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the Dagon Knight4000 Posts
Much has been made of the treatment of gender in Dota 2, as this 76-page topic titled, "Are female heroes too sexualised?" attests. For the most part, those who address the question of gender have taken interest in the game’s female characters. Most notably, comments have been made on the practicality of the clothing worn by female heroes. By contrast, I’m going to try and even things up a bit by taking some time to look at the men* of Dota 2, and how they’re presented.
Today, I’m going to deal with four of the heroes I’ve played the most.
Lion:
I’m going to begin with Lion because, among other things, he was one of the first heroes I played Dota with. Moreover, he’s a character who has undergone a number of design changes since I started playing, some of which say encouraging things about his character.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/nT2Jb.jpg) While it’s not been a flattering transition, it’s nice to see him more confident.
As we can see, there was a time when Lion was quite different to the demon witch we know now. He used to wear his facial hair in a sort of demonic beard. While this helped lend his face some definition, it was never too hard to see what was going on behind it; a beard is no substitute for a jawline. Similarly, his face had before been lent some definition by makeup, with some not-so-subtle kohl/guyliner around his eyes to try and lend his face some character other than “bloated," "warty," and "maggot-like.”
In more recent patches, Lion has grown more comfortable. He’s let himself go a little, with sagging manbreasts replacing the muscular chest he’d sported earlier in the beta… but y’know, that’s okay. If you’re going to walk around topless all day, the most important thing is that you be comfortable about yourself. It's only made more intriguing by his acquisition of nipples in the interim.
Sure, you may be asymmetrical because of your hideous demonoplasty, and you may be a bloated mess, your chin slowly receding into your neck, skin waxy and horrific, but you have your pride. Wear whatever you damn well please, Lion, you’ve got shit to do.
Clothing status: Semi-nude. Cape. Shoulder pads.
Dark Seer:
The Dark Seer is another character somewhat lost in Dota 2. He’s a solid guy all round, but the truth is that he looks just a little strange; he’s from another dimension, and we can’t imagine what standards of beauty he’d be held to in that strange negarealm. So, what do we know about the Dark Seer?
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/PHMMv.jpg) A man who has maintained his own idea of beauty even in another dimension. Admirable.
We know that his skin is purple, his head is pointy, and he is covered in spines. None of these are remarkable on their own; there are plenty of strange-looking creatures in Dota 2. What is remarkable is that the Dark Seer is one of the few male characters to provide commentary on different heroes’ looks, including his own.
Your skull’s roundness offends me.
My beard grows longer.
Hand to face combat! / Slap in the face!
Did my head just get pointier?
So, what do we know about the Dark Seer? That he is obsessed with the pointiness of his own head and length of his beard, indicating that he maintains his own standard of male beauty. More than that, though, he seems almost obsessed with the idea of hitting other heroes in the face... perhaps because he seeks to flatten their noses so that they look more like himself? We may never know, but it could be that the Dark Seer sees himself as a sort of enthusiastic plastic surgeon.
And what about the fact that his clothes leave his nipples exposed? Are these the fashions he clings to from his home dimension? We can only assume so...
Clothing status: Pants (with freaky backwards-knees). Buckles. Gorget. Exposed nipples.
The Faceless Void:
The Faceless Void is an interesting case. If we take it at face value, he’s a robust guy. He’s got a fine looking bony crest thing, healthy purple skin (like the Dark Seer), and a range of strange abilities that allow him to travel backward and forward through time.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/7g78o.jpg) Stark, beautiful, horrifically clumsy.
Sure, on the face of things, he has everything going in his favour, but we’re doing our best to look a little deeper here. Consider this; the Faceless Void can use his “backtrack” to shunt his way back and forth through time and space in an effort to dodge incoming attacks, but he never manages to get above a 25% chance to dodge. Why, you ask? Because, while he can turn back time, the Faceless Void is also blind.
Take a closer look at the backtrack icon: ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/EaybX.png)
That is not the motion of a man dodging an attack. That is a man shying away from having stubbed his toe, or perhaps bumped his head.
The sad irony, of course, is that the faceless void is as perfect a specimen of the male figure as you’re ever likely to encounter. He’s well muscled, but not ridiculously so; he’s a man* who likes to keep in shape, but who sadly cannot see that shape himself. He’s confident enough to wander around semi-nude, but constantly uses his backtrack to avoid the embarrassments he might encounter.
His time travel is his security blanket, the poor dear. It probably doesn’t help that his given name is Darkterror.
Clothing status: Codpiece. Shoulder pads.
Pudge:
Say what you want, Pudge is the kind of guy who has the confidence it takes to just let it all hang out (in this case, “all” includes his skin, muscle, some bones, and various viscera).
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/gBvup.jpg) You know… there’s probably a website somewhere full of people who are really into Pudge.
The truth is that Pudge is probably the man we have to respect most in DotA. He bends to no one, he doesn’t feel the need to kowtow to fashionable expectations of just what it is that a man should wear; he’s comfortable in his horrific, meaty birthday suit, and that’s alright. There’s nothing wrong with a little nudity. Sure, he’s a hook-wielding horror whose primary occupation appears to be cannibalism, but nobody’s perfect.
Make room for Pudge!
Smells good, don’t it?
The difference is that Pudge is happy with who he is. Can you honestly look at that festering, mass of rotting flesh, the corpulent mess waddling along and just decaying everywhere, and tell me that he doesn’t think he’s sexy? Pudge knows exactly what he’s got going on, and I’m sure there are people who are into that sort of thing.
More power to him.
Clothing status: Apron. Flesh of his enemies.
*Some of the characters we’ll look at are “men” by dint of assumption. Who really knows what governs gender wherever the Dark Seer comes from?
 
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3030 Posts
My eyes... I didn't know Dark Seer had nipples lol =x
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Faceless Void doesn't have nipples ... disappointed. D:
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the Dagon Knight4000 Posts
On January 08 2013 09:19 babylon wrote:
Faceless Void doesn't have nipples ... disappointed. D:
Correction: Faceless Void doesn't have nipples on his chest. I don't think we have a qualified extra-temporal biologist on staff to tell us where on his body we'd have to look to find nipples.
In the absence of any other direction, would posit that the shoulder pads hide the Void's nipples.
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United States22883 Posts
On January 08 2013 09:21 SirJolt wrote:Show nested quote +On January 08 2013 09:19 babylon wrote:
Faceless Void doesn't have nipples ... disappointed. D: Correction: Faceless Void doesn't have nipples on his chest. I don't think we have a qualified extra-temporal biologist on staff to tell us where on his body we'd have to look to find nipples. In the absence of any other direction, would posit that the shoulder pads hide the Void's nipples.
*****
We really should be able to 5 star posts like this.
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Australia8532 Posts
On January 08 2013 09:30 Jibba wrote:Show nested quote +On January 08 2013 09:21 SirJolt wrote:On January 08 2013 09:19 babylon wrote:
Faceless Void doesn't have nipples ... disappointed. D: Correction: Faceless Void doesn't have nipples on his chest. I don't think we have a qualified extra-temporal biologist on staff to tell us where on his body we'd have to look to find nipples. In the absence of any other direction, would posit that the shoulder pads hide the Void's nipples. ***** We really should be able to 5 star posts like this.
Lol - one of the few moments a Reddit voting system would be useful on TL 
In terms of sexuality, Kunkka or Beastmaster seem to be pretty well ... structured?
Possibility of species relationship between Sven and Void?
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Lalalaland34479 Posts
![[image loading]](http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r616/littlegizka/DotA%202%20Models/Windrunner.png)
Is it just me or is her chest really weird.
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United States22883 Posts
On January 08 2013 09:36 bkrow wrote:Show nested quote +On January 08 2013 09:30 Jibba wrote:On January 08 2013 09:21 SirJolt wrote:On January 08 2013 09:19 babylon wrote:
Faceless Void doesn't have nipples ... disappointed. D: Correction: Faceless Void doesn't have nipples on his chest. I don't think we have a qualified extra-temporal biologist on staff to tell us where on his body we'd have to look to find nipples. In the absence of any other direction, would posit that the shoulder pads hide the Void's nipples. ***** We really should be able to 5 star posts like this. Lol - one of the few moments a Reddit voting system would be useful on TL In terms of sexuality, Kunkka or Beastmaster seem to be pretty well ... structured? Possibility of species relationship between Sven and Void?
PA's system is much, much better.
I have to wonder, when Lycanthrope becomes a wolf, what happens to his clothes?
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Katowice25012 Posts
Pudge really doesn't care. Dude isn't even wearing shoes. He's charging into combat without even giving though to how to step over pointy rocks.
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On January 08 2013 09:48 Jibba wrote:Show nested quote +On January 08 2013 09:36 bkrow wrote:On January 08 2013 09:30 Jibba wrote:On January 08 2013 09:21 SirJolt wrote:On January 08 2013 09:19 babylon wrote:
Faceless Void doesn't have nipples ... disappointed. D: Correction: Faceless Void doesn't have nipples on his chest. I don't think we have a qualified extra-temporal biologist on staff to tell us where on his body we'd have to look to find nipples. In the absence of any other direction, would posit that the shoulder pads hide the Void's nipples. ***** We really should be able to 5 star posts like this. Lol - one of the few moments a Reddit voting system would be useful on TL In terms of sexuality, Kunkka or Beastmaster seem to be pretty well ... structured? Possibility of species relationship between Sven and Void? PA's system is much, much better. I have to wonder, when Lycanthrope becomes a wolf, what happens to his clothes?
Well, he's got a limited number of places to hide them, and we know what his mouth is up to...
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LOL. By god. Why, you ask?
Faceless Void is also blind. That is not the motion of a man dodging an attack.
More the motion of a man stubbing his toe.
LOL this is too good.
<3.
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United States22154 Posts
I am never disappointed by a SirJolt blog
5/5
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sirjolt likes those manboobs
![[image loading]](http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/images/8/82/Cookiemonster.gif)
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Lalalaland34479 Posts
Must admit, when I first saw this in the sidebar I thought it would be one of those 'this is why we don't have many girls in dota' things. I was pleasantly surprised.
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Someone should definitely take up Void's psychological crisis and how he moves through time to escape it and make a film out of it. I honestly think it's quite a touching story that needs much more attention than it has.
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On January 08 2013 09:21 SirJolt wrote:Show nested quote +On January 08 2013 09:19 babylon wrote:
Faceless Void doesn't have nipples ... disappointed. D: Correction: Faceless Void doesn't have nipples on his chest. I don't think we have a qualified extra-temporal biologist on staff to tell us where on his body we'd have to look to find nipples. In the absence of any other direction, would posit that the shoulder pads hide the Void's nipples.
For the question of Void, it's not where his nipples are, it's when.
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Five out of fucking five.
I wish I had an eighth of the wit of you or dAPhREAk.
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Have the decency to slap a [NSFW] tag on subject matter as hot as Pudge
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On January 08 2013 09:47 Firebolt145 wrote:Is it just me or is her chest really weird.
the model hasnt matched the textures ever. shes really flat
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On January 08 2013 09:47 Firebolt145 wrote:+ Show Spoiler +Is it just me or is her chest really weird.
I saw the OP on the quoted website, and I have to say that for a video game, DotAs boobage is not nearly as bad as others. Also most of the boobs look off center or somewhat not normal for some reason.
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EPT
