My Men of SWTOR

When I was a kid and my mom was a newly divorced young mother of four, she would take pictures of attractive men from magazines and tack them up on the wall in her room. None of it was obscene, but she enjoyed having some eye candy to look at. While my life right now is totally different than hers was at the time (I’m very happily married and have no kids), as a woman, I totally get it.

As a gamer, it takes on a whole other aspect. When I played World of Warcraft, I just could not get myself to play male characters. Every time I created a male character, they were almost guaranteed a sentence to the chopping block. There was Fynnigan (from my Fyn naming convention days), a male Human Warrior, that got rolled at least three times. Then deleted three times. He’s the one I liked the best. There were countless other male characters I created (mainly Death Knights) that only made it a few levels before being stripped of all their gear, their meager amount of silver mailed to another character, then never seen again. I think a huge part of it was that I didn’t roleplay or see that conglomeration of pixels as anything but that… pixels. I didn’t have a character to get into, to see past physical imperfections.

And let’s be honest. Male Humans (and a lot of the other races) just aren’t that nice to look at… or watch run… or watch swing a sword or cast a spell.

Enter Star Wars: The Old Republic

I’ll be the first to admit that Bioware has some awkward movement going on (have you seen the dances? /shudder) in the game. However, they did all kinds of things right with character creation customization options.

Hello gamer eye candy.

For the first time, I’m interested in playing male characters in a game. Most of that has to do with the fact that there’s a story, with fantastic dialogue and opportunities to develop my character’s personality through dialogue choices. I can’t even begin to tell you how much that alone has drawn me into SWTOR more than any other game. So, there I am, sitting at the character customization screen and I realize something else. I can make my character HAWT for extra incentive to play, beyond the story itself.

Thus began my first real foray in playing male characters in online games and I’m going to introduce you to my version of my mother’s Wall of Men. Here are My Men of SWTOR:

#5 Vrassek So, not only did I create male characters, I created some non-human ones! Since they’re not my favorite, I almost left them out, but I figured it’s only fair to include my two Rattataki men. Vrassek is a little on the mean side and probably a real jerk, but there’s no denying that his intensity could be a fun in the right situations. He currently flings lightning from the shadows when he’s not cauterizing Republic innards with his double-bladed lightsaber on Juyo.
	#4 Paxim And here’s my other Rattataki. He’s also an example of something else I don’t normally do. He’s in the male body type 3. While I love the look (hunky, right?) I can’t help but give him the whole thick-necked, lunk-headed personality. I don’t know why. It just happens. But take a look at those smoldering eyes. Paxim might be a cold-blooded bounty-hunter, wading thick in the scum of Hutta on Sanctum of the Exalted, but he’s got those eyes, so he makes the list.
#3 Vextir Oh Vex… my bad boy. Vextir is one of the few characters, whose personality really started forming before I ever made a decision in the beginning cutscene. Vextir only cares about two things: credits and more credits. Sure, he’s a little bit of a womanizer, but he’s never really cared. He’s there to do the job and get paid. Until a little slip of a slicer turns his head on Hutta. But that story is just beginning to unfold on Space Slug.
	#2 Xinc Xinc is a rake. There is no other word for it. If Vex is all about the credits, then Xinc is all about the ladies… all of them on Juyo. He thinks he’s debonair and dashing, but it’s really his boyish charm and easy attitude that bring all the girls to his ship. Whatever works right? His current lady? Beryl Thorne on Taris. Not that he has much competition, seeing as the place is swarming with Rakghouls. But don’t tell him that.
#1 Gavin He’s my favorite. In case you couldn’t tell by the #1 ranking I gave him. As you see from all of the above, a part of me loves the little bit of cruelty, stoicism, bad boy and rake. But that’s the small part of me. When it really comes down to it, I want to know he’s got my back, no matter what. Gavin still looks young, but not boyish. He’s clean-cut, but not a pretty boy. He’s a little weathered despite his youth. He may not be hugely muscled, but he’s solid. That’s what I get from him and why he’s my favorite. He’s busy putting down Separatists in Ord Mantell on Juyo. But when he’s off duty? Let’s just say he’s got some real warmth too.

I mean really, take a look at those eyes. /melts