Guild Wars 2

Of all the races in Tyria, I think charr are the best looking, even surpassing the human female meta. Part cat, part human, charr are the best of both worlds. With that in mind, one thing that we’re missing from current story lines is charr romance. In their war-like society, there must be somewhere written in charr lore that romance exists. Quaggan have it. Sylvari have it. The closest we’ve seen thus far is Rox and Braham, but that’s more like a sibling love than actual love.

Charr are an attractive race, and Anet should take advantage of that inherent strength. We need more romance in this game of loss and depression. We need more charr couples. Charr weddings. Charr love triangles even. Add some skirt-like outfits to the Gem Store that segues into an upcoming charr highschool romantic background story that involves a confused human thief transfer student in a predominately male Ash Legion class that features the only female charr valedictorian in the fahrar

Romance is the key to keeping players glued to the game. Who needs content when you have a heart warming story?

Well as part of the community as pointed out in another thread, Charr are absolutely no part human just all beast although having a humanoid stance. (And they also pointed out how many furries we have in the game that love horns and tails).

But I agree that it would be nice if there was some romance or something besides War War War War thoughts with charr and at this point its going to be something between Rox and that bald norn guy.

Furry confirmed

I think I read somewhere about charr romance. Could be in the books. I forgot the details but if I remember correctly it’s more of a no strings attached type of a thing. But no cheating or anything. Two charr stay together just to be together, to have a mate. Until they decide it’s time to move on.

It’s heart warming until you realize that cats are quite… spikey…

Although a love triangle between a Charr, Asuran and Quaggan would be interesting to see I suppose.

What about including left-handed characters in your topics though? They are missing out!

Yes I know they’re “beasts”, but very human-like “beasts”. Charr have emotions, just like any other human I know. If you prick them, do they not bleed?

You can stab an elephant and it will bleed too. Doesn’t make it human

Smooth Penguin.5294:

Yes I know they’re “beasts”, but very human-like “beasts”. Charr have emotions, just like any other human I know. If you prick them, do they not bleed?

At the point where you will be able to answer that question, you will probably also be laying head down on the ground with a crushed skull and arms ripped off, so I dont see how the question is relevant.

Smooth Penguin.5294:

Yes I know they’re “beasts”, but very human-like “beasts”. Charr have emotions, just like any other human I know. If you prick them, do they not bleed?

Dogs have emotions as well as bleed, so that makes them humans right?

charr love doesn’t make sense. reproduction is a sole tool for victory by producing more soldiers. there is no bonding amongst charr. there is a hierarchy of command.

Charr are not part human, part cat. They are Charr. They have an instinct for battle, not romance. If we have everything the OP asks for in Living Story 3 with all the other threads, there’d be about 95% video for the story lines, and little time for an actual plot!

If you think we’ve not seen a charr couple before, then you really need to pay closer attention to the charr storylines. There’s one there, and it’s obvious when you realize what you’re looking at.

zaced.7948:

charr love doesn’t make sense. reproduction is a sole tool for victory by producing more soldiers. there is no bonding amongst charr. there is a hierarchy of command.

Anyone who actually plays a Charr knows this isn’t true. Of course, they do have a strong sense of “One of us might be killed tomorrow” mentality preventing them from forming too strong of bonds with each other.

That said, there’s no human in charr. They have the claws of a bear, horns of a goat, face of a cat, and body of a gorilla.

Hey, uh…, Penguin? How many cats do you own? Do they tend to put their backs against the wall when you are around?

Sartharina.3542:

zaced.7948:

charr love doesn’t make sense. reproduction is a sole tool for victory by producing more soldiers. there is no bonding amongst charr. there is a hierarchy of command.

Anyone who actually plays a Charr knows this isn’t true. Of course, they do have a strong sense of “One of us might be killed tomorrow” mentality preventing them from forming too strong of bonds with each other.

That said, there’s no human in charr. They have the claws of a bear, horns of a goat, face of a cat, and body of a gorilla.

i play only charr. don’t you even try to out-charr me.

dem furries

/15 tybalts

Dear Smooth Penguin;
Please look up (or better yet play through) the personal story instances which contain Galina Edgecrusher and Snarl Backdraft. These two Charr represent a love story for their race that I have always felt does the Charr justice.
Perhaps even… great justice?
I think that is what Palador was referring to.

Never found charr to be attractive, they’re too animal like for me. If they had at least more human like body proportions it could have been diferent, but they’re almost like cats on 2 feet.

coso.9173:

Never found charr to be attractive, they’re too animal like for me. If they had at least more human like body proportions it could have been diferent, but they’re almost like cats on 2 feet.

If they made them more human-like, they’d be your standard anthro “furry” characters. And they’d probably land in the uncanny valley for some people.

Personally, I can find some charr attractive, and most norn. Asura I sometimes find cute in a non-attractive way. But being face to face with a sylvari would freak me out, they’re right in the middle of the valley for me.

I do hope you are kidding in your second paragraph.
Suffice to say, there are examples of charr romance. The thing is, said romances must be in context with charr culture. You simply won’t find a charr romance that resembles your typical human love story.
One example in-game is the relationship between Galina Edgecrusher and Snarl Backdraft. They come from different legions and initially regard one another with disdain. As they work together, they come to respect each others’ talents, and they ultimately become mates.
The issue is that charr culture itself has no concept of marriage. Some charr take a mate, but mates are rarely permanent. Warfare and cultural preference means a couple rarely stays together for long. Some do, of course, but that is a personal decision. It is not recognized in any way by the government.
Most charr just have casual sex here and there, and the resulting kids are sent away for military training very young.

Right – there’s not a lot of incentive in Charr Culture for loyal, long-term relationships. A big part of this is the Warband structure of society – for the vast majority of Charr, ‘romance’ is probably something that starts, stops, and shuffles about within a warband (On one hand, sure they’re seen somewhat ‘as family’ to charr – on the other, none of them are physically related, and they’re the only company they have for long periods of time), making it largely invisible to the rest of the world (Though there certainly are probably inter-warband one-night stands thrown around to shake things up). Even the traditional reason for long-lasting unity in Charr culture – raising kids – doesn’t properly exist. In the warband, everyone’s responsible for everyone else’s predicament, and individual members of the 50% female population in each warband getting pregnant is something that’s seen as inevitable. But once the kid is weaned – off to the Fahrar with it.

The only reason Snarl and Galina’s romance (Such as it was) likely got any traction is because they’re both Legionnaires. And the life of a Legionnaire isn’t an easy one because of the lifelong structure of the Warband. An officer, due to the disparity of power and the fact that his or her job is “Be ready to march these people you’ve known all your life to their deaths on command” isn’t able to form friendships within their warband. With great power comes great blame – When things go right, it’s the Warband’s success. When things go wrong, it’s the Legionnaire’s fault (They should have known their bandmate’s capabilities better!). And there’s all sorts of other drama just waiting to happen. So, I suspect most Legionnaires have to go cross-warband to find love. Iron Legion probably has the easiest time of this – their warbands are smaller than Blood, and less scattered than Ash. Blood Legion has an issue where they have absolutely massive Warbands compared to the other two legions (Because they have higher casualty rates, and the larger headcount reduces the morale impact of losing veterans and gaining FNGs). And Ash Legion warbands are scattered everywhere for maximum reconnaissance coverage. Ash and Blood also work closest with each other, though in doing so also develop the greatest contempt for the other (Though Iron is least trusted)

Weindrasi.3805:

I do hope you are kidding in your second paragraph.
Suffice to say, there are examples of charr romance. The thing is, said romances must be in context with charr culture. You simply won’t find a charr romance that resembles your typical human love story.

Ember saying that you are wrong.

Dougal looked at Ember’s shadowed form in the darkness. The charr seemed honestly curious. “Human relationships are hard to explain to other races.”
Ember snorted, "Oh, I understand. Charr relationships have all that stage drama as well. We on occasion mate for life, though our relationships are usually more casual, and we have more than our share of jealousies, rivalries, expectations, and disappointments. Lovers come together, break apart, and come together years later.

Also, there is a lot of non-legion charr that live in LA and various order strongholds.

I thought it was clear that Penguins comment about “part human” was a descriptor of how human-like they are. “if you you prick them…….” is a Shakesperian reference from the Merchant of Venice that was making a point of how alike two different people are.

“If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?". – (Act III, scene I).”

That said, Weindrasi hit the nail on the head. Charr have their own cultural version of romance. It doesn’t mirror human romance. So, it is in the lore, but it different.

Hmm, I approve this thread.

That said, I’d like to add that many points made about the Charr and their mannerisms, while true, are NOT Charr traits, just characteristics of their society. If there’s one quality of a good story, it’s having a main character or cast that are individuals and not just cogs in a bigger machine and act/react as such.

I have more to say but will leave it at that. But the thread title is just begging for some furry hate!

As others have said, there are examples of charr romance in the game. The reason you’re not seeing it is because you are looking for a more traditional human romance, and that just isn’t how charr operate.

Charr don’t make a big deal out of being together. In fact they seem to keep it pretty private and don’t make it obvious. There was a short story about charr way back before the game launched that told the story of a male and female Charr who were constantly at each other’s throats and argued all the time, even coming to blows. But at the end of the story when the male is killed in battle the female reveals they had a child together, takes said child to the male’s fahrar (they were from separate legions). When the Primus asked who the father was she said “He was a coward and a fool…. Tell our cub to be just like him.”

Charr aren’t a touchy feely race. They are hard, strict, and disciplined. And while there is room for love in their lives it doesn’t mean they are going to faun over one another and treat each other like precious snowflakes the way humans do.

I was thinking of that story myself. Around when that was released, there was also a bit of information given on charr relationships.

Basically, they practice “serial monogamy”. They enter relationships, drop off any kits at the fahrar, and split up when the relationship no longer suits them. They don’t romanticise lifelong love like humabs, norn, and sylvari do, and don’t have their own institution of marriage.

I do recall it being said that some charr do buck the trend marry using the traditions of other races, but they tend to be regarded as a little odd, and it typically happens with charr who have left the legions.

I’m a human.. Obviously.
If a charr was interested, I’d date her!

Not smooth, Penguin. Funny anyway, though.

There have been some examples of charr romance in game – just mostly on the side of things. I’d certainly be interested in the next front and center romance plot involving charr. As folks have said, since they don’t do things the human way – it’d be way more interesting.

Plus charr are awesome.

Charrs can have some romance too. In the World Summit from Living Story 2, the Imperator Smodur replies to the PC when he asks for the Charrs to unite to defend Tyria against Mordremoth:
“You should visit us in our territory one day, so you can see how the Flame Legion and Ascalonian ghosts kill our loved ones. Then perhaps you will understand why we can spare no one”

Charrs can love too and yeah a romance would not that of a surprise. But, when i see how teenagers the romance are in GW 2, I really hope they would work hard on it to make it not laughable…really hard

This said, I would like to see a romance between 2 Charrs in the main story

I thought charr romance was mostly limited to displays of skill and wanted to breed the best of both parents.
A charr wants to find a capable mate to have capable offspring with. So the charr with the most achievements or skills is most likely to find the most mates.

Amaimon.7823:

I thought charr romance was mostly limited to displays of skill and wanted to breed the best of both parents.
A charr wants to find a capable mate to have capable offspring with. So the charr with the most achievements or skills is most likely to find the most mates.

I don’t think the charr are as callous and Darwinian as this. Otherwise, any officer of high rank would always get to choose the best mates. Tribunes would basically have a harem – we know that’s not happening, since the player frequently hangs out with a Tribune.

Charr have emotional connections, just not the same way humans do. We’ve seen some of that in the story already. They may be more casual about romance or less prone to monogamy, but that doesn’t mean they’re completely cynical and rational about what romance and mating is for.

Charr romance is almost always beastality, no?

DresdenAllblack.1249:

Charr romance is almost always beastality, no?

You mean bestial (that is lacking ‘intelligence’ or reason; marked by base or inhuman instincts or desires)? That’s how I see it. I’d assume the females enter a receptive phase similar to humans and how they express this may differ a bit from humans (maybe it might have to do with sound, like hormones altering their voice which is then noticeable with Charr acute hearing? also could possibly relate to pheromones which may be more noticeable by Charr if they have a better sense of smell). The difference is, with the context of mating and receptiveness, human males don’t pick up on changes in females as instinctively anymore.

So in that sense, Charr romance and attraction may only start when receptiveness in the females begins and before then, males and females don’t regard gender at all. But if we considering all the possibilities, lust can play a bit role. Do Charr feel lust? If they’re warm blooded mammals, I belive they do.