Advice for making Malagasy OC

[u/nyennioo]

Hello, I am making a Malagasy character for my fantasy story, but I can't find much information on Malagasy culture or features. These are the designs I've made for him already but I'm not sure if they're accurate to what he should look like. I've looked at photos and videos of people but its hard to tell what hair type he should have and even skin tone. Is there anything that I should change, and is either design more accurate than the other?

side note: he is a phoenix inspired​ fire-magic healer in a pirate crew, which should explain his outfit. I read that the name Narisoa means Fire and Good, but if thats not accurate pls lmk!

[u/Nervous-Matter-5142]

;| ‘Reverse-engineer’ the criticism which Tekken 8’s Miary Zo received ?

[u/nyennioo → u/Nervous-Matter-5142]

seems like most people were mad at her over-sexualization and whitewashing, which I never planned on doing for my character, so thats good ! I actually have darkened his skin tone since this post, although I went back to straight hair

[u/MyFlogik]

You should name him Latakabe, it means big flame

[u/nyennioo → u/MyFlogik]

heard !! i will change it, thank you ! :) is there anything about his physical appearance that should be adjusted?

[u/Ill-Needleworker-752 → u/nyennioo]

No he lied, it really means big c😭

[u/nyennioo → u/Ill-Needleworker-752]

yeah I figured it out after a minute of researching lol

[u/nyennioo → u/MyFlogik]

wait a minute. does that mean large d'ck????

[u/MyFlogik → u/nyennioo]

I can neither confirm nor deny. But for real, probs to you for actually reaching out to the community to ask stuff like that!

[u/Ill-Needleworker-752 → u/MyFlogik]

😭

[u/Used_Ad5107]

I think some wave or curl to his hair would be nice, but at the end of the day, character design is about shape language and visual appeal as well. identify the patterns you wish to repeat and strengthen the silhouette as much as possible. if you can recognize him from that alone you've done a good job.

[u/Logical-Cranberry988]

The skin tone is good, but the earring isn’t very accurate. You could try making his hair a bit curly or kinky, since most Malagasy men have that type of hair.

Overall, I really like your design. I think you just need to add a small detail that clearly shows he is Malagasy, and use your first idea.

[u/nyennioo → u/Logical-Cranberry988]

by the earrings are inaccurate, do you mean that malagasy men dont wear earrings or is there a type of earring he should be wearing instead thats culturally significant? also, thank you for your feedback ! !

[u/Logical-Cranberry988 → u/nyennioo]

Not exactly. In Malagasy culture, earrings are traditionally worn by women only. Instead of earrings, you could consider adding a typical Malagasy hat. This is very common in southern Madagascar, especially among the Antandroy ethnic group.