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Game development companies now include more graphics in their characters than ever before. While most people admire their efforts to strive for realism, some will never be satisfied with how it turns out. And when a female character does not look like she stepped out of a magazine cover, certain gamers won’t be happy about it.

If you’ve never heard of Horizon Forbidden West, it’s a beautiful game where imaginary beings and environments are revealed with the utmost clarity. Recently, the main protagonist of the series, Aloy, attracted quite the attention when one gamer questioned her appearance on Twitter. "Can you explain to me why the hell Aloy has a beard?" they asked.

Well, what they called a "beard" is actually light peach fuzz, something that most women have on their faces. Their post received many reactions from other Twitter users, with some saying that the gamer has probably never seen a woman up close. Continue scrolling and share your thoughts in the comments below!

Twitter users shared their reactions after one gamer asked why Aloy, a female video game character, has a "beard"

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Loki’s Lil Butter Knife
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I remember walking into a comic store once way back in the day and felt like I was some freaking specimen on display. Yes, sporty women can still love and enjoy manga, graphic novels, and comic books. Being sporty or outdoorsy doesn't require me to revoke my "geeky" card.

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Zoe Vokes
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And she doesn’t have her stomach exposed or her breasts showing. 😭😭😭

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Lilith the Demon Panda
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I once knew a guy, he was from some conservative muslim country and never saw a naked woman other than in porn... he had NO IDEA women grow hairs other than on top of their heads, eyebrows and eyelashes... was surprised when he found out about pink razors marketed for women... he thought only men have hairy legs, armpits or genitals

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EverythingsEventual
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2 years ago

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Tbf, that looks thick for a woman, and this game has changed her appearance for political reasons in the past. We just can't escape progressive politics in video games any more.

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KittyMommy
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hate to tell you, this character has LESS peach fuzz than I do, and I don't have a lot of body hair

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Horizon Forbidden West is an open-world fantasy game that takes place in post-apocalyptic western America. The main protagonist is a huntress named Aloy, a young red-haired woman with freckles on her cheeks and nose. While she's often described as a fierce, smart, and likable hero, it seems that it’s not the first time that male gamers have attacked her appearance online. 

Several months ago, one Twitter user criticized the studio behind the game, Guerilla Games. It is one of Europe's leading game development companies that’s a part of PlayStation Studios. The person wrote that the female characters they create are becoming too masculine, so they decided to share their own fan art. In the image, Aloy had glowing skin, white teeth, and full-on makeup. 

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NsG
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm just stunned at the realism tha can now be reached in a video game. I don't think I look this HD and I'm 99% certain I'm real...

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Needless to say, many people felt frustrated to see such sexist complaints about the video game character. Tweets like this receive lots of attention from the gaming community since they highlight the ignorant, narrow-minded, and sometimes childish views certain male gamers have. And some people, especially women, are sick and tired of hearing criticisms aimed at the female characters, saying that it's all part of a bigger problem.

"Male gamers push their standards and expectations on these female characters," Beth, who goes by the handle @GentleBara, told Bored Panda. She shared her thoughts on the matter by tweeting that "every single real-life woman has peach fuzz like Aloy." So if someone could even ask why she has a "beard", it probably means that they have never seen a woman up close. "If there's anything [men] are not used to in a female character's design, they'll complain about it," she added. 

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When asked why that male gamer seemed to think that the hair on Aloy’s face was a masculine feature, Beth said they're "ignorant and immature". Otherwise known as vellus hair, peach fuzz is usually short, softer in texture, and lighter in color compared to other types of hair on a person’s body. A survey of 1,000 women conducted in the UK showed that 98 percent of those who had facial hair had negative thoughts about their looks. 

Around a third of these women revealed they felt anxious if they could not immediately remove them. This only shows the lack of acceptance by our society regarding facial hair, making many women feel uncomfortable about their appearance and preventing them from discussing it out in the open. 

That’s why so many people celebrate the new technologies that allow gaming companies to include more graphics. After all, making the characters look more realistic is a step in the right direction. Bastien Ramisse, the lead character artist at Guerrilla, said in a blog post that the development of the PlayStation 5 console allowed them to aim for high quality and bring more detail and authenticity to the game.

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"Each generation of consoles brings extra power that lets us add even denser polygons to our character models, so we can create finer details such as peach fuzz, smooth contouring, or finer texture details and accurate materials expression, to name a few," Ramisse explained, saying that it’s a dream come true for both players and developers.

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Claire Stanfield
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Women...actually look like this. Full stop. It's a fact. I'm stunned that this needs to be said.

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He continued: "The most noticeable differences and improvements for Aloy in terms of technology is the push of facial and body capture accuracy, allowing more realistic shapes and surface details on characters as well as the careful increase of polygon density to capture handmade and used outfits."

So even when the artists can make their heroes more exciting than ever before, some gamers still do not seem satisfied with some of their human traits. "People will always complain about a character's design and its features," Beth told us. "It's happened before with other games and will continue to happen in the future." If she would have to guess the reason behind having such a mindset, "it could be a projection or they might have standards that are ridiculous."

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M O'Connell
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have to wonder if at least part of this is a near-vision problem on his part. I mean he should be able to see his own forehead and earlobe fuzz in the mirror.

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Who Panda 420
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just a tip. I had peach fuzz like that when I was younger. Even though I'm dark haired it was blond. I was embarrassed so I used some hair removal cream. It worked but burned my skin bright red and the hair grew back black and seemingly thicker. Now it's a pain to keep up with. Lesson here is love and appreciate your peach fuzz!

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Daniel Atkins
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Makes me wonder if this artist lost sleep thinking did I get the fine hairs just right.

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Gracie Jay
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That’s exactly what I took away from that post, I’d never have known that wasn’t a real person!! Amazing!

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doglovercomedianlibra
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yep, he wants it realistic but not realistic enough that a woman looks normal for once.

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Tee Witt
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was hoping someone would come out with this fact. Our bodies are covered in hair, male or female, accept.

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IrrelevantNonsense
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Right?! She don’t have time to take a nice hot shower and shave her skin off. Men need to learn how natural (and cool!) it is. I for one love peach fuzz. It’s so soft

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Sheila Stamey
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wait till he sees an all"natural" girl, in the um, natural. Wait.. He won't. No worries. Carry on.

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