Guild Wars 2

In addition to everything fantastic about the upcoming offer of Path of Fire, the free inclusion of Human diversity is beautiful, exceeding all expectations. Truly, all people are royally served now!

But … with the release in a month, there’s still a fly in the soup.

“Kormir is beloved throughout Tyria, but Elonians who know her history are often proud to have one of their own in the pantheon.” — Small Kormir Icon

Yet, Elonians now on average look like this: afro-textured hair, a well-rounded nose tip and nostrils; chiefly African.
And Statues of Kormir still look like that: straight-haired, absent nose tip yet high nasal cavity; mainly European.

Non-Elonian Kormirs persist not only in Kryta, but also as Guild Hall decoration and,
yes, of all places, in Elona too now!

Can that outmoded redesign of Kormir <yet in some way> be updated before Path of Fire’s release?
Is it possible to restore everywhere the Goddess of Truth?
Or deal with it provisionally as done with Balthazar below?

I mean, it’s not unusual for a sculptor to take creative license when designing statues.

Considering it’s likely none of them know what Kormir even looked like…?

Ykfox.3825:

I mean, it’s not unusual for a sculptor to take creative license when designing statues.

Considering it’s likely none of them know what Kormir even looked like…?

I mean, anyone who was around when Kormir was around in GW1 would, and they made statues of her around that time, so i could see artists imitating those throughout the ages.

How did she look in GW1, though?

Ykfox.3825:

I mean, it’s not unusual for a sculptor to take creative license when designing statues.

Considering it’s likely none of them know what Kormir even looked like…?

Or also that people just tend to make deity in whatever image its worshipers are comfortable with, and the only statue in game was supposed to have been made by Krytans. Every European christian artist from the middle ages knew Christ didn’t look European but that’s still how they depicted him since that is how the majority of his followers looked.

Palador.2170:

How did she look in GW1, though?

She looked exactly like this, literally her from the game
https://wiki.guildwars.com/images/thumb/7/75/Kormir_Blind.jpg/120px-Kormir_Blind.jpg

Her hair is a bit longer in the statue is the biggest difference.

That’s too small. Anyone have a close up of her face?

Palador.2170:

That’s too small. Anyone have a close up of her face?

Ask and ye shall recieve. Heres a very up close and bit stretched out screeny of her prior to ascending to god hood.

goo.gl/6usuJJ

link doesnt seem to be working, try this one, though again heavily pixelated
https://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/square_small/0/4437/377366-150px_kormir.jpg

and heres a decent sized one of her after ascending to god hood, thought its pretty pixelated.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ryd6y7bep3o/maxresdefault.jpg

Dante.1763:

Palador.2170:

That’s too small. Anyone have a close up of her face?

Ask and ye shall recieve. Heres a very up close and bit stretched out screeny of her prior to ascending to god hood.

goo.gl/6usuJJ

and heres a decent sized one of her after ascending to god hood, thought its pretty pixelated.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ryd6y7bep3o/maxresdefault.jpg

Looking at the first screenshot, it looks like the sculptors just turned her hood into her hair.

Crinn.7864:

Looking at the first screenshot, it looks like the sculptors just turned her hood into her hair.

Thats what i was thinking too, though, it still looks long. In GW1 her hair was actually pretty short.

And here Im just thinking. Why are her hands so big?

Bazompora.2635:

In addition to everything fantastic about the upcoming offer of Path of Fire, the free inclusion of Human diversity is beautiful, exceeding all expectations. Truly, all people are royally served now!

But … with the release in a month, there’s still a fly in the soup.

“Kormir is beloved throughout Tyria, but Elonians who know her history are often proud to have one of their own in the pantheon.” — Small Kormir Icon

Yet, Elonians now on average look like this: afro-textured hair, a well-rounded nose tip and nostrils; chiefly African.
And Statues of Kormir still look like that: straight-haired, absent nose tip yet high nasal cavity; mainly European.

Non-Elonian Kormirs persist not only in Kryta, but also as Guild Hall decoration and,
yes, of all places, in Elona too now!

Can that outmoded redesign of Kormir <yet in some way> be updated before Path of Fire’s release?
Is it possible to restore everywhere the Goddess of Truth?
Or deal with it provisionally as done with Balthazar below?

There are only 5 gods you heretic.

And you people have the nerve to wonder why Balthazar hates you and wants you to die..

Peace with Charr
Peace with Hylek
Koombyahh 24\7
Worshipping an Elonian whiner who did nothing but take credit fro works of better heroes 250 years ago.

PEACE WITH CHARR

Some people just can’t ever be happy.

FrizzFreston.5290:

And here Im just thinking. Why are her hands so big?

They allow her to hold really big… stone tablets?

Stone Tablets thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis big!

<cough>

Nightfall’s Kormir (collage, 1st in attachments) was true to her conception. The first Goddess of Truth statue was erected immediately after her ascension (screenshot, 2nd in attachments). A closely observable replica exists in Guild Wars 2 (screenshot, 3rd in attachments), yet this black model is left abandoned in the Godslost Swamp. Presently, a buste of the Goddess of Truth with her natural African hair is also visible on banners in Divinity’s Reach (picture, 4th in attachments). Yet in African Elona, you will be greeted by a non-Elonian, non-African Kormir.

Can the Goddess of Truth be redeemed now that her motherland, Elona, becomes part of the world again? Resize it, the way the Orrian-styled statues of the Human Gods have been shrunk into the Shrine to the Six in Ascalon Settlement, with a texture swap to stem division?

Or is a makeover, done to de-de-Africanize Kormir, something that can?
The Orrian-styled statue has been updated once before already, from when it was first revealed without a blindfold six years ago (detail, 5th in attachment).

If it can’t be done right now, can at least wrong be undone for now:
then, how about a quick fix by retexturizing her straightened hair into dreadlocks?

They portrayed their God Krytan cuz their racist against Elonians.

Sorry, Elo-Krytans.

Why is this a thing? Did people not learn from the recent Minstrel thread?

Her hair is in dreadlocks. It’s difficult to see clearly unless you’re standing on it. It’s long and coiled, that flows into her collar.

I don’t understand the OP… I don’t see the difference in facial features. The pictures all look the same to me.

Kitty La Boom Boom.4065:

tl:dr version:
New character creation content that includes more afrocentric options is awesome!
So why does it seem that Kormir still looks whitewashed? Can that please be fixed?

I have a better idea:

Make Kormir look exactly the way she has always looked since gw1.

Kitty La Boom Boom.4065:

So why does it seem that Kormir still looks whitewashed? Can that please be fixed?

Because the statue is white marble, literally whitewashing her image. Also the bright light hides its subtler textures.

That can’t really be “fixed” without making it more obviously “africanized”, which is racist stereotyping.

I think the statue looks kind of like Aaliyah in Queen of the kitten ed, and that’s ok.

Note that Aaliyah’s hair was artificially straightened and, unfortunately,
that which is supposed to represent Truth now likewise is unnatural and Europeanized.

I investigated your earlier claim and went literally standing on the statue,
to unsurprisingly uncover nothing but more parted straight hair.

I beg to differ between phenotypes and stereotypes;
the former are the wealth of physical diversity,
while the latter reproduce poor understanding.

• Dwayna is always depicted as white with straight flowing non-African hair, described with pale skin and nobody is taking issue with how white she is.
• Kormir is still remembered as an Elonian and like most Elonians, she was black, immortalised with her featherlight Afro-textured hair and African nose; how did that become too black?

I have a better idea:

Make Kormir look exactly the way she has always looked since gw1.

Wouldn’t that require a hair change and nose job then?

+1 for changing the statues appearance, it does not ressemble her true Elonan ethnicity.

Ntiruyogwa.5786:

I have a better idea:

Make Kormir look exactly the way she has always looked since gw1.

Wouldn’t that require a hair change and nose job then?

+1 for changing the statues appearance, it does not ressemble her true Elonan ethnicity.

Her statue and all the images shown in this thread looks exactly like she did in gw1. There is no need to change her ethnicity if it already matches her original character design.

Why are you so obsessed with changing her ethnicity? What does her skin color have to do with the content of her character?

Her statue and all the images shown in this thread looks exactly like she did in gw1. There is no need to change her ethnicity if it already matches her original character design.

Why are you so obsessed with changing her ethnicity? What does her skin color have to do with the content of her character?

First of all; ethnicity is not limited to skin color.
For example, an albino African person still looks African.
Physical traits such as nose, hair, cheekbones, prognathy, lips, chin, etc are much more defining to a person’s ethnicity than merely the color of their skin.

Secondly; the point isn’t to change the skin color, it still is a statue , but to return her face and hair to her original physical traits.
You say that it does ressemble her Guild Wars 1 shape, but does it really?

Compare these previously posted pictures.
Does the flat haired statue ressemble the kinky haired original Kormir?

Ntiruyogwa.5786:

First of all; ethnicity is not limited to skin color.
For example, an albino African person still looks African.
Physical traits such as nose, hair, cheekbones, prognathy, lips, chin, etc are much more defining to a person’s ethnicity than merely the color of their skin.

Secondly; the point isn’t to change the skin color, it still is a statue , but to return her face and hair to her original physical traits.
You say that it does ressemble her Guild Wars 1 shape, but does it really?

Compare these previously posted pictures.
Does the flat haired statue ressemble the kinky haired original Kormir?

I just assumed it was her cowl, and it was actually hiding her hair. In GW1, they didnt have hair on her statue, they hid it under her blindfold(she looks more like a ritualist than a paragon). Frankly prefer the statue they have of her in GW2 over the one in GW1.

The statue of kormir out in Godslost swamp is much closer to her GW1 statue, but even then you cant see the hair
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/a/af/Statue_of_Kormir_%28Godslost_Swamp%29.jpg

Wouldnt mind having the statue from godslost in DR, but i believe that the one in DR is the Krytan take on her, so i feel it should be different.

also i think that is helmet hair. see attached image of Kormir before she was a god

I’m still waiting for someone to explain how her ethnicity has anything to do with the content of her character. AKA why is this important. Why does it matter.

I’m also still waiting for someone to actually prove that her nose is different in gw2 from gw1. Because that nose looks basically the same to me.

And if your argument is that her hair is different… What? African people can’t have straight hair?

Alright folks time for show and tell. Lets take a closer look at all the pictures YOU posted.

I would just like to say if you want to actually make a point about the shape of someones nose, you should take screen shots FROM THE SAME ANGLE. Regardless I think anyone with eye balls in their head can see these noses are basically all the same.

dusanyu.4057:

also i think that is helmet hair. see attached image of Kormir before she was a god

I don’t think it’s helmet hair if you look from the side.

You can see that’s an afro and she wears a tiara on the front.

Kormir had afro-textured hair, the natural hair type of black Africans as well as Negritoes and Melanesians.

She wore her hair as an afro, the hairstyle that is the namesake of the abovementioned hairtype.

• She had all-African hair as a mortal spearmarchal.
• She had all-African hair when she became a god.
• She had all-African hair on her first statues.
• She has all-African hair on her statue in the Godslost Swamp, Old Krytan ruins.
• She has all-African hair on her banner in Divinity’s Reach, New Krytan city.
• She has non-African hair in the Free City of Amnoon, Elonian city.

Why should Africans favor straight, non-African hair?

Xenon.4537:

Alright folks time for show and tell. Lets take a closer look at all the pictures YOU posted.

I would just like to say if you want to actually make a point about the shape of someones nose, you should take screen shots FROM THE SAME ANGLE. Regardless I think anyone with eye balls in their head can see these noses are basically all the same.

You did a commendable job on the outlines nevertheless.
Yet I can immediately spot the odd one among the outlines:
ALL noses have more height at the nose tip than on the nose bridge,
EXCEPT for the nose of the unnatural Statue of Kormir its angular outline.
And if you go back and look at that statue without blindfold, you can make out a much higher nose bridge, unlike any other Kormir or Elonian.

After afro-textured hair, the nose shape is one of the the most conspicuous markers of geographical origin.