two types of people. There are a hell of a lot more than that.

 

[Infernai]

Its not Marcus Fenix's personality that puts me off (though theres not much to speak of there), it's the fact he looks like a fridge made of meat.
Not. Sexy.

Fenris- Sexy.


Also, don't think of it in terms of alpha and beta, thats just some creepy shit pick-up-artists tell themselves. Women aren't wolves.

Oh come on, that's a rather unfair comparison!

Elves are sexy regardless of gender, the fact that he has white hair and tattoo's means he has bonuses that just push it even further. Believe me, those three aspects on either gender pretty much will equal 'sexy' no matter who it is.
In short, against that competition Fenix was freaking doomed right out the gate to say the least as it's like comparing a grapefruit to a chocolate sundae with marshmellows and chocolate chips.

 

[Ryotknife]

Okay look, you know how different men may not have the same tastes when it comes to what floats their boat? Believe it or not, women are the exact same way.
I've met women (and some men) over the years who've found me attractive for my ass, others for my voice, some for my personality, others because of my humour, the only thing they all seemed to agree on was cock.

As for your Alpha/Beta thing, body type has nothing to do with it, it's all personality.
Alphas can be more aggressive than betas and do tend to take charge of situations if no one else does.
Betas are more likely to be perfectly okay not running the show, sort of just go along with whatever the boss says.
Some women like a man to be dominant, some like those who are submissive, some like variety, etc... mileage and the variation thereupon.

yea, but guys do generally have a "factory default" setting when it comes to sex fantasies. pretty much Victoria Secret models. Yes most if not all men are also attracted to many combinations besides those models. It would be unusual for a guy to be attracted to overweight women but not models, but it would not be unusual for a guy to be attracted to overweight women AND models.

that said, sex fantasties =/= what we look for in a long term partner, at least for me. There the physical attributes are laxed in favor of personality meshing if you are going for the long haul. Granted, there is a bit of overlap between the two spheres.

 

[Radoh]

Okay look, you know how different men may not have the same tastes when it comes to what floats their boat? Believe it or not, women are the exact same way.
I've met women (and some men) over the years who've found me attractive for my ass, others for my voice, some for my personality, others because of my humour, the only thing they all seemed to agree on was cock.

As for your Alpha/Beta thing, body type has nothing to do with it, it's all personality.
Alphas can be more aggressive than betas and do tend to take charge of situations if no one else does.
Betas are more likely to be perfectly okay not running the show, sort of just go along with whatever the boss says.
Some women like a man to be dominant, some like those who are submissive, some like variety, etc... mileage and the variation thereupon.

yea, but guys do generally have a "factory default" setting when it comes to sex fantasies. pretty much Victoria Secret models. Yes most if not all men are also attracted to many combinations besides those models. It would be unusual for a guy to be attracted to overweight women but not models, but it would not be unusual for a guy to be attracted to overweight women AND models.

that said, sex fantasties =/= what we look for in a long term partner, at least for me. There the physical attributes are laxed in favor of personality meshing if you are going for the long haul. Granted, there is a bit of overlap between the two spheres.

And then the same is true for women as well, sexual fantasy of Victor's Secret Models.

Honestly, everyone seems to be under the same impression that men are far less complex than women, it makes me sad.

 

[Ruzinus]

Fenris- Sexy.

Fenris? really? ok sure his voice is really sexy (and so is the voice actor for that matter) but the actual character is not only an ass but looks like a child.

I agree on the voice but...

A child?

Spoiler: Um, no?

Doesn't look anything like a child to me.
Yeah, he is grumpy though, but I kinda liked that about him. He went well with my Hawke, who was a goody-two-shoes.
I preferred him to Anders who you kiss twice and he wants to move in with you- Fenris felt more like a real person.

Few questions for you.

How much does the smirk affect his "sexy level," or whathaveyou?
The silver hair?

Garrus or Thane?