Guild Wars 2

I suspect that for males, large horns are a sign of good health and reproductive ability. A male with stunted horns could have health or genetic problems, and as such stunted horns are probably seen as an ugly trait.
For females, the horns are much smaller on average, so they probably aren’t as important for attracting a mate. With females, it’s probably all in the tail. A full-furred, fluffy tail is a sign of good health—so tails could be how they attract a mate.

At any rate, since large horns are an attractive male feature, it would mean more large-horned males get to reproduce and pass the trait of horns down to their offspring. So, the charr race keeps their horns.

What I came up with off the top of my head:

-Charr whose horns happen to grow unusually large may cut them on purpose, depending on their profession. Large horns would get in the way for a charr who has to work in tight spaces or go unnoticed. Also, depending on the direction they grow in, they could be a problem in combat.

-Some Charr cut their horns for beauty. There is one female charr horn option where she cut her horns off and attached gears to the ends. Another one somehow manipulated her horns to grow around a gem. For males, there’s one where he cut the tips off his horns and attached metal plates to the ends.

-Charr who were sickly as cubs, or charr who have genetic mutations, may only grow very tiny horns—or none at all. In the male character creation, there is a set of horns that looks stunted, and female horns can be downsized almost to non-existance.

-Charr may have lost their horns in battle. They could be ripped, smashed, or cut off—depending on what happened in the fight.

Dispari.3980:

The female charr voice during cutscenes sounds fine to me. My issue with the female charr voice is mostly just the falling and pain noises. Before I rolled one I remembered hearing those pain sounds when fighting charr, and to me they sound like a younger male charr. Then I started playing a female charr and realized those are my pain sounds. It’s still hard for me to associate the noises with a female charr.

I don’t particularly like the female voice, but for me it’s the exact opposite reason. I think she sounds too feminine. I’ve noticed that other female charr voices sound female, but also rougher and more fitting for a charr. While the player-character female charr sounds almost like a normal human woman.

The Legions are facing war on multiple fronts, as you are well aware. Blood Legion forces in Ascalon have been stretched thin, keeping Flame Legion and human separatists under control. I can spare no more of my soldiers at this time. Might I suggest you take your inquiry to an officer within your own Legion? An Iron Legionnaire working out of the Black Citadel has a new form of weaponry in development for combat against ghosts. Tribune Goreblade or Tribune Brimstone can tell you more.
-Centurion Nyoka Gorefell, Blood Legion.

When Arenanet was trying to design an enemy race for Guild Wars 1, they wanted it to be unique. They thought about how being killed and eaten by big cats is a human fear, so they decided they would design a cat race. However, the first charr concepts were just that—cat people. And cat people are too cute. So they thought “What can we do to make this race scary instead of cute?”. That’s when they decided to give the charr huge horns and teeth, and give them a fire-worshipping religion. They became “demons”, “demon-cats”, or “hell-cats”

Chlorure.9763:

LameFox.6349:

The one behind you is going to kill you and make clothes from your skin. I don’t think that expression can be taken any other way…

I believe he is just hypnotised by her magnificent tail!

Maybe he’s going to cut her tail off and make it into a lovely Wintersday scarf?
That or it’s jealousy. He doesn’t even have a tail tuft—it got burned off. His tail looks like a rat XD

Frosty and Frosty Law Firm.4981:

My friend went out of his way to make his femcharr adorable.

It worked. She’s like a big cuddly kitten with a two handed sword. I was thinking of making one myself, but I don’t know what class.

I suggest Warrior or Guardian—heavy armor looks the best on Charr, and has the fewest clipping issues.

Chlorure.9763:

My main is a FemCharr Warrior. I LOVE LOVE LOVE HER.

I like what you did with the tiger pattern and green eyes—she looks very striking!
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Also, just for fun, a screenshot—Nyoka taking her rightful place as the Goddess of Flame Legion :P

Surbrus.6942:

Most fabulous Charr ever.
Then of course, receiving a great boon for my devotion to the true Charr god, Abbadon.

All hail Abbadon!

The goal here is to get a very cool or funny screenshot that somehow relates to the charr.
Mine: Nyoka and the Flame Legion. Because once she kills Gaheron and steals his powers, she will become their new God by force! XD

The “Complete Rejection of Values and Beliefs” refers more to practices like:

-Worshipping Gods
-Giving Charr authority by claiming they are the mouthpiece of “Gods”
-Oppressing/enslaving women
-Rejecting technology in favor of magic
-Repeating time-consuming and risky rituals over and over again to appease Gods or Shamans
-Self-mutilation of magic users

As is clear from all the Charr elementalists, necromancers, and mesmers running around—magic still has a place in Charr society. Flame Legion, on the other hand, does not.

It is even stated in the lore that when Kalla Scorchrazor overthrew Flame Legion, she chose to spare the Shamans and keep magic a part of Charr society, because it was useful.

Charr don’t particularly like magic, but they don’t reject it.

Mutant E.2154:

I want to play a female char, have started and deleted several. I am always unhappy with the armor, at least at medium and light. The male armor medium to light is decent (husband plays one) but the female’s looks terrible., esp compared to the other races. I have deleted a norn warrior to try a char again with heavy armor, had one in beta. Hopefully I will be able to keep it.

I’m not sure how the armor issue applies to the charr? Male & female charr wear the exact same armor sets.

Shadowdawn.7946:

Surbrus.6942:

All the High Legions have strayed from their path. Iron is too concerned with peace, and using propaganda to confuse the past (Flame Legion called “traitors”, when they are responsible for turning the Charr into a force to be reckoned with and the retaking of Ascalon). The Flame Legion is too busy with their search for false gods. Ash and Blood simply lack the initiative.

Ash are busy stopping Flame trying to kill everyone, and making sure assassins and spies die before they can get anywhere. I agree, Blood are idiots who lack initiative. I find it amusing that you called the one legion with the most thieves, lacking initiative. I think that’s the one thing they don’t lack.

I think it’s too soon to dismiss Blood. Remember, they have a huge homeland region all to themselves north of Ascalon, and we haven’t heard any mention of their imperator or his actions. While Blood may have a lesser impact in Iron Legion’s homeland of Ascalon, I bet they’re cooking up something big in their own territory.
Historically, Blood hasn’t been known to sit quietly—Balthea Havocbringer, Pyre Fierceshot, and Kalla Scorchrazor were all Bloodies—and they led the rebellions against/overthrow of Flame.

For Blood Legion! :P

I’d have added this picture in my previous post, but I don’t know how to get multiple screens up. At any rate, my three babies:
XD

I recently created a new female, Albane Memorykeeper. I really liked this face from the beginning, but I already had an image of my main female in my head and it just didn’t fit. I figured that one day, I would create a second female, so I could use this face.
At any rate, introducing Albane:

LameFox.6349:

Speaking of necromancers…

(ignore the lack of anti-aliasing, I use an injector and I don’t think it shows up on in-game screenshots)

lol spying on the Flame Legion!

Dustfinger.9510:

Found this guy in Lions Arch. He seems to have a pretty big head on a thin body but the roundness of the head gives him more of a human look than the elongated head of my rat beast thing. :P

Actually, to me, her head looks a bit smaller then average. And she’s got a more average body type, as femcharr go.

9/10. I still use character names I came up with as a little kid too! And you’re right—although it sounds a bit complex for the typical charr, it sounds powerful enough to be fitting. His surname, Stormsoul, is well-thought-out and fitting to the character.

I recently created a female elementalist named Albane Memorykeeper.

Albane was born to a loyal father, and a gladium mother. She grew up with her strange mother, they wandered the Ascalonian plains alone. Eventually, her father tracked them down and insisted his cub go to the fahrar. Albane went, but she retained her mother’s strange teachings—she is spiritual in a way unheard of among charr. Although odd, she was clever enough to gain status and become a legionnaire.

Albane chose to call her warband the “Memory” warband. As she described it to them: “We will remember all we have been taught, and be great soldiers. We will remember every slight, and avenge ourselves accordingly. We will remember our pride, and never stop fighting for progression”
But, in her own private thoughts, she also “remembers” times of old, before Flame Legion’s rule, when it was not shameful for the charr to have spiritual reverence. She follows these ancient ways in secret, through study and silent practice.

I was exited to get the T-2 headgear for my light-armor female charr, but when I put the mask on, I realized that her eyebrow fur pokes through the top! ARGH!

It depends on how you want the head to look in comparison to the body.
On my female charr, I wanted her to look as big and bulky as possible. I picked the largest body type (as you did) and one of the larger-boned heads (also, like you did).
Then I made her head smaller, so it was about halfway between midpoint and the left side of the slider. Since her head is smaller then average, it makes her body look even more bulky & muscular by comparison. (Pic example below—however keep in mind she’s going to look thinner in-game then she does in the character creator. So in that case, you might want to do as I did & downsize the head for maximum bulk appearance)


A word of caution, though. If you pick one of the small-boned heads, such as the cheetah, you may not want to downsize it 100% in comparison to a bulky body. It isn’t bad, but it starts looking unusual. (Although this applies more to males)

Also, be careful if you pick one of the large-boned heads and make it as big as possible on the most skinny body—then you have a bobblehead charr, and that can look off too. (Although this applies more to female charr. I’ve seen male charr, like the ones above, who look fine with a big head and thin body)

Shadowdawn.7946:

How id you get pink hair?

That’s Sicaea The Shrouded. She’s an NPC…

Ben K.6238:

Got 10 charr, of which 7 are female.
Curiously, of my four non-charr, there’s one female and three males. Most games I play the vast majority of my characters are female, but I wasn’t too keen on the female designs for sylvari and norn.

10 charr eh? That’s dedication for you! I have only three—two female and a male—and those are a handful as it is. I’d love to see the different designs you chose for 10 charr XD

As I played my new Ash charr’s storyline, I noticed that Sicaea the Shrouded no longer wears her mask. Just thought that was interesting—she looks quite cool.

Star Ace.5207:

Willa Doggedclaw, female Charr, gentle giant Warrior. “You will find me in the shadows.” Negotiator and strong arm for Ash Legion.

Although she’s super pretty, She’s big and strong, which is rather ironic. Overgrown, pretty Tuxedo Cat look. She turned out to be an awesome design, after a few re-designs, finally got it right.

Her name was ispired by that horrible monk boss from Guild Wars 1 ( Willa the Unpleasant, though I initially named her Willa The Pleasant. However, it didn’t feel right (though she’s a rather pleasant Charr), so I gave her a name more akin to a character who is loyal, brave, and unyielding in her motivations. It sounds infinitely more Charr that way (oddly enough, there IS a female Charr cub on Plains of Ashford that is named Willa too-I found out after creating my character!)

This sounds like a very interesting character! I like the combination of muscular bulk and delicate features—it makes for a unique design.You should post her bio/picture in the thread I created recently—she’d make an awesome addition!

For my three:

Nyoka Gorefell (Far Left)—Nyoka is a member of Blood Legion, but not by birth. She and her brother were born to the female slave of a high-ranking Flame Legion shaman. The abuse Nyoka received through cubhood has damaged her beyond repair. Although she escaped the grasp of Flame, her upbringing has made her wicked and sadistic. Like her father, she is an abuser of the worst kind.

Tionvrath Gorefallen (Middle)—Tionvrath, Nyoka’s brother, is one among his sister’s victims. While she escaped Flame young, he did not until years later—when she retrieved him by force. He is looked upon with hatred by most, known as Nyoka’s “pet shaman”. Nyoka keeps him as an almost servant—her high rank protects him. This is, of course, against his will—and he is still loyal to Flame. But for the time being, he has no choice in the matter—and so acts as Nyoka’s “left hand”, doing her dirty work.

Albane Memorykeeper (Far Right)—Albane is an unusual sort, sired between a loyal Iron Legion father, and a Gladium mother. She lived with her mother far longer then is normal for a cub, wandering the Ascalonian plain. Eventually, she did join an Iron Legion fahrar—but brought with her a deep spirituality unheard of among the Charr. This, she hid—but her love of magic and the written word, marked her as odd. Still, she proved herself well in the fahrar, and has earned the respect of her fellows—odd though she may be.

cargan.5689:

Weindrasi.3805:

Besides a Norn would never say "protective armour is for sissies” too many syllables

Haha good point! Is “ME BIG NAKED! COOL ROAR!” More accurate? :P

Honestly, I think the Charr are the smartest, followed by Asura—but of course the Asura won’t admit that.
The Asura are creative and forward-thinking, but they require magic for their inventions. Whereas the charr are also creative and forward-thinking, but are capable of inventing things magic-free by using materials from the world around them. Ask an Asura to do anything worthwhile without magic? They can’t XD

The rest is pretty accurate though. Humans are dingbats, but you have to admit—they have a technology advantage over Sylvari and Norn and they’re more organized. Sylvari have the potential to take the Human place on the intellect scale, but that’s going to take awhile. They’re too new currently. Norn are just brainless doorknobs.

I was really dissapointed to find that, regardless of Legion, all charr start out in the Black Citadel—capital of Iron Legion. While Iron Legion and its culture seem to get a lot of focus, Blood and Ash don’t get enough. And even Iron could use more detail.

For example, Blood Legion is deeply traditional. They value oldschool battlefield combat, which has been used for thousands of years. Wouldn’t that make them more conservative then others, and more likely to value the past? Plus Balthea Havokbringer, Pyre Fierceshot, and Kalla Scorchrazor were all Bloodies—and Blood was the first Legion to offer female charr equality. So this could also effect Blood outlook.

I don’t know much about Ash Legion, and that’s another problem. Since they’re the “spies”, they can get away with being sneaky and not having as much open information. But I’d still like to know more about them culturally and such.

What do you think? Do the cultural differences between the Charr (especially for Blood and Ash) need more attention?

cargan.5689:

Weindrasi.3805:

LameFox.6349:

Weindrasi.3805:

Since people are posting pictures of their female charr, I figured I’d post mine. I adore her!

That armour reminds me of the diving suit in DeepStar Six. It looks like you got it at a discount on account of the last owner being bitten off at the waist.

I try to get fur-exposing armor for my charr characters. When I put in the effort to get their fur coat/pattern just right, I want to be able to see it while I play. Especially from the back, like so. It’s not very sensible though XD

Bare back would be very charr, why worry about armoring part of you the enemy is never going to see

Could you share the name of the armor?

The top is a piece karma armor you get from completing hearts in Gendarren Fields, Kessex, and one of the Norn areas (forgot which). The pants are “Outrider” armor, which I’m pretty sure I got from my personal story—but I’ve also seen it available as karma armor. Hands and feet are Tier 2 cultural armor.

Haha “protective armor is for sissies” is more of a Norn mentality, but I could see an arrogant Charr saying the same thing.

I agree—I hate all the female body types except for the two heaviest ones.
The second-heaviest looks like an average, slim college girl with normal breasts
The heaviest isn’t “slim”, but it’s a normal healthy body weight.

All the rest are pathetic. You either get Breast-Implant Barbie or Anorexic Anna

10/10 for Irieuvial, because it’s so unique. I tire of seeing nonsense names and stuff like LegolasXOXOX day after day. It’s nice when someone puts real effort and imagination into their character names Great job!

My humans:

Nergal Junior—I always create a character with this name. He’s based off a cartoon character by the same name from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. He was always my favorite as a kid, and remains so into adulthood.

Kimara Lostsoul—Roughly based off a character I’m writing for a novel in progress.

Wynne Gautr—She was originally meant to be a Norn, which is where the name Wynne came from. But I changed my mind. Her last name “Gautr” means “goth”—which I chose after picking the goth-girl face for her in CC

LameFox.6349:

Weindrasi.3805:

Since people are posting pictures of their female charr, I figured I’d post mine. I adore her!

That armour reminds me of the diving suit in DeepStar Six. It looks like you got it at a discount on account of the last owner being bitten off at the waist.

I try to get fur-exposing armor for my charr characters. When I put in the effort to get their fur coat/pattern just right, I want to be able to see it while I play. Especially from the back, like so. It’s not very sensible though XD

Initially, I was horrified by the lack of charr head and horn options—it really bothered me a lot!
Fortunatley, I was able to make my main look almost exactly how I imagined her through heavy slider use, but I just got lucky.
And yeah, it still bugs me. There is a real lack of variety—especially for the males. The females have extremes—you can make a female look very cute or twisted and scary, along with everything in-between. But for males, they all look scary or stupid—there aren’t any soft or elegant options, and this limits them.
So I desparatley hope more charr faces are added. And more horns, too! Considering all the possible horn designs, I am sure Arenanet could have designed many more that would work with the game’s physics engine.

I’ve heard other people talk about Tarnished Coast and Charr. I will definatley look into it. Thanks!

Since people are posting pictures of their female charr, I figured I’d post mine. I adore her!

Lantyssa.6723:

In an early personal storyline, which may require being a female Charr, someone makes a comment about joining the Apron Legion in reference to Flame females.

Apron Legion? That made me giggle XD do you think you could tell me where you found this comment?

My Charr’s name is Nyoka Gorefell.
I got the name “Nyoka” from an online list of names with sinister meanings. Nyoka means “snake”. This fits her personality because she is ruthless and clever, with no loyalties. Her only goal is to rise to power, and she’ll turn on you as soon as you cease to be of use. Her treachery would have gotten a lesser soldier branded traitor long ago, but she is clever enough to escape the consequences of her actions, while reaping rewards.
Her surname, Gorefell, was chosen because “Gore” warband is fitting for a Blood Legion charr. “Fell” sometimes means evil, which fits Nyoka’s nature, but it also fits her back story because she was promoted from fahrar to soldier after winning a battle over “the gore-splattered fells (plains)”

To the person above me, 9/10. I really like his first name—it’s simple, but it works very well for a charr. I also like the fact that Kurn chose his surname based on his duties as a soldier—that was a creative decision on your part as his maker. I took one point off because it seems like “blade” is a really common word for charr surnames, but overall great job.

I never see any charr around. The upper levels of Charr homelands (Fireheart Rise, Iron Marches) are always virtually empty, not just of charr, but of players in general. Which server has a large number of charr players, or at least—a large number of players in the charr mapping areas?

My main is a female charr warrior.

I think people don’t play female charr, because our society is still so obsessed with gender roles. In society, pretty & sexy=female while strong & cool=male. The female charr are strong and cool—and while they can certainly be pretty, they aren’t sexy. As a result, many male players claim that female charr “Don’t look female” or “Look exactly like the males”

Obviously, both of these things are false. The female charr are very distinctive from the male charr, and certainly look female—they just don’t look sexy. In the minds of many gamers, something that isn’t sexy (or pretty to look at) simply cannot be female.

Even many of the players who DO make female charr, follow gender roles. They make their female very slim, and choose one of the cuter or more delicate faces, because the female=pretty & sexy ideal is so strong in society. The concept of huge, muscular females or mean/scary/war-torn females still seems out-of-place to most gamers.

Lastly, I think players who hate cute/sexualized female characters might avoid the female charr, not realizing they aren’t the normal fantasy furries. These people are so used to sexed up female characters that they just avoid the “Female” option altogether—when in reality they’d probably enjoy female charr.

It’s not that the head is too tiny, it’s that the boobs are too big and the legs—too long. Place one finger over her boobs, and cover her legs below the knees with your other hand. Suddenly, her head looks normal-size :P

Charlie.1726:

I hope sarcasmosaur was being sarcastic.

If not, have you even looked at the body types available?

There are two extremely thick bodies. They’re built like barrels. Any thicker and they’d probably need one of those mobility scooters.

Just look at those…

Built like barrels? Mobility scooters? Are you blind, or have you just never seen women before? Those are what well-muscled, slender athletes look like. I hate to break it to you, but the skinny body types are only found in about 5% of physically fit women.
THIS is “almost in need of mobility scooters”

The problem with skimpy female armor, is that it usually degrades female characters to sex objects. People are so touchy about the problem because in other MMO’s, the female characters have ONLY skimpy armor, and the male characters have ONLY realistic, covering armor.

Guild Wars 2 doesn’t have this problem, it gives players the choice to have females wear realistic, covering armor—or skimpy armor. It has taken some huge steps in ending sexism in games. Many people are happy with this, and are worried about going back to how things were.

Even though your want for more skimpy choices isn’t a bad thing, it worries people who are afraid of losing GW2’s gender-equality. That’s why this thread has gotten some of the negative response that it has.

Personally, I like armor the way it is now. But I think they should add lots of variety to town clothes—including skimpy options.

In Fireheart Rise, they keep Grawl slaves to mine metal for their weapons. It’s part of a dynamic event. So they are self-sufficient, but they probably steal weapons/armor quite often as well—considering how often they raid the Black Citadel and other, smaller Allied Legion bases.

I’ve been using this on my charr for a while. Got it from various karma vendors and personal story rewards. I quite like it.

ounkeo.9138:

I don’t know where you come from but the largest human female body size is pretty bloated looking. She looks overweight by about 40 lbs, which is a lot. that is not skinny.

Maybe what you are asking is to have the option to make a severely obese woman.

Excuse me, but this comment is not only offensive in the extreme, it is totally false. The heaviest human woman looks like an ordianry, slender female. The rest look unnatural or near to it.
The attached screenshot is a picture of the heaviest human body type in-game. Does this look 40 pounds overweight to you?

And that goes to all the rest of you who are saying “Oh, but there ARE fat women in-game. Look at the heavy option” No. If you’re looking at the skinny option, and then click to the larger option, then the difference might make you automatically say “EW, FAT!”
Stop and actually LOOK at it. It isn’t fat in the least.

Kitty La Boom Boom.4065:

Weindrasi.3805:

There was this lady in one of the Arenanet interviews who was a voice actor. As soon as I heard her talk, I thought “omg it’s Elexus!” But I don’t know what her name was.

Where can I find these interviews? Are they part of this site, or Arenanet’s Youtube?

Apparently her name is Sonya Eddy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLaGH-WuWR4
Go to 2:12

EDIT: I think you were right.

We know from Lore, and from how Flame Legion treats female NPC’s in the game that female charr are still enslaved in Flame Legion society, and considered to be inferior to men.
So just where are these female charr in service to the Flame Legion? They aren’t slaving away in the mines—the Grawl are used for that. They aren’t to be found as servants or breeders in the Citadel of Flame either. But we know they must exist, somewhere.

What are they like, do you suppose? Silent rebels, waiting for their chance to rise up as Kalla did generations ago? Zealots, brainwashed in their devotion? I would love to find out. I hope in the future, Arenanet will add content that lets us get a deeper look into Flame Legion, and perhaps meet their women.

Well while we are having this discussion, remember that the Male characters need more skimpy armor too.
I assume most of you are guys who want your female characters to have skimpy options. That’s fine—but as a straight female who plays some male characters, I would like mine to show skin as well. http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/File:Necromancer_Sunspear_armor_m.jpg

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/File:Ritualist_Asuran_armor_m.jpg

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/File:Necromancer_Elite_Scar_Pattern_armor_m.jpg

I was very dissapointed that, from the first Beta to release, we got absolutely no additions to the Charr character creator.
Now, I heard from a Dev that horn options were limited by armor clipping issues, but surely more variation can be added even within those limits?
As for faces, I don’t see what’s holding Arenanet back. We know there can be more charr face options which are noticably unique, because the Flame Legion NPCS and Tybalt from the Order of Whispers have faces which are unavailable in character creation, and very distinctive.
I would appreciate it if the Male charr got some softer facial options, such as the Flame Legion Shamans and Tybalt have. The Female charr have, for the most part, very realistic facial options—Lion, Tiger, Cheetah, Small/Domestic Cat, Aged Cheetah. I would like to see a few more “fantasy” Female faces, which don’t clearly belong to a real-life species.

Raging Bull.5048:

This question naturally arises – seeing how I find the story in GW2 beyond naive and predictable. It’s one huge cliche. At the same time, I see people intrigued by it.

So I wonder – am I too old for video game stories? Maybe they are tailored for the younger folks. I feel like I’ve heard it all before.

Is it time for me to start reading Dostoyevsky and Isaac Asimov in order to find “a challenge” for my intellect/level of maturity?

I completely agree with you, but I’m 19. I read constantly though, so I’ve been around the block when it comes to storytelling. GW2’s story is dull and immature.

I just assumed it was the ageism that is present through all of Guild Wars 2.
Humans all look like children or young supermodels. Age isn’t an option. Same goes for the Norn females. There seems to be an “old women are ugly and socially unpopular, therefore they cannot exist” mentality going on, and it bugs me.