Ah, the character creator. The tool that, if included (and done well), has the potential to turn any video game into your own work of art. Truly, it’s the function that gives you, the player, the power to live out the tale of anyone imaginable - be that your favourite Marvel hero, an original character you just thought looked cool, or, on the flip side, the most horrendous creation your brain could come up with. That’s fun.
The thing that a lot of us do though, is just try to make our playable protagonists resemble ourselves. I mean, why wouldn’t you want to see yourself wielding a sword and exploring some fantasy world significantly more interesting than our own? Actually doing this and doing it well is another matter, though. I know I personally spent well over an hour at the start of Elden Ring attempting to figure out what the angle the tip of my nose sits at, to limited success. Well, one very talented Skyrim player has been blowing up on Reddit for her incredible, and scarily accurate character creations, and with her tips, you’ll be able to do it, too.
Before we get into it, be sure to take a look at some of the funniest Skyrim wins and fails below.
AureliaRiddle took the r/Skyrim subreddit by storm when she shared some side-by-side comparisons of herself and her Skyrim character, as well as her dad and the character she made for him. The resemblance is genuinely uncanny - their faces line up pretty much perfectly.
Speaking to Kotaku, she offered her advice for players wanting to achieve similar results: “Take two photos of yourself, one of your face from the front and one from the side,” she said. “You can also work with a mirror but I found taking a picture easier. Try to look as neutral as possible, like taking a picture for a passport.”
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She also says that it’s important to keep the limits of games in mind when you’re doing this - namely the fact that you’ll never be able to recreate your entire face perfectly: “For the front picture you want to mirror it and figure out which side of your face you like better being mirrored. Since games can only have completely symmetrical faces this is really important.”
Her final words of wisdom? “If you are making yourself and you get a pretty uncanny feeling looking at the screen you are getting close.”
So, there you have it. Alternatively, you can always stick to making very questionable monstrosities on purpose. I’m not going to stop you.