Theodora looks weirdly too modern | #fireemblem by TBSkyen Shorts
Honestly, after this week's Nintendo Direct showing another character using "gauntlets" that look just like a scifi gun, and knowing the setting takes place in the same world as Fodlan, where the Agarthans used missiles, I wonder if some anachronistic modernity might be the point.
But also, such cheap, obvious fanservice is going to need a lot of in-story rationalization to not be dismissed as cheap titillation. But even then, it would just be a "no wait! You don't understand! It makes sense IN THE STORY!" when we can all see that, in and of itself, this was a design decision for gooners. (Similar to the female version of Eshmel.) At least Naga The White Serpent had a reason for her fanservice. At least Fire Emblem Engaged's Princess Ivy was stylish.
But it's my curse to always give the benefit of the doubt, so here goes:
With the little clothes she does have on, they do kind of look like scales. Combined with her headdress that looks like horns, and this past week's Nintendo Direct showing a mural of presumedly her kingdom's goddess, the Keeper Of Death And Night...
...who looks similar to Sothis's silhouette and colors, which might imply a Nabatean, I wonder if Theodora is supposed to look like a dragon. Is she emulating a dragon goddess worshiped by her kingdom?
Still, if so, she could stand to wear more armor and scales than her right arm and a thin strip dangling from her boobs. Unless the dragons she's emulating barely had armored scales.
But i guess I've known since Beresu that Fire Emblem will prioritize sexualuzing a female character over anything else. Like I like lace, but her leggings did not tell the story of a mercenary. She should have been dressed more like Leonie...who probably also would've made more sense with pants. I do get that shorts made Leonie look more youthful, than say a no-nonsense mercenary like Shamir, in her pants. But make the scantily clad fighters, mages and archers, people who don't fight close combat nor need practical armor. I can only suspend so much disbelief for the "ceremonial attire" excuse, after decades of unnecessary female sexual objectification, in every medium, in every culture, for most of history. This was a decision made by character designers with proclivities, not a centuries-old culture (Saramis isn't real), removed from our modern standards of objectification and fanservice.
So I guess I'm looping back around to agree with TBSkyen: Theodora is weirdly modern, in her fanservice.