Just a Face and a Caption: Royally Screwed Up

Assuming one has no historical knowledge of the man, the only reason we know he's screwed up is because of the caption, and even that is vague.

Opened.

Completely agree with the OP. Maybe from Lord of the Rings◊.

He kind of looks like a jolly ol' frost king.

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Previous Thread: here.

I don't see "screwed up" in any of the Denethor image. He just looks like an old man.

edited 10th Nov '14 4:22:49 AM by Madrugada

Plus, I am not certain if he fits the trope ... he's a steward, not a king, and I have never heard of his line having issues.

That is not Denethor that is King Theoden.

Same issues either way, though - doesn't sound really screwed up and doesn't sound like a family thing either.

I like the current, but if there's a better version that makes his facial deformity more evident, let's go with that.

Theoden is not an example. He's possessed. The guy in the current looks like kinda a nut job, but only mildely so. There's always good ole' "Mad King" Areys.◊

Well, how do we know that Aerys's issues are in the family?

Well, that's a lot harder to illustrate in a single image, no matter what royal family. There's a whole article on Targaryan madness, but that doesn't help except for finding other Targaryens. Some◊ are easier to illustrate than others. They are inbred like crazy, as their family tree◊ shows, but that would work better on Royal Inbreeding. So, I think a caption explaining their trait for insanity should suffice. Plus, the page quote also explains it.

edited 10th Nov '14 1:31:19 PM by Rethkir

@ 10 He's not attractive but facial deformity? What deformity?

It's subtle, but if you look closely, you should notice that his lower jaw sticks out farther than the rest of his face, making it look concave. See here for a better illustration and an explanation.

Yeah. You don't even have to look that closely to realize that (1) this person is at the very least high ranking and probably a royal of some kind (the fact that it's a painted portrait to start, then all the trappings) and (2) there's something seriously and most likely genetically wrong with him (the wrongness of the face only takes a few seconds to realize—that screwed-up nose! that jutting jaw! And look at his mouth—that's his tongue poking out! You don't get your tongue permanently poking out like that through any injury—that has to be genetic).

Note: I should emphasize: Just because you have to actually look at the picture and think about it for a minute doesn't mean it doesn't work.

edited 16th Nov '14 10:17:34 AM by karstovich2

As someone who's unfamiliar with much royalty, it was hard for me to see any genetic deformities. Plus, I would think that this trope was more often used for not just physical screw-ups, but more situational screw-ups.

I'm of the opinion that the picture and caption are fine. The image is obviously of a physically screwed up royal (which I believe the trope does cover) while the caption says something that no straight up image will ever be able to demonstrate: that the family tree is tangled. Trope shown via a combination.

edited 24th Nov '14 8:27:39 AM by KathiraNarae

I think the issue with the current is that the picture is stylized in a way that makes it a little ambiguous whether it's an accurate depiction of a physical deformity, or if the artist just muffed painting his face a little. I can kinda see it, but I never would've figured out that that was his tongue and not just oversized lips and a Jay Leno chin. There is a deformity there, but it's hardly obvious.

edited 25th Nov '14 7:10:57 AM by JapaneseTeeth

Yeah I thought the person was just a bad artist.

Let's show the family tumble weed as the image.

Here◊.

edited 29th Nov '14 7:37:42 PM by SatoshiBakura

Clock is set.

I like the current image and caption.

Maybe the caption needs to more specifically point out the deformity?

That would be better than nothing.