Fate is the fucking dumbest and I had a low-grade aneurysm when Lottie asked Avicebron why he looks the way he does because why does he look the way he does.
I know Servants are supposed to take the appearance that represents the pinnacle of their history/legend, but Avicebron is so fucking divorced from any possible image of the historical Solomon ibn Gabirol that his appearance has to be caused by something other than just being a Heroic Spirit. (Interestingly, his first draft design might have been closer to what a purely Heroic Spirit-ified version of him might have looked like. Ototsugu Konoe notes 'Avicebron-sensei's design lacked impact, so I remade his design to be more aggressive.' Also lmao look at beta Achilles' shorts.)
Then, it's probably safe to assume that Avicebron looks like a mostly-regular (scarred, limbless???) person under his armor, and all the tacky bling-blang is of his own design.
His mask, at least, is confirmed to be worn by choice, given what he says in Fate/Apocrypha vol. 3:
“I despise humanity. I weary of this world. I abhor seeing eye to eye with anyone to the point of donning a mask. I cover my entire self in all my sickness. How did you possibly reach the conclusion that I would not plot to betray you?”
It's probably by design that his mask has no features, since (before his F/GO incarnation, at least) he loathed the prospect of having to meet another person's gaze and the mask's featurelessness makes it easier for him to be aloof. Of course, there's also the base assumption that he doesn't particularly like being stared at for his skin condition. I can't identify if the engravings/pins(?) on the mask are actual symbols for anything, but they're visually similar to the simplified versions of the Tree of Life often used in Kabbalah, so that seems close enough.
Which leaves ... the rest of that hot fucking mess. And honestly, I have to assume that it's a combination of utility, aesthetics, and deliberately wanting to distance people.
Assuming his limbs are all artificial, there are certain aspects that seem at least mostly practical. The metal ring around his shoulder, the peg/circular joint at the exterior of his shoulder and the metal plate at the exterior of his elbow seem mostly protective, and possibly positioned to hold the limb together. I have to assume the metallic circle at his palm is some sort of magical conduit. The plate/rock(?) outer portion of his thighs seems to protect the inner portion and his pelvis joints, while the weird baggy kneesocks(???) leave the knee joint exposed so it doesn't snag the fabric. I assume the gear-looking portions of metal at his pelvis and just above the knee are where the limbs can be pulled apart for repairs or whatever.
Aesthetics-wise, all the gaudy gold bullshit is probably just because it looks 'good'??? The triple-eye symbol at his chest, at least, seems to be building off the evil eye/hamsa symbolism. The additional metal bands across his arms don't seem to serve much purpose? And I ... I've got fucking nothing for why he has random metal rings hanging off the back of his cloak and the back of his 'feet.' What a fucking disaster.
Which leaves aspects of his design that I'm going to assume were deliberately crafted to ward people off. Most obvious would be the shoulder-spikes, which serve as a physical barrier to force most people to keep a bit of distance. Additional pointy bits like his knife-feet and the pointy claw-gloves further enforce the image of being untouchable. (Though arguably, the knife-feet do add a few inches to his height. Who knows, maybe he wanted to at least be above 160cm.)
Even if his F/GO incarnation is actively trying to be less aloof and misanthropic, he never does fully get over his hatred for people, so I think it never occurs to him to change his appearances (if it's even possible). That said, he's shown wearing other outfits sometimes: Apocrypha epilogue event, Burning Live Seat CE, Escape from the Pyramid. I guess he favors more billow-y clothes (esp. taking his usual voluminous cloak into consideration), and always covers himself as much as possible.
ANYWAY IN CONCLUSION: PLEASE GOD SOMEBODY GIVE HIM A MAKEOVER.
Rambly bullshit aside, here's my assumptions for how his outfit breaks down on a practical level
- Base: a skin-tight bodysuit, with holes for the 'ports' for his prosthetics, mostly protective and/or a safety measure to make sure his skin's all completely covered
- On top of that, a sort of weird corset/chest-plate??? thing. Some people seem to assume the striped portion of his trunk is just covered in fabric, but (EXASPERATED SIGH) the way his hips are drawn seems too flared-out and structured for that, I think. This would also explain the weird ... lewd, sharp angle at the small of his back. Goes from high up on his throat down to his groin, fastens in the front with the buttons.
- Leg prosthetics attach at the pelvis with something that looks similar to a ball-joint. The outer casing to his thighs and the 'kneesocks' are removable. The leg can come apart just above the knee for repairs at such. Cold to touch. As for how he walks on his knife-feet ... I guess he just has really good core strength???
- Arm prosthetics attach at the shoulder. They're covered in the same material as his bodysuit, but are cold to touch beneath it. I assume they're more intricately made and don't come apart modularly like the legs do since they need to channel his magic.
- He has ports in his back he can materialize/dematerialize at will to attach his extra arms. Only used when necessary since it uses extra mana/Chroma.
- His cloak doesn't have any physical fastenings. It stays on by magic. I fucking hate it. He can make it appear/disappear at will.
- The fabric portion of his body armor(???) is pulled up all the way to his chin, sort of hooks above the ear, and circles around the back to just below the hairline.
- The mask doesn't actually seem to circle all the way around his head??? Presumably it's a package deal with his hat/helmet, or else how the fuck would this thing stay on. Regardless, the mask itself sort of has two parts: a lower/inner portion that covers from the chin up to just below the mouth, then an upper/outer portion that covers the full face. The upper portion is on a hinge that can swivel upwards, so he doesn't need to pull the full mask off if he wants to eat. (The F/GO Apo collab event seems to imply he can just ... eat through the mask somehow??? But that's so fucking stupid, please don't make me play that seriously.) His hat is just very stiff fabric. It's puffy to make room for his stupid fluffy unruly hair or something I guess.
- I think I actually lost more than a few braincells trying to figure this out.
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Re: Avi's appearances
I know Servants are supposed to take the appearance that represents the pinnacle of their history/legend, but Avicebron is so fucking divorced from any possible image of the historical Solomon ibn Gabirol that his appearance has to be caused by something other than just being a Heroic Spirit. (Interestingly, his first draft design might have been closer to what a purely Heroic Spirit-ified version of him might have looked like. Ototsugu Konoe notes 'Avicebron-sensei's design lacked impact, so I remade his design to be more aggressive.' Also lmao look at beta Achilles' shorts.)
Then, it's probably safe to assume that Avicebron looks like a mostly-regular (scarred, limbless???) person under his armor, and all the tacky bling-blang is of his own design.
His mask, at least, is confirmed to be worn by choice, given what he says in Fate/Apocrypha vol. 3:
It's probably by design that his mask has no features, since (before his F/GO incarnation, at least) he loathed the prospect of having to meet another person's gaze and the mask's featurelessness makes it easier for him to be aloof. Of course, there's also the base assumption that he doesn't particularly like being stared at for his skin condition. I can't identify if the engravings/pins(?) on the mask are actual symbols for anything, but they're visually similar to the simplified versions of the Tree of Life often used in Kabbalah, so that seems close enough.
Which leaves ... the rest of that hot fucking mess. And honestly, I have to assume that it's a combination of utility, aesthetics, and deliberately wanting to distance people.
Assuming his limbs are all artificial, there are certain aspects that seem at least mostly practical. The metal ring around his shoulder, the peg/circular joint at the exterior of his shoulder and the metal plate at the exterior of his elbow seem mostly protective, and possibly positioned to hold the limb together. I have to assume the metallic circle at his palm is some sort of magical conduit. The plate/rock(?) outer portion of his thighs seems to protect the inner portion and his pelvis joints, while the weird baggy kneesocks(???) leave the knee joint exposed so it doesn't snag the fabric. I assume the gear-looking portions of metal at his pelvis and just above the knee are where the limbs can be pulled apart for repairs or whatever.
Aesthetics-wise, all the gaudy gold bullshit is probably just because it looks 'good'??? The triple-eye symbol at his chest, at least, seems to be building off the evil eye/hamsa symbolism. The additional metal bands across his arms don't seem to serve much purpose? And I ... I've got fucking nothing for why he has random metal rings hanging off the back of his cloak and the back of his 'feet.' What a fucking disaster.
Which leaves aspects of his design that I'm going to assume were deliberately crafted to ward people off. Most obvious would be the shoulder-spikes, which serve as a physical barrier to force most people to keep a bit of distance. Additional pointy bits like his knife-feet and the pointy claw-gloves further enforce the image of being untouchable. (Though arguably, the knife-feet do add a few inches to his height. Who knows, maybe he wanted to at least be above 160cm.)
Even if his F/GO incarnation is actively trying to be less aloof and misanthropic, he never does fully get over his hatred for people, so I think it never occurs to him to change his appearances (if it's even possible). That said, he's shown wearing other outfits sometimes: Apocrypha epilogue event, Burning Live Seat CE, Escape from the Pyramid. I guess he favors more billow-y clothes (esp. taking his usual voluminous cloak into consideration), and always covers himself as much as possible.
ANYWAY IN CONCLUSION: PLEASE GOD SOMEBODY GIVE HIM A MAKEOVER.
Rambly bullshit aside, here's my assumptions for how his outfit breaks down on a practical level
- Base: a skin-tight bodysuit, with holes for the 'ports' for his prosthetics, mostly protective and/or a safety measure to make sure his skin's all completely covered
- On top of that, a sort of weird corset/chest-plate??? thing. Some people seem to assume the striped portion of his trunk is just covered in fabric, but (EXASPERATED SIGH) the way his hips are drawn seems too flared-out and structured for that, I think. This would also explain the weird ... lewd, sharp angle at the small of his back. Goes from high up on his throat down to his groin, fastens in the front with the buttons.
- Leg prosthetics attach at the pelvis with something that looks similar to a ball-joint. The outer casing to his thighs and the 'kneesocks' are removable. The leg can come apart just above the knee for repairs at such. Cold to touch. As for how he walks on his knife-feet ... I guess he just has really good core strength???
- Arm prosthetics attach at the shoulder. They're covered in the same material as his bodysuit, but are cold to touch beneath it. I assume they're more intricately made and don't come apart modularly like the legs do since they need to channel his magic.
- He has ports in his back he can materialize/dematerialize at will to attach his extra arms. Only used when necessary since it uses extra mana/Chroma.
- His cloak doesn't have any physical fastenings. It stays on by magic. I fucking hate it. He can make it appear/disappear at will.
- The fabric portion of his body armor(???) is pulled up all the way to his chin, sort of hooks above the ear, and circles around the back to just below the hairline.
- The mask doesn't actually seem to circle all the way around his head??? Presumably it's a package deal with his hat/helmet, or else how the fuck would this thing stay on. Regardless, the mask itself sort of has two parts: a lower/inner portion that covers from the chin up to just below the mouth, then an upper/outer portion that covers the full face. The upper portion is on a hinge that can swivel upwards, so he doesn't need to pull the full mask off if he wants to eat. (The F/GO Apo collab event seems to imply he can just ... eat through the mask somehow??? But that's so fucking stupid, please don't make me play that seriously.) His hat is just very stiff fabric. It's puffy to make room for his stupid fluffy unruly hair or something I guess.
- I think I actually lost more than a few braincells trying to figure this out.