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SharkToast
Since: Mar, 2013
Shirokurou
Since: Nov, 2010
eroock
Since: Sep, 2012
Shirokurou
Since: Nov, 2010
Scorpion451
(Edited uphill both ways)
2024-10-17 20:59:40
Seconding Fanservice Extra for this - these characters exist as a sort of bonus fanservice added on just to have nudity or whatever. What you're describing is the tendency for them to act as a sort of surrogate fanservice when the main characters aren't as blatantly sexualized.
Edited by Scorpion451

Ok, this is a weird one, you know how in some movies they got that R-Rating and want nudity in there, but the main heroine doesn’t wanna be naked, so they get some random extras. It’s fairly common, take Total Recall or something, you have the three-boobed lady, but the main actresses are not naked. It makes sense in film, maybe the actress has a no nudity clause or they didn’t pay her enough.
Somehow this translated over into animation and video games. And I am specifically referring to shows/games where they clearly have the age rating to show nudity and show it with NP Cs or side-characters. Yet, even should the main character be naked or in a sex scene, they get their nudity censored. It’s like the both got approval to include nudity in their show/game and then go out of their way to not show the main character naked. This boggles my mind.
Examples: - The Legend of Vox Machina - It features nudity from random women in Scanlan’s stories, but when it gets to Vex famous and hilarious nude scenes, it’s all convenient censoring. [This is what got me thinking and inspired this question]
- Netflix Castlevania - Lenore, the vampire seductress side-character has a full on sex scene breasts and all, while Sypha, the main girl, has her sex scenes as well, but never shows a nipple.
Videogames: - The Last of Us Part II - We got that infamous sex scene with brief nudity with the second playable character. But the main boxart girl Ellie has her own sex scene (nothing is shown) and then a scene with her naked back, examining her wounds, not sexualized… and no breasts are allowed.
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla - Has a random scene with a topless hooker in a brothel, clearing the game for nudity. But then Female Eivor is never topless, not even for her sex scenes or when doing a side-quest about joining a nudist colony.
Edited by Shirokurou