Alexander's leader page

[ampmclock]

One of my absolute favorite aspects of Civ 5 are the beautiful and expressive leader pages.

They say so much about the culture of the leader, and the leader themselves, both their leading style and personality. Not only that, but from what I know of, they're also fairly faithful to the real historical figure.

But not Alexander's. Wasn't Alexander a maniac, a tyrincal and insane young man who you could sense passion steaming from his very being? I don't know, but everytime I meet Alexander I roll my eyes a little bit, just because I want him to come off as more fanatical, and I think, Ah, THATS not Alexander.


THAT's Alexander. Even when he declares war on you, he never really looks scary enough. He's supposed to be the most horrifying white guy who ever lived, and he's just too prissy here.

 

[JamesCivFan]

One of my absolute favorite aspects of Civ 5 are the beautiful and expressive leader pages.

They say so much about the culture of the leader, and the leader themselves, both their leading style and personality. Not only that, but from what I know of, they're also fairly faithful to the real historical figure.

But not Alexander's. Wasn't Alexander a maniac, a tyrincal and insane young man who you could sense passion steaming from his very being? I don't know, but everytime I meet Alexander I roll my eyes a little bit, just because I want him to come off as more fanatical, and I think, Ah, THATS not Alexander.


THAT's Alexander. Even when he declares war on you, he never really looks scary enough. He's supposed to be the most horrifying white guy who ever lived, and he's just too prissy here.

You are kinda right. Being from Greece, I can say that they have always been presenting him to be fearsome, brave, etc etc. And this Alexander...well as many people who play CiV call him, is just "Alex". Doesn't really represent Alexander the Great.

 

[Saxony]

Didn't he burn almost all the cities he conquered? Yes, he was horrifying, but almost now he is always shown like a good guy.

(most horrifying white guy in history IMO is Hitler)

 

[ampmclock]

Mmm, Hilter was certainly evil, but you look at the guy, and you don't feel THREATENED, you feel like you wanna choke the out of the little bastard. Alexander is truly cower worthy.

And how is he seen as a good guy? Maybe in Greece, but in Egypt and the middle east he's still thought of as some sort of demon from hell.

 

[brianshapiro]

Who said he's supposed to look scary?

 

[ampmclock]

No one looks scary in ancient art.


In ancient art, people look like they're smiling and dancing when really the art is depicting a war, you guys ever notice that?

I'm just saying, the Alexander I always hear about, the guy who stabbed his best friend in cold blood just because, doesn't remind me of the Civ 5 Alexander.

 

[TheMarshmallowBear]

I think Montezuma fills the role of a maniac to be honest, he knows I was more stronger than him AND still spams Jaguars.

I think they kept Alexander "more saner" so have a variety in personality.

 

[ampmclock]

That's a good point.

 

[cain3456]

Didn't he burn almost all the cities he conquered?

Hell no he didn't. His empire got to be as large as it did precisely because he didn't burn the cities. In fact he built new ones (Alexandria, Egypt for example) and embraced the cultures he conquered.

But if you're complaining that Civ5 Alex isn't imposing enough, you should've seen the 98-pound weaking playing Alex in Civ3.

 

[Ozzy88]

Can't agree more with this, it's almost as innacurate as that move "Alexander" starring Collin Farrell that came out a few years ago.

 

[Connor Sinulf]

Nobody has mentioned the fact that Alexander the Great was a woman.

 

[ense7en]

My most recent screenshot of Alex the Fabulous.

I love the graphical glitches in this game sometimes!

 

[Valbuena]

Nobody has mentioned the fact that Alexander the Great was a woman.

exactly.

 

[The_Quasar]

Nobody has mentioned the fact that Alexander the Great was a woman.

The how come his son, Alexander IV, was born AFTER his death? Please explain!

 

[blackcatatonic]

He comes across a bit too flamboyant for my liking. I know he's widely believed to have been gay, but that doesn't necessarily mean he should be quite so... fabulous. It feels anachronistic.

On the other hand, he does remind me of an old school mate called Alexander so to me his depiction makes sense

 

[ampmclock]

My most recent screenshot of Alex the Fabulous.

I love the graphical glitches in this game sometimes!

uh oh, Alex did LSD again

 

[black213]

Nobody has mentioned the fact that Alexander the Great was a woman.

What is this, I don't even

 

[Bandersnatching]

Well, Alexander as evil is certainly a different viewpoint. He's typically viewed as something of a Western cultural hero in American schools (that is, grades K-12). But of course you can't count on American public education to be worth much of a d4mn.
That said, Alexander doesn't seem too threatening to me. It's always "oh hi, your probably going to declare war on me at some point if you don't meet Rome, but whatever." His DOW animation isn't threatening at all. In game, he seems kind of... ineffectual. So they could certainly improve on him in that regard, if they ever decided to spend time and money changing leaderscreen animations (unlikely).
EDIT: By the way, that is a beautifully done mosaic.

 

[Louis XXIV]

But not Alexander's. Wasn't Alexander a maniac, a tyrincal and insane young man who you could sense passion steaming from his very being? I don't know, but everytime I meet Alexander I roll my eyes a little bit, just because I want him to come off as more fanatical, and I think, Ah, THATS not Alexander.

I don't know about that. I've thought of him as brave, but egotistical. He burned Tyre because they resisted him for 9 months. But he generally didn't do this. Any cruelty on his part seemed to be calculated strategy. I think they captured his youth and energy, which were the two things I find most defining.