Poor Image: Helmets Are Hardly Heroic

Helmets Are Hardly Heroic already has an image, but although it's an example it's a bit busy and not terribly illustrative.

I suggest instead the third panel from this strip of Nerf NOW!!

Excellent suggestion. The current is simply someone with no helmet; the caption is doing the heavy lifting. Just from the picture, there's no way to know that the character is supposed to be a main character.

The Nerf NOW!! doesn't require a caption at all, without being terribly text-heavy.

Panel 3 works.

Panel 3 is far better than the current.

Previous thread.

Man, I'm torn on this one...I see the advantages of the suggestion but for me the imagery + caption of the current does just as much with less...and, to be fair, it's my pic so I'm a tad bit biased.

edited 10th May '14 1:01:17 PM by Willbyr

Wait, we were here before, weren't we? With this exact suggestion as well. I think I had an objection regarding the "no armor beats Plot Armor line" being confusing, since no armor is plot armor.

Oh, the OP was suggested in this IP for Plot Armor. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1388905897039588500

edited 10th May '14 1:08:54 PM by Rethkir

Thank you, I knew that suggestion seemed familiar for some reason.

I like the Warhammer 40k one. It's cooler-looking by a longshot, and is more show than tell. (Both images do some telling, one in caption one in speech balloons.)

edited 10th May '14 1:45:08 PM by rodneyAnonymous

I really want contrast between a helmetless hero and a Redshirt Army. So how about Elrond? I Google searched "Elrond army" and got these suggestions: [1]◊(smaller version)◊[2]◊[3]◊[4]

Caption would say: "Guess which of these characters is not gonna die?"

The number 1 and 2 Elrond suggestions gave me a no hotlinking splash page, the third is good, the fourth is even better, because there are more of the helmeted rank-and-file to contrast him to. The one tagged as a smaller version of #1 is the best of all.

I do not like the idea of using any single person, because the trope isn't simply "a character doesn't wear a helmet"; it's "important/major characters don't wear helmets even when everyone else does and it would make sense for them to do so as well."

edited 10th May '14 8:32:05 PM by Madrugada

You can get the second link to work by copypasting it in a new tab. Of those, the first is the best, for both clarity and image quality; I just wish his ears were more prominent. Also, those fingers in the foreground are distracting...if it gets chosen, they should be cropped out.

edited 10th May '14 8:55:27 PM by Willbyr

I'm a fan of the 40K one most of all. The Nerf Now strip is more tell than show, and the Elrond pics don't show him as armed, so it's not clear he's actually going to participate in the battle. The 40K pic shows a guy charging into battle, guns blazing, in full heavy armor, except for no helmet. That illustrates the trope best in my opinion.

I think the fact that he's in the front lines gives enough implication that he will join the fight.

And yeah, I like the visual contrast between the un-helmeted Major character vs. the helmeted Red Shirts

I think I prefer the current. Not sure. They're about equal.

I'd like to vote for the 'Nerf Now' one, it's just a bit clearer. You wouldn't even have to put a caption, which would offset the talkiness of it.

I prefer the current over the Nerf NOW one.

As-is, the current is pretty clear: this guy is in super heavy armor and not bothering with a helmet. The caption isn't really doing any of the work.

The suggestion is just way wordier, and takes a lot more to get the basic idea across. It feel too much like it's explaining the joke way too much.

As someone mentioned earlier, I would really like an image showing a Redshirt Army with helmets and an obvious PC who is unhelmeted. That would be my ideal image. Elrond... doesn't quite do it for me. But for now, I prefer current over the suggestion.

Also throwing this out there: First Panel. It's kinda halfway between the two ideas. We have them showing the NPC lampshading how the helmet makes them expendable looking, and the obvious PC. Still wordy, though.

edited 20th May '14 6:19:41 AM by Larkmarn

That's a perfect lampshading. First and second of that arranged vertically would be really good, since he gets shot in the head in the second.

edited 20th May '14 9:10:54 AM by Rethkir

Maybe just the first panel, with the caption saying "He gets shot in the head in the next panel"? I just think the Cole Train thing is going to be WAY too distracting.

I like the Elrond suggestions.

Crowner?

Yes. That seems to be the best way to settle this. I also want to propose the possibility of cropping the second panel of 16 so only the top part is shown. Personally, I'm torn between that and Elrond.

Thanks; it's hooked. I'm not crazy about the VG Cats suggestion...it's a little more succinct than the Nerf NOW one but I think the current is still a better overall package.

Bump for votes; the Nerf NOW image is in the lead.

Monday votes bump...I'm gonna give this another day or two to see if anything shifts between the two in the green.

I'm not a fan of the Plot Armor one, mostly because of the confusing wording.