Why hasn't Sabine ever changed her skin color?

[CaDzilla]

If she can take any humanoid form, why doesn't she also change her skin color?

[DaggerPen]

Most shapeshifters in fiction will have a "tell" of some sort so that the reader can recognize them across forms. I assume Sabine's skin tone is hers.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Also, that 'tell' may be more for us the readership than the folks in the comic.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

Also, that 'tell' may be more for us the readership than the folks in the comic.

Probably this. Although, I think she has changed her skin color before.

[Darth Paul]

She appeared as a geisha with a painted face in Azure City, but I haven't seen where she changed her skin color.

[NerdyKris]

If she can take any humanoid form, why doesn't she also change her skin color?

Why would she feel the need to?

[Socksy]

Most shapeshifters in fiction will have a "tell" of some sort so that the reader can recognize them across forms. I assume Sabine's skin tone is hers.

Zz'dtri keeps the same shape but changes his colours, and I think V is pinky-purple.

[factotum]

She appeared as a geisha with a painted face in Azure City, but I haven't seen where she changed her skin color.

She shape-shifted into the form of the geisha and we saw her do it, so the white face must have been part of the shape-shift, not some makeup she rapidly applied afterward.

As for why she doesn't do it more often--maybe it's easier to shift into different forms when she doesn't have to concern herself with stuff like changing skin colour?

[Morquard]

Or maybe it's her favorite skincolor and she simply sees no reason to change it.

But it's quite possible that the more she changes, the higher the effort on her part. See how her natural Succubus form and her go-to human form are nearly identical, just without the wings, horns and tail?

[Lizard Lord]

Or maybe it's her favorite skincolor and she simply sees no reason to change it.

But it's quite possible that the more she changes, the higher the effort on her part. See how her natural Succubus form and her go-to human form are nearly identical, just without the wings, horns and tail?

I figure that's because that is how she identifies herself. Despite being a shapeshifter she is comfortable with her natural looks and her go to human form is as close to that as possible.

[TheSummoner]

Why would she want to (assuming she could)? Because it would give her a wider range of options for her disguises. Always having the same skin tone is a pretty big disguise flaw if you're trying to blend in in a place where it's not a common skin tone (Azure City for example).

As for why she didn't? Probably just for viewer's convenience.

[DaggerPen]

She shape-shifted into the form of the geisha and we saw her do it, so the white face must have been part of the shape-shift, not some makeup she rapidly applied afterward.

As for why she doesn't do it more often--maybe it's easier to shift into different forms when she doesn't have to concern herself with stuff like changing skin colour?

Well, given that she often changes her clothes and hair color, I'm not sure I'd class changing her makeup without changing the base skin tone as changing her skin tone.

But anyway, I think it's just for the viewers' convenience, though the Giant has stated that part of the reason that she's multiracial is to allow her to blend into any human environment (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?110574-Why-are-all-black-women-in-the-comic-sluts/page3&p=6062407#post6062407).

[Graustein]

Why would she want to (assuming she could)? Because it would give her a wider range of options for her disguises. Always having the same skin tone is a pretty big disguise flaw if you're trying to blend in in a place where it's not a common skin tone (Azure City for example).

As for why she didn't? Probably just for viewer's convenience.

Most of the societies in OoTS appear to be multiracial enough for her to not look terribly out-of-place without bothering to change her skin tone. Except Azure City, but that's the one (?) time when she did.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

I think I was thinking about the geisha earlier when I made my reply. Since it seems more likely she put on makeup, then I guess she has not actually changed her skin tone, unless there's another example out there.

[137beth]

Or maybe it's her favorite skincolor and she simply sees no reason to change it.



This one. There isn't any reason for her to change it, since people already have a hard time identifying her.

[factotum]

Since it seems more likely she put on makeup

As I said earlier, we saw her shift into the Geisha--check it out, it happens in the second panel of #377. She goes from her normal form directly into the white-faced form, there's no opportunity whatsoever for her to apply makeup there.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

As I said earlier, we saw her shift into the Geisha--check it out, it happens in the second panel of #377. She goes from her normal form directly into the white-faced form, there's no opportunity whatsoever for her to apply makeup there.

I think that if she can change the color and shape of her clothes she can apply makeup with the change.

[Graustein]

As I said earlier, we saw her shift into the Geisha--check it out, it happens in the second panel of #377. She goes from her normal form directly into the white-faced form, there's no opportunity whatsoever for her to apply makeup there.

Thanks, I was trying to remember when we actually see her change.

Something else to note though: under the makeup she's still dark-skinned (check out the back of her neck and her chest). So we've established that her shapechange ability covers clothing and accessories and other external cosmetics, but we still don't know for sure about her skin tone.

I think I'm in the "she doesn't want/bother to" camp, though.

[Keltest]

Im of the opinion that she doesn't simply because its one more detail to pay attention to that she doesn't need to. Perhaps if she shapechanges into something other than a human (such as a drow) it may become relevant, but humans, elves and dwarves at least all have various skin tones, and her current skin tone has not been shown to be unique enough to qualify as an identifying feature should she not change it.

Id imagine if she needed to imitate someone specific she could and would change her skin tone to match theirs, as well as her hair color, her eye color, and any birthmarks she can find.

[Bulldog Psion]

Dragons: color-coded for the adventurer's convenience.

Sabine: color-coded for the reader's convenience. :smallbiggrin:

[Pokonic]

Pure convenience, probably. There's presumably brown dwarves, given that Roy didn't question her dwarf disguise on sight, and there's little reason for her to change her skin color when blending in either means removing fiendish tells or simply putting on a set of armor. It's was probably helpful for Thog, too, if the sap had trouble figuring her shapeshifting out when they first met.

[NerdyKris]

Pure convenience, probably. There's presumably brown dwarves, given that Roy didn't question her dwarf disguise on sight, and there's little reason for her to change her skin color when blending in either means removing fiendish tells or simply putting on a set of armor. It's was probably helpful for Thog, too, if the sap had trouble figuring her shapeshifting out when they first met.

Durkon is dark skinned, so I'd say that's a pretty major example. Besides his family, there's a very dark skinned dwarf in the strip where Durkula feeds on Elan.

[DaggerPen]

Pure convenience, probably. There's presumably brown dwarves, given that Roy didn't question her dwarf disguise on sight

:durkon:: Aye, d'ye think so?

[TheSummoner]

Most of the societies in OoTS appear to be multiracial enough for her to not look terribly out-of-place without bothering to change her skin tone. Except Azure City, but that's the one (?) time when she did.

Which works most of the time... But you'd think directly after an encounter with Nale, seeing a guy who looks exactly like Nale talking to a strange woman with the exact same skin tone as Nale's shapeshifter partner (who has never been shown to change her skin tone) in a place where no one else has that skin tone might have been a red flag that something involving Nale might be going on. Then again, they've all been pretty blind about Durkula... Maybe they just failed a spot check.

I'm perfectly willing to accept that either Sabine can't change her skin tone or just doesn't because it's convenient for the reader (or can't because it's convenient for the reader if you want to get even more meta). My only point is that it's a major weakness in a shapeshifter's disguise... Either when trying to remain inconspicuous in a place where that skin tone is rare or if she was trying to impersonate a specific person whose skin tone was different. Just for a bit of fun, imagine if Nale's plan in Cliffport reversed the roles for Nale and Sabine and for Elan and Haley... If his plan was to frame Haley and have Sabine infiltrate the order rather than frame Elan and do it himself... Things would fall apart pretty fast.

[ORione]

She's a shape-changer, not a color-changer.

[Chronos]

Yes, her skin color is always the exact same shade, as verified by people using RGB color-grabbing tools on the images. But how precisely can you tell that, just from human eyes, by looking at her? I've seen plenty of cases where Sabine's disguise was revealed, and people on the forums immediately said "Well of course it was her; look at the skin color", but I've never once seen someone point that out before the disguise was revealed. And that's with people who have days of leisure and can, if they want, use a computer tool to verify the precise color. Should we be surprised that the characters in the comic never notice?

[Socksy]

She's a shape-changer, not a color-changer.

That's a ridiculous yet perfect answer. Have cookies.:smallconfused::smallbiggrin:

[Lizard Lord]

Ok I have to ask, what is the difference between using your shapeshifting abilities to make it look like you have makeup on and using them to change your skin color (besides area of color change)? :smallconfused:

[Keltest]

Ok I have to ask, what is the difference between using your shapeshifting abilities to make it look like you have makeup on and using them to change your skin color (besides area of color change)? :smallconfused:

As far as ability to change your skin color (rather than willingness to)? None. But if she has some personal reason she doesn't want to change her skin color (not that I think its likely) she could maybe justify it to herself.

Of course, that assumes that she was only faking the makeup with skin color instead of making some actually appear. After all, she could change her clothes into things like armor. Why shouldn't she be able to add makeup?

[Jaxzan Proditor]

Of course, that assumes that she was only faking the makeup with skin color instead of making some actually appear. After all, she could change her clothes into things like armor. Why shouldn't she be able to add makeup?

This is what I assume she is doing, for pretty much those reasons. Also, I think that changing her skin to look like makeup wouldn't be as effective a disguise.

[Rodin]

"It doesn't matter" seems to be the best answer. To quote one Sir Pterry, "Racism was not a problem on the Discworld, because — what with trolls and dwarfs and so on — speciesism was more interesting. Black and white lived in perfect harmony and ganged up on green."

If it's your natural skin color and nobody bats an eye anyway, why change it?

[Socksy]

With the recent events concerning Tarquin and Nale, I'd keep an eye on Laurin. I still think Sabine is going to turn into her at some point, as soon as she's convinced the Order to steal that ring for her. That's totally what she wanted from V in exchange for the information, although just giving them the advantage would have been good enough.

[Kish]

It's interesting that she's never on-panel impersonated anyone who was known to the people she was fooling.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

With the recent events concerning Tarquin and Nale, I'd keep an eye on Laurin. I still think Sabine is going to turn into her at some point, as soon as she's convinced the Order to steal that ring for her. That's totally what she wanted from V in exchange for the information, although just giving them the advantage would have been good enough.

I think that Sabine would have trouble passing as Laurin since it would be difficult for her to replicate Laurin's psionic abilities. This is probably why Sabine prefers to represent relatively powerless characters (guards and the like).

[Keltest]

It's interesting that she's never on-panel impersonated anyone who was known to the people she was fooling.

She impersonated a Blood guard who was apparently known to others as "steve" once.

[DaggerPen]

I think that Sabine would have trouble passing as Laurin since it would be difficult for her to replicate Laurin's psionic abilities. This is probably why Sabine prefers to represent relatively powerless characters (guards and the like).

Aside from that, if she did impersonate Laurin, then that would be the first time we saw her change her skin tone. Both Laurin and Amun-Zora (another common impersonation candidate) have skin tones that are several shades darker than Sabine's, so if she kept it the same it would be pretty obvious.

[KillianHawkeye]

She impersonated a Blood guard who was apparently known to others as "steve" once.

As far as this particular example goes, she and Nale had been lurking within the Empire of Blood for quite a long time by then. It is entirely possible that she "invented" the persona of Steve and joined the castle guards in that form for the purposes of long-term undercover activity rather than taking the place of an existing guard named Steve.

[Kish]

She impersonated a Blood guard who was apparently known to others as "steve" once.
One of the guards called him Steve and the other one said, "I didn't know his name was Steve."

[Keltest]

One of the guards called him Steve and the other one said, "I didn't know his name was Steve."
The fact that Steve was not known by name to every guard in the palace does not disprove anything.

Kilian may have a point, but there isn't any more evidence to that theory than the one that she simply use the appearance of a guard she remembered.

[137beth]

That's a ridiculous yet perfect answer. Have cookies.:smallconfused::smallbiggrin:

What color are the cookies? If they are the same color as Sabine, than they might be Sabine shapeshifted into cookie form!

[Keltest]

What color are the cookies? If they are the same color as Sabine, than they might be Sabine shapeshifted into cookie form!

I cannot imagine that ending well for Sabine under any circumstance :smalleek:

[allenw]

I cannot imagine that ending well for Sabine under any circumstance :smalleek:

That's how she'll get Tarquin!
Unless he has Cold Iron or Good dentures or fillings, him biting her cookie-form won't hurt her at all; but being in his mouth should be close enough to an "act of passion" or "kiss" for her Energy Drain to take effect. Then she just has to hope that he fails his save on the Suggestion effect to keep on nibbling.

(Out before the "Of COURSE Tarquin would have Cold Iron fillings!" argument starts.)

[137beth]

That's how she'll get Tarquin!
Unless he has Cold Iron or Good dentures or fillings, him biting her cookie-form won't hurt her at all; but being in his mouth should be close enough to an "act of passion" or "kiss" for her Energy Drain to take effect. Then she just has to hope that he fails his save on the Suggestion effect to keep on nibbling.

(Out before the "Of COURSE Tarquin would have Cold Iron fillings!" argument starts.)

He won't because he isn't expecting Sabine's revenge (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0914.html)!

[Bulldog Psion]

Then she just has to hope that he fails his save on the Suggestion effect to keep on nibbling.


I find this sentence to be inordinately hilarious. :smallbiggrin:

[Socksy]

I cannot imagine that ending well for Sabine under any circumstance :smalleek:

There are so many vulgar comments coming to mind involving succubi and getting eaten...

[grandpheonix]

Cuz shes sexy that way.

[DaggerPen]

I find this sentence to be inordinately hilarious. :smallbiggrin:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/images/smilies/oots/sabine.gif: How do you like your meal now, ****?

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g68/Cats_Are_Aliens/Banners/Tarquin.png: I'm finding it, uh, filling but the portions are too, um... small?

[137beth]

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/images/smilies/oots/sabine.gif: How do you like your meal now, ****?

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g68/Cats_Are_Aliens/Banners/Tarquin.png: I'm finding it, uh, filling but the portions are too, um... small?

If Sabine informed Tarquin that she had had the same conversation with Roy, that would really annoy Tarquin.
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g68/Cats_Are_Aliens/Banners/Tarquin.png:How dare you compare me to that insignificant side-hero?!?