Kingdom Hearts Creator Comments on ‘Ugly Characters’ in Video Games

Kingdom Hearts Creator Comments on 'Ugly Characters' in Video Games

Key Takeaways

  • Tetsuya Nomura, the co-creator of Kingdom Hearts and designer of many Final Fantasy characters, avoids creating ugly characters.
  • A high school friend complained about the protagonist in a game being unattractive, and Nomura credits this as the reason he only creates more attractive characters.
  • Nomura is responsible for designing iconic characters like Sephiroth from Final Fantasy 7 and Sora from Kingdom Hearts, among countless others.

As a longtime fan of Tetsuya Nomura’s work, I find his journey through Square Enix and the gaming world absolutely fascinating. His ability to create visually stunning characters is unparalleled, from the enigmatic Sephiroth to the cheerful Sora. It’


Tetsuya Nomura, who’s famous for jointly making Kingdom Hearts and designing numerous Final Fantasy characters, has shared his reason behind not creating character designs that are unappealing. Known as a significant figure in the Japanese Role-Playing Game (JRPG) community, Nomura has spent more than three decades working at Square Enix, where he’s contributed to countless games in their extensive collection.

As a long-standing veteran at Square Enix for over three decades, I, Tetsuya Nomura, have become a recognizable face within the Japanese gaming industry. I was jointly responsible for directing the remake of Final Fantasy 7, and currently, I’m serving as the creative director for its sequel, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Simultaneously, I am hard at work on the concluding chapter of the remake series, while concurrently developing Kingdom Hearts 4. Lately, I have hinted at contemplating retirement, and my swansong project will be to bring Sora’s storyline in Kingdom Hearts to a satisfying conclusion.

In various instances, players have observed that Nomura frequently creates stunning character designs. During a conversation with Young Jump, the designer shared the origin of his visually appealing creations, which can be traced back to his high school years. According to Nomura, a peer was playing a game where the main character wasn’t particularly attractive. This prompted his friend to ask why they had to be unattractive in the gaming world too. This question reportedly made a lasting impact on Nomura, possibly shaping some of Square Enix’s most appealing and recognizable characters.

Tetsuya Nomura Avoids Creating Ugly Characters Because of a High School Friend’s Complaint

In various roles, Nomura was instrumental in developing the main characters for several Final Fantasy games, such as Cloud, Tifa, Barret, Aerith, Vincent Valentine, and more. He even crafted Zack Fair and the iconic antagonist Sephiroth, later moving on to design Squall, Tidus, Noctis, and other renowned Final Fantasy characters. In Kingdom Hearts, he was responsible for creating Sora, Riku, Roxas, Aqua, and many others, showcasing his distinctive artistic flair. Looking back at the PlayStation 1 era, Nomura also brought Aya Brea, the protagonist of Parasite Eve, to life.

Over time, Tetsuya Nomura has been a frequent topic of fan debates for two primary reasons. Firstly, his character designs are easily recognizable because they often feature spiky-haired protagonists or characters adorned with numerous belts in their costumes. Secondly, the narrative of Kingdom Hearts has sparked lengthy discussions among fans who frequently describe it as complex and perplexing, a characterization that Nomura himself acknowledges is accurate. This misunderstanding arises because some players mistakenly attribute the changes in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy to Nomura, when in reality it was producer Yoshinori Kitase who initiated these narrative shifts.

Read More

2024-09-24 18:44