[NFP] What is the worst looking leader in your opinion?

[Zaarin]

Cleopatra isn't on the same level as Gandhi - I think she's middle of the road in terms of quality - but her hair bothers me with those bangs...

IRL she wouldn't have worn an Egyptian-style wig (see other thread), but as far as Egyptian wigs go the bangs are accurate enough...It's the rest of the wig that looks like a football helmet that's bizarre. Egyptian wigs were more squarish or elongated, and the ornaments on them were usually beads, not solid gold plates.

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

Yes. I can appreciate that he's one of the higher quality models in NFP...but I still hate him so much for carrying on the Boudicca stereotype tradition.

At least he doesn't speak Welsh.

Also controversial opinion: I'm fine with how Kublai Khan looks. Don't understand the hate for him.

 

[Zaarin]

At least he doesn't speak Welsh.

Thank heaven for little miracles. He has a distinctly French accent, but otherwise his Gaulish is lovely.

 

[fy00sh]

I really don't like Simón Bolívar's hair. I get his hairline wasn't perfectly straight and his hair was curly but it just ends up looking angular and almost pixelated. Like his hair is the one thing that defies my attempts to turn the model quality up. It's mostly near the bottom of his sideburns tho, it just looks weirdly angular there, but the top of his head is mostly fine. Am I the only one who gets that vibe?

Also I've mentioned this elsewhere but it annoys me that every leader's palms are the same color as their forearms, regardless of how dark-skinned they are. Leaders like Kupe, Mvemba A Nzinga, Amanitore, Dido etc. should have visibly lighter palms. And the really annoying part is they got these leaders' fingernail colors right (at least the ones that aren't painted). Not that major but still bugs me now every time i look at em. Only leader where it's perfectly OK is Lady Six Sky because it looks like from her forearms down is supposed to be painted.

Also I don't like Kublai Khan terribly much, but I don't mind the uneven beard. Pretty sure it's a reference to this picture.

 

[KayAU]

I knew I shouldn't have mentioned Star Wars. Everyone has their own view as to which was the worst film, and for me it was the Phantom Menace. Although, I do remember a parody of it called "the Bantam Menace" which had a guy in a chicken suit dancing around on stage with jedi lookalikes at a university revue.

I think Phantom Menace was the worst until the sequels arrived, but at least it fit into the existing lore and started some threads which would be developed further in the following episodes. For all its flaws, I still liked it, a bit. The sequel trilogy, however, is just baffling to me. TFA is the best of the three, but I'm not giving that one a free pass either, many of the problems of the trilogy started right there, such as the failure to establish the overarching situation, the failure to create an imposing villain, willfully ignoring the events of the previous movies, the failure to create room for the lead character to grow, and so on. All that aside, if it had been a standalone movie, I think it would have been okay. TLJ then went ahead and threw away everything, not only what was established in the older movies, but what was started in its direct predecessor. It left the trilogy at an impossible point to continue from, and eliminated my last bit of caring for what happened next. I did not see how the third movie could salvage it at that point, but boy, was I surprised to see that RoS was in many ways even worse. That's quite an accomplishment.

I guess what annoys me the most is how it seems they did not have an overarching plan for the trilogy when starting out. It's bad enough that it doesn't fit in with the previous 6 movies, but the 3 movies in the same trilogy don't really work together either.

 

[kaspergm]

I get the hate for not making him more historically accurate and breaking the wild Celtic stereotype but he's actually one of the leaders I like more, strong and manly with great hair and isn't a roid head like Gilgabro.

Yes! I'm not too bothered by stereotyping, and every time I encounter Ambiorix ... ... he's definitely my #1 leader in the game by looks.

 

[Villager720]

Kublai Khan is so bad they couldn’t even bother to sync his giant, shiny lips when he speaks.

 

[blackcatatonic]

The fact that Alexander (one of, if not the worst-looking model ever) came out in the same DLC as Cyrus (one of the most impressive leader models ever) continues to baffle me.

 

[Duke William of Normandy]

Thank heaven for little miracles. He has a distinctly French accent, but otherwise his Gaulish is lovely.

Well, considering native Gaelic speakers are pretty much nonexistent, a French accent is acceptable.

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

Well, considering native Gaelic speakers are pretty much nonexistent, a French accent is acceptable.

There's many Gaelic speakers. Just travel to Ireland.
Not so many Gallic speakers, though I think they refer to the language as Gaulish instead.

 

[Duke William of Normandy]

There's many Gaelic speakers. Just travel to Ireland.
Not so many Gallic speakers, though I think they refer to the language as Gaulish instead.

Facepalm self. You're right, I meant Gaulish, I don't know why I said Gaelic instead of that.

 

[679x]

I'm glad to see everyone generally agrees on Kublai looking off. I'm not a fan of his animations either, but something about his face looks unnatural. I can't pin it down. His mouth, maybe.

I really don't like Simón Bolívar's hair. I get his hairline wasn't perfectly straight and his hair was curly but it just ends up looking angular and almost pixelated. Like his hair is the one thing that defies my attempts to turn the model quality up. It's mostly near the bottom of his sideburns tho, it just looks weirdly angular there, but the top of his head is mostly fine. Am I the only one who gets that vibe?
---
Also I don't like Kublai Khan terribly much, but I don't mind the uneven beard. Pretty sure it's a reference to this picture.

Bolivar's hair is another thing I was going to mention upon coming to this thread. To me, it looks like his hair was glued on, especially his eyebrows. I can definitely see the angular thing going on on his sideburns. I think one of the reasons his hair bothers me so much is that his face is smooth like plaster, so the thick, rough, angular hair sticks out even more.

Just look at this clip of his denouncing animation.

Honourable mention goes to Basil II, whose beard reminds me of iron filings attracted to a magnet.

About Kublai's beard, in that picture, his beard is only slightly uneven, driven by a few wayward hairs that are longer on the one side. I can understand them wanting to exaggerate it a bit for the sake of Civ 6's artstyle but it's too much IMO. Maybe if his face didn't look off to me to begin with, the beard wouldn't be as jarring to me.

Side note: I found a video that shows all of Kublai's animations, and apparently they had to modify the game files to even get his agenda approval/disapproval cutscenes to even show up? And that was just a week ago. His agenda works properly in that it affects his relationship with you, but his cutscenes never show up naturally for the video creator and at least one other person in the comments section.

 

[sonicmyst]

Yes, honorable mention to Simón. I don't know why the color of his face seems off to me.

On the contrary the top looks for me are: Dido, Ba Trieu, and Gorgo.

All beautiful women imo.

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

On the contrary the top looks for me are: Dido, Ba Trieu, and Gorgo.

Not surprised considering Dido is just Gorgo whose clothes were dipped in some Tyrian purple.

 

[Kujarim_Wuniver]

Among pre-NFP leaders, there are quite a few that aren't exactly eye candy, from the overly cartoonish Gandhi and Qin, or that european-looking Weird Al-y Montezuma to the ridiculously overweight Wilhelmina and poor disproportionate Tamar (Kristina kind of belongs in this same group, but at least her unattractiveness is historically accurate, so kudos to Firaxis for not sugarcoating her looks).

Not all of them being beautiful people, pre-NFP leaders are, for the most part, well done from the technical and stylistic standpoint. Their models are meticulously sculpted and textured and, most importantly, rigged to their own unique animation set. There are, of course, mistakes and inaccuracies here and there (what have they done to the poor Pericles ), but every one of pre-NFP leaders is a lovingly crafted character that oozes personality.

NFP leaders, though... They really do stick out. Their faces and other body parts lack the fine chiselling and texturing of pre-NFP leaders. Especially hands, it's always the hands that look the most glossy and plasticky with NFP leaders. Metallic parts of their outfits, on the contrary, often lack that shiny look to them; just compare Basil's laughably matte crown to the shiny goodness of... well, any other leader who wears a crown.

Lady Six Sky: She actually looks good (even pretty ) with that elaborately detailed attire and bodypaint. She seems to have the most complex and inspired design out of all the NFP leaders.
Simon Bolivar: Not much fine detail in his outfit and physical appearance. Many glossy textures. Oh, and that ridiculously sharp hairline.
Menelik: Apart from those creepy hands, he looks... okay. He has a distinctively sculpted face and a nicely textured, if not at all intricately designed, outfit.
Basil II: Maybe it's the flickering facial hair that looks glued on, maybe it's the bland face that looks way too young for that grey beard. Or maybe it's Gengis' awkward choppy animations. Whatever it is, Basil's design just doesn't 'click'. Also, his crown. I can't get over his damn crown. That golden crown has no right to be nowhere near as shiny as his chestpiece.
Ambiorix: For a man who shows so much skin, his skin looks way too plasticky and glossy. The hair and moustache are absolutely majestic, though.
Hammurabi: The true King of Stupid Facial Expressions, Lord of Glossy Palms and Forearms Lacking Any Detail. The splendidly head-to-toe detailed Gilgamesh is ashamed to be a neighbor to this piece of plastic.
Ba Trieu: She's up there with Lady Six Sky as the two NFP leaders that fit in with pre-NFP leaders.
Kublai Khan: An absolute disaster.

 

[ehecatzin]

I hate his face. So, so much. That stupid grin. That stupid chin. The weird way his mouth folds all of the time... you know what I mean!

It honestly depends on what you mean by worse? because if we go by acting, Alexander is a home run, a smug overconfident rich kid with a puncheable face a horsehocky eating grin? he's spot on perfect.

For the the "worst" are the ones that deviate way too far into cartoony side, as other have mentioned, you've got well proportioned leaders side by side with cartoonish ones, even if they are well animated It's uncanny (Cleopatra). So yeah to me It's the cartoony ones that are the worse.

Pedro
Quin
Bolivar
original Teddy (never forget)
Cleo (even if the animation is good)
Ghandi
Harald..

 

[Hellenism Salesman]

It honestly depends on what you mean by worse? because if we go by acting, Alexander is a home run, a smug overconfident rich kid with a puncheable face a **** eating grin? he's spot on perfect.

For the the "worst" are the ones that deviate way too far into cartoony side, as other have mentioned, you've got well proportioned leaders side by side with cartoonish ones, even if they are well animated It's uncanny (Cleopatra). So yeah to me It's the cartoony ones that are the worse.

Pedro
Quin
Bolivar
original Teddy (never forget)
Cleo (even if the animation is good)
Ghandi
Harald..

I admit, they had a vision and they nailed that. He's the only leader where I flat-out laughed watching his animations. His persona is something I love to hate and wonderfully entertaining, so I give them props when it comes to that.

And while it may have been what they were going for, I just always found his face kind of... ugly? It's hard to describe, but my brain just doesn't like how pronounced his cheekbones are. Can't really explain why that is, I just find it really strange.

But if that's what they were going for, then hey, mission accomplished.

(there's just a part of me that wants an Alexander with a grin that I can tolerate)

 

[aieeegrunt]

Montezuma looks like some sort of Man-Chicken hybrid

 

[Abaxial]

Suleiman is weird. I think he must be the work of a different and less-skilled artist. But I don't dislike him as much as

Qin - quasi-racist.
Menelik - sinister.
Kublai - hobbit.

I also feel that the reskins of Teddy and Catherine were a waste of resources that could have been better spent.

 

[ehecatzin]

I admit, they had a vision and they nailed that. He's the only leader where I flat-out laughed watching his animations. His persona is something I love to hate and wonderfully entertaining, so I give them props when it comes to that.

And while it may have been what they were going for, I just always found his face kind of... ugly? It's hard to describe, but my brain just doesn't like how pronounced his cheekbones are. Can't really explain why that is, I just find it really strange.

But if that's what they were going for, then hey, mission accomplished.

(there's just a part of me that wants an Alexander with a grin that I can tolerate)

I mean, yeah at least more sincerity when he's happy would be nice, a bit more of Civ 5 Alexander's charm could have been nice.

Montezuma looks like some sort of Man-Chicken hybrid

It does bother me a bit that he's more caveman than king, with the hunchback posture.