In Defense of the Killmonger Hair on Every Black Video Game Character

[@CaptainAstronaut]

No, my hair did not keep falling off my helmet between every single take, why do you ask?

[@hypotheticaltapeworm]

Um clearly you cut a hole in your helmet to allow the hair to jut out

[@joeisthecat8278]

make a blooper reel of just those moments

[@Rammy_Latin]

​@@hypotheticaltapeworm Guess it was time for a Captain Astronaut original. 1 of 1.

[@ag0180]

Your hair looks amazing

[@SimoneBellomonte]

Nah Spider-mid 2 is woke and trashy garbage. 🗿

[@donuko]

9:53 afro hair library *is* the name of the website btw, if anyone is interested.

[@ReginaldMilesG7]

Good to know I was going ask, despite being black my self. Drawing black hair styles have always been a pain for me personally.

[@frensyjean-louis3726]

Same

[@cactoos9793]

Thanks! Making a character based off of those hairstyles sounds really fun and I think I'll try it someday.

[@neversaur2583]

This is incredibly awesome and devs should be spammed with this knowledge

[@datboiaurhen]

Dude, I'm so glad someone finally made the argument that "Yeah, videogames take a while to make. That's why this was in there even though it was popular a while a go"

[@VinTheDirector]

tbh I think that speaks to a big problem in the video game industry if whole hairstyles can come in and out of style by the time a game is released

[@Trillclipsandrants]

​@@VinTheDirector I mean if you want a video game that's made properly it's gonna take time so..... 🤷🏿‍♂️

[@TheJarlath9]

I love the hair though instead of a afro and in tekken 8 atleast u can get a clean fade i hope they keep going everything is better than a random fro or a buzzcut without a fade

[@VinTheDirector]

@@Trillclipsandrants that's the problem imo, it used to be that "takes time" meant somewhere from 1-2 years, then 3... now it's taking a whole generation to put out a game that's considered high-quality. Imagine if when the PS6 comes out we suddenly start to see broccoli haircuts and mom jeans everywhere? also it means we get a lot less original AAA games now, and a lot more remasters and remakes, sometimes for games that are less than 5 years old even (such as Spiderman and The Last of Us)

[@DairunCates]

​@@Trillclipsandrants Meanwhile, indie and AA fans are sitting here and eating good with new games with refreshing ideas that take like 3 years tops to make and DON'T require exploiting unskilled tradeschool workers that will be laid off right after the release (regardless of success) for a tax break. But apparently a game not having raytracing is a bigger sin to some people and is worth getting less games with less new ideas.

[@SSJ_EWGF]

Xenoblade, Splatoon, and now black people, what other minority group is my man going to turn against him next?😭🙏

[@giganticmoon]

YESS

[@Kai_Ri_]

Next video: Why Bisexuality is OVERRATED /j

[@brogoyle]

sonic fans truly are the most oppressed people (has not played a sonic game since mania and black knight)

[@Seoul_Soldier]

@@brogoyle Sonic and the Black Knight was lowkey a great game.

[@Alban_Blade_Memer]

​@@Kai_Ri_he made a gay fire emblem video... so no... Trans poeple however....

[@Vicvillon]

broke down laughing as soon as the foamstars talk started. thank you Astro

[@SSB4ShulkArchive]

Smash Bros player haircut LMAO It's so true tho when you point out the Mii maker having more options than modern games. I'm judging games HARDCORE when they got options for stuff like face dirt or chin sliders but can't give more than 3 or 4 black hairstyles. ESPECIALLY they've got 20+ flavours of long flowing type 1 hairstyles. Could easily ditch a quarter of those and nobody would notice. It also kind of reminds me of how when Baldur's Gate 3 was in beta development apparently they looked at the analytics of the create-a-character and the statistically average character people made was literally like a PS3 third person shooter protagonist. In a game where you can be a goddamn reptile if you want.

[@wulfski]

I mean, making Generic White Dude as a Fighter with a Longsword is kind of a meme in and of itself, albeit one mildly soaked in the "slightly racist and therefore based" mindset.

[@yoshisarethebomb]

Similar thing with birthmarks (not moles, but rather birthmarks such as wine stain birthmarks) I found out that Cyberpunk 2077 has no birthmarks, yet you can customize your eye whites to be different colors. At least in the Switch version of Miitopia you could put a symbol in place of a birthmark

[@Jadestuck]

Miitopia is everywhere I go now what is happening?

[@EternalGuardian07]

The hairstyle didn't make WAVES with me until Eddy. It seems like devs were using this style to denote a young, rebellious, energetic character. Eddy, while using an energetic fighting style, is much more mature and disciplined than the average Killmonger Swoop wearer. That is when I felt like they were doing it just to chase a trend.

[@neonthunder3261]

I think everyone agrees that Eddy Gordon was where the line was officially crossed

[@falconeshield]

​@@neonthunder3261Prince of Persia dude came real close

[@bboykiddblack]

Youre one of those people who has to have something walk up and smack you in the fave before you see it huh lmao

[@CreationsFlare]

Yknow what? This controversy actually got people to show off all of the crazy hairstyles we could be doing. At first I hated the trend but if the Killmonger sidelocks end up as a permanent black hairstyle; that makes us go upto the base of 5. Im cool with the progression.

[@NeroMai]

Out of all the games that could have had diverse and creative designs for Black characters, it HAD to be Forknife? 😭 The Killmonger wig holding on for dear life is all of us right now.

[@DeBean970]

Makes sense. Multiplayer shooters thrive off of people paying ludicrous amounts of money in skins.

[@TinyLadyKris]

Ekko's thing is another case of it just being a skin. in the show he has the kilmonger haircut, but in the game, he has a mohawk, and you can get his look in the show as a skin. so it's the same shit, kind of.

[@Ajisnotherhere]

The Kilmonger hair is also the default hair for Ekko in the new fighting game ( 2XKO) that is coming out next year.

[@TinyLadyKris]

@@Ajisnotherhere h..... dang

[@BlaxkSun]

Well everyone isn’t a exact 1 for 1 of their LOL counterparts so there’s that

[@BlueRuki]

I think they're going with this look for Ekko in the new Riot fighting game 2XKO

[@falconeshield]

​@@BlueRukiWhen Ekko did it, it was a tribute. But now everyone does it.

[@shintucky]

Glad to see a measured take on this hairstyle. It feels like people bash it just because it's used a lot, and then call it out for merely existing. It looks fine, and we need more black hairstyles and more variations of existing ones in games. Like a WAVES and multiple types of lineups/nape variants for the buzzcut

[@FireGlitch]

Need? I mean, it's nice to have more hairstyle, but why is that considered a "need"

[@shintucky]

@@FireGlitch more options make for better player-made characters. More varied official characters allow for more interesting designs and even backstories. There's value is having a wide variety of.....everything in games, really. No one ever says "why do we need new weapons?" for each Ratchet & Clank game, or "why would we need new Pokemon?" because it's obvious why that's for the best. Not sure how this is any different.

[@Seoul_Soldier]

@@FireGlitch Because if everyone else is allowed to make characters with hair that looks like theirs, I'd like the same for me? Nobody ever says "why does Forza need more cars?" or "Why does this FPS need more weapons?" Like why is this even a question?

[@marcusclark1339]

its not measured, its fear the haircut is terrible and always just a performative virtue signal by devs that follow ESG firms that tell them to use it which is why so many have suddenly started using it

[@GrimDim]

This​@@marcusclark1339

[@FinalFroggie]

kinda off topic and not the point but like my biggest pet peeve is when they don't color our palms and soles. then my second biggest is when the lips are off (this has gotten better in the last 10 years or so). On topic though, I think the hatred for the killmonger cut is useful bc it at COULD at least get devs to think a little bit about their design choices because while black hair has gotten a bit better (like 4 hairstyles instead of just having to go bald) there is still significant room to grow (on average bc sometimes I do get the rare treat of having a game with hair options). also WAVES

[@ChaoSerenity]

Couldn't agree more on the palms and soles. Like why are my palms brown also, looking at you Elden Ring and Street Fighter 6.

[@TheGamingMalamutt]

9:02 i have absolutely NO BUSINESS losing my shit at this part because I'm also black and also old enough to when these were your "options" when it came to black hair especially in fighting character creators. Don't even get me started on "Create a Soul" from Soul Calibur 3. and 4. and 5. and broken destiny and let's just say Bandai namco still has some.. learning.. to do

[@junoestro]

you have perfected the text to speech voice its amazing

[@H2O_Malone]

i think he was going for the CHILLS tone

[@CatsLilaSalem]

I think he is going for the style of one old creator which made top lists, most famous for the foot lettuce meme

[@Hachi_Shibaru]

To be *fair* to Mii Maker! It did get a change…… in 2011 when the 3DS released. They added more hairstyles, facial features and some settings for those features. Then they kept that improved Mii Maker going forward into Wii U and the Switch. Not an incredible improvement, but it did go from 3 pages of hairstyles to 5 pages. And you could stretch/compress things like eyebrows, mouths, etc. Now on Switch, you can have literally any color of hair, not just the preselected ones.

[@VaskoGames]

Didn't expect to hear Koramora at the start of the video

[@TetanusSnowfall]

Calling me out with the "Smash Bros player haircut". What's a guy to do when he's trying to grow it out!?! I'm not trying to make waves.

[@makenovideos]

I’ve never met any other black person with this hairstyle irl. If it was prevalent irl as well it wouldn’t be an issue. like the boxcut was everywhere in the 80s-90s irl and in media so for the most part nobody had an issue with it.

[@Owen_005]

Had this sorta hairstyle/cut back in 2021

[@tyronechillifoot5573]

Actually I’ve met many they’re just locs swept to a certain angle

[@marcusclark1339]

cause its a virtues signal by ESG firms that only know killmonger and stereotype every black character as using it cause "ethnic haircut = representation" to them

[@betuna9487]

Here in MZ there's a lot people with the hairstyle

[@chidaluokoro9104]

I alway found this argument stupid because...so? I plenty of media has people with mohawk but I've never met some in irl with one

[@leolightfellow]

Waves. :) ... This is the best video I've seen on the subject. Thank you for making it. I watched a few other videos on this subject, and no one had anything more to criticize about the hairdo than just saying it's overdone. Just a bunch of ado about nothing. Also, yes, great point about how games take 2-5 years to make. That's something that seems lost on a lot of games journos. It's like some games journos think game developers should be able to predict where hairdo trends will be 5 years into the future.

[@a-ramenartist9734]

the smash bros player haircut💀💀

[@phoenixedge7763]

My issue with the hairstyle is that devs ignore other black hairstyles out there. Not because its popular. In nba 2k20 they do have some blackhair styles and leory smith had his own set locs when he was first released in tekken 7 and he was really popular at the time but nobody copyed his hairstyle.

[@snowballeffect7812]

this channel making waves, yo. W A V E S .

[@Polychromatic8]

Norman Osbourne type W A V E S

[@ndaeman]

it's a sad time when you got to be Fortnite to have the most diverse black haircuts & waves 😔

[@stanleylee3329]

I was cool with it, until it showed up on Miles Morales. He went from the clean fade to…killmonger dreads??? That was upsetting. And then it showed up on Eddie Gordo as the default. And now we have a problem.

[@nTechnicolour]

Back in my day you picked one of the 3 crusty looking black hairstyles and liked it. Jk you picked bald or anime hair because the fro was either bad or comically large. And the cornrows never had the right texture so it just looked like the ones white girls have when they return from Cancun. Waves 🌊

[@mistrekirin]

Astro doing a Top Ten with the cadence of “Number 15 Burger King Foot Lettuce” had me dying. I had to wave to my EMT-trained wife so they could resuscitate me

[@DerpeyGnome]

Another peak video as usual. As a black guy in a predominantly black area never seen someone with these in my life 😭

[@nicholashayes5773]

I've never seen anyone with Cloud Strife's hair either, but no one complains. Why is it Asians and Whites are allowed to have crazy hair in video games but for some reason when it comes to blacks everything has to be steeped in "realism?"

[@frensyjean-louis3726]

I kinda see your ponit man it's a game so I would like crazy cool hairstyles

[@gimmeyourrights8292]

​@@nicholashayes5773 because the Killmonger cut is just a lazy attempt at establishing a character as "punk." But when everyone's doing it, it's not punk.

[@chewdoom8415]

​​@@nicholashayes5773 So you gave an example of cloud when it is from a popular series made by a Japanese developer in a country whose population has developed various subcultures because of their love different elements of pop culture and various cultures and influences? You say the same thing when you see anime and manga? They know what their audience wants Same with whites. Now whether or not the main issue is valid is one thing since I am not familiar with all of these games, but the criticism seems to be aimed at how the default or sole character design for various black characters in the past couple of years are all based on killmonger, and this and the lack of options in some games show a lack of representation of the various hairstyles within black culture.

[@shakeilg]

Ur unmatched bruv. truly making waves everytime you drop

[@giganticmoon]

then miles morales came.

[@murtaqueixosa6355]

bro you look SO GOOD in this video, the suit & tie & gloves & chain combo is everything!! 💜also the video was GREAT and very funny but also very informative as usual 🌊

[@Sadeyo1]

Waves I'm a mix person and finding my own hairstyle can be rough in video games. To keep it smooth and simple without screwing you guys up, we'll say half black and half white. Imagine trying to find curly hair for a male that's never on a woman. I get the struggle, but I'm not one to blow it out of proportion. Funnily enough I have seen those two images floating around on the web.

[@andymcclurg9916]

The Chills impression was appreciated

[@Vyn0m0us]

Captain Astronaut truly making waves out here

[@12DAMDO]

while you are right about the history behind it, Miles needs to chill with his yeeyee ahh ending suit

[@Owen_005]

The industry should be better but honestly I much prefer these sorta styles than the boring ass black best friend buzzes and fros I saw in cartoons and video games growing up There’s so much you can do with type 4 and 3 hair it’s insane so the industry should do better since we all pay the same price so we should all have an equal and uncompromising experience (no more 15 type 2 and 1 hairstyles and 5 type 3/4 hairstyles)

[@marcusclark1339]

nah, i'd take a million low cut haricuts than this performative killmonger cut done for ESG reasons cause they think "ethnic haircut = representation" that's why its suddenly everywhere

[@WillTheGreatest]

Yeah its more a timing thing. All the different games coincidentally dropped throughout the last few years. Ive never had beef with it cause i got my locs cause of killmonger in the first place lol but i am here for MORE hairstyles beyond it like that fortnite video shows

[@Maxusdadream]

Waves as every month is black history month

[@eazybuxafew]

Hold up bro in the montage after Elden ring was WAVEY!!! 🏄🏾 6:38 it’s like me in real life. No facial hair and all 😢 Also DIVERSIFY YOUR BONDS!

[@ThatSneakman]

We're gonna get Broccoli hair in Steve Fox in Tekken 9 aren't we? God that cut makes me miss the man bun

[@iCeeYouP]

This entire argument falls apart because Waves, a popular Black American hairstyle to this day, have been around for decades yet not in media like that.

[@hypotheticaltapeworm]

Oh damn this upload is FRESH out the oven.

[@stale_cheeto]

Thought you were gonna spout BS but I ended up agreeing with you in the middle of it lol

[@ezequielschlaen5992]

This video transmitted me with the good waaavess

[@DonutSwordsman]

Hey, it's a cool hairstyle with lots of variety. As an artist, it's even super fun to draw lol

[@afiffarakhan4992]

Bro's done his research, let him cook

[@thenerdlog1602]

The strength of the killmonger cut is that a game engine can represent it as a handful of cylinders/cones with a hair texture for relatively low cost. It's sort of like the afro in that sense, just a shape with hair texture that can be easily added into a game, but coding the physics for an afro is much harder than the killmonger cut. Expect to see more of this cut in place of the afro in future games

[@leootp22]

This was a nice breakdown of the topic. I hadn't thought about it from the development standpoint but definitely agree that is awesome to see more black hairstyles in games making waves!

[@BloodNobleofSoD]

I guess a way better argument is just the ponytails after L4D came out. Zoey having a ponytail and it working with physics was so revolutionary that I don't remember seeing a girl without a ponytail other than cortana in any video game when i was younger. Now that people can animate more than 2 ponytails at once, dreads make sense. I think it's just kind of a double whammy when you have a stereotypical character and it's also written/received poorly. Like imo K'sante is just someone's OC good guy version of Killmonger, flat out. In the same way Gragas is Fat Bastard from Austin Powers, and how Jayce is just Chad with a Hammer. All these characters stick out as being kind of extreme stereotypes and that's not really bad because there's always going to be things like that everywhere, it just means you have to build it up and make people see them as more than just their appearance but for what the character is and can be. Ekko is a great example of that because in Arcane his original Undead Rogue hairstyle would not fit under a hood and mask, so his hairstyle looks good and makes sense. That's not to say Gragas, K'sante, or Jayce don't make sense but that there's no context for them to make sense as to why they are the people they are. That being said, there's plenty of just bad use cases where it's like "ok by why dreads?" and it makes all of the killmonger hairstyles look worse as a result, just like how every good use case makes it look better. Maybe we're just in that turbulent in-between where there's an equal good to bad uses and so both sides have merit in complaining and rooting for the use of the hairstyle. Waves

[@Nspark9001]

“Put the fursona on screen” massively underrated line lmao

[@squid24736]

I hope this one makes waves

[@Chronoxtriggers]

Ahhh, that puts context a bit better. I really thought it was just California chasing that desirable young black hair style like it's a meme.

[@Bobcat-HD]

FINALLY SOMEONE! THANK YOU!!!!

[@Bobcat-HD]

Also I play league 😂

[@Hiya8partyz]

Excellent PSA Senator

[@BackwardOutofDusk]

Lmao, I saw the killmonger hair image on Twitter. I'm so glad Bangalore being on there twice was just a bit 😅

[@bradyonetta]

honestly i think Eddy's new outfit is more offensive than his Killmonger cut lmao great video as always Captain!

[@draco2351]

10:45 Ya got me there 😂. This video better make waves in the algorithm

[@shufdog]

Captain Astronaut once again proving that he has the most reasonable and non-reactionary takes on highly contentious subjects. I never saw the issue with the haircut

[@JetLagRecords]

Captain Astronaut, You're amazing! I hit the like button as soon as I saw it!

[@splish8869]

You’re not wrong about it showing effort, and in some areas it looks good, but adding one new diffident style bringing 3 hairstyles to 4 and using those four everywhere to meet a bare minimum of showing some effort isn’t good enough

[@Timquan.]

Im glad u made this video. I never really had a problem with the hairstyle and was actually getting annoyed about the fus about the hairstyle because of the lack of options i grew up with when it came to black hair customization

[@charleslonon9207]

I remember when Ludacris had cornrows, now that fool is rockin' waves

[@matttran7161]

Waves. I'm so happy to check back in on this channel to see it break 100K.

[@Phantosification]

I like Miles' new suit, but even I think having a hole at the top scalped off just to show his hair was... an idea that somebody had.

[@franciscop9009]

Sargon is not persian, hes a royal guard hired to find the lost prince. And yeah the game is great :)

[@Jolfgard]

1:25 Exaggerated Swagger!

[@gimmeyourrights8292]

The hair feels like the devs are trying too hard to go for that spunky rebellious look, but I just think there's more ways to communicate that than the Killmonger cut.

[@shadowcatderek]

Another banger. You're making waves in this industry!

[@lucasjuliard4929]

Waves. Let's extend Black History month to March! February is waaaay too short😤

[@Shizkeb]

I can clean entire bathrooms with those things

[@Ahmonza]

as a half black guy trying to find hairstyle in a character creator of game is near impossible, I have yet to have seen a cut with even mix of straight and nappy curly hair. same thing with faces. character creators that let you make the most monstrous looking fools have a lot of flexibility and can help get the look to wear I want to go but only almost on target. id imagine thats mostly the case for a lot of mixed folk trying to match there appearance. I dont expect every game to be made special just for me (thats crazy), id just appreciate the flexibility because sometimes I want to make a paleolithic man loves caves and making fires.

[@2723Xonk]

That suit was crazy!!! I’m going to have to copy that for a wedding I’m going to soon!

[@MundoSD]

Fuck yeah Nagoriyuki!

[@Yadoshichan]

🌊 Also, give yo auntie her ponytail piece byke, she gon whoop you. Thank you for your upload magic as always

[@RruinerR]

You got me with the music. (waves)

[@lewisgrant7622]

So something I just noticed the armor he wears is essentially a homage to vegeta

[@pyrrhicvictoly]

In defense of Sargon, the Persian empire did contain parts of northern Africa for much of history. The empire was multi-racial, so it's not inconceivable that Sargon could be mixed race. There are historical statues of Persian emperors sporting curly afro-like hair, and braided hairstyles existed too. For example, the Yazidi and Bedouin peoples traditionally braided their hair.

[@GeorgeMarionerd]

Your comedy style is making waves

[@thoughtfulfreespace]

I remember trying to grow waves when I was younger, that was *the* thing. This was a great video, I know for me I only see the prevalence of the hairstyle (I also know no one with it) and not when certain games might have introduced it. I do agree it's nice that generally there are more styles nowadays so yay technology.

[@Juice8767]

I know people haven’t been cracking on the killmonger swoop but I think it looks dope af 🤷🏽 If I could rock it I would but my curls just aren’t that tight 🥲

[@speechruin]

your argument was well constructed and your suit looks fantastic, its a shame you're going in for life Mr. Astronaut.

[@sleepinstarss]

I just KNOW they didn’t hook my boy Miles up with the peas and rice cut 😭

[@oafkad]

Huh, I did not notice his hair had changed. How did I miss that? It is like my mind replaced his old hair with his new hair. Also yeah, it was a little wild that he did exactly what Jameson accused Peter of. He went out and made a new costume in the middle of people dying and being kidnapped.

[@oafkad]

I feel like that court section was absolutely flawless. Totally agree. Lots of hair styles is great. And frankly, my hair always looks like ass, not about to judge folks hair.

[@LooseAsADEUCE]

Maybe it's my age but having lived through the days of the buzz cut/afro/children of the corn I am grateful for another cut. We couldn't even get waves back in the day. Sure games need to continue to add more Black hair options but people acting like A) no one has that haircut in real life (they do) and B) that haircut is the worst thing ever need to just chill.

[@monkeymon81]

Now all we need is a great blade movie with waves for the next new hairstyle

[@darryljack6612]

This is one of those examples of correlation equating to causation.

[@Myrope]

Waves! Your videos are so fun!! I love your content, dude!

[@VisaCardholder]

This is a great video. You raise a lot of good points. I hope it makes waves!

[@KennyFrierson]

I don't mind Miles suit its just those gotdamn shoes that tank it

[@ender7278]

Not a video game but I feel like The Rise of Skywalker deserves a mention. Finn never had that hairstyle in the first two (which came out before or the same year as Black Panther) but suddenly has it in the last one.

[@spootytoots]

Waaaves! Love your humor and editing, keep it up!

[@lewa3910]

Waves. CaptainAstronaut is expecting too much to want a reasonable reaction from gamers about character designs.

[@junoestro]

really really good video god damn im wavesing rn and also splooging

[@Tykei]

Pause! What library? Waves! Waves!

[@johnathanrhoades7751]

I really enjoy each of your videos 😊 you have one of my wavorite commentary styles regarding video games here on the tube.

[@TheRealTera]

Waves. Wait till the next black character in a fire emblem game gets the same hairstyle.

[@az3429]

2:10 this part was mad funny lmfao

[@hatguyfan22]

WAVES! This is a good defense video. You do have a point, games take forever to make. I hope devs arent entirely discouraged from using that haircut. Its a great bottom/sub identifying haircut 😌

[@hb-wanderer5031]

Pretty chill and interesting take. Really making WAVES

[@Telimency]

this is just honestly a super cool haircut.

[@louisenash3675]

This channel is sooo underrated