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Twintelle

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Twintelle
Arms character
Twintelle as she appears in Arms
First gameArms (2017)
Created byKosuke Yabuki
Voiced byAdeyto
In-universe information
NationalityFrench

Twintelle (Japanese: ツインテーラ, romanized: Tsuintēra) is a character in the 2017 video game Arms by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. Unlike other playable characters in Arms, who fight using their arms, Twintelle fights using her hair. She is depicted as a femme fatale and a celebrity. The design process for her was more complicated than the others in Arms, as producer Kosuke Yabuki wished to consult Nintendo's American and European branches in an effort to represent people of different backgrounds and national origins.

She was first revealed in May 2017 Nintendo Direct, where she quickly became a fan favorite and a popular Black character in video games. Twintelle has been the subject of generally positive reception as early as her reveal, resulting in her being the subject of fan art. Yabuki was positively surprised by her popularity, which led to the designers adding her to a free demo of Arms.

Concept and creation

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Twintelle was first revealed during a May 17, 2017 Nintendo Direct.[1] She is a Black French person, and has dark brown skin and large, silver-and-pink pigtails.[2] French artist Adeyto was cast to voice her.[3] Unlike other fighters who use their arms, Twintelle fights using her hair.[4] Twintelle is depicted as a femme fatale, a confident, attractive woman,[5][6][7] and a famous, award-winning actress.[8] She, along with the rest of the cast in Arms, is regarded as a protagonist of the game by its producer.[9]

Arms producer Kosuke Yabuki described spending more time on designing Twintelle than on other characters in the game, contrasting her design which intentionally tried to be different with more straight-forward characters such as Ninjara. The initial concept only had one detail decided on, which was a character fighting with hair.[10] The design team wanted to represent different countries and backgrounds, leading them to reach out to staff at Nintendo of America and Nintendo of Europe to get ideas for a character from a different background, providing them sketches to help.[11][10] Yabuki designed her to have a muscular build.[12] He enjoyed the character, believing that characters like Twintelle were uncommon in Nintendo games, and was particularly happy to have made what he considers to be a strong female character.[12][11]

Appearances

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Twintelle first appeared in Arms as a playable character and one of the Grand Prix contestants.[1] Twintelle owns Cinema Deux, which is one of the stages where players can fight each other in Arms.[13] She later appeared in the 2018 video game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a Spirit, a form of collectible.[14]

Reception

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Since her appearance in Arms, Twintelle has received generally positive reception, which made producer Yabuki happy, though he was surprised by how popular she became.[10][12] Along with Min Min and Ninjara, Twintelle is often regarded as one of the most popular Arms characters by fans.[15][16] In a 2017 poll conducted by NintendoLife, Twintelle was ranked number one by readers as their favorite Arms fighter.[17] Twintelle's popularity led to Nintendo including her in Arms' "Global Testpunch," a free temporary online video game demo.[18] Critics, including Allegra Frank and Gita Jackson, suggested that her popularity was derived in part from her hair, outfit, attractiveness, and "calm, collected" personality.[1][16] Writer Xavier Harding felt that the amount of fanart of Twintelle suggested that she would prove to be a popular Nintendo character.[19] USgamer writer Matt Kim called her the "star of ARMS" and said he had "fallen in love" with her.[18] She has been suggested for inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate by critics, including Xavier Harding, Paul Tassi, Brian Shea, and Will Greenwald.[20][21][22][23] When Min Min, a fellow Arms character, was added to Ultimate as a DLC playable character, fans of Twintelle were disappointed and upset that she was not added instead.[24]

Reception towards her representation as a woman and as a Black person was mixed. Mic writer Tanya DePass was unhappy with Twintelle's design, criticizing the fact that she was a "brown, female character with weaponized hair." She compared the idea of "weaponized hair" to real-world discrimination against Black people for their natural hairstyles, suggesting that Twintelle's hair was part of a greater issue in video games with the handling of Black people's hair.[25] Paste Magazine writer Shonte Daniels responded to this article; Daniels felt the argument had merit, but exclaimed that Twintelle made her feel empowered. She felt that the character's hair deconstructed the idea of "weaponized hair," arguing that she "fights alongside it" instead of against it. She compared Twintelle to Black female athletes such as tennis player Serena Williams, who touched upon how she used to dislike her muscular body, but in time grew to love it due to how it has helped achieve her goals. Daniels argued that Twintelle has similar pride, and that she flaunts her hair in spite of criticism.[26] Daniels went on to name her as one of the best new video game characters in 2017.[27]

Alisha Karabinus, Assistant Professor of Writing and Digital Studies at Grand Valley State University, acknowledged that Twintelle had potential problematic elements, but felt that they are not insurmountable issues, and said the key issue is a lack of representation and that there should be more playable Black female characters in video games.[28] Nerd Much? writer Janet Garcia called Twintelle the most unique character design of the Nintendo Switch generation, praising her design as both "sexualized and empowered." She further discusses that Twintelle's sex appeal works in Arms because the other female characters are not sexualized. She added that Twintelle's backstory helps justify her sexualization and that it makes her seem "badass." However, she acknowledges that the femme fatale design that Twintelle incorporates is too commonly applied to women of color.[29]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Jackson, Gita (May 18, 2017). "Nintendo Fans Are Losing It Over Twintelle, ARMS' New Character". Kotaku. Archived from the original on September 26, 2018. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  2. ^ Bowling, Steve (May 17, 2017). "Preview: Going Some Rounds With ARMS on Nintendo Switch". NintendoLife. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  3. ^ @ARMS_Cobutter (June 29, 2017). "アナウンス： ARMSファイターたちの「声こえ」は、ご覧らんの皆様みなさまにご協力きょうりょく頂いただいています。お気きに入いりファイターの声こえをどんな方ほうが担当たんとうしているのか…チェックしてみてください！" (Tweet). Retrieved May 21, 2019 – via Twitter.
  4. ^ Little, Riley (June 11, 2020). "Which ARMS Character Is Joining Smash Bros Ultimate?". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  5. ^ "ARMs' Twintelle: Simultaneously Sexualized and Empowered". Nerd Much?. April 23, 2018. Archived from the original on October 26, 2020. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  6. ^ Arms: Hands-On with New Characters and Modes - IGN, 17 May 2017, archived from the original on October 27, 2020, retrieved October 25, 2020
  7. ^ Vacheron, Griffin (June 1, 2017). "ARMS Is like Wii Sports Boxing on Steroids, and That's a Good Thing [Hands-On Preview]". GameRevolution. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  8. ^ Gavin, Lane (June 19, 2020). "Poll: Which ARMS Fighter Should Join Super Smash Bros. Ultimate?". NintendoLife. Archived from the original on October 26, 2020. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  9. ^ Sakurai, Masahiro (June 22, 2020). "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – Mr. Sakurai Presents "Min Min"". Nintendo. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  10. ^ a b c McWhertor, Michael (March 26, 2018). "ARMS director Kosuke Yabuki on the past and future of the Switch fighting game". Polygon. Archived from the original on July 19, 2019. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  11. ^ a b McCarthy, Caty (April 5, 2018). "Nintendo on the Challenge of Post-Release Support, and More Tales of ARMS' Development". USgamer. Archived from the original on February 11, 2019. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  12. ^ a b c Hilliard, Kyle (June 7, 2017). "ARMS' Creators On Twintelle's Popularity And The Strange Lore Of The Game's World". Game Informer. Archived from the original on August 25, 2019. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  13. ^ Leedman, Robert (June 7, 2017). "Arms review". Stuff. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  14. ^ Lada, Jenni (June 19, 2020). "Super Smash Bros Ultimate ARMS Fighter Will Be Revealed on June 22". Siliconera. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  15. ^ Oxford, Nadia (June 20, 2017). "Nadia Highlights the Internet's Best ARMS Fanart". USgamer. Archived from the original on May 18, 2019. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  16. ^ a b Frank, Allegra (May 18, 2017). "ARMS already has its fan favorite in movie star Twintelle". Polygon. Archived from the original on October 23, 2018. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  17. ^ Calvert, Darren (May 19, 2017). "Poll: Who Is Your Favourite ARMS Fighter?". NintendoLife. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  18. ^ a b Kim, Matt (June 2, 2017). "Twintelle is So Popular Nintendo Put Her in the ARMS Global Testpunch". USgamer. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  19. ^ Harding, Xavier (May 18, 2017). "'ARMS' WOC character, Twintelle, is a fan favorite in less than 24 hours". Mic. Archived from the original on November 26, 2018. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  20. ^ Harding, Xavier (May 18, 2017). "'Super Smash Bros.' Nintendo Switch Characters: Twintelle from 'ARMS' needs to be included". Mic. Archived from the original on November 26, 2018. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  21. ^ Tassi, Paul (March 9, 2018). "Here's Who Should Join The Fight In Nintendo's 'Super Smash Bros. Switch'". Forbes. Archived from the original on March 12, 2018. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  22. ^ Shea, Brian (June 9, 2018). "10 Characters We Want To Debut In Super Smash Bros. For Switch". Game Informer. Archived from the original on August 7, 2019. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  23. ^ Greenwald, Will (March 14, 2018). "10 Female Fighters Who Should Be In The Switch Super Smash Bros". Geek.com. Archived from the original on May 31, 2019. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  24. ^ Adams, Robert N. (June 22, 2020). "Smash Ultimate's Min Min reveal surprises fans, upsets Twintelle stans". GameRevolution. Archived from the original on January 16, 2021. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
  25. ^ DePass, Tanya (May 22, 2017). "What Nintendo gets wrong with Twintelle, the new WOC fighter from 'ARMS'". Mic. Archived from the original on March 23, 2019. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  26. ^ Williams, Shonte (June 7, 2017). "Twintelle's Hair Is an Act of Resistance". Paste Magazine. Archived from the original on September 29, 2018. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  27. ^ Daniels, Shonte (December 13, 2017). "The Best New Game Characters of 2017". Paste Magazine. Archived from the original on May 18, 2019. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  28. ^ Karabinus, Alisha (September 10, 2018). "Playable Black Women in Games and Why the State of Decay Franchise Matters". Not Your Mama's Gamer. Archived from the original on July 8, 2019. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
  29. ^ Garcia, Janet (January 15, 2019). "ARMS' Twintelle: Simultaneously Sexualized and Empowered". Nerd Much?. Archived from the original on July 23, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
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