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So what's wrong with For Honor's upcoming Tiandi?
🕑 Added 2018-07-06 11:31:51 +0000 UTC
Well, nothing, to be honest. Just so you know, I am really hyped about the upcoming For Honor expansion. I only write this post because I just learned that there's actually a way to attach multiple pictures to a single article in Patreon (no seriously, I am not joking!), and wanted to try it out.
For Honor is, after all, a fantasy game that is only vaguely inspired by real-life historical warrior cultures, so there's nothing wrong with adding fantasy elements as long as the resulting hero looks cool. In fact, I actually consider this to be one of the strong points of For Honor, as any pretense of historical accuracy will only detract from my enjoyment and immersion of the game (I am looking at you, Assassin Creed Chronicles: China). Besides, all heroes across every faction in the game will fall apart pretty much instantly if we evaluate them based on so-called "historical accuracy".
But let's do a historical evaluation anyway, because why not?
What's in the name?
Tiandi's name is written as 天地 in Chinese. It means "Heaven and Earth" and makes zero sense whatsoever. Seriously, this is my biggest gripe on the hero. There are countless better and more appropriate names for the design team to choose from, and they just have to go with a meaningless one!
Tiandi's backstory actually reveals that he/she used to work as "protector to Kings, Queens and Emperors", so I think Shiwei (侍衛, guard) will be a much more appropriate name for the hero.
What is his real life inspiration?
Most people seem to think that Tiandi is based on a typical ancient Chinese general, or a stereotypical "Dynasty Warrior-ish" vision of a Chinese general. While they are not wrong, I think it'd be more correct to call Tiandi a mix-and-match between Kungfu performer, terrible Hong Kong movie/drama depiction of a Chinese general, and whatever fantasy stuffs (like horns and spikes) Ubisoft decided to throw in.
What about his equipment?
Tiandi's arms and armour are all over the place, but there's one thing I can be certain – they are not based on any historical Chinese armour from any period. Let's go through them one by one:
Helmet
Tiandi's helmet is loosely based on Italian barbute helmet, which is not even Chinese...ugh. It does have some kickass plumage that will make Warden players weep bloody tears in envy though, so there's that.
That being said, I still hope the design team at least give Tiandi a more historically accurate helmet, since it makes up a very big part of a faction's identity.
Armour
Tiandi's armour is clearly based on......low quality plastic prop armour that you can buy from Taobao or Alibaba for less than $100 (just look at the uncanny resemblance!). Yes, you read that right! It's seriously based on cheap prop armour! Even down to the fake "Mountain pattern" scales!
Oh, and Tiandi's muscled cuirass is Greek, but that goes without saying.
Weapon
Tiandi's weapon is the only item in his repertoire that remotely looks like a real, practical weapon. While Chinese warriors had been using Daos for millenia, Tiandi's Dao is inspired by a very late design, probably 19th century at the earliest (and it's not even a military-grade sword, but a civilian self-defense weapon). In fact, the rather uncommon S-shaped guard is most likely a Chinese imitation of the guard of 18 - 19th century European sabre.
As a side note, the tassel on Tiandi's Dao is found on Wushu performance sword only, as it serves no practical purpose during real fighting.
What about his combat style?
Tiandi's combat style looks like every "Wushu Broadsword" exercise routine ever, and that's actually not a bad thing! Seriously though, in a game where every swing of blade is exaggerated to the extreme, and visceral and gore and silliness dialed to eleven, modern Wushu with all its impractical-in-real-combat-situation-but-really-flashy moves FIT RIGHT IN.
Verdict
What more can I say? Tiandi may be completely ahistorical, but he's still amazing!
