Yeah curly hair sucks you can't do anything with it.

Bishounen refers to a male being androgynous. Smoke is well-built muscular, has sharp facial features and long hair. He is a heavy martial artist male, not a thin, hourglass or noodle (sephiroth) shaped male.

The only thing in common with the bishounen archetype is that he has long hair.

I take it you didn't read the OP but only chose to comment on the thread title...
*facepalm*

Great thing is, Any character can be as gay as you want to imagine them.

Not gonna even pretend like I never thought of Jade and Kitana being friends with benefits.

I knew with his new look would come a bunch of creepy fanart.

I knew giving Smoke manga-like long hair was a bad idea. Please NRS, no more characters like this in the future MK games. otherwise, MK will grow a wapanese-fangirls community just like Tekken and this is gonna suck.

I wouldn't care if Smoke were gay, but I don't see it. At all.

As you've already admitted, a close bond is very possible between two heterosexual men. Bonds such as this, no matter gender or sexual orientation, are often strengthened in times of heightened stress or danger.

You have to figure that Smoke and Tundra were already best friends, comrades in the Lin Kuei which makes them brothers in arms, and they are currently on the run from losing their souls and free will. These things would likely cause their already strong bond to strengthen. Close? Absolutely. Gay? I see no evidence to support that.

Turning Smoke into a "pretty boy" with his long hair is also a stretch. Let's focus on his design - smoke, the element, is wispy, and no doubt NRS simply wanted to add wispy hair to the character to reinforce his whole "smoke" motif. Even if he were a "pretty boy," you're still grasping at straws. In this day and age, with metrosexuals just as common as fashion conscious homosexuals, you can't judge sexuality by appearance. Take Vega from Street Fighter for instance - he is the quintessential pretty boy, and probably the straightest character in the series. Male beauty can also be used to attract women, not just as a gay indicator.

Again, if Smoke is gay, no big whoop. But I really think this is a case of projecting one's own characteristics on a something for the sake of feeling more connected to a work one enjoys, and which is primarily digested and designed for a group other than one's own.

P.S. There is also no evidence that Rain is gay.

Why the exclusivity? I find it quite nice that NRS are trying to appeal to other communities than just their basic one. It gains MK some more popularity and expands the fanbase which also means more money for NRS. And the more money NRS has, the better equipment they can buy, the better people they can hire and the better games they can produce.

Just because you might not like it doesn't mean NRS shouldn't try and expand their fanbase.



Very nice post, and some great points. However, this is not just about if Smoke is gay or not, but rather how the fans see him. The same with Rain.

Riiiight.


He isn't. Long haired people are not signifiers of homosexuality.

Why is this a question in the first place? Why are most of the people here (and the surprisingly large number of self-admitted homosexuals included) so obsessed wether this signifies gay? Is this some sort of subconcious societal insecurity native to the webgoer-USA culture?

More importantly, why is this relevant?

Honestly, I never thought about Rain being a "gay icon" of MK.

It's a discussion about fans' perception about Smoke's sexuality.
If you do not wish to participate in it, then simply don't.

*looks at current piece she's doing*

...

....dammit!

Chrome - Don't jump down other peoples' throats with your obvious feelings of superiority and then ignorantly attack sensibilities in the United States. Attacking opinions and following it up with one of your own misinformed statements is straight childish.

You really want to know why people have a problem with this? It's because any opinion identified with a group other than one's own undermines their own feelings of community. To a straight person, whether or not they are from the United States, slapping the "gay" identifier on anything sticks out like a sore thumb.

These same people don't seem to realize that their own heterosexuality often appears at the forefront of everyday culture. They don't realize that posts like, "Mortal Kombat needs more nipples!" smacks of heterosexual slant, and so when a poster identifies something as a "gay" conversation (even in this case as a warning to unsensitive people), they see it as an attention grab, which it isn't.

Also, how many people on these boards do you think still find themselves in institutions where popularity and association with a group, often focusing sexuality, beliefs, race, and socio-economic status, is of the utmost importance? There's not some switch you can flick when you're online and off to avoid insulting someone.

If the OP wants to make a post about Smoke *maybe* being gay, who the hell cares? They're allowed to make the post if they want, you're allowed to spew your vitrol about how you find it pointless, and I'm allowed to call you out on being an asshat.

Can't wait to see your Smoke art. ^^



Thank you. ^^

It makes sense for Smoke and the Younger sub to be gay, one emits smoke from his body, one is icy cold.. They have probably never had girl friends because of this.

I think Smoke would be on the receiving end if you know what i mean.

wow seriously do you all really want a gay character that badly? really? doesnt even matter

Fair enough, I never expected this to be perceived as offensive, that wasn't my intention. I personally find it jarring, if not perplexing. A few points:

- you have understanding that gay is a pejorative stigma to all heterosexuals all around the world....exactly how? because we sure do not give a damn about it - but most people here do not actively propagate their homosexuality. They keep it to themselves.

- If I inadvertedly insulted someone, that is his problem, not mine. I can apologize at best.

- it kinda ruins your attempt to correct someone's misperception by calling him an asshat. What credibility you might had should be evaporating right now. Funny how insults work on the Internet.

my favorite character is smoke and I don't find it offensive at all. I would be pretty excited if they said that at some point. and one last thing



SUB-ZEROOOOO!

Humbleness and mutual respect is a few of the lacking features on an internet forum like this. Some people knows this and just goes with the flow, acting arrogant and superiour to others instead of trying to change that.

Chrome is one of those people. I don't blame him for being so, I can only disagree with him. If he wishes to continue acting like an asshole, there's not much anyone can do about it. I do give him the benefit of the doubt though, as he apologized if he offended anyone, as it was not his intention.

Now I ask you all to please get back to the main topic of this thread. Thank you. ^^

Yo. #1 Smoke fan hereabouts.

I get why some may think so, but I don't think it's the case. If we're going to look at Japan-inspired character archetypes, it usually seems to me that gays get portrayed very stereotypically...often for comedic effect.

It's just the hair, really, and that alone isn't enough for me to see him as bishounen, let alone gay. He ain't all that slender or waifish the way your typical 'bishi's' are. Chrome does have a point there.

If he is gay, there's certainly no attraction for Sub. They're like bros, and Sub could use a brother figure with Bi-Han being Noob (or he would, were they not both dead, but we all know that ain't a permanent state) nowadays.

At least, I hope there's not. Lord knows I've been called a brotherly figure as part of a rejection enough times for the term to take on an acidic tone for me. God, it sucks when that happens, haha!

Do you think they've "Done it"?

All I'm gonna say is this, Smoke's MK9 bio:

"Originating from Prague, Tomas Vrbada was recruited by the Lin Kuei for his impressive ability to escape capture. Able to transform into a wisp of smoke, his talent has proved useful on countless missions. Smoke has no memory of his childhood. His only family is the Lin Kuei, more specifically the younger Sub-Zero, who is like a brother to him. It has been Smoke's hope that through the Lin Kuei he will discover his past--and the origin of his power. "

Calling someone an asshat does nothing to negate my argument. I never pretended to hyper-sensitive while condemning other groups. I feel that you were contradicting yourself, presenting yourself as morally superior to a specific group while displaying your own insensitivity. To me, that is the behavior of an asshat.

See, we have some people on here who, in less eloquent ways, are saying, "I don't agree, and this subject bothers me for some reason or another, and I hope that in the future NRS does not allow ambiguity concerning a character's sexuality." Flowery and constructive? Certainly not, but they are engaging in the discussion.

Chrome, the post of yours I was referring to was where you identify either these posters or the gay ones (it wasn't clear which), as products of "some sort of subconcious societal insecurity native to the webgoer-USA culture." That is where YOU lose all credibility. You generalize an attitude, attach it to a specific group, and present it as some rhetorical question to which you have obviously already decided the answer.

You then follow that up by questioning the relevancy of the discussion. While some posters openly disagree, you are effectively questioning this opinion's right to exist. That's a great deal more insensitive than anything anyone else was posting.

I agree with you that you can't control who gets offended by what - that is clearly a conscious choice of the person being offended. That is not, however, an excuse to not filter yourself when dealing with topics such as this, which you know are loaded for some people. Accidentally offending is one thing, making a choice to not care at all is quite another. In fact, making that choice to not care is something an asshat would do.

Reminds me of me with the subtlety of the Bad Boys.



Same way you generalized that every heterosexual male has a revulsive stance on homosexuality? Beg pardon, you have yero knowledge of our behaviourial norms for example. If my generalization was large enough to be offensive, but I wasn't questioning the relevancy. I was questioning the reason. English uses "why" for both in casual speech (though by what reason would have beena smarter choice). Small differences in language mean mountains, don't they? Plus, I referred not to the posters, but the need to bring up such subjects themselves. Big difference.

Many on this site are admittedly homosexuals, dig through the site.

Calling me an asshat does aproximately nothing here, or in real life. It however reflects on you. Being pragmatic, laconic or acerbic is one thing. Coming off as an "asshat in reverse" however -word of advice- isn't a good sign of finesse.

I don't mind people having a viewpoint like this about Smoke in this game, but I personally just can't see how the character having long hair, and having a brotherly relationship to Sub-Zero makes him in any way homosexual? I really can't understand it, it's like people just decide that when two guys (guys especially, doesn't seem to happen to girls) are close and have a strong bond, they could be in the closet. I think it's a ridiculous assumption. I also don't see why many gay gamers on this forum see the need to "represent" themselves, as though being homosexual makes you any different to a straight gamer. Even though straight relationships are hinted at in MK, to me I really couldn't care less - it's a fighting game at the end of the day.

I wouldn't mind if they made any character gay in this game, it's just that I think it'd be a massive loss in Smoke's character dynamic by removing the brotherly bond between him and Sub-Zero and turning it into a romantic story.