Darius a little to dark?

[Dom Pedro II]

Well, on the other hand... some have started shying away from the term "Middle East" and have instead started using the term "Southwest Asia"...

 

[ohcrapitsnico]

I highly doubt Darius was of ethiopian or nubian ancestry, his father was governor of Parthia. At his level of power, the stage of the Achaemenid empire, the likelihood of having a black african in his harem, of her giving birth to Darius and his father choosing him as his successor, on top of his accpetance of him being different not fully persian, etc. I just don't see it happening.

 

[Dom Pedro II]

ohcrapitsnico: Who are you arguing with?? I don't see anybody submitting the hypothesis that Darius was of African ancestry....

 

[cybrxkhan]

well, lets do some logic here:

If a Persian had a child with a person who was of dark skin...

Then that child has a good chance of getting dark skin.

So, from that, we can infer that Firaxis, using their amazing historical knowledge, remembered that Darius' mother or father had dark skin.

On a more seriuos note, i would, as Dom Pedro suggested, just make the guy a tad bit lighter. As a noble/member of the rich people, his skin should be a bit lighter.

 

[Lars_Domus]

I highly doubt Darius was of ethiopian or nubian ancestry, his father was governor of Parthia. At his level of power, the stage of the Achaemenid empire, the likelihood of having a black african in his harem, of her giving birth to Darius and his father choosing him as his successor, on top of his accpetance of him being different not fully persian, etc. I just don't see it happening.

Hystaspes likely wasn't appointed to that position until after Darius was well grown. Besides, Darius coming to power was entirely his own doing. When Cambyses died Darius took control of his troops, and turned them against what he claimed to be a Magian usurper masquerading as Cambyses' brother. The reason Darius is so fond of mentioning that he is the son of Hystaspes, is because that meant he had Achaemenid blood (legitimating his claim to the throne), and it may well be that Hystaspes himself shunned his son until he became king.

Though, I agree that it's entirely unlikely that Darius' mother was African.

 

[Carver]

Though, I agree that it's entirely unlikely that Darius' mother was African.

His mother wouldn't need to be African for him to have dark skin. First of all, Africans aren't the only people in the world with dark skin. Secondly, the trait for darker skin could have come from anywhere up the line of ancestors. Two parents with light skin can produce a darker child, and two parents that are taller can produce a child that is shorter.

The view of many people towards genetics still seems to be overly essentialist and segregated.

I don't know what Darius' complexion was, but unlike some of you, I don't pretend to know either. It's amazing how obsessed people get with a simple suggestion about skin tone.

 

[cybrxkhan]

I don't know what Darius' complexion was, but unlike some of you, I don't pretend to know either. It's amazing how obsessed people get with a simple suggestion about skin tone.

Carver's right. its just a stupid bunch of pixels. if we all are that freaked out, we'll just go in the game files, take up a computer graphics program, and paint him over.

 

[Martinus]

Wasn't there supposed to be another Egyptian leader in vanilla that was dropped (Menes, I think)? Maybe they just reused the art they already had, since the guy looks somewhat Egyptian to me.

 

[cybrxkhan]

^yeah, they were about to put in Menes/Narmer...

the guy does look similar to an Egyptian... it is posisble...

i wish they put in another Egyptian leader...

 

[Lars_Domus]

His mother wouldn't need to be African for him to have dark skin. First of all, Africans aren't the only people in the world with dark skin. Secondly, the trait for darker skin could have come from anywhere up the line of ancestors. Two parents with light skin can produce a darker child, and two parents that are taller can produce a child that is shorter.

If you'd actually care to read my posts in this thread in their entirety, you'd see I'm actually in favour of this particular depiction of Darius. I just suggested his mother wasn't African, not that he couldn't possibly have looked like that.

 

[bonafide11]

I wish the moderators would close this thread. It's rather annoying...

 

[anglosaxon]

Darius sorta looks like a women...

And the typical Persian is as light as Cyrus. I don't know why they made him so dark.

My friend is a persian and i would mistake him for a european any day.

Agree totally. The average Persian is much fairer-skinned than our propagandist governments would have us believe, and back then they had been in Iran for about 300/400 years so they would not have been so accustomed to the sun yet, meaning even fairer skin.

Cyrus looks about right for a Persian leader, especially the hair colour.

Darius looks completely wrong. Maybe they wrongly thought Xerxes' portrayal in the film '300' was realistic (obviously it's not).

 

[Öjevind Lång]

Well, on the other hand... some have started shying away from the term "Middle East" and have instead started using the term "Southwest Asia"...

That means ignoring the very ancient cultural bonds between Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia and Asia Minor.

 

[amaterasu]

They obviously made him that ugly so he wouldn't be perfect, awesome traits, good UB, great UU, BUT UGLY AS HELL!

 

[Angst]

He's not ugly. He's cool

 

[cybrxkhan]

this is really random, but you can barely see Darius' eyes. like some anime person.

 

[Dom Pedro II]

this is really random, but you can barely see Darius' eyes. like some anime person.

Umm.. anime characters usually have huge eyes.

 

[cybrxkhan]

but some anime characters have no eyes at all

yes, i know some have big cute huge googly eyes that humans can never have.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

I personally don't think the skin tone is that bad (not going to mention the rest of his appearance) although I would prefer if both Darius and Cyrus had skin slightly darker that Cyrus's is now. Considering the Amount of time Cyrus spent on campaign,I would expect his skin to be slightly darker than Darius's.

From what I've heard, the Persians actually called themselves what the Iranians now cal themselves, but this term is much closer to Iranian than to Persian.


Or course, it wasn't uncommon for the royalty of ancient countries to have a different appearance than the commoners. Even in ancient times Monarchs tended to intermarry with the Royalty of other countries more than with their subjects. Ramses the Great is always clearly described in ancient sources an having red hair, which isn't very common in Egypt.
(Also, the Bible describes Israel's King David as a fair skinned red head, and his son Solomon as having dark hair but still unusually fair skin)

 

[DennisIran]

He should look like this