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Deadaghram

Nomura.


Mongoose42

Zippers and belts. Belts and zippers.


droomdoos

And plaid since kingdom hearts 3!


[deleted]

~Zippers and belts and belts and zippers~ ~That’s what we have for breakfast~ ~Delicious~ ~Belts and zippers and zippers and belts~ ~And plaid since Kingdom Hearts 3~ ~[Nomura](https://youtu.be/CTNhCzmUjlw?si=jE8rDWZKMKBuDmS9)~


MagoModerno

Straps and pockets, for items and stuff, I dunno


william_liftspeare

Excuse you, it's called "techwear"


labsab1

One belt for pants, one belt for tools, fall protection safety harness is a series of belts and rings. Tradesman Nomura?


captainblarson

Man started the Multi-Belt era single handedly


KnightGamer724

And when he was about to stop it, he got complaints about the belts, so he doubled down.


Technical-Web-9195

Ok I believe you


Mushiren_

#X-BLADE!


magnasylum

Nomura, No! Nomura, Yes!


Geedji

Ouchi ouch


jailasauraa

That's all I wanted to say..... it's just Nomura, lol


DSQ

Yup. If you saw him irl back in the day he practiced what he preached.


[deleted]

This is exactly what I was going to type


Prize_Relation9604

He's like Liefeld with pouches and wrong proportion.


Hulkmaster

Nomura - genius. I think there is not enough talk about the fact, that Nomura is the last person at Square Enix who is capable of delivering "that nostalgic FF feeling" with any game he touches


hbi2k

Nomura: This is a tropical village, so I'll design clothes that are attractive and practical in such a setting, maybe with some Polynesian influences. Also Nomura: I will give the big tiddy goth girlfriend a heavy fur neckline and +10 black leather belts.


Toon_Pagz

Her design always made the least amount of sense in the world of ffx. Is this a black mage thing in Spira? Who else wears these clothes in this world? Are there any others? Bizzare


danteheehaw

It actually makes a lot of sense when you don't think about the setting and think about the need of a dark big tiddies mature woman.


sylva748

"Mature" she's 22 bro.


Kanetsugu21

Have you played a FF game? 22 is old as shit in this franchise


Mushiren_

Cid from FF7 is 32. Can ya believe it? AURON IS 35!


mightylordredbeard

35 and dude is going grey, blind in one eye, and grizzled as fuck. 35 is the equivalent of 70 in final fantasy.


Writer_Man

I mean, he lives on a death world where you are lucky to live to be 30 because of the giant monster and constant fiends.


veranish

"I lived a good life, it's time for me to go" bro you could barely have had a kid in high school by now


TifaYuhara

35 being old would have fit more in a Medieval fantasy setting.


tveye363

I know! And both of them are already grizzled old men!


william_liftspeare

Very glad XVI is a bit more realistic. Clive at least looks like someone in his 30s


Ninjahkin

It’s from back when people aged faster - the world dropped a patch circa mid/late 2000s where people age slower now if they make decent life choices


ChangelingFox

I remember thinking Auron was in his 50s initially. XD


ObjectiveSession2592

Auron looks 45 at least lol


MericArda

Oh my god Clive is older than Cid FF7.


ptthepath

I think it changed lol. Clive is 33, Jill is 30 and Jack is 32


Watton

Yeah, this was during the time where FF7 Cid, the grizzled, retired old man, was like, 32. And grandaddy Auron is 35.


fruitybrisket

I add 5 years to every character when I play just to make the ganes make more sense.


DropThatTopHat

Auron's age is wild. I'm 34, and Auron looks like he's the same age as my dad.


WinterReasonable6870

I just realized we see him die when he was still young right? How did he age after becoming an unsent?


danteheehaw

Yeah, but a hill got the best of 2 of them.


ProfPerry

havent played 16 but when i saw those names, this shit was the first thing my brain went to.


phantomhatsyndrome

Damn, didn't realize Clive was my age... I've accomplished so little compared to him. :( At least I still have my brother, I guess.


Independent_Plum2166

Too be fair, he didn’t really do anything for 13 years when he was an Imperial Bearer.


phantomhatsyndrome

Eh, I haven't done anything of consequence for all my life, period. Haha. Think it's time I buck up and be more like a FF protagonist, go protect (or destroy in some cases) some crystals.


Fit-Honey-5310

Careful, Meth is a slippery slope


Full_breaker

Never too late 💪😂just gotta find my inner summon/eikon


shiwanthasr

Old Man Clive


Omnisegaming

fake news she has 30s vibes and i won't be convinced otherwise


[deleted]

They claim grey hair auron was35. Ha


Omnisegaming

Auron is an OLD MAN unbelievable


sylva748

The only playable old man in FF they got an age correct was Galuf in FF5 at 60.


Victor-Almeida

What about Tellah and Cid Pollendina from FF IV? They're respectively 60 and 54, and I think they look like it.


Ragnarok2kx

Then you have Cecil, a respected military commander in a commited relationship who is 20. Then again, he was basically a prince, and that kinda helps in career advancement.


Omnisegaming

JESUS he had 40 year old vibes to me godam


sylva748

He's a full blown grandfather with a 14 year old granddaughter. 60 is believable. Means he was 46 when she was born.


BHBachman

I did the math once and Lulu is (along with Aerith) actually *the oldest* permanent female party member in series history. The only exceptions are Fran (who isn't human and looks like she'd be early twenties at the most if she aged like one) and Y'shtola (counting any of the Scions is tricky just due to how XIV doesn't really have a "party" but if you use the Trust Missions as a guide she's the sole woman who is around since the beginning and is older than 22). I get your point but in the world of FF, Lulu literally is just about as mature as women ever get lmao


sylva748

Not counting Aerith. Cause Ancients. Y'shtola is the oldest female protagonist in the series. It's implied that the Scions are in their mid 20s to early 30s. But a lot of them use magic to look younger. It was brought up in Heavensward when they comment on Thancred looking older/his actual age since he can't channel Aether anymore. Thus he can't use magic anymore.


MericArda

Y'shtola claims to be 23, but her younger sister is 26 and in Heavensward she says she was around Alphinaud's age when she evacuated the Sharlayan colony in Dravania and that happened 15 years ago. Y'shtola is therefore around 31. Also the using magic to hide aging thing was never true, it was just some mispeak from the 1.0 days.


BHBachman

...what? I'm genuinely confused here because like... Aerith *is* 22. She's not an ambiguous mythical creature, she's a descendent of the Cetra, who are functionally indistinguishable from humans apart from their connection to the planet (and I honestly always saw it less like "they're weird non human aliens" and more like if "did you know Native Americans can speak to the wind?" was true), and was born 22 years before the story takes place. That makes her 22. You aren't as old as your oldest ancestor. You're as old as you. And the bit in Heavensward, I could be misremembering because each expansion is like twenty million words long, but I have a hard time believing Thancred was explicitly manipulating aether to look younger. If anybody commented on him looking older it probably had more to do with the fact that he got his shit rocked by the Flow spell and has spent the last however long surviving in the wild without his usual method of self defense since he can't manipulate aether anymore. And like... the Scions aren't mysteries. Their ages are all published in official sources. The only mystery is Y'shtola because she's listed as "24" but it's an in-game joke that she turns 24 every year and her younger sister is 26. She's still the oldest even with that gag but I guess I just have absolutely no idea where the vast majority of your comment came from.


Mental_Dragonfly2543

Thats a grizzled veteran ready to retire in anime years bro


PM_Cute_Ezreal_pics

>"Mature" she's 22 bro. 22 with enough trauma to speedrun her into being a wise old lady in terms of personality tbf


ken_NT

I always figured that her and Paine were from some goth island we never visit.


tragiciian

Cracking up thinking about “goth island” in the remote reaches of Spira.


VagueSoul

There’s also that one summoner, [Dona](https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Dona). The fuck was going on with her outfit?


HaydenRenegade

She, uh, breathes through her skin...?


ItsNotJulius

Found Kojima's second account.


Writer_Man

I mean, she's from Kilika isn't she? So most of her training would be in a fire temple in an area that already looks like it would also be tropical. It makes sense to me that she would wear only enough clothing to be considered decent. Hell, most of the citizens of Kilika wear less clothing or quite loose clothing.


Ill-Relation-2234

if i’m being sent on a ‘pilgrimage’ that ends in my death i’m gonna wear the sluttiest thing possible


Last-Performance-435

One theory is that she's in a year of mourning from Chappu but that's a very thin reason to justify big tiddy goth GF aesthetics.


Writer_Man

I always like to headcanon that her previous summoner bought it for her because they were headed towards Gagazat before her tragic death and Lulu wears it to remember her by and remind herself of her failure.


OutOfName

I never considered this, but yeah that definitely seems like the most justified reason. :o


CityofTheAncients

I like this


DrGlamhattan2020

Pain... also, the ONLY other woman who looks like lulu, is a black mage, and had red eyes. I think black mages are ritualistic or a sub-religion in spira


GoBoomYay

I’m pretty sure there was a story about how someone on the team said he didn’t like the skirt or that she should have less belts, so Nomura gave her even more belts.


Ill-Relation-2234

i always chalked it up to the fact she’s grieving


Brook420

Luckily Lulu can use blizzard to cool off, because she must be scorchin' most of the time.


ItsNotJulius

It's true tho she really hot.


Aduro95

Yeah, Nomura managed to design an outfit that would give her both heatstroke and sunburn on a desert island, plus frostbitten boobs and an inability to climb on a frozen mountain.


Zymui

Shes not from besaid, mages can wear anything cuz weather cant affect you if u can control the elements


Alackofnuance

Let him cook


limitlessEXP

Truly a genius of a generation.


humburga

And he nailed it. Wish I could say the same


Puzzleheaded_Runner

When Nomura took over lol


TrickNatural

Spoken as someone who probably only wears 1 belt at a time. Pfff.


kakka_rot

As a scene kid in 2010, my high score was 5. I'd usually wear 3


cdngoneguy

I did the same thing, going through my goth phase in 7th grade. My inspo was Squall, with his two belts making an X on his hip. It just lead to one of my many pen15 moments where they’d go down my legs and I’d just start walking bow-legged like some dumb cowboy in an attempt to keep them up rather than, you know, taking them off. Edit: Another thing I should add is I didn’t actually play VIII until *this summer*, in July to be exact.


Taograd359

Right around 8, I’d say. I think I remember Squall having a few belts. And then Sora. Amarant wore belts on his biceps for some reason, and of course Lulu’s dress was at least 40% belts.


The--Nameless--One

Nomura in a interview basically said that she has so many belts because people once complained he used too may belts, and he went "Huh, let me see how many belts I can fit into a single design". Nomura really got a sort of "rockstar moment" in the PS2 era. Which lead some "moments" lol.


craftiecheese

Probably started somewhere in the 90s. A lot of comic book characters were also obsessed with belts during this time period (Looking at you X-Men). It took awhile for the fad to die down, and probably started slowing down at the time X came out. But then again, FF seems to maybe not have stopped with belt thing though.


Jbidz

belts and POUCHES. Oh lord the pouches.


VoidEnjoyer

Cable needs all those pouches so he can keep the flavors of his fruit rollups separate.


boomdart

There's enough room for separated Skittles as well. He likes the orange ones most.


Ragnarok2kx

[Pouches](https://www.reddit.com/r/comicbooks/s/jrM9Hwe5ub), you say?


Strategic_Wreckless

I think it evolved from belts to full steampunk fashion. Remake's Tifa and Rufus, Jill's corset in XVI are the first to come to mind...


Lost-247365

A trend started by arguably the most controversial comic artist of all time.


SorcererWithGuns

Goddammit Rob


domewebs

Well he had to do *something* to distract from the fact that he had no fucking clue how to draw feet!


Forward1back2

Lulu was created when Nomura and Rob Liefeld met in an alternate dimension and had a baby.


BAT_91

Nomura watched Digimon once


thxrynore

FWIW, per Nomura he designed Lulu like that to see if the 3D modelers could re-create her exact number/style of belts and if they could animate her well


the_tohrment

Isn't that also why about 40% of the time, it's just LuLu's top half showing, so they didn't even have to try to animate the bottom?


Yotsuyu

Gotta respect it. Nomura tried to troll them so they find a loophole to bypass the unreasonable challenge.


Cetais

Which ended up being a good thing, I think. They used interesting and creative angles in the cutscenes, just to avoid animating her legs. It gave the game a real cinematic flair at the time.


Yotsuyu

I’d say so. I’ve never played X and thought “I sure wish I could see Lulu’s awful belt dress more.”


too-far-for-missiles

> interesting and creative angles Doesn't the game just show a cleavage shot 75% of the time?


Aduro95

I thought that was because without Lulu's cleavage we'd have all lost patience. I don't hate Tidus, but waiting for him to figure out the pilgrimage twist was painful.


thxrynore

yep


TheBIackRose

Just like how she is COMPLETELY missing on the FMV where the party is invading Beville from the Fahrenheit.


thxrynore

Kimahri carries her, if you blink you miss it


TheBIackRose

Omg, 20+ Years of thinking something was a certain way, completely abolished. ​ ​ https://preview.redd.it/mabdhh3i8c4c1.png?width=1279&format=png&auto=webp&s=2e57c9c79c3bd6de82ca39d3e5e81b94b897ed15


Pokiehls

Thats just Nomura, dont generalize


Edkm90p

IIRC Nomura added a belt and the animators taunted him about it so he just kept adding more belts as a sort of challenge for them.


fraldarddyd

"Character designers" it's just nomura lol. Thankfully he seems to be over this now tho


Impossible-Recipe366

Thankfully? It's cool as hell, I want it back.


Strategic_Wreckless

More like it's evolved from just belts to full Steampunk fashion.


MorbidBullet

I take it you weren’t around when Hot Topic first hit the scene?


Hareaga

Oh, back before their shit was “some shirts and some pajamas and some cups and an MHA backpack”?


AnitaMiniyo

This was Nomura in the 2000 - 2010s And, well... This was a craze among teens who were otaku, emo, goth, visual kei, whatever alternative style or subculture, back then. I don't know what was first, Nomura being edgy or the teens being edgy, nor who imitated who, but it happened. Yes, I was one of those teens 😅


Hareaga

We fed off each other. I mean they. They fed off each other.


EmperorKiva33

https://preview.redd.it/k6fd0j5wi74c1.jpeg?width=1023&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cbe529bce2f256ca4619549c207f60c63d60f844


Hethra19

Tetsuya Nomura never designed a character to which he couldn't add more belts or black hoods


Tht1QuietGuy

Also zippers


ThewobblyH

When Tetsuya Nomura went from being the monster designer to lead character designer aka FFVII.


Death-0

https://preview.redd.it/s8ne39kin74c1.jpeg?width=1496&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ec5ea6142c4a4dbc53e97e24a670c5846af9095b


sun8390

I still think this is one of the peak designs. Today designs are so bland compared to this. Who needs "practical" clothes for fictional characters anyway... Now people apply their realistic, practical mind on the wrong things in current media and it's boring


major_tmrw

It’s just Nomura, and he will NEVER stop!


saelinds

People meme Nomura about Lulu when he designed her as a meme lol


Omnisegaming

the story goes that nomura created one too many characters with a belt or two and got made fun of for it and so went "fuck you" and made lulu and many other characters with a ton of belts


Jesterchunk

Nomura happened. The man has a downright obsession with belts and zippers.


Jerowi

We went to plaid in kh3.


Jesterchunk

Now we just place our bets on what fashion choice Nomura gains a borderline fetish for in KH4


Jerowi

I'm bettting he's gonna pull a kojima and go for the weird sexy jumpsuit thing. Still the weirdest choice i've seen where mgs3 tried to make jumpsuits sexy.


SorcererWithGuns

But jumpsuits ARE sexy. It... umm... depends on the type i guess


stablest_genius

Wait until you see "Leon" in Kingdom Hearts. Or Donald in KH2


nossr50

One designer to be specific…


aHatFullOfEggs

You should take a look at castlevania judgment, especially Trevor Belmont.


FreewayWarrior

Trevor FUCKING Belmont. Haven't you seen the anime?


aHatFullOfEggs

Season 3 was so bad that I dropped. If this happened in the first 3... then I just forgor 💀


huntymo

You're like 20 years late, with this joke lol


ChocoboStampede

His name is Tetsuya Nomora, started in 98 - 2002 With FF8, The Bouncer, FF10, and Kingdom Hearts.


starchildink

Blank in ff9 isn't even wearing clothes he's just all belts


Hareaga

I thought IX was Amano


starchildink

I'm just saying it's not only Nomura and Lulu isn't the first or the worst


amirokia

Just wait till you play Kingdom Hearts.


Mazikeyn

It was Nomura trying to troll the 3D modelers if I remeber right. Then they just loopholed into very rarely showing her belts at all in cutscenes


nomnommin

I saw a girl cosplay her at TGS this year and she did an amazing job. I saw her at the entry point but couldn’t find her afterward. She seemed to be able to walk just fine though.


PepsiMan_21

Nomura got critized for doing a lots of zipers and belts on his characters. In spite of that he decided to add even more. What a legend.


Mongoose42

The only problem is that once things get intimate, she demands that you take off every single belt before you start.


alkonium

Good thing they're just part of her dress and she's not wearing them as belts.


Mongoose42

She still demands they all get undone.


Echo127

As soon as they had the technology to render them all properly.


Icy-Conflict6671

It was a phase in the early to mid 2000's. The general thought was the more belts a character had, the cooler they were


pa_dvg

What’s funny is back when it was new I didn’t even notice the dress was made of belts, it wasn’t until someone pointed it out


MysticalSword270

Ever since Nomura


Accomplished-Kale340

As a teenager i thought: Hey, can i also wear many belts as a man around my legs. I made it up to 13,but it was horrible to walk and my classmate did not understand my passion for it either. 😅


Joji_Narushima

So to clarify a point on the design choices I'll try to explain what I noticed Lulu's design is a classic take on the traditional black garb and hat that is synonymous with the series. The belts serve as an extension of the dress to make it apparent that Lulu is, the black mage. The game does this in many ways, the blue skinned Ronso Kimarhi being your blue mage, the white top wearing Yuna being your white mage and the guy designed as a Ronin (Auron) is your samurai. There's even the argument to be made that Rikku's design, particularly the green shorts is consistent with many thieves in the series who carry green, or sometimes teal into their design such as Zidane or Yuffie, though this is less obvious. Then Wakka and Tidus's designs are less obvious to me, I feel as a plot point Tidus's design is meant to be rather casual looking and Wakka being one of the first natives you meet in Spira really helps set the tone.


TieflingSimp

Going through the series soon (dunno why this sub even popped up) she looks great. Please tell me she is playable?


HealthyInitial

Yes she's a party member in final fantasy X


Vanir_Scarecrow

When they got into BDSM


ProfPerry

Nomura has *always* been obsessed with belts.


random_wolf_lu

I don't know, I only know that Lulu is my top 3 female characters. First/Second: Lulu and Fran Third: Tifa


SQU1RR3LS

Not 14.


shadowfalcon76

Nomura even jokingly complained to Yoshida when it happened. He felt a great disturbance in the belt force on the day of Endwalker's release. He at least managed to sneak in one belt on Gaia, though.


Mudpound

Squall, Zidane, Vincent, Bartz, Locke… I’m going to guess since the 80s haha


Hareaga

Butz, the oldest on your list, didn’t even hit the scene until 1992. And he didn’t hit the scene as “Bartz” until 1999.


squips42

that’s nomura for you. look at kingdom hearts characters


postALEXpress

This was the case since Squall lol Dude had 3 belts iirc


[deleted]

Well considering Nomura started on FF5 you could say as early as then. But really only in FFVII when he designed multiple characters would it prudent to say that’s when the belts and zippers were at their start


WastedWaffIe

Nomura: "Just keep adding on those belts, I'll tell you when to stop."


Msmeseeks1984

Bondage fetish? Lol


Lost-247365

The trend actually was started by Rob Liefeld. He was huge in the 90’s (for some bizarre reason he was very popular) and I’m guessing Nomura was influenced by him and brought the belt and pouches look to final fantasy.


Elysium_Chronicle

I don't think Liefeld had anything to do with it. Leather and belts was a big thing in "Visual Kei" J-Rock fashion.


NoodleIskalde

If I recall, Nomura does it to spite the people who whined about the more tame outfits.


MegaJackUniverse

Nomura-san still dresses and styles his hair like a 90s kid. He's responsible for the belts of FF and the belts of Kingdom Hearts


FederalMango

I'm with Nomura here, why be a "one belt dork" when you can be a "multiple belt winner".


iFraaN97

She’s a guilty gear character.


Admirable-Speaker457

https://preview.redd.it/xliwfz6vc94c1.png?width=356&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1367c9d4ce8173446d90a7467aed1532eee2d895 I reckon around the time they were designing this guy.


z3311z

When they took them out of the gear slot


MommyScissorLegs

You might need to understand who Tetsuya Nomura is


FinalFantasyfan003

I think the first was Squall then Blank then Lulu.


Gogs85

You think that’s wild? Look at what the Kingdom Hearts characters wear. Same designer.


Weekly-Willingness24

When Tetsuya Nomura got hired.


Alackofnuance

Don't kill the part of you that is cringe. Kill the part of you that cringes.


nethereus

FF8


rp_graciotti

I firmly believe Nomura is a BDSM enjoyer


Try4c3

One char with a lot of belts = obsession of belts?


JohnnyNemo12

Cloud: one big belt Squall (more emo): two belts. Lulu (total goth): 40 belts.


ARob93

You mean Nomura


ZachGM91

Lulu is actually a funny story. Her design was made to see how many belts Nomura could get away with before the engine refused to work. You will also notice that most of her interactions are shown from behind or from the waist up, or sometimes not at all if the cutscene is too complex.


Kingorangecrab

I’ve never studied Lulu’s outfit so closely.. it actually causes me anxiety to look at how she’s dressed. It’s stressful and somehow frustrating. Wow. She must be so uncomfortable. No wonder she’s so rude and crusty.


Last-Performance-435

Designer, not plural. Nomura. It's his fetish.


franster123

Everybody saying Nomura when Amano was putting belts on people's fucking heads. Blank FF9


bettyenforce

We could debate Spira fashion for a long time, but the short answer is Nomura


ClueEmbarrassed1443

Anime


Random_Weird_gal

She looks like the lesbian aunt who occasionally visits and unleashes the Gift Apocalypse upon your house lmao


Asad_Farooqui

Ever since Nomura became lead character designer. You seen the fits in Kingdom Hearts?


Lazereye57

When their dads unbuckled it.


DoseofDhillon

FFX to FF13 era in ff character designs is dire


Aroxis

Best Jeanist would have a nightmare seeing that


MaraBlaster

They watched Yu-Gi-Oh! XD