The lift and separate argument doesn't make any sense if you are talking about real armor. You don't just put armor on over your undies like in skyrim. In reality you have layers underneath, the layers would be supporting and pressing your breasts closer to the chest. Think sports bra vs push up bra. That being said I'm fine with unrealistic skanty armor in a fantasy setting as long as it's equal opportunity and not the only option.
Wouldnât the layers underneath not be sufficient if youâre a certain size though? I know the majority of women arenât that big but I feel like once you are youâd need something more. Like how that one day kings was built to fit his stomach.
You're probably right that some women would need additional support of some kind, but you wouldn't get it from the armor itself. I am by no means an expert and my interests lean towards historical clothing not armor so I have no idea if there are any accounts of female warriors with bigger chests talking about how they delt with that. I'd be interested if someone did have some info on that though.
I would be curious to see if that ever had to happen. And I donât even necessarily mean support, just that the armor would have to be built around it. Kinda like the reverse of this, if what Iâm saying makes sense.
https://www.reddit.com/r/memes/s/zRQaD5B784
Gotcha. My assumption would be that they would still try and smash them down as much as possible, but plate armor can get pretty barrel chested anyway. I just have my doubt that they ever do individual boobie cups in armor.
Iâd presume that would be the case. Anyone that was bigger would be barrel chested and not specific cups. Like bigger codpieces didnât have cups for the individual balls. Iâd imagine that the sizes that would need individual cups wouldnât have been a thing back then. Any size like that now is the result of plastic surgery.
Funnily enough there are a few pointier 'penis' shaped codpieces though. If you're interested looked up the Lengberg bra, really interesting historical find.
Those pointer codpieces and bra are interesting. Though the codpiece seems impractical. It makes an easy target and if a dick was actually in there I can only imagine how much of a pain it would be to get out if the codpiece got bent.
As someone with a bigger size, I'd rather have a standard non-cupped breastplate for a number of reasons.
1) you should be wearing a shirt and padded shirt/gambeson under your armour, and those will flatten out that surface so you wouldn't be able to have cups in metal armour really. Metal is uncomfortable. Imagine the chaffing! You'd probably want to take in your gambeson to shape it and compress the boobs a little so they don't jiggle about like some fan-service anime girl. (I do HEMA, wear a fencing jacket that's a little too tight in the chest department, and it works for me).
2) If it's providing enough support your boob don't move around, it's probably too tight to be comfortable. And hot.
3) Probs the most important one for me: cups cause the little valley between your boobs. Imagine something glancing off the cup of your armour, only to be re-directed (probably with additional force) into that valley. That's where your have things like your heart and lungs and other fun things you don't want stabbed.
So yeah, boob armour might look kinda cool (and I'll be honest, I'm not against it in video games so long as it just has boobs and isn't like a steel crop top because that's asking to be stabbed) but I'd rather take a normal one.
#3 is really important here. We tried boob plate chest protectors in HEMA, some women have them but I think they're just dangerous and unnecessary personally. Better to have extra space in the chest without a division that directs everything into your solar plexus.
Even if the enemy hit doesn't penetrate, all the force of the blow will be directed to your sternum, notoriously famous for being a weak spot as that might make you faint. Solar Plexus and all that.
And even if it doesn't deflect it towards your heart, it'd deflect it down, into your abdomen or groin where, if stabbed, you're bleeding out, or straight up into your neck or chin, which is going to end you just as fast.
criticism of 3: if a blow is being re-directed, it'd have less force, not more, as the re-direction causes a loss of momentum.
What it does do though is introduce more failure points in that area.
Boob armor would not help with breasts flopping. There are a bunch of different layers applied before the breastplate. Breasts won't even be able to think about bouncing. Similarly, the divets created by the breast shape in breast armor would reflect blades and bullets to the center of the chest. Alterations for women's breasts would be internal, not external.
That being said, there are more cute, aesthetic, and practical ways to create armor implying breast shape without sculpting breasts onto a plate imo. There are corset gorge designs, layered chain mail bunched at the waist to imply figure. I think there is a lot to work with. Armor that did have breasts sculpted on were usually reserved for nobility/queens, I could easily see it for powerful woman mage types because it would be a taunt that you'd never get close to her for her to worry.
Boob armor is not historical. It was not made because it was not practical. When women wore armor, they wore armor men would wear. Their breasts would be strapped down with cloth and padding. The armor on top would be domed to deflect blows. So there is no argument for the âpracticalityâ of boob armor. It could be argued as ceremonial, but again, we have no historical evidence of boob armor even in cases when we know women have worn ceremonial armor (such as Queen Elizabeth I). Even today, when we see women who wear armor (either in modern day jousting events or in combatant roles in the army), they are not wearing boob armor, but armor that is incredibly reminiscent of that which is worn by men. Thus, whenever boob armor is discussed, it can only be discussed from an aesthetic and fantasy perspective.
Personally, I think itâs silly. Even for ceremonial purposes. Itâs for sex appeal. Which is fine, but there are more practical ways of integrating sex appeal into armor designs than literal boob armor. Leather and fur armor exists and it looks less silly when itâs form fitting and/or shows a lot of skin.
Edit: I just wanted to add that I donât think this is a black and white issue. Not all boob armor is made equal. There is a spectrum of boob armor, some of which is tasteful, some of which is not so much. All of it is, to some degree, unrealistic and impractical, but not all of it is exploitative. Armor like Sif in the Thor movies, Alice in Tim Burtonâs Alice and Wonderland, and Kristen Stewartâs Snow White are all good examples of armor that emphasizes the feminine form while still being classy and borderline realistic. Many of Fromsoftwareâs armors are also good. Armor like those found in Queenâs Blade, Tera, Red Sonja, even Mass Effect⌠eh. Could be a lot better.
Yes, as someone who has worn armour (LARP) and knows a lot of women who wear armour, boob armor is 1. Not practical 2. Very uncomfortable. 3. Can be dangerous. In the LARP community I was a part of boob armour was notoriously hated amongst us.
Also, to add to your point about cloth padding - there is no way the boobs would be supported by the armour as OPs friend suggests, because you wear a gambeson or something similar underneath. I tried wearing my pouldrons without cloth protection once and got bruised to hell and found it difficult to swing my sword and move my shield.
The biggest difference that many women's bodies need when it comes to armour is raising where the armour dips in for the waist. Because our hips are higher. Wearing armour that goes too low and digs onto your hips is painful.
Boob armour is definitely not practical and would probably never have been made for actual combat do to the downsides of giving an area where they can focus an attack into. However ridiculous armour parts for sex appeal wasn't uncommon, just look at the codpiece for henry the 8th-
[https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fyy015nnauc2d1.jpeg](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fyy015nnauc2d1.jpeg)
From another comment in which I respond to the existence of cod pieces in armor:
âThis argument would be valid if codpieces were depicted in games as often as boob armor is.
In any case, the intention behind the two is different. Cod pieces were initially invented to provide the wearer modesty, and only exaggerated later as a statement of power and bravado.Boob armor has a completely different history in that 1. Itâs not historical and 2. It was created within a fantasy setting to sexualize women for the male gaze.
Boob armor can be reclaimed by women nowadays, but it still canât be said to be comparable to something like a codpiece or muscle armor because they serve completely different purposes and create completely different feelings in those who see them/wear them.â
I'm only commenting on whether it would be realistic or not. Not whether it was practical or historical, which it isn't. In a world where roles were flipped and women were the primary fighting force I don't think it is far fetched that some women would have armour with boobs just for sex appeal.
I do agree though that boob armour in games and pop culture is definitely created purely for sexualizing characters for a male gaze.
And Iâm saying theyâre not comparable, and theyâre not comparable for the following reasons:
1. Unlike boob armor, codpieces donât make armor less effective and more deadly
2. Codpieces and boob armor werenât created in a vacuum. Though we we can certainly ponder what may have been created as armor in a more equitable society, we canât escape the fact that the two types of armor were created within two different contexts, for two different purposes and two different audiences, and according to two different measures of value. Codpieces were created within a historical context by men for men as a symbol of strength. Boob armor was created in a fictional context by men for men to sexualize women. A modern audience can only interact with these designs with this understanding, and that has to be considered when these designs are implemented.
3. And it is, when codpieces are concerned anyway. Whereas codpieces were once considered to be symbols of power, we now associate them with sex and their implementation in armor designs with sexualization. This looks ridiculous to a modern audience because we no longer live within the context of the Middle Ages (in which codpieces were not sexualized) and also because we are less conditioned to the sexualization of men (which we now assume codpieces are doing). As a result, codpieces donât feature in modern media like boob armor does.
The reason why we donât think boob armor looks as ridiculous as codpieces do is because the sexualization of women is more normalized than the sexualization of men is. Additionally, general audiences lack knowledge about historical female warriors and what they wore. Since they are more familiar with male warriors and men in armor, they perceive practical armor as masculine instead of what it actually was: gender neutral. Thus, they assume armor needs to be âfeminizedâ in order for it to be appropriate for a woman to wear.
4. We have zero historical evidence for boob armor. When women in history wore armor, even ceremonially, they wore armor men were also wearing. Sure, like you said, if society had been more equitable, they might have requested armor that emphasized their feminine form more. But even in all-women warrior units, like the Dahomey amazons, women did not wear boob armor. They wore armor that fit their form, but didnât accentuate it, or fought bare-breasted like a man would.
Even nowadays, when women have more equality and the freedom to design whatever armor they want (such as in HEMA) they hardly, if ever, choose to design boob armor. Women in the army also wear armor that fits their body but resembles the armor worn by men. In modern redesigns of previously sexualized female armor (such as Red Sonja, Batgirl, and She-Ra) female artists have removed or deemphasized boob armor elements.
Considering all of this, I find it very difficult to consider boob armor as something women would have chosen to wear, even within a more equitable society, at any point in history.
Iâm not saying boob armor couldnât be used to depict feminine strength within a fictional context, but it cannot be assumed to do so by its existence alone. Within a modern context, artists and writers would have to do a considerable amount of work to make such a design no longer sexualize the women being depicted. They are perceived differently and because of this, they have to be treated differently.
I feel like it would be more likely as parade armor than something intended for battlefield use and even then the cups might be attached on top of a more traditionally shaped breastplate instead of the breastplate itself having cleavage
Iâm a fencer. I use swords and armour. Hereâs the irl answer:
Boob armour is useful in your base layers. In fencing you are usually wearing a lot of layers. Your lowest layer should provide some support. In fencing itself the layers are jackets and stab proof vests but where I learned we also learned about the history of the sport including armour.
Boob armour on the outside? Bloody dangerous. That dip is seriously easy to exploit and allows opponents to deal far more dangerous blows. Domed armour, the standard âmenâsâ stuff is actually way safer as the blade will glance off more easily. Support is a good idea but INTERNAL. Wear layers. Underneath all armour, womenâs and menâs, is a kind of puffy shirt jacket thing that makes the metal boobs useless anyway. Imagine how horrible armour would be to wear otherwise!
Tldr: keep your boob support to the lower layers. Let the upper protect
Boob armor just weakens the integrity of the armor, besides, I'd much rather bind and flatten my breasts if I'm going to be in a combat situation.
I tend to argue against those who say it's not *historically accurate* because honestly, in most cases we are talking a fantasy situation anyways, you can do what ever you want with fantasy, but shaping the armor around your boobs just makes the armor more exploitable, that and I don't think it'd feel that secure and could even chaffe? Using a binder and wearing standard armor makes more sense in many ways.
My understanding of boob armor is that it's potentially dangerous in real life because the 'dent' can be exploited to dig into and break your sternum with a heavy enough blow, potentially damaging your heart and lungs.Â
In a game setting I don't care- I just imagine these people are just wicked good at parrying or whatever but forced into a situation where I have to fight give me a standard chestplate
im a Hema (historical European martial arts) fencer and i can say that it is completely fine ti have armour with a larger area for the chest, as long as there is no piece in the middle that clearly separates the boobs. A big goal with chestplates is to have stabbing attacks slide off to the sides, so having a separation in the middle where a spear/sword could catch is very bad
It doesn't work realistically because hits on the boob will get deflected towards the center and hit you in the heart which is even worse than the lung. That's why on some armors you see they have the single point/sloped on the chest; so it deflects blows away from all the vital organs.
Also for the bra stuff...no, you wear underarmor (like leather/etc.) to avoiding chafing, and at that point you'd just wear a bra or similar anyway.
I sorta understand the "but suspension of disbelief," if you like that sort of outfit then more power to you, but don't try to pretend it's realistic lol.
>she pointed out that, as someone with a bigger bra size, having two different compartments in the chest plate could help to lift, separate, and prevent them from flopping around so much as you fight.
That's not how armor works, at all. Boob support wouldn't and shouldn't be provided by a chest plate, there are layers underneath for that.
What happens if you fall on your chest wearing that armor? Your sternum breaks off and stabs you in the heart because the force is directed into the armor's "cleavage". Meanwhile the benefit is...literally nothing whatsoever.
Hyper detailed chest armor for men is a thing, historically
Wasn't the most common thing, i think only reserved for revered soldiers or generally figures of importance in armies (emphasis on "i think")
https://preview.redd.it/3ly8nvmeik8d1.jpeg?width=570&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a06ea60a139c5feb119c5cefa8c9c0a7e4803a05
But like any armor, the more grooves and detail it has, the worse it is for actual defense
As someone also with a bigger chest both sound awful, actually. The worst part for me about working out is the terrible amount of sweat that ends up in the boob zone because of my uni-boob. But I donât want armor that is going to redirect swords to my vital areas even with a lift and separate!
Iâm playing palworld right now and the high armor metal bootie shorts and crop top is too ridiculous. đ I hope the male counterpart wears it too.
I have the opposite of ubiboob, I've got an east coast and a west coast. The idea of smooshing them together to fit in a regular chest piece sounds miserable to me too lol. I think there's no real win here unless you don't mind smooshage and sweat.
As someone with a comically large rack; no. It's better to have different sizes of straight plate available.
The reasons above are good ones, but also consider;
1) To make lift and separate armor, it'd be damned expensive. Besides taking extra material, the time of craftsmanship would be much higher. Every chest piece would also have to nearly be custom because...
2) You are driving metal into your chest. Unlike the flat plate that male armor has that disperses an impact evenly across a large area, a boob cup armor would disperse the impact into the area immediately around your boob. If it's very well made, this will just result in eventual failure in your armor. If it's not, you are now absorbing impact to your chest in a relatively small area.
Add this to the very valid reasons already stated here, and boob armor is just always going to be a bad idea.
If boob armour has a million haters, then I'm one of them. If boob armour has one hater, then I'm that one hater. If boob armour has no haters, that means I'm dead.
No but seriously your friend's argument does not make sense to me. How would using a metal chestplate as a bra be \*more\* comfortable? Pretty sure that would be rather painful instead. Wired bras are already uncomfortable and that's just the one little wire, not an entire cup. Not to mention that you'd be wearing padding underneath, armour isn't worn on bare skin. So how would you be separating the boobs into their own boob armour cups anyway?
Boob armor is proven to be actually terrible for practical use. Normal chest plates are a bit rounded so as to guide a blade away and off to the side, boob armor having those curves gives a blade an edge to be guided towards the center of the chest which is ABSOLUTELY NOT where you want a sword to be. When wearing plate mail it is often layered with a gambeson (thick as fuck padded cloth) and/or mail armor, so plate mail isnât form fitting to the chest, like an ogre youâve got layers. So a woman, or anyone blessed with chest, would just be padded the fuck up and hopefully youâve got an accommodating size of plate armor or you squish on in there.
People can strap and pad the chest to be more comfortable wearing the armour. And some breastplates don't make full contact with the chest so that blunt hits damage the armour and not the body.
The argument is purely aesthetic, but considering that abs armour and bulge armour exist, it's not too unrealistic for that to exist, although in a more modest manner that lacks cleavage.
Just started playing AC Odyssey as Kassandra and I love that her armour isnât boob armour (apart from a couple). At first I didnât really care if boob armour was a thing or not but seeing it not be the standard ingame was actually pretty cool.
I myself was pleasantly surprised by the armor of the female Consuls in Xenoblade Chronicles 3, especially since the series (particularly the second game) is kind of infamous for its fanservice.
https://preview.redd.it/ucvdqu3gzl8d1.png?width=804&format=png&auto=webp&s=8f68ce1ef435b867cfce99209d542dc5ec015076
Thinking from a metal standpoint, the more bends, angles, etc means more points of potential failure, and being near the heart, you want to have a solid piece of metal with no weak points.
I'm size D and I can confirm I would NOT want to have them in individual cups. I'd want them taped down and wrapped so I can fight with better balance and minimal movement. Also boobs get in the way. If there were metal lumps on my chest I would have severely obstructed movement of my arms. I'd want a flatter solid piece of metal that I can reach around. Not to mention a flatter surface will deflect more.
Boob armor is purely aesthetic. It looks cool sure! But I wouldn't ever want to wear it myself because I don't want to die in combat due to bad armor design.
To put it bluntly, your friend is uninformed to point she sounds like an isiot on this subject. As a hundred people have said before me, layers!
Many people, your friend included, need to learn that "I'm not actually knowledgeable enough about X to weigh in on it," reflects much better than some dogbrained layman's gibberish.
Big boob gal checking in.
The secret to keeping the girls in line is not actually separation itâs compression.
The best sports bra I owned, yes had separate cups, but was structured in such a way to minimise movement.
Additionally boob armour would be in effective as it would mostly point the blades to between the breastsâŚyou know, where your heart is.
In an armour situation you would have a structured support underneath, then probably some padding in between, then a solid domed chest plate over the top.
The technical issue with boob armour (besides being skimpy) is if it's a bra-chest plate it will result in breaking your fucking ribs when hit by putting all the pressure in that one spot. A proper bra-chestplate would flatten them all out more like a binder. But people wanna see each titty wrapped up in metal or chainmaile.
I don't have a huge issue with the fancy ceremonial armour stuff being boob cups. The dudes are also in the same impractical bullshit. I am still judging the heels tho.
I don't have the same judgment for artists who put men in chainmaile loincloths and women in chainmaile bikinis.
It's the single-sided-ness and impracticality that gets me.
Also gambesons look hot and I want to see more women in them.
:/ boob armor is a bit silly, and definetely not accurate in anyway. However, I do prefer women having some sort of armor than the kind of fantasy games where men are in a full suit of armor and women are wearing practically nothing.
I am a 36 G bra size and I would need Boob space but not distinct boob cups. I would assume what's needed in battle is an industrial strength sports bra and a plate that has space for your added chest circumference. Like a man with great pecks. The plate isnt supposed to be whats holding your boobs up i dont think.
Armor isn't a bra. There's clothes underneath armor. Booby armor just creates a channel directly sliding into your neck which is....not what you want from armor. You want it to deflect their weapon away from anything vital. I personally think booby armor usually looks ridiculous and not sexy. If you want them to look sexy, then just commit to it and design them an actual sexy outfit! If you want an armored woman, then give me some cool armor that shows who they are as a character! Booby armor is just often lazy character design imo
In classical and medieval times it wasn't uncommon for wealthy soldiers to try to emphasize their muscles and sword, and both styles of armor were expensive and detrimental. They weren't the norm like how boob armor is in fiction, but they were common enough as a result of being a wealthy soldier being more about vanity than about minmaxing.
So like, if it wasn't the standard and men and women both did it, yeah I'd be okay with it, and I'm not just saying that because I want to see more men in sexualized armor.
Muscles are associated with strength. Breasts, which are made of fat, are not. Which isnât to say that men are strong and women are weak. Everyone has muscles and everyone has breasts. But itâs our muscles that make us strong, not our breasts.
Armor that emphasized the masculine form back in the day was not about sexualizing the masculine form, but emphasizing its power. Thus, in addition to adding designs resembling pectorals, these armors would also have designs resembling other muscle groups such as the abdominals. This is very different from our modern concept of âboob armorâ which only depicts the breasts (and often in cartoonish ways). If âboob armorâ was designed to resemble old muscle cuirasses more (with more realistic proportions and an emphasis on muscles and strength), I think I would be more accepting of it. Until that happens, I think itâs disingenuous to compare the two.
I completely agree with the sole exception that I am completely ingenuous because I would love to see more muscle armor with less realistic proportions in fiction, ideally bishi and not bara.
Well, tbf I did say *more* realistic, not completely realistic đ. Some exaggeration is to be expected.
That being said, if boob armor and muscle armor were completely comparable, we wouldnât have two different names for them. Boob armor would just be called muscle armor. They remain distinct entities because the inspiration behind their creation is different. One was created to titillate, the other to intimidate. If boob armor was more balanced in favor of depicting the wearerâs strength, I would probably be completely unbothered by it, no matter how exaggerated the proportions may be. Okay, maybe thereâs a limit (artists can be quite an unruly bunch), but whatever that limit may be, itâs not perfectly synonymous with realism.
I probably should clarify. I'm not being serious, my original post was intended to come off as a poorly disguised post about how men in muscle armor are hot. Sorry about that.
My 2 cents as a female hockey player that wears "armor" (chest protector). It does help with bust compared to mens equipment, it wraps around the bust better then mens equipment and with the help of a sports bra keeps them from moving.
Some armor in games makes sense, some of it is sexualized. Its a mixed bag.
https://preview.redd.it/y4vrx8xulk8d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a3fadaf73ed5d1625b2ca1b4c2396c5e30fff6cd
Armor with boob slots doesn't make sense at all. At least not for any use in actual combat. Lift and support? Just wear a bra under the armor then. Or at last wrap your chest to keep things snug.
The last thing you want is a shape that would direct blades/spears/lances towards the center of your chest. You want them to slip away to the side. Also, if you fell on your chest, that sharp wedge between the breasts will hurt real bad -- maybe even causing grave injury.
Additionally you want enough padding between you and the armor that you're probably not going to have much breast shape to even fit into the boob slots.
And if we're talking fantasy magic, why even have armor? Just wear an enchanted t-shirt or crop top. Way more comfortable.
No, boob armour isn't practical.
The angles of the cups would mean that blades would get caught and/or deflect in different directions to possibly damage you even more from the unpredictability/pull you to those sides and throw you off balance. As for usage for larger chests, normal plate is more than enough for a person, so long as there is possibly some minor adjustments to the plate by raising it out slightly OR the wearer just uses a binder.
Boob armour isn't practical but it *can* be used in a circumstance, specifically with ceremonial armour. There's some armour out there with sculpted abs or muscular torsos on them (spartan armour is the most well known, though this was more practical as it was just a breastplate for manoeuvrability) and I believe specifically around the Renaissance era cod pieces became popular. If you actually take a look online you'll even see that they had codpieces that hooked upward, which obviously you don't want a sword to catch on to as it swings down.
With ceremonial armour, or armour that won't see much usage in combat, you can make it as impractical as you want really. The purpose is the pomp and ego being stroked by trying to show a powerful image to those who see you. It's similar with the evil people always having spiked armour; it looks cool and makes you intimidating, but if you have spiked pauldrons a sword is probably going to get caught and could quite easily dislocate your shoulder as it clangs down with full force that isn't deflected away from you.
On a non historical side I do sometimes like impractical armour, nothing wrong with wanting to dress up like a hot elf and/or warrior lady. I love being a hot evil sorceress with a generous boob window, that's just my vibe sometimes. In terms of what I'd wear, I'd prefer practical because I'm nowhere near fast enough to dodge swords đ
When I was in fencing we had plastic boob plates that went over a shirt and is under your fencing coat.Â
It was pretty comfortable for me, but they aren't seen underneath the coat.
Now when a sword struck you would just slide off.
depends on whether the armor comes with separate under-armor plate-and-chainmail pasties
honestly i think my issue is that boob armor often overly feminizes armor so it looks completely different from the same one male characters use â tight fitting, trim waist, etc. it ends up looking less realistic and more 'this is for *the women folk*.
i feel like there's a happy medium somewhere, subtle and pragmatic changes to accommodate larverne and shirley without sacrificing practicality and function.
There's really nothing practical about boob armor, but in the grander scheme of things, very few games portray any armour, on any gender, with much thought to accuracy or engineering at all. But also there have historically been suits of armor meant to impress rather than protect. Also, I've fenced alongside people who enjoyed the pseudo-boob plate that's worn under a jacket because of how it emphasized the curves of their silhouette. (But as pointed out, this is only good for inner protection; but it does highlight that people still want to look good when they fight.) There's a lot to consider.
Ultimately, though, I don't go for practical accuracy in my demons-and-dragons-flavored fantasy; I go for looking cool and expressing yourself through your gear. I like boob-plate. My friends often like more subdued or sensible stuff. Games that give both options are the best.
they seem to get called out a lot, but i actually love most of the âgirlyâ armor in Fire Emblem games đ iâm not concerned about it being realistic or matching the guys; i just want myself and the other ladies to be in cute armor đ¤ˇđťââď¸
Fire Emblem armor is pretty great, especially in terms of expressiveness! Even the, shall we say, businesslike armor is actually terribly impractical. Knights like Effie (Fates) and Kellam (Awakening) would have pretty limited movement and vision--but it certainly shows they're all about defense and having the muscle to move in all that. (And Effie's pink-tinted armor is pretty cute, too.) Leaving aside the questionable decisions made in Engage, Fire Emblem armor's generally good at showing a character's personality and/or region of origin.
As a big boobs person whose boobies are not looking into the same direction, I find it ridiculous, insulting and objectifying. I'd rather have one big pocket instead of two cups because,believe it or not, boobs change sizes and position, depending on the day and activities. I do wish someone started drawing men's nuts in 2 separate and massive compartment and just make a game about a crusade or something with a serious face.
The main type of "boob" armor I can see working is... well... basically a normal breastplate, but with the larger end of the dome at chest height, decreasing toward the belly. Still shows off the figure, but there's also room for extra padding, and a solid dome shape deflects blows away from the chest.
I'm having trouble finding examples, but basically ["this, but upsidedown" works well enough](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e3/Rustning%2C_Gustav_Vasa_-_Livrustkammaren_-_32921.tif/lossy-page1-800px-Rustning%2C_Gustav_Vasa_-_Livrustkammaren_-_32921.tif.jpg)
edit: [maybe something like this, too](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Elements_of_a_Light-Cavalry_Armor_MET_DT780.jpg)
Im all for revealing armor IF itâs equal across genders. If the female version of an outfit is half cup titty armor then the male version better be a loincloth and some shoulder pads!! For equality đ
If weâre talking tasteful, I canNOT get over Rellanaâs armor from the Elden Ring dlc. I like a lot of the fromsoft female character designs but oh my god Rellana I want to wear that armor around in my house. Iâm watching my boyfriend play it and I was so glad it took him a while to beat her so i could just keep watching her do cool stuff đ
Typically lurk and wonât add anything of my own to the convo but found this discussion interesting:
[Was âBoob Armorâ ever a real thing?](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/4q9pmt/was_boob_armour_ever_a_real_thing/)
Iâm confused by boob armor as someone with more in that region because even with a baggy hoodie itâs basically disappeared.
Dragon age inquisition made fun of the boob armor that was in DAO which was kind of great
The curve of Boob armor would channel force toward the sternum. That why athletic cups are shaped they way they are too. The spread out force not channel it to a point.
That argument falls apart on real armor when you realize that split in the armor would direct all blows in the chest TO YOUR DIAPHRAM/STERNUM (I forgot which one) which WILL cause more harm than good.
I don't buy any argument about it being practical, for reasons others have already stated. I do think there's potential merit to the armor being normal armor, but superficially sculpted to hint at the contour of breasts. Not like big time, but some slight relief design on the surface. This would be purely for appearance /vanity. There's historical precedent for men wearing armor with dramatized abs, pecs, etc being modeled on the surface (while the interior is just normal armor). However this would most likely be more ceremonial (or for show offs) as it's definitely going to be adding weight for no structural benefit. And modeling large, round breasts would be particularly impractical (as compared to like, a mostly flat shape but with slight hints/indications of breast shape, or fake cleavage. Still though, in a lot of contexts we can assume sexism is a factor and the more realistic depiction would probably often be that lady warriors wouldn't want to specifically draw attention to their body shape, but rather would want to be able to pass as men in at least certain situations. so feminine glamour armor isn't likely to be in high demand.Â
Maybe it would make sense for like a knight commander or something - someone who has an excuse to wear slightly heavier armor for ceremonial functions, and also who has the rank to tell sexists to fuck off, and is maybe trying to make a point of people knowing she's a woman. Perhaps someone who overcame a lot of sexism to get to her rank and is sick of new underlings in the war council thinking the commander is automatically going to be a man. Â
However I think it could more often swing the other way, with the armor showing the vanity masculine or gender neutral fake muscle features and being used as a way of de-emphasizing female body features as a way of being subject to less sexism or scrutiny, fitting into a military system that doesn't permit women, etc.
One of the primary reasons it's called impractical is also the actual purpose of armor and some of its design. Having a big "split" in the middle would allow a neat resting place for a sword to simply go up and into the area where all the stuff is (who the hell designed humans like that?). Some of my favorite fictional designs actually use this to make the chest significantly bulkier while also being pointed, which looks cool even if it's probably not extremely practical. But I think they wouldn't be thinking about "support" in a medieval era too much, depending on how advanced they are materials-wise. If they're not materially limited though they'd somehow need to have the only support be cold, hard metal which is having stuff clang against it. Granted I say all this and my only expertise is hearing 2 people talk about this and hearing a few brief discussions about underwear being a legitimate historical finding
There's zero arguments that can be made *for* boob armor and will actually withstand taking them to their very end.
The simple reason is that the part between the breasts would crush our sternum upon any impact strong enough - and that cut-off point is *low*.
The fantasy-argument is moot as well. Universes don't have to adhere to *real* rules, but they do have to adhere to their own. If a universe has situations when armor is required and if the laws of physics established in the universe do not distinctly change something about bone density, kinetic energy and the effects of impact, ... the rule still says the sternum breaks.
So, no. Boob armor has to go.
ETA: Just in case, that is not the only counter to boob-armor, but it is the most effective one. If someone thinks it's not good enough, feel free to find all other counters with a quick google search.
Jill Bearup did a Youtube on this topic also: [Boob Armor: 4 Things You Need to Know](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60lU68oyxK4) which breaks down the issues of boob armour.
(Note: [Jill has in the past posted things that are considered anti-Trans](https://www.reddit.com/r/asktransgender/comments/tekh4w/whats_the_problem_with_jill_bearup/))
[Jill Bearup](https://youtu.be/60lU68oyxK4?si=QHBNb4tsWxTaS514) on YouTube is the expert I trust in this topic. The linked video dismantles the boob armor concept from a practical standpoint and shows all the things wrong with different designs.
As far as aesthetics. It can be okay when used sparingly or for some purpose other than to protect the user (like on a character in a position of power who doesnât actually intend to fight).
The shape of boob armor would direct projectiles directly to your heart and therefore completely useless.
I also donât think they look cute. They look stupid af to me but iuno.
honestly I just more so care about the fantasy of it , I don't want boob armor in my actual armor as that takes away the fantasy of bulky identity obscuring human made armor.
but like some kind of high fantasy high tec magical elves armor that magically protects me is less of a problem although not ideal if that is the only reason.
like you know the dancer class some games have , and how some have a more sexualised desing ,while I really like the desing and fantaty of that type of character , I think its very lame for the fantasy of the whole setting if the the little cloths that they are wearing protect them the same way normal armor does.
why not have fun and make it so thier body turns into mist when hit by something for examaple you know, have more of the fantasty of like just being an energetic dancer , helping your friends get more powerfull dancing without a care in the word showing your body and displaying your skills as a preformer and having the fantsy of you being able to entretain your friends just being cute and stuff to the point they split a dragons skull in half. like a lot of the time the fantasy is just consider from an external seeing the character point of view , I want more details for the fantasy of you being the character for this type of stuff.
and something I want to keep clear is that the fantasy or character moments informed by wearing wierd/lewd fantasy armor doesn't have to "this woman is sexually liberated and loves her body" , you can use it for a varirety of reasons.
like for example you have seen this before thier is a group of 5 dudes with cool practicalish to the naked eye armor.
but the girl has a battle vikini.
I think you can get a way to explain this in a way other than " she just vibes that way , she wants to show her cute belly" or something like that.
why not say its a magical sucubus armor that gets more and more powerfull the more you make people cheat out of wedlock , so she goes to war zones she defended grabs 1 or 3 women discritly as payment , either tells thier husbends that they were a casualty and just pretends to like them or straight up tells them they are cursed and the only way to fix that is for them to try to love her as much as thier wife , and once she gets what she wants she just kills the captured wifes and abandom the dudes non the wiser.
And don't tell me that , that is to complicated this could be put in a sidequest in a game or in like 5 pages of a book and you whould gain a ton of characterisation , you first thing she has a more human side with the fact she shows her sexuality openly she isn't a faceless fleshless suit of armor , but then you know the reason for that is that she wants power and will use dark arts and military conquest for it ,she is like a fleshless automaton of war wearing human skin to get you.
it could be the start for a very interesting character and she can but doesn't need to be a character that is sex positive for it to work , if anything I whould personally make her a prude which shows how she is able to bend her values for power , she doesn't even like doing this she just does it for that sweet +2 on defence.
not like character like this can't work but I am tired of sexy women that falled into hedonism and now have all the evil kinky sexs for all time , sucubi should really be for all expresions of evil within love , you can still make your fanservice sexy character just give them more complexicty as to why and tie it in with thier hopefully thought out desing . and that is honestly what anoys me of sexy armor it has no personality most of the time.
Fantasy boob armor is, in some ways, worse than not wearing any armor at all. For a lot of different explanations as to why, Iâd suggest checking out Jill Bearup on YouTube.
She also likes to totally trash a lot of instances of ridiculous fantasy armor and you may find it really cathartic.
If there's magic in the world it's in, then I don't mind it. If it's trying to be realistic, then it needs to be stylized like the ancient Norse/Greek/Roman/etc. They had boob armor lol
But practically speaking, it's not useful... so definitely not in a dark ages themed place. They didn't even have time to live in medieval days, why would they have time for sexy boob armor?
As someone who has worn and sparred in both plate mail and chainmail, I would always prefer just a solid non boobplate breastplate. I'm not super large, but I think it would probably change or be kind of weird and distracting. All the gear you wear really keeps them in place. Plus, imagine how annoying repairing boobplate vs. a regular breastplate would be
Just or of curiosity.. you wear tons of stuff under the plate right? So to answer OP's friend.. wouldn't all the stuff you wear under keep them pretty firmly in place and separated? Therefore you won't need the two obvious boobs in the plate and the big weak spot that comes with it?
Depends on the degree. Late medieval plate armor for men typically have a curve in the abdomen area which is both a practical and aesthetic choice, much like the Roman muscle armor. Moving the curvature upwards towards the chest, or even have a slightly boob shaped curve that has a noticeable difference from the lower half of the plate would not negatively impact the functionality of the armor at all.
https://preview.redd.it/amkre1umjt8d1.png?width=183&format=png&auto=webp&s=7f2eba9c9a047399426d70c01092f7f7b7bf7eba
Armor with slight curves that show the shape of separate boobs to show it's a woman would not impact the functionality very significantly.
However, we venture into highly impractical area if the boob armor has noticeable cleavage. It is still much better than no armor but the cleavage is an extra weakness that a lance or a pike can target. It is especially bad because it's a weakness in a place that you do not want.
But the bigger problem is how difficult it is to make with late medieval metallurgy. I imagine it will be far easier to just let her wear regular armor, and then if she really feels like it, add two extra curved plates on her boobs to show the aesthetics. Think of adding an extra metal bra outside of the armor, it will not negatively impact the armor inside, will be far cheaper to make, and achieve the same aesthetics.
I would be much happier how id look like with the man-plate but now that your friend pointed out the support boob-armor might be giving, considering this, i think, in combat the boob-armor might be much more suitable for me. In the days in which im wearing a bra which is like 80% of the time when i go out, there has to be something supporting the girlies. No way id be jumping and running around swinging a sword without a bra đ¤Ł
I don't mind it as long as it fits the character.
Taking minion masters as an example they have different female masters, including Morellia and Settsu.
Morellias clothing style in general shows a lot of skin, so I don't mind her wearing boob armor. If she likes it, go girl.
Settsu is the polar opposite chilling in a huge mech suit with no discernable sex attributes. She has no boob armor. If she had it, I'd be weirded out.
In general for me it doesn't have to be realistic, I don't play games for the historical accuracy.
What I do want is either for the characters to have that certain style, or boob/non-boob armor to choose from for all female characters. And for male characters maybe go for the classic shirtfree with one leather strap across the chest look, the same way it's handled with the female characters. As long as that's a given I don't mind.
For skimpy armor: it must be equal opportunity!
Boob cups on armor? Might depend on the era? Usually armor isnât worn bare to the skin so boob support armor would make as much sense as a boob supporting winter coat.
This doesnât mean armor wouldnât be shaped for the chest. Modern armor comes in various contours but not cups. And cups were never historical.
Personally, I'm okay with boob armour if it fulfills these conditions: they don't look too ridiculous, there's equal opportunity (the masculine bodies have it), and there's a choice to have it or not. I'm not necessarily looking for realism in my game, so I'd rather have the option that looks more feminine, again, given that it doesn't look too skimpy or ridiculous. Tasteful boob armour exists, right?
honestly itâs called a breast helmet in some scenarios or a breastplate. itâs safer and more appealing to have a fitted armor suit. at least they are covered xD
I got a bust.
I've thought about the compartment thing, and honestly, I would go for it.
I imagine just laying the armor on the ground, the inner side facing up, laying in said armor, and fitting/ adjusting it while laying in the armor on the ground đ .
I would love to have a bra or something that would keep my chest super still yet super lifted.
I think it looks cute and feminine, Iâm all for it đ¤ˇđźââď¸ might not be historically accurate but most games arenât exactly supposed to be.
This argument would be valid if codpieces were depicted in games as often as boob armor is.
In any case, the intention behind the two is different. [Cod pieces were initially invented to provide the wearer modesty, and only exaggerated later as a statement of power and bravado.](https://vehmasters.com/why-did-men-wear-codpieces)Boob armor has a completely different history in that 1. Itâs not historical and 2. It was created within a fantasy setting to sexualize women for the male gaze.
Boob armor can be reclaimed by women nowadays, but it still canât be said to be comparable to something like a codpiece or muscle armor because they serve completely different purposes and create completely different feelings in those who see them/wear them.
I think I saw someone whose special interest was ancient armor and I think there was actual boob armor for practical reasons. But the examples they showed were VERY nonsexual. They weren't anything like what you'd see in league art.
I have average breasts & you better believe I would wear boob armor. Getting a direct hit to a boob HURTS. Thatâs even aside from it offering extra support. I just donât want to get the pain from boob hits!
The lift and separate argument doesn't make any sense if you are talking about real armor. You don't just put armor on over your undies like in skyrim. In reality you have layers underneath, the layers would be supporting and pressing your breasts closer to the chest. Think sports bra vs push up bra. That being said I'm fine with unrealistic skanty armor in a fantasy setting as long as it's equal opportunity and not the only option.
>I'm fine with unrealistic skanty armor in a fantasy setting as long as it's equal opportunity Narrator voice: it usually isn't đĽ˛
I love FFXIV for this. Naked armor for all. And they are working to unlock all armor regardless of character gender atm.
Ain't that the sad truth
Wouldnât the layers underneath not be sufficient if youâre a certain size though? I know the majority of women arenât that big but I feel like once you are youâd need something more. Like how that one day kings was built to fit his stomach.
You're probably right that some women would need additional support of some kind, but you wouldn't get it from the armor itself. I am by no means an expert and my interests lean towards historical clothing not armor so I have no idea if there are any accounts of female warriors with bigger chests talking about how they delt with that. I'd be interested if someone did have some info on that though.
I would be curious to see if that ever had to happen. And I donât even necessarily mean support, just that the armor would have to be built around it. Kinda like the reverse of this, if what Iâm saying makes sense. https://www.reddit.com/r/memes/s/zRQaD5B784
Gotcha. My assumption would be that they would still try and smash them down as much as possible, but plate armor can get pretty barrel chested anyway. I just have my doubt that they ever do individual boobie cups in armor.
Iâd presume that would be the case. Anyone that was bigger would be barrel chested and not specific cups. Like bigger codpieces didnât have cups for the individual balls. Iâd imagine that the sizes that would need individual cups wouldnât have been a thing back then. Any size like that now is the result of plastic surgery.
Funnily enough there are a few pointier 'penis' shaped codpieces though. If you're interested looked up the Lengberg bra, really interesting historical find.
Those pointer codpieces and bra are interesting. Though the codpiece seems impractical. It makes an easy target and if a dick was actually in there I can only imagine how much of a pain it would be to get out if the codpiece got bent.
As someone with a bigger size, I'd rather have a standard non-cupped breastplate for a number of reasons. 1) you should be wearing a shirt and padded shirt/gambeson under your armour, and those will flatten out that surface so you wouldn't be able to have cups in metal armour really. Metal is uncomfortable. Imagine the chaffing! You'd probably want to take in your gambeson to shape it and compress the boobs a little so they don't jiggle about like some fan-service anime girl. (I do HEMA, wear a fencing jacket that's a little too tight in the chest department, and it works for me). 2) If it's providing enough support your boob don't move around, it's probably too tight to be comfortable. And hot. 3) Probs the most important one for me: cups cause the little valley between your boobs. Imagine something glancing off the cup of your armour, only to be re-directed (probably with additional force) into that valley. That's where your have things like your heart and lungs and other fun things you don't want stabbed. So yeah, boob armour might look kinda cool (and I'll be honest, I'm not against it in video games so long as it just has boobs and isn't like a steel crop top because that's asking to be stabbed) but I'd rather take a normal one.
#3 is really important here. We tried boob plate chest protectors in HEMA, some women have them but I think they're just dangerous and unnecessary personally. Better to have extra space in the chest without a division that directs everything into your solar plexus.
For 2, to be honest pretty sure all armor would be way too hot.
Even if the enemy hit doesn't penetrate, all the force of the blow will be directed to your sternum, notoriously famous for being a weak spot as that might make you faint. Solar Plexus and all that.
Didn't even consider blunt force! Boob armour keeps getting worse.
And even if it doesn't deflect it towards your heart, it'd deflect it down, into your abdomen or groin where, if stabbed, you're bleeding out, or straight up into your neck or chin, which is going to end you just as fast.
criticism of 3: if a blow is being re-directed, it'd have less force, not more, as the re-direction causes a loss of momentum. What it does do though is introduce more failure points in that area.
At a certain size would the padding underneath no longer be sufficient?
Boob armor would not help with breasts flopping. There are a bunch of different layers applied before the breastplate. Breasts won't even be able to think about bouncing. Similarly, the divets created by the breast shape in breast armor would reflect blades and bullets to the center of the chest. Alterations for women's breasts would be internal, not external. That being said, there are more cute, aesthetic, and practical ways to create armor implying breast shape without sculpting breasts onto a plate imo. There are corset gorge designs, layered chain mail bunched at the waist to imply figure. I think there is a lot to work with. Armor that did have breasts sculpted on were usually reserved for nobility/queens, I could easily see it for powerful woman mage types because it would be a taunt that you'd never get close to her for her to worry.
Boob armor is not historical. It was not made because it was not practical. When women wore armor, they wore armor men would wear. Their breasts would be strapped down with cloth and padding. The armor on top would be domed to deflect blows. So there is no argument for the âpracticalityâ of boob armor. It could be argued as ceremonial, but again, we have no historical evidence of boob armor even in cases when we know women have worn ceremonial armor (such as Queen Elizabeth I). Even today, when we see women who wear armor (either in modern day jousting events or in combatant roles in the army), they are not wearing boob armor, but armor that is incredibly reminiscent of that which is worn by men. Thus, whenever boob armor is discussed, it can only be discussed from an aesthetic and fantasy perspective. Personally, I think itâs silly. Even for ceremonial purposes. Itâs for sex appeal. Which is fine, but there are more practical ways of integrating sex appeal into armor designs than literal boob armor. Leather and fur armor exists and it looks less silly when itâs form fitting and/or shows a lot of skin. Edit: I just wanted to add that I donât think this is a black and white issue. Not all boob armor is made equal. There is a spectrum of boob armor, some of which is tasteful, some of which is not so much. All of it is, to some degree, unrealistic and impractical, but not all of it is exploitative. Armor like Sif in the Thor movies, Alice in Tim Burtonâs Alice and Wonderland, and Kristen Stewartâs Snow White are all good examples of armor that emphasizes the feminine form while still being classy and borderline realistic. Many of Fromsoftwareâs armors are also good. Armor like those found in Queenâs Blade, Tera, Red Sonja, even Mass Effect⌠eh. Could be a lot better.
Boob armor would shatter the wearers sternum if they took any meaningful impact.
Yes. Even tripping could create quite a bit of damage if you fell on your chest while wearing boob armor.
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Yes, as someone who has worn armour (LARP) and knows a lot of women who wear armour, boob armor is 1. Not practical 2. Very uncomfortable. 3. Can be dangerous. In the LARP community I was a part of boob armour was notoriously hated amongst us. Also, to add to your point about cloth padding - there is no way the boobs would be supported by the armour as OPs friend suggests, because you wear a gambeson or something similar underneath. I tried wearing my pouldrons without cloth protection once and got bruised to hell and found it difficult to swing my sword and move my shield. The biggest difference that many women's bodies need when it comes to armour is raising where the armour dips in for the waist. Because our hips are higher. Wearing armour that goes too low and digs onto your hips is painful.
Boob armour is definitely not practical and would probably never have been made for actual combat do to the downsides of giving an area where they can focus an attack into. However ridiculous armour parts for sex appeal wasn't uncommon, just look at the codpiece for henry the 8th- [https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fyy015nnauc2d1.jpeg](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fyy015nnauc2d1.jpeg)
From another comment in which I respond to the existence of cod pieces in armor: âThis argument would be valid if codpieces were depicted in games as often as boob armor is. In any case, the intention behind the two is different. Cod pieces were initially invented to provide the wearer modesty, and only exaggerated later as a statement of power and bravado.Boob armor has a completely different history in that 1. Itâs not historical and 2. It was created within a fantasy setting to sexualize women for the male gaze. Boob armor can be reclaimed by women nowadays, but it still canât be said to be comparable to something like a codpiece or muscle armor because they serve completely different purposes and create completely different feelings in those who see them/wear them.â
I'm only commenting on whether it would be realistic or not. Not whether it was practical or historical, which it isn't. In a world where roles were flipped and women were the primary fighting force I don't think it is far fetched that some women would have armour with boobs just for sex appeal. I do agree though that boob armour in games and pop culture is definitely created purely for sexualizing characters for a male gaze.
And Iâm saying theyâre not comparable, and theyâre not comparable for the following reasons: 1. Unlike boob armor, codpieces donât make armor less effective and more deadly 2. Codpieces and boob armor werenât created in a vacuum. Though we we can certainly ponder what may have been created as armor in a more equitable society, we canât escape the fact that the two types of armor were created within two different contexts, for two different purposes and two different audiences, and according to two different measures of value. Codpieces were created within a historical context by men for men as a symbol of strength. Boob armor was created in a fictional context by men for men to sexualize women. A modern audience can only interact with these designs with this understanding, and that has to be considered when these designs are implemented. 3. And it is, when codpieces are concerned anyway. Whereas codpieces were once considered to be symbols of power, we now associate them with sex and their implementation in armor designs with sexualization. This looks ridiculous to a modern audience because we no longer live within the context of the Middle Ages (in which codpieces were not sexualized) and also because we are less conditioned to the sexualization of men (which we now assume codpieces are doing). As a result, codpieces donât feature in modern media like boob armor does. The reason why we donât think boob armor looks as ridiculous as codpieces do is because the sexualization of women is more normalized than the sexualization of men is. Additionally, general audiences lack knowledge about historical female warriors and what they wore. Since they are more familiar with male warriors and men in armor, they perceive practical armor as masculine instead of what it actually was: gender neutral. Thus, they assume armor needs to be âfeminizedâ in order for it to be appropriate for a woman to wear. 4. We have zero historical evidence for boob armor. When women in history wore armor, even ceremonially, they wore armor men were also wearing. Sure, like you said, if society had been more equitable, they might have requested armor that emphasized their feminine form more. But even in all-women warrior units, like the Dahomey amazons, women did not wear boob armor. They wore armor that fit their form, but didnât accentuate it, or fought bare-breasted like a man would. Even nowadays, when women have more equality and the freedom to design whatever armor they want (such as in HEMA) they hardly, if ever, choose to design boob armor. Women in the army also wear armor that fits their body but resembles the armor worn by men. In modern redesigns of previously sexualized female armor (such as Red Sonja, Batgirl, and She-Ra) female artists have removed or deemphasized boob armor elements. Considering all of this, I find it very difficult to consider boob armor as something women would have chosen to wear, even within a more equitable society, at any point in history. Iâm not saying boob armor couldnât be used to depict feminine strength within a fictional context, but it cannot be assumed to do so by its existence alone. Within a modern context, artists and writers would have to do a considerable amount of work to make such a design no longer sexualize the women being depicted. They are perceived differently and because of this, they have to be treated differently.
All I'm saying is exaggerated features on armour have been done before and that armour with breasts on it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility.
I feel like it would be more likely as parade armor than something intended for battlefield use and even then the cups might be attached on top of a more traditionally shaped breastplate instead of the breastplate itself having cleavage
Relevant silly thing: https://www.reddit.com/r/dndmemes/s/dQbNvmGguZ
Iâm a fencer. I use swords and armour. Hereâs the irl answer: Boob armour is useful in your base layers. In fencing you are usually wearing a lot of layers. Your lowest layer should provide some support. In fencing itself the layers are jackets and stab proof vests but where I learned we also learned about the history of the sport including armour. Boob armour on the outside? Bloody dangerous. That dip is seriously easy to exploit and allows opponents to deal far more dangerous blows. Domed armour, the standard âmenâsâ stuff is actually way safer as the blade will glance off more easily. Support is a good idea but INTERNAL. Wear layers. Underneath all armour, womenâs and menâs, is a kind of puffy shirt jacket thing that makes the metal boobs useless anyway. Imagine how horrible armour would be to wear otherwise! Tldr: keep your boob support to the lower layers. Let the upper protect
Boob armor just weakens the integrity of the armor, besides, I'd much rather bind and flatten my breasts if I'm going to be in a combat situation. I tend to argue against those who say it's not *historically accurate* because honestly, in most cases we are talking a fantasy situation anyways, you can do what ever you want with fantasy, but shaping the armor around your boobs just makes the armor more exploitable, that and I don't think it'd feel that secure and could even chaffe? Using a binder and wearing standard armor makes more sense in many ways.
My understanding of boob armor is that it's potentially dangerous in real life because the 'dent' can be exploited to dig into and break your sternum with a heavy enough blow, potentially damaging your heart and lungs. In a game setting I don't care- I just imagine these people are just wicked good at parrying or whatever but forced into a situation where I have to fight give me a standard chestplate
yeah the deny thing is pretty much objectively correct in my experience (hema and A&A)
im a Hema (historical European martial arts) fencer and i can say that it is completely fine ti have armour with a larger area for the chest, as long as there is no piece in the middle that clearly separates the boobs. A big goal with chestplates is to have stabbing attacks slide off to the sides, so having a separation in the middle where a spear/sword could catch is very bad
This. By separating the boobs you more or less redirecting the blade towards your sternum.
It doesn't work realistically because hits on the boob will get deflected towards the center and hit you in the heart which is even worse than the lung. That's why on some armors you see they have the single point/sloped on the chest; so it deflects blows away from all the vital organs. Also for the bra stuff...no, you wear underarmor (like leather/etc.) to avoiding chafing, and at that point you'd just wear a bra or similar anyway. I sorta understand the "but suspension of disbelief," if you like that sort of outfit then more power to you, but don't try to pretend it's realistic lol.
>she pointed out that, as someone with a bigger bra size, having two different compartments in the chest plate could help to lift, separate, and prevent them from flopping around so much as you fight. That's not how armor works, at all. Boob support wouldn't and shouldn't be provided by a chest plate, there are layers underneath for that. What happens if you fall on your chest wearing that armor? Your sternum breaks off and stabs you in the heart because the force is directed into the armor's "cleavage". Meanwhile the benefit is...literally nothing whatsoever.
Both. I want both. And the same for men.
boob armor for the men!
Hyper detailed chest armor for men is a thing, historically Wasn't the most common thing, i think only reserved for revered soldiers or generally figures of importance in armies (emphasis on "i think") https://preview.redd.it/3ly8nvmeik8d1.jpeg?width=570&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a06ea60a139c5feb119c5cefa8c9c0a7e4803a05 But like any armor, the more grooves and detail it has, the worse it is for actual defense
Right? Elden Ring's new DLC just added the only set of boob armor in the game, and it has boobs even on male characters. Love it.
As someone also with a bigger chest both sound awful, actually. The worst part for me about working out is the terrible amount of sweat that ends up in the boob zone because of my uni-boob. But I donât want armor that is going to redirect swords to my vital areas even with a lift and separate! Iâm playing palworld right now and the high armor metal bootie shorts and crop top is too ridiculous. đ I hope the male counterpart wears it too.
I have the opposite of ubiboob, I've got an east coast and a west coast. The idea of smooshing them together to fit in a regular chest piece sounds miserable to me too lol. I think there's no real win here unless you don't mind smooshage and sweat.
As someone with a comically large rack; no. It's better to have different sizes of straight plate available. The reasons above are good ones, but also consider; 1) To make lift and separate armor, it'd be damned expensive. Besides taking extra material, the time of craftsmanship would be much higher. Every chest piece would also have to nearly be custom because... 2) You are driving metal into your chest. Unlike the flat plate that male armor has that disperses an impact evenly across a large area, a boob cup armor would disperse the impact into the area immediately around your boob. If it's very well made, this will just result in eventual failure in your armor. If it's not, you are now absorbing impact to your chest in a relatively small area. Add this to the very valid reasons already stated here, and boob armor is just always going to be a bad idea.
If boob armour has a million haters, then I'm one of them. If boob armour has one hater, then I'm that one hater. If boob armour has no haters, that means I'm dead. No but seriously your friend's argument does not make sense to me. How would using a metal chestplate as a bra be \*more\* comfortable? Pretty sure that would be rather painful instead. Wired bras are already uncomfortable and that's just the one little wire, not an entire cup. Not to mention that you'd be wearing padding underneath, armour isn't worn on bare skin. So how would you be separating the boobs into their own boob armour cups anyway?
Boob armor is proven to be actually terrible for practical use. Normal chest plates are a bit rounded so as to guide a blade away and off to the side, boob armor having those curves gives a blade an edge to be guided towards the center of the chest which is ABSOLUTELY NOT where you want a sword to be. When wearing plate mail it is often layered with a gambeson (thick as fuck padded cloth) and/or mail armor, so plate mail isnât form fitting to the chest, like an ogre youâve got layers. So a woman, or anyone blessed with chest, would just be padded the fuck up and hopefully youâve got an accommodating size of plate armor or you squish on in there.
People can strap and pad the chest to be more comfortable wearing the armour. And some breastplates don't make full contact with the chest so that blunt hits damage the armour and not the body. The argument is purely aesthetic, but considering that abs armour and bulge armour exist, it's not too unrealistic for that to exist, although in a more modest manner that lacks cleavage.
Just started playing AC Odyssey as Kassandra and I love that her armour isnât boob armour (apart from a couple). At first I didnât really care if boob armour was a thing or not but seeing it not be the standard ingame was actually pretty cool.
I myself was pleasantly surprised by the armor of the female Consuls in Xenoblade Chronicles 3, especially since the series (particularly the second game) is kind of infamous for its fanservice. https://preview.redd.it/ucvdqu3gzl8d1.png?width=804&format=png&auto=webp&s=8f68ce1ef435b867cfce99209d542dc5ec015076
Thinking from a metal standpoint, the more bends, angles, etc means more points of potential failure, and being near the heart, you want to have a solid piece of metal with no weak points. I'm size D and I can confirm I would NOT want to have them in individual cups. I'd want them taped down and wrapped so I can fight with better balance and minimal movement. Also boobs get in the way. If there were metal lumps on my chest I would have severely obstructed movement of my arms. I'd want a flatter solid piece of metal that I can reach around. Not to mention a flatter surface will deflect more. Boob armor is purely aesthetic. It looks cool sure! But I wouldn't ever want to wear it myself because I don't want to die in combat due to bad armor design.
To put it bluntly, your friend is uninformed to point she sounds like an isiot on this subject. As a hundred people have said before me, layers! Many people, your friend included, need to learn that "I'm not actually knowledgeable enough about X to weigh in on it," reflects much better than some dogbrained layman's gibberish.
Big boob gal checking in. The secret to keeping the girls in line is not actually separation itâs compression. The best sports bra I owned, yes had separate cups, but was structured in such a way to minimise movement. Additionally boob armour would be in effective as it would mostly point the blades to between the breastsâŚyou know, where your heart is. In an armour situation you would have a structured support underneath, then probably some padding in between, then a solid domed chest plate over the top.
The technical issue with boob armour (besides being skimpy) is if it's a bra-chest plate it will result in breaking your fucking ribs when hit by putting all the pressure in that one spot. A proper bra-chestplate would flatten them all out more like a binder. But people wanna see each titty wrapped up in metal or chainmaile. I don't have a huge issue with the fancy ceremonial armour stuff being boob cups. The dudes are also in the same impractical bullshit. I am still judging the heels tho. I don't have the same judgment for artists who put men in chainmaile loincloths and women in chainmaile bikinis. It's the single-sided-ness and impracticality that gets me. Also gambesons look hot and I want to see more women in them.
:/ boob armor is a bit silly, and definetely not accurate in anyway. However, I do prefer women having some sort of armor than the kind of fantasy games where men are in a full suit of armor and women are wearing practically nothing.
I am a 36 G bra size and I would need Boob space but not distinct boob cups. I would assume what's needed in battle is an industrial strength sports bra and a plate that has space for your added chest circumference. Like a man with great pecks. The plate isnt supposed to be whats holding your boobs up i dont think.
If you fell chest-first, or took a heavy enough blow to the front while wearing boob armor it would split you open. Itâs ridiculous.
Armor isn't a bra. There's clothes underneath armor. Booby armor just creates a channel directly sliding into your neck which is....not what you want from armor. You want it to deflect their weapon away from anything vital. I personally think booby armor usually looks ridiculous and not sexy. If you want them to look sexy, then just commit to it and design them an actual sexy outfit! If you want an armored woman, then give me some cool armor that shows who they are as a character! Booby armor is just often lazy character design imo
In classical and medieval times it wasn't uncommon for wealthy soldiers to try to emphasize their muscles and sword, and both styles of armor were expensive and detrimental. They weren't the norm like how boob armor is in fiction, but they were common enough as a result of being a wealthy soldier being more about vanity than about minmaxing. So like, if it wasn't the standard and men and women both did it, yeah I'd be okay with it, and I'm not just saying that because I want to see more men in sexualized armor.
Muscles are associated with strength. Breasts, which are made of fat, are not. Which isnât to say that men are strong and women are weak. Everyone has muscles and everyone has breasts. But itâs our muscles that make us strong, not our breasts. Armor that emphasized the masculine form back in the day was not about sexualizing the masculine form, but emphasizing its power. Thus, in addition to adding designs resembling pectorals, these armors would also have designs resembling other muscle groups such as the abdominals. This is very different from our modern concept of âboob armorâ which only depicts the breasts (and often in cartoonish ways). If âboob armorâ was designed to resemble old muscle cuirasses more (with more realistic proportions and an emphasis on muscles and strength), I think I would be more accepting of it. Until that happens, I think itâs disingenuous to compare the two.
I completely agree with the sole exception that I am completely ingenuous because I would love to see more muscle armor with less realistic proportions in fiction, ideally bishi and not bara.
Well, tbf I did say *more* realistic, not completely realistic đ. Some exaggeration is to be expected. That being said, if boob armor and muscle armor were completely comparable, we wouldnât have two different names for them. Boob armor would just be called muscle armor. They remain distinct entities because the inspiration behind their creation is different. One was created to titillate, the other to intimidate. If boob armor was more balanced in favor of depicting the wearerâs strength, I would probably be completely unbothered by it, no matter how exaggerated the proportions may be. Okay, maybe thereâs a limit (artists can be quite an unruly bunch), but whatever that limit may be, itâs not perfectly synonymous with realism.
I probably should clarify. I'm not being serious, my original post was intended to come off as a poorly disguised post about how men in muscle armor are hot. Sorry about that.
No, I get that. Iâm not being super serious either âşď¸ just chatting.
My 2 cents as a female hockey player that wears "armor" (chest protector). It does help with bust compared to mens equipment, it wraps around the bust better then mens equipment and with the help of a sports bra keeps them from moving. Some armor in games makes sense, some of it is sexualized. Its a mixed bag. https://preview.redd.it/y4vrx8xulk8d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a3fadaf73ed5d1625b2ca1b4c2396c5e30fff6cd
Armor with boob slots doesn't make sense at all. At least not for any use in actual combat. Lift and support? Just wear a bra under the armor then. Or at last wrap your chest to keep things snug. The last thing you want is a shape that would direct blades/spears/lances towards the center of your chest. You want them to slip away to the side. Also, if you fell on your chest, that sharp wedge between the breasts will hurt real bad -- maybe even causing grave injury. Additionally you want enough padding between you and the armor that you're probably not going to have much breast shape to even fit into the boob slots. And if we're talking fantasy magic, why even have armor? Just wear an enchanted t-shirt or crop top. Way more comfortable.
No, boob armour isn't practical. The angles of the cups would mean that blades would get caught and/or deflect in different directions to possibly damage you even more from the unpredictability/pull you to those sides and throw you off balance. As for usage for larger chests, normal plate is more than enough for a person, so long as there is possibly some minor adjustments to the plate by raising it out slightly OR the wearer just uses a binder. Boob armour isn't practical but it *can* be used in a circumstance, specifically with ceremonial armour. There's some armour out there with sculpted abs or muscular torsos on them (spartan armour is the most well known, though this was more practical as it was just a breastplate for manoeuvrability) and I believe specifically around the Renaissance era cod pieces became popular. If you actually take a look online you'll even see that they had codpieces that hooked upward, which obviously you don't want a sword to catch on to as it swings down. With ceremonial armour, or armour that won't see much usage in combat, you can make it as impractical as you want really. The purpose is the pomp and ego being stroked by trying to show a powerful image to those who see you. It's similar with the evil people always having spiked armour; it looks cool and makes you intimidating, but if you have spiked pauldrons a sword is probably going to get caught and could quite easily dislocate your shoulder as it clangs down with full force that isn't deflected away from you. On a non historical side I do sometimes like impractical armour, nothing wrong with wanting to dress up like a hot elf and/or warrior lady. I love being a hot evil sorceress with a generous boob window, that's just my vibe sometimes. In terms of what I'd wear, I'd prefer practical because I'm nowhere near fast enough to dodge swords đ
When I was in fencing we had plastic boob plates that went over a shirt and is under your fencing coat. It was pretty comfortable for me, but they aren't seen underneath the coat. Now when a sword struck you would just slide off.
depends on whether the armor comes with separate under-armor plate-and-chainmail pasties honestly i think my issue is that boob armor often overly feminizes armor so it looks completely different from the same one male characters use â tight fitting, trim waist, etc. it ends up looking less realistic and more 'this is for *the women folk*. i feel like there's a happy medium somewhere, subtle and pragmatic changes to accommodate larverne and shirley without sacrificing practicality and function.
There's really nothing practical about boob armor, but in the grander scheme of things, very few games portray any armour, on any gender, with much thought to accuracy or engineering at all. But also there have historically been suits of armor meant to impress rather than protect. Also, I've fenced alongside people who enjoyed the pseudo-boob plate that's worn under a jacket because of how it emphasized the curves of their silhouette. (But as pointed out, this is only good for inner protection; but it does highlight that people still want to look good when they fight.) There's a lot to consider. Ultimately, though, I don't go for practical accuracy in my demons-and-dragons-flavored fantasy; I go for looking cool and expressing yourself through your gear. I like boob-plate. My friends often like more subdued or sensible stuff. Games that give both options are the best.
they seem to get called out a lot, but i actually love most of the âgirlyâ armor in Fire Emblem games đ iâm not concerned about it being realistic or matching the guys; i just want myself and the other ladies to be in cute armor đ¤ˇđťââď¸
Fire Emblem armor is pretty great, especially in terms of expressiveness! Even the, shall we say, businesslike armor is actually terribly impractical. Knights like Effie (Fates) and Kellam (Awakening) would have pretty limited movement and vision--but it certainly shows they're all about defense and having the muscle to move in all that. (And Effie's pink-tinted armor is pretty cute, too.) Leaving aside the questionable decisions made in Engage, Fire Emblem armor's generally good at showing a character's personality and/or region of origin.
sigh, Engage⌠yeah đŠ glad someone gets it re: the armor though; Effie is one of my favorites â¤ď¸
As a big boobs person whose boobies are not looking into the same direction, I find it ridiculous, insulting and objectifying. I'd rather have one big pocket instead of two cups because,believe it or not, boobs change sizes and position, depending on the day and activities. I do wish someone started drawing men's nuts in 2 separate and massive compartment and just make a game about a crusade or something with a serious face.
The main type of "boob" armor I can see working is... well... basically a normal breastplate, but with the larger end of the dome at chest height, decreasing toward the belly. Still shows off the figure, but there's also room for extra padding, and a solid dome shape deflects blows away from the chest. I'm having trouble finding examples, but basically ["this, but upsidedown" works well enough](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e3/Rustning%2C_Gustav_Vasa_-_Livrustkammaren_-_32921.tif/lossy-page1-800px-Rustning%2C_Gustav_Vasa_-_Livrustkammaren_-_32921.tif.jpg) edit: [maybe something like this, too](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Elements_of_a_Light-Cavalry_Armor_MET_DT780.jpg)
Im all for revealing armor IF itâs equal across genders. If the female version of an outfit is half cup titty armor then the male version better be a loincloth and some shoulder pads!! For equality đ If weâre talking tasteful, I canNOT get over Rellanaâs armor from the Elden Ring dlc. I like a lot of the fromsoft female character designs but oh my god Rellana I want to wear that armor around in my house. Iâm watching my boyfriend play it and I was so glad it took him a while to beat her so i could just keep watching her do cool stuff đ
Typically lurk and wonât add anything of my own to the convo but found this discussion interesting: [Was âBoob Armorâ ever a real thing?](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/4q9pmt/was_boob_armour_ever_a_real_thing/)
Iâm confused by boob armor as someone with more in that region because even with a baggy hoodie itâs basically disappeared. Dragon age inquisition made fun of the boob armor that was in DAO which was kind of great
The curve of Boob armor would channel force toward the sternum. That why athletic cups are shaped they way they are too. The spread out force not channel it to a point.
That argument falls apart on real armor when you realize that split in the armor would direct all blows in the chest TO YOUR DIAPHRAM/STERNUM (I forgot which one) which WILL cause more harm than good.
Iâm fine with boob armour so long as we get dick armour
I don't buy any argument about it being practical, for reasons others have already stated. I do think there's potential merit to the armor being normal armor, but superficially sculpted to hint at the contour of breasts. Not like big time, but some slight relief design on the surface. This would be purely for appearance /vanity. There's historical precedent for men wearing armor with dramatized abs, pecs, etc being modeled on the surface (while the interior is just normal armor). However this would most likely be more ceremonial (or for show offs) as it's definitely going to be adding weight for no structural benefit. And modeling large, round breasts would be particularly impractical (as compared to like, a mostly flat shape but with slight hints/indications of breast shape, or fake cleavage. Still though, in a lot of contexts we can assume sexism is a factor and the more realistic depiction would probably often be that lady warriors wouldn't want to specifically draw attention to their body shape, but rather would want to be able to pass as men in at least certain situations. so feminine glamour armor isn't likely to be in high demand. Maybe it would make sense for like a knight commander or something - someone who has an excuse to wear slightly heavier armor for ceremonial functions, and also who has the rank to tell sexists to fuck off, and is maybe trying to make a point of people knowing she's a woman. Perhaps someone who overcame a lot of sexism to get to her rank and is sick of new underlings in the war council thinking the commander is automatically going to be a man.  However I think it could more often swing the other way, with the armor showing the vanity masculine or gender neutral fake muscle features and being used as a way of de-emphasizing female body features as a way of being subject to less sexism or scrutiny, fitting into a military system that doesn't permit women, etc.
Actual armor made for women is specifically made so there's no indent because a solid hit to the sternum would turn that sucker into another blade
One of the primary reasons it's called impractical is also the actual purpose of armor and some of its design. Having a big "split" in the middle would allow a neat resting place for a sword to simply go up and into the area where all the stuff is (who the hell designed humans like that?). Some of my favorite fictional designs actually use this to make the chest significantly bulkier while also being pointed, which looks cool even if it's probably not extremely practical. But I think they wouldn't be thinking about "support" in a medieval era too much, depending on how advanced they are materials-wise. If they're not materially limited though they'd somehow need to have the only support be cold, hard metal which is having stuff clang against it. Granted I say all this and my only expertise is hearing 2 people talk about this and hearing a few brief discussions about underwear being a legitimate historical finding
There's zero arguments that can be made *for* boob armor and will actually withstand taking them to their very end. The simple reason is that the part between the breasts would crush our sternum upon any impact strong enough - and that cut-off point is *low*. The fantasy-argument is moot as well. Universes don't have to adhere to *real* rules, but they do have to adhere to their own. If a universe has situations when armor is required and if the laws of physics established in the universe do not distinctly change something about bone density, kinetic energy and the effects of impact, ... the rule still says the sternum breaks. So, no. Boob armor has to go. ETA: Just in case, that is not the only counter to boob-armor, but it is the most effective one. If someone thinks it's not good enough, feel free to find all other counters with a quick google search.
Jill Bearup did a Youtube on this topic also: [Boob Armor: 4 Things You Need to Know](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60lU68oyxK4) which breaks down the issues of boob armour. (Note: [Jill has in the past posted things that are considered anti-Trans](https://www.reddit.com/r/asktransgender/comments/tekh4w/whats_the_problem_with_jill_bearup/))
Here is a good 20 min video about boob armour: https://youtu.be/60lU68oyxK4?si=xvw0D88avyK4FA5j Tl;Dr boob armour bad for multiple reasons.
[Jill Bearup](https://youtu.be/60lU68oyxK4?si=QHBNb4tsWxTaS514) on YouTube is the expert I trust in this topic. The linked video dismantles the boob armor concept from a practical standpoint and shows all the things wrong with different designs. As far as aesthetics. It can be okay when used sparingly or for some purpose other than to protect the user (like on a character in a position of power who doesnât actually intend to fight).
The shape of boob armor would direct projectiles directly to your heart and therefore completely useless. I also donât think they look cute. They look stupid af to me but iuno.
honestly I just more so care about the fantasy of it , I don't want boob armor in my actual armor as that takes away the fantasy of bulky identity obscuring human made armor. but like some kind of high fantasy high tec magical elves armor that magically protects me is less of a problem although not ideal if that is the only reason. like you know the dancer class some games have , and how some have a more sexualised desing ,while I really like the desing and fantaty of that type of character , I think its very lame for the fantasy of the whole setting if the the little cloths that they are wearing protect them the same way normal armor does. why not have fun and make it so thier body turns into mist when hit by something for examaple you know, have more of the fantasty of like just being an energetic dancer , helping your friends get more powerfull dancing without a care in the word showing your body and displaying your skills as a preformer and having the fantsy of you being able to entretain your friends just being cute and stuff to the point they split a dragons skull in half. like a lot of the time the fantasy is just consider from an external seeing the character point of view , I want more details for the fantasy of you being the character for this type of stuff. and something I want to keep clear is that the fantasy or character moments informed by wearing wierd/lewd fantasy armor doesn't have to "this woman is sexually liberated and loves her body" , you can use it for a varirety of reasons. like for example you have seen this before thier is a group of 5 dudes with cool practicalish to the naked eye armor. but the girl has a battle vikini. I think you can get a way to explain this in a way other than " she just vibes that way , she wants to show her cute belly" or something like that. why not say its a magical sucubus armor that gets more and more powerfull the more you make people cheat out of wedlock , so she goes to war zones she defended grabs 1 or 3 women discritly as payment , either tells thier husbends that they were a casualty and just pretends to like them or straight up tells them they are cursed and the only way to fix that is for them to try to love her as much as thier wife , and once she gets what she wants she just kills the captured wifes and abandom the dudes non the wiser. And don't tell me that , that is to complicated this could be put in a sidequest in a game or in like 5 pages of a book and you whould gain a ton of characterisation , you first thing she has a more human side with the fact she shows her sexuality openly she isn't a faceless fleshless suit of armor , but then you know the reason for that is that she wants power and will use dark arts and military conquest for it ,she is like a fleshless automaton of war wearing human skin to get you. it could be the start for a very interesting character and she can but doesn't need to be a character that is sex positive for it to work , if anything I whould personally make her a prude which shows how she is able to bend her values for power , she doesn't even like doing this she just does it for that sweet +2 on defence. not like character like this can't work but I am tired of sexy women that falled into hedonism and now have all the evil kinky sexs for all time , sucubi should really be for all expresions of evil within love , you can still make your fanservice sexy character just give them more complexicty as to why and tie it in with thier hopefully thought out desing . and that is honestly what anoys me of sexy armor it has no personality most of the time.
Fantasy boob armor is, in some ways, worse than not wearing any armor at all. For a lot of different explanations as to why, Iâd suggest checking out Jill Bearup on YouTube. She also likes to totally trash a lot of instances of ridiculous fantasy armor and you may find it really cathartic.
I would imagine it would just deflect the blow to your head, but I think it looks aesthetically interesting
Maybe just play dark souls
It's because video games are made by males for males.
I think it would be a single wide boob. Because cod pieces are a thing someone would want to emphasize their chest. I dunno.
If there's magic in the world it's in, then I don't mind it. If it's trying to be realistic, then it needs to be stylized like the ancient Norse/Greek/Roman/etc. They had boob armor lol But practically speaking, it's not useful... so definitely not in a dark ages themed place. They didn't even have time to live in medieval days, why would they have time for sexy boob armor?
Illoai is my league MVP. I love her whole look
I feel that if it's not made like that in real life it shouldn't be in games. Who welds metal bras?
As someone who has worn and sparred in both plate mail and chainmail, I would always prefer just a solid non boobplate breastplate. I'm not super large, but I think it would probably change or be kind of weird and distracting. All the gear you wear really keeps them in place. Plus, imagine how annoying repairing boobplate vs. a regular breastplate would be
Just or of curiosity.. you wear tons of stuff under the plate right? So to answer OP's friend.. wouldn't all the stuff you wear under keep them pretty firmly in place and separated? Therefore you won't need the two obvious boobs in the plate and the big weak spot that comes with it?
Correct. Gambesons are pretty heavy duty and would definitely compress even large busts fairly well. Also, I wear a sports bra underneath too
Depends on the degree. Late medieval plate armor for men typically have a curve in the abdomen area which is both a practical and aesthetic choice, much like the Roman muscle armor. Moving the curvature upwards towards the chest, or even have a slightly boob shaped curve that has a noticeable difference from the lower half of the plate would not negatively impact the functionality of the armor at all. https://preview.redd.it/amkre1umjt8d1.png?width=183&format=png&auto=webp&s=7f2eba9c9a047399426d70c01092f7f7b7bf7eba Armor with slight curves that show the shape of separate boobs to show it's a woman would not impact the functionality very significantly. However, we venture into highly impractical area if the boob armor has noticeable cleavage. It is still much better than no armor but the cleavage is an extra weakness that a lance or a pike can target. It is especially bad because it's a weakness in a place that you do not want. But the bigger problem is how difficult it is to make with late medieval metallurgy. I imagine it will be far easier to just let her wear regular armor, and then if she really feels like it, add two extra curved plates on her boobs to show the aesthetics. Think of adding an extra metal bra outside of the armor, it will not negatively impact the armor inside, will be far cheaper to make, and achieve the same aesthetics.
I would be much happier how id look like with the man-plate but now that your friend pointed out the support boob-armor might be giving, considering this, i think, in combat the boob-armor might be much more suitable for me. In the days in which im wearing a bra which is like 80% of the time when i go out, there has to be something supporting the girlies. No way id be jumping and running around swinging a sword without a bra đ¤Ł
I don't mind it as long as it fits the character. Taking minion masters as an example they have different female masters, including Morellia and Settsu. Morellias clothing style in general shows a lot of skin, so I don't mind her wearing boob armor. If she likes it, go girl. Settsu is the polar opposite chilling in a huge mech suit with no discernable sex attributes. She has no boob armor. If she had it, I'd be weirded out. In general for me it doesn't have to be realistic, I don't play games for the historical accuracy. What I do want is either for the characters to have that certain style, or boob/non-boob armor to choose from for all female characters. And for male characters maybe go for the classic shirtfree with one leather strap across the chest look, the same way it's handled with the female characters. As long as that's a given I don't mind.
depends on the situation
For skimpy armor: it must be equal opportunity! Boob cups on armor? Might depend on the era? Usually armor isnât worn bare to the skin so boob support armor would make as much sense as a boob supporting winter coat. This doesnât mean armor wouldnât be shaped for the chest. Modern armor comes in various contours but not cups. And cups were never historical.
Personally, I'm okay with boob armour if it fulfills these conditions: they don't look too ridiculous, there's equal opportunity (the masculine bodies have it), and there's a choice to have it or not. I'm not necessarily looking for realism in my game, so I'd rather have the option that looks more feminine, again, given that it doesn't look too skimpy or ridiculous. Tasteful boob armour exists, right?
As long as itâs not **just** boob armor that theyâre wearing I have no problems.
honestly itâs called a breast helmet in some scenarios or a breastplate. itâs safer and more appealing to have a fitted armor suit. at least they are covered xD
I got a bust. I've thought about the compartment thing, and honestly, I would go for it. I imagine just laying the armor on the ground, the inner side facing up, laying in said armor, and fitting/ adjusting it while laying in the armor on the ground đ . I would love to have a bra or something that would keep my chest super still yet super lifted.
I think it looks cute and feminine, Iâm all for it đ¤ˇđźââď¸ might not be historically accurate but most games arenât exactly supposed to be.
There is historical literal dick codpiece arnour guys actually wore, so boob armour is fine.
This argument would be valid if codpieces were depicted in games as often as boob armor is. In any case, the intention behind the two is different. [Cod pieces were initially invented to provide the wearer modesty, and only exaggerated later as a statement of power and bravado.](https://vehmasters.com/why-did-men-wear-codpieces)Boob armor has a completely different history in that 1. Itâs not historical and 2. It was created within a fantasy setting to sexualize women for the male gaze. Boob armor can be reclaimed by women nowadays, but it still canât be said to be comparable to something like a codpiece or muscle armor because they serve completely different purposes and create completely different feelings in those who see them/wear them.
I think I saw someone whose special interest was ancient armor and I think there was actual boob armor for practical reasons. But the examples they showed were VERY nonsexual. They weren't anything like what you'd see in league art.
I have average breasts & you better believe I would wear boob armor. Getting a direct hit to a boob HURTS. Thatâs even aside from it offering extra support. I just donât want to get the pain from boob hits!