The Sentinel Comics Beauty Contest

In Twitch chat recently, TakeWalker and I were discussing how, since former Hollywood's Favorite Pretty Boy Ambuscade has suffered a slight facial mishap after OblivAeon, we both wondered: Who would be the current contenders for Best Looking People in the Sentinels Universe?

(We essentially both had the same thought that it might be amusing to discuss who everyone thought was cute in the Sentinelsverse but weren't sure how folks would react to such a discussion, so he said I should post the thread and I said only if I can say you made me do it and he said deal, so here we are.)

In universe, would Benchmark be in the running? 

I personally consider Cursed Acolyte to be super hot.

With Citizen Summer being a close second, also quite hot.

Ok my top 5 cute guys :

1) Argent Adept who is basically a pretty boy

2) Legacy who is well muscled without being over the top

3) Benchmark who could be higher once we see his face

4) The Contract for his facial structure

5)  Ra who is exotic

Honourable mention to Setback who has hugability

5 top cute girls

1) sky scraper - tall and well proportioned ,exoctic,presumably has a cute accent

2) Unity she has a cute face

3) Expatriette who is basically a model

4) The operative who has a unique look I find

5) Beacon cause of the smile plus big hair combination

Honourable mention to Visionary who would be number one with a bullet if she had nice hair

Ah good. :D

The funny thing is, I thought about posting a thread like this, but I had to think really hard about the subject. I've just never put much consideration into it until now!

Like, I guess Unity is super-cute? And the Matriarch has that "gothy bad girl" thing going on. Going completely by looks, Miss Information is, uh, pretty wow in that unitard. Mercy. She's just, y'know, completely insane. :B

But Sky-Scraper is the most adorable (even more than Haka!) She is perfect.

And though I am no expert on the subject, I think Ambuscade (pre-Oblivaeon) wins the "prettiest man" award. :B Just look at the card art on his Letters Page episode.

Though if personality is your thing, you really can't beat Setback. I mean, you just can't.

Guise was already the most beautiful.  Even Baron Blade knows he is amazing.  

I agree with Theta Sigma that in-universe Benchmark would probably be the new It Boy, going by stuff from the Letters Page.

Makes me wonder how many heroes have groupies and their pics featured in teenybopper and other celebrity glamour shot magazines a lot.

But yeah, TakeWalker was like "I don't have a list" and I was like "*shifty eyes* I do..."

***

I agree that Ambuscade definitely deserved the "Hollywood's Favorite Pretty Boy" award, even if he's a jerk.

Powerhound, I counter you by saying I think Baron Blade himself is pretty cute. I have a bit of a soft spot for mad scientist types in general.

With Argent Adept, "redheaded pretty boy musician" is just not a description you can argue with, I feel.

Bunker actually has a rather pretty face, the times we see him out of his suit. And "clean cut military man" is often a big attractiveness factor in general.

I actually think Captain Cosmic is pretty cute; I like the whole Cuddly Space Dad vibe and accents are always a plus. Especially when he's wearing that boss jacket in his PW variant.

And Setback is basically a human puppy dog both in looks and personality. Even though I'm not usually into ditzy guys, I still think if I could pick any guy in the Sentinelsverse to date, it would be Setback.

***

Picking out which ladies are cute is a bit more awkward for me because most of them are teenagers or not much older, and I am... not. :P

But Nightmist is quite pretty; especially check out her "normal" self on the artwork for Regression Darts.

I will say I would almost certainly have a crush on the Matriarch when I was younger; she's so elegantly pretty.

Sky-Scraper's probably my most fave Sentinels lady, though. I agree she's so adorable and has a sweet smile. :D

If you like scars sure but in that case Ansel has plenty of scars post OblivAeon.  

PROFANE ZEALOT 

Not sure why I would think that

So after a day think about this i think i can call my choices

In the Women's competition

Winner: Harpy; hairstyle, fashion sense, a nice smile, and regal figure make her a sure thing for the top spot 

First runner up: Ermine; great hair style with the pixie cut, interresting fashion choices, & unique and michivous eyes, (besides anyone with that much talent with rope...)

Second Runner up: Kismet;  Scarlet highlights in her hair, a killer smile smile, makes her lucky number 3 (maybe a bit too litterally on that last point but still)

So i have a type, don't judge me. Moving on to

the Men's category

Winner: Ra!, Tall, muscular, looks good with a beard. all adds up to Hot (heh)

First Runner Up: Benchmark; again, Tall, T frame, strong jawline, and a bit of confindence never hurts

Second Runner Up: Haka, He bakes little pies for kids, how could he NOT be on the list...he's just so adorable.

For the women: (no particular order)

Tachyon, Nightmist and KNYFE are probably my top three.

For the Men: (no particular order)

Legacy, Ambuscade/Stuntman and Setback

But let's be honest, the hottest denizens of the Multiverse are Ra, the Magmarians, and Citizen Adam Hammer

We all know the objectively most attractive, amazing, and all around great characters are Citizens Hammer and Anvil.

Subjectively, I'll say La Capitan.

There is a slight aesthetic level difference between a few fashionable bad guy scars and having your face melted off.

Also Baron Blade looks totally boss in his aristocratic cyborg RPG getup. I love that look.

@Ronway and @UXM: Clearly one perk to joining the Cult of Gloom is the fine looking people who are already members. And wearing a badass cloak is another thing that ups your attractiveness factor, of course.

Also I can't believe I forgot to mention the Chronoist, where I feel like Adam must have had a goal of sitting down to draw the prettiest guy he could come up with.

It's kind of interesting the heavy ratio of feminine/pretty guys to fewer of the more ruggedly handsome types in the game. There's basically off the top of my head Chrono-Ranger, Haka, Mainstay, Citizen Anvil, and possibly Fright Train for the latter archetype.

Also I don't know if Greazer is traditionally handsome, exactly, but he sure has bucketloads of style.

One that surprised me was Kismet in the Video Game. Interestingly enough, her defeat art looks really good to me. Her make up and hair are toned down, and she's not wearing what amount to torn strips of clothe, so her natural good looks come through really well.

Also, we should defintely mention Ryan's features. When we can see them, he's got a very chiseled look, classical Roman-esque perhaps?

Finally, since we've mentioned so many people and their good looks, I feel I should also point out Fem Luminary. She's got a bit of a punk-ish hair-do which is cool, but the power gauntlet is what sells it. Power Gauntlets always do well on the runway.

Oh yeah, I forgot about the Chronoist.

He makes everyone else look bad. D:

No thats Guise.  

Never has the phrase "cut like a Greek god" seemed more literal.

Thinking about alternative universe versions of people, we have only seen one picture of her but Female Haka is a handsome woman.

I'm going to bet that it's the fact she is in handcuffs that makes the defeat art look really good to you. 

Take another look at Plague Rat's defeat art and come back with your opinions on that.

Yes! Arataki is really pretty!

"Cutest" person in the game? Off the top of my head, that doggy on Vernal Sonata is pretty cute :D.

I admit, she's not what I expected. Knowing that she had the same powers as our Haka (which I presumed accounted for him being 8 feet tall and just that goshdarn huge), I figured she'd have a similarly large physique.

She still looks like a large, powerfully built woman, but not Hulk-esque like Haka is.

Vernal Sonata is a pretty adorable card in general. Between the adorable doggy, Tempest's happy expression, and the implication that Argent's the one who called the doggy over to them to be their "ally" which implies a sense of whimsy I wouldn't have expected from him.

Idealist is also definitely the adorable-cute sort of cute; I like to call her my precious psychic child.

"Most Adorable Person in the Sentinelsverse" is also a very contestable position considering how many possible applicants we have. Idealist, Unity, Citizen Spring, Sky-Scraper, Tempest, Setback, Bloogo, Haka, Becky Blast is kinda weirdly adorable IMHO, the Battalion Mechanic...

Battalion Mechanic is my vote. He poses for the pledge drive calendar every year. 

Apostate or Cleverest Legacy.

Really, all Apostate would have to do to cinch that one from me is put on some glasses. Yet he hasn't, so it's still a toss-up!

Who else poses in this calendar and who buys it?

@Benhimself: Oh that's a very good point now that you remind me; Legacy wearing glasses and sporting that blazer was definitely quite attractive. I feel like "nerd twins" of normally brawny people should be an actual trend.

And now I'm trying to picture Apostate wearing glasses, and am not sure what to make of it. I love me some guys who wear glasses, but I'm not sure how I feel about them on Apostate specifically.

Apostate would be, like, Severus Snape in glasses. Just the most intimidating teacher/librarian you've ever met. c.c

Also, I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks Becky Blast is kind of cute. c.c;

I have to disagree about Becky Blast, she has a look in her eyes that says your waking up sans a liver she's way too crazy for me

Umm. . .

People.  This is so easy.

Bloogo.  Bloogo wins hands down.

Out of everything in this thread, this is what I’m commenting on:

LEGACY CAN’T PUT HIS ARMS DOWN!

His. Muscles. Have. Muscles.

Like, Becky Blast is just so innocently happy and excited about stuff going boom. Sure it's a really destructive sort of adorable, but it's still kinda weirdly adorable.

It's the kind of adorable you want in a crazy villain. :B

She's one of Sentinels' cadre of redheads, too. I can't argue with that.

I forgot about Bloogo! Omg! Yes, okay, he's cool too :D. Poor old Bloogo...

I think this is looking more at bipedal humanoids.   Also, I don't agree even if we were.   Bloogo is one I feel pity for more than any level of attractiveness.   

She's an evil Fiona Glenanne.

I can't believe no one mentioned before but what about Dana Bertrand .AFAIK she's only in one card that doesn't show her in the best light but she's a model

Beauty is not attractiveness.  I've never had romantic feeling for a sunrise.

Also why would you pity Bloogo?  That farm is really nice, and Bloogo esp. loves the ducks.

Physical attractiveness is the literal meaning of beauty, it's quite acceptable to use them as synonyms.

If I had written the sentence "Erse is not Irish" , it would have made the same sense

No, phantaskippy has it pretty right. Beauty, physical attractiveness, and attractiveness, are three related but not synonymous concepts.

I hate to disagree with you and I don't want to derail this thread but every thesaurus I have access to lists these words as synonyms.

Essentially:

As phantaskippy pointed out, you can find something beautiful without being attracted to it.

Likewise, you can also find something physically attractive without being attracted to it.

So reality > thesaurus.

I still stand by original statement on Bloogo regardless of what word you want to use.   I feel pity for Bloogo because he just ends up being a punching bag that didn't necessarily deserve it.  

So you don't think Bloogo is adorable?

Because pretty sure phantaskippy was replying to the "Most Adorable Person in the Sentinelsverse" question.

Nope

You might want to check the back of your cards, they might have a unique design.

I think this is why I didn't think of Rebecca at first.

She's good-looking and the insanity card can have an edge of dangerous attraction to it, but the fact that she is likely unisurable and likely leaves failed romantic partners in literal pieces makes her edge into the territory of scary scary lady.

Thinkin about villains, I wonder if how the various Glamours look without their masks…

I don't personally think Becky is sexy; I just think she's adorable.

Villain sexy is a whole other ball of wax; villains being creepy sexy or scary sexy is half the appeal there, IMHO.

(I'm not terribly big on the whole "they're just misunderstood" angle; whenever I have a villain as a fave character, I like them precisely because they're entertainingly horrible.)

I do want to derail the thread!  I'm sure the mods can sort it out.  

The thesauruses (thesauri?) are tools for finding words that mean similar things - not all the words that are listed as synonyms mean exactly the same thing.  For example, Merriam-Webster lists 'astonishing' as a synonym for 'wonderful'.  If the words all meant exactly the same, then why would you be looking for a different one?  It's the nuances and connotations that are make the difference, and they are critical when dealing with a complex and subjective subject like beauty (et. al.)

As a brief aside, as far as I can tell the words 'gigantic' and 'enormous' do mean exactly the same thing, which is why it amuses me that someone felt the need to combine them and make 'ginormous'.  I mean, didn't we already have enough identical words for 'very large'?

English is a horrible mongrel of a language which mixes up it's influences and never can quite choose which of it's parents to follow.That is why many words can have multiple meanings. For example wonderful is a synonym and an antonym of awful depending on which meanings you choose. And you can choose the meaning you like as long as it's obvious by context.

I'm aware that different synonyms can imply something that the original word does not, for example the word reform implies a need for change that the word change itself does not .That is the main reason for using a synonym it implies a secondary meaning that you also want to convey.( Or perhaps your looking for a more neutral word).

I agree that nuance and connotations are important, but those are things that are hard to convey through print. For example in our case if you are talking about the attractiveness of a person, normally one would have to specify that you did not mean (just)  physical attractiveness. Thus it is up to the speaker to set the nuance of an attraction based on shared interests or what have you. Also in this thread we are not talking about sunsets or rainbows or Eulers equation or other inanimate objects that can be described as beautiful.The context is the beauty of people ( and aliens), it is unfair to bring these other things into the conversation  , they are not relevant to the beauty of people. And when one is talking about the beauty of people , attractiveness is one of the nuances implied by the word beauty in that situation. The beauty of another person is not just aesthetic the way a tiger is. When a person describes another person as beautiful, physical attractiveness is implied.

I would say that in this thread , talking about this subject the nuances and connotations are on my side of the discussion.Of course nuance is set by the majority and thus I could be in the wrong.I wouldn't call myself a lover or especially interested student of the English language so I don't even know why phantaskippys post annoyed enough to reply in the way I did

Would just like to point out that I have never found anyone physically attractive. So if I'm judging stuff by appearance I'm gonna go by how cool/cute I think it looks. So the doggy is cute. Bloogo is sort of weirdly cute but kind of cool-looking at the same time (he's a great big rhino-monster-thing! That's pretty cool!). If there is a choices of humans and non-humans when it comes to "Which of these do you like the look of the best?" I am not likely to go for any of the humans. I'm trying to think if there are any human-looking Sentinels characters I think look cool...hmm...well, Apostate on his flip side has the cool wings and the blue fiery stuff everywhere...that's pretty cool. But I wouldn't refer to any of them as "beautiful" (I tend to use that word more for...I dunno, big sweeping landscapes and stuff) and would never say any of them are "attractive".

So maybe this thread isn't for me but I feel like I should point out that not everyone fancies people :P.

For me, who I "fancy" is based almost entirely on personality instead, so while I can find people attractive from an aesthetic standpoint, that is not the same thing as who I find romantically attractive.

Like I definitely think Ambuscade is physically attractive, but I sure wouldn't date him. Argent is handsome, but I find that trying to socially interact in general with anyone more serious than myself rarely goes very successfully. The "who would I actually date" list looks more like Setback, who's just incredibly nice and sweet and goofy, and perhaps Captain Cosmic who seems intelligent, kind, cheerful, and with a slightly goofy sense of humor (anyone who throws a double-decker bus at bad guys gets my vote).

I agree that I have never been physically moved closer to another individual by their very presence, like magnetic poles… because attraction…

I apoligize, the discussion of the English language has made me goofy and wont to do terrible things to the fine art of humor. I shall excuse myself and think about what I have done.

You, me, and Anthony Drake

Adam posted!

I think The Broker is hot

I want to echo Powerhound's question about who else poses for the pledge drive calendar. Is it a villains-only thing? Do the heroes have their own equivalent charity fundraiser pinup calendar? In the Publishing Universe, did Sentinel Comics ever put out swimsuit issues?

She-Hulk is a female Hulk, and most would say she's pretty dang attractive.

Maybe it is a Mordengrad exclusive, like the Firefighter calendars only for those who work for the Gloruous Baron Blade.

Legacy of course has been in many charity calendar events, probably Bunker as well, while Maia's high profile life means there are no official shoots, but she's got a few pics floating around from Spring Break.

From the way C and A talk about her, I don't think Maia went on spring break. In universe Maia is probably held up as a sort of anti-Kardashian/Hilton , a working CEO / philanthropist who is never seen deshabille, whose personal life is unknown   and is something girls should aspire to

Wraith actually does what Bruce Wayne does and pretends to be a "rich idiot with no day job" going to balls and parties a lot (which is how her rivalry with Ermine comes about, as she thinks Ermine is genuinely the vapid party girl personality that Wraith just pretends to be). See: The art for Trust Fund, for example.

But she's well known as a child prodigy with a doctorate in mechanical engineering!!!  No one would buy her as a vapid party girl,  she goes to social events to promote her family's brand. Her cover Isn't rich idiot with no day job her cover is rich genius with a super busy day job. The wraith is a classic triple shifter like superman.

I'm really attracted to tall girls, so Sentinels has been good to me on that front, most of the girls are really tall and good looking, but Sky Scraper is the tallest and most good looking of the girls. Funny, bubbly and cute too!

For men Setback is real cute to me for that reason also. Amanda's a lucky woman!

@padcurtin: I'm just telling you what's in Ermine's bio. *shrug*

Ermine' s bio does describe Maia' s public persona as bubbly and does paint a picture of the wealth being more involved in their social rivalry than I thought. Maybe s Maia' s persona is work hard , play hard

I get it!

Off topic were you the endless source of questions in the State of Greater than Games panel?

Well, if we're measuring by hot then the prizes probably go to Ra for the gentlemen, and Citizen Summer for the ladies.

For those who don't get it, the Broker's art is based on Andy's spouse. 

I think you mean work hard, work even harder, work at playing hard. Because I imagine keeping up the social event thing is more of a chore for her.

Jumping back in here, I think I agree with the "work hard, play hard" persona, but I think it goes deeper than that. Because, I've been to campuses, there are a lot of smart people qho act really, really dumb, and sometimes it is hard to remember.

So, how many layers does Maia out forth (and yes this is all calculated and difficult, but I'm talking perception)?

For one group, she's a socialite, living off her wealth and competing in all the petty games they compete in. This is Maia from the Ermine backstory. The proper rich girl. Most of these people probably forget she has a degree, or they figure that now that she has the degree she's taking the easy road and living off her money.

For the group that is smarter or has better memories, she's the work hard, play hard type. She goes in, puts in her 10 hour work day, she's viciously smart, but when it comes time to go clubbing or hang out at a social gathering she turns off the intensity and relaxes. She doesn't really care about the glamour scene, but its a fun distraction from the grind of her normal life, and after all how many boardroom sharks don't do the same?

I'd say there are about 4 or 5 five people in the world of the card game who realize that Maia Montgomery never turns off the intensity, but they usually don't call her by her first name.

I was staying out of this conversation because it's weird, as a straight married man, to comment on women's attractiveness, and I don't normally find men attractive.  Male Tachyon, though.  Hoo!

Yeah, while I already think normal Tachyon is gorgeous, her male self is also really gorgeous. Partly because putting Tachyon's ponytail and smirk on a guy makes him seem more roguish/impish than normal Tachyon comes off as being because of the different aesthetic signals those things send on a guy.

Also as much as TakeWalker thinks he looks like an edgelord, I still think Guy!Wraith is also pretty cute.

I don't know. I think guy-Tachyon is... too buff for a speedster?

Everyone I've ever known who was a fast individual has been more lanky and toned than buff. He looks more like a football player than a speedster, which is just odd to my eyes.

Tachyon herself isn't really very lanky, though. She's not as built as Expat, but she's still pretty Amazonian.

All of the Genderflipped 5 are gorgeous and absolutely belong on a Calendar.

Man, you figure all these cats show up through the Gate to fight Oblivaeon?

I certainly like seeing skinnier hero characters occasionally instead of them all being can’t-put-their-arms-down built, but I guess this depends on what kind of runner Tachyon would be. Marathoners tend to be uber-thin. But Usain Bolt looks pretty jacked.

While we're on the subject of skinnier versions of heroes, female Bunker (Lady Bunker? Taylor Vance?) has a very "small but tough" look to her.  I also love her haircut. 

I am a tad amused that the opinion of the Boards Alive podcast people was that RPG Argent was "dreamy/sexy".

Maybe there's no image. :V

I've seen him, I could understand someone going that route.

He looks a little bit like Gender Swapped Dawn know that I stop and think about it, only a little more "mountain man" and less evil

I find it kind of interesting that Argent's design starts out pretty androgynous and seems to get progressively more masculine as it goes through PW>DC>XPW>Tactics>RPG.

The good news is that RPG Argent will probably have zero problems finding prospective Virtuosos. The bad news is they all might be far too distracted to practice.

(Also I was right about his look getting progressively more masculine.)

RPG Argent Adept follows Guise for most beautiful character to me at this point.  

AA LOOKS SO GOOD, YOU GUYS!

So I have found out as of late there seems to be a mild but interesting debate between "RPG Argent is hot" and "I thought he was hotter when he was more pretty boy looking".

I just want to say that Adam has been knocking it out of the park with hot dudes lately. The video game art for XPW Haka, XPW Argent Adept, and Best of Times Chronoranger all caught my attention, as did Swaptober KNYFE. When can I back that calendar's Kickstarter, again?

The Sentinel Comics Hot Guys Calendar? Yeah, I would totally buy that.

That would be cool, but I still haven't recieved my copy of the Blade Battalion calendar, so can we do that first?