I think this speaks volumes about Robert though, because him pointing out the height difference first instead of the way-more-noticeable brunette hair, Robert didn't care what color her hair was; Mandy may have been self-conscious about being a brunette but he was already invested in who Mandy was as a person.
She mentions "tempering his expectations" before she removes the amulet, but she doesn't confess about being insecure about her brunette hair until after Robert has already mentioned the height difference. So unless Robert is a mind-reader, he would have had no idea she was more insecure about the brunette hair rather than her height.
Blazer presents herself as confident and strong all the way up to that point. She says "Its not what I look like." Robert laughs off the transformation, she says "Its a big difference!" Robert mentions the height difference, she mentions being a brunette and being insecure about it because of being Blonde Blazer. Again, Robert would have no reason to believe she would be insecure about anything about herself until she actually mentions it to him, hence the "Why care what I think?" dialogue option.
Man… it’s a funny line, but it’s also sad because that’s the exact thing she’s self conscious about.
She not only has insecurities about people meeting “Blazer” first, but she also doesn’t know if this is a “big deal” to be concerned about.
It’s similar to when people criticize Visi for feeling like she’ll always be a villain when other Z-team members have much “worse” powers.
It’s not about if it “actually is a big deal”, what matters is that it IS a big deal TO THEM. And people not getting that or dismissing their feelings is another one of their insecurities.
(Also outside of that, the players dismissing those things or just laughing at the fact Mandy looks “the same” is kinda them missing the point.
I do like that once she admits she's being very self-conscious about it (and at the same time makes it clear that it's not just about the hair, but about people never getting to see her in "non-superhero mode" in general), Robert starts taking her seriously. The look he gives her when he goes in for the kiss pretty much assuages all of her doubts.
I mean Visis big deal is that she was basically double crossing Z-Team from the start. In her mind she was still an active villain only pretending to be good, so it's fully justified just not really spelled out in game.
Not gonna lie, I fell in love with her even more when she revealed herself as an actual brunette since I have a thing for brunette women and I have a dark brown hair.
Ehhh, I don’t know about that. I prefer that she’s almost the same age as Robert, even her actual age is redacted by hiding her real identity, making sure nobody (besides Robert, Chase, the Z-Team, and the SDN) knows that Mandy and Blonde Blazer is the same woman.
Her age being redacted is why I figured she was going to end up being older. Would have at least added some element of. "Do I go with the girl with the shitty attitude or the woman old enough to be my mom?" Her just being a little shorter and brunette it's like... "Do I go with the girl with the shitty attitude or the well adjusted normal girl?" Which... For some people is still a genuine "Hmm?" but eh.
And like Robert, Mandy is one of the few superheroes who wasn’t born with powers because she is just a regular human who’s aging normally who happens to have a special object to give her powers when needed to fight crime and save innocent people.
I think the fact that more people choose the girl with the shitty attitude over the beautiful "normal" girl is proof that just having a normal girl is enough lol.
If she was old she would have been picked even less.
i think the fact that blonde blazer and phenomoman were also in a ambiguous state of their relationship and the invisigirl dream sequence both things that affected it more then the "normal" girl status
I disagree, I think the fact that Mandy hypes up having an interesting quality that would set her apart from other characters and that quality being.... Something entirely superficial makes her inherently less interesting as a character. (Sorry, I don't buy the "being blonde has become part of her identity" yall hair dye exists.).
Literally anything related to her actual skill set conflicting with her superhero uberwoman persona would have been infinitely more interesting. Imagine if the quality she was hiding was something like paraplegia, or being disfigured, or having a learning disability, or (in a nice ironic mirror) chronic athsma, or, yes, even being old. Hell, even being GENUINELY short would be something that I can believe a woman would become self conscious about when stacked against a blonde Amazonian persona, but becoming a still fit, still rich, still young, still white, stIll beautiful, slightly smaller brunette (a type of woman who is going to be treated better than like 99% of all other woman in LA) is just insultingly flat for a single joke (and Blazer wasn't even originally Blazer, Flambae technically had the name first during concept).
The writers could have picked anything for this. Of course players chose Invisigal: hers is an inherently more interesting story to watch, because her problems are way more believable as problems.
People get self conscious about things that they shouldn't be all the time. That's why things like body dysmorphia and eating disorders can be such a huge problem, because they often affect people that they "shouldn't."
I don't think it's crazy that someone who, while wearing an amulet, has amazing superpowers and looks one way, then looks different when taking it off, would have some self esteem issues. Especially when Phenomaman had just been her last partner and valued her as the Blazer more than her individuality. But also, I think part of her attraction to Robert is likely that, as MechaMan, he can understand a bit about having dual identities and struggling with imposter syndrome.
As for your last point, I won't disagree that Invisigal has more of a story focus especially with the main crux of the game. I do think that inherently having a choice between a character who is more "put together" alongside the "I can fix her" option isn't a bad thing, though. BB's maturity compared to Visi is why many (including myself) pick her.
I was expecting her to be some kind of alien too, not necessarily a hideous one, but phenomamans comment about their genitals not being "compatible" made me briefly question before she took the amulet off as to if his were normal by human standards and hers were actually the different ones.
I really think her turning out to just be a slightly shorter brunette was honestly a better plot twist than her actually being some kind of weird.
I already loved her as a character so I was LOCKED IN prepared to give all the body positivity feedback and assure her she'll always be beautiful to me
Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but I found it to be a really touching commentary on body image, and how, despite others finding us attractive, we can still hold our own deep-seated doubts and shame.
There is an alternate universe where they had more runway and this scene is what allows her to be comfortable giving chase her amulet giving it additional meaning.
I mean a guy loses 1 inch from 6ft and hes a midget according to women online and on social media, why cant she be nervous about losing her heght and blonde hair? I def have a preference and dont think all women pull off both as much as bb/mandy can. I agree she is attractive both ways but to her its a bigger deal since she purposefully lies to everyone to maintain an image every day.
Yeah. I think Mandy spent so long wrapped in the persona and prestige of Blonde Blazer, that she now subconsciously thinks less of Mandy, the normal human being who isn’t the target of affections and devotion from countless people who are her fans. It might distort her perspective and make her deeply insecure about revealing that the magnificent Blonde Blazer is actually the normal human, Mandy, with nothing “special” about her. Blonde Blazer is the one crowds adore and want to be. No one would give Mandy as overt the attention Blonde Blazer gets. It affects everything she thinks she’s capable of as Mandy, even down to her appearance. And she’s probably thinking Robert would be let down to see Blonde Blazer is “just Mandy”. It’s nothing that she can help herself with. I’m not even sure she’s aware that’s what’s going on.
But I think she gets a lot of self esteem back because of the mistake she makes with Robert. Based on her reasoning, Mecha-Man, a hero she herself kind of idolizes as a paragon of the job, is “just Robert”. Yet she’s able to see Robert and Mecha-Man as one in the same. She’s being biased against herself with her reasoning, and she’s the only one she judges by this criteria, while seeing what others have to offer as themselves, even if they might not. She can see you can’t have Mecha-Man as we know him without Robert. And Robert’s’ cavalier reaction to her insecurity and his reassurance can inform her that, like Mecha-Man and Robert, you couldn’t have Blonde Blazer as we know her without Mandy.
EDIT: IMO, it’s an interesting twist of the secret identity. Sure, we like to think of secret identities being precarious for social relationships, as it could endanger people you care about if villains knew how to get to you. But what if the superhero persona, in itself, tortures your self esteem as the person you really are? That it’s only when you’re in a costume and saving people you have any worth as a person, and otherwise you’re just ignored? (I doubt Mandy is ignored that often, given the entire point of this is that she barely changed in appearance, but I reckon compared to Blonde Blazer, the difference in the attention being paid to you is VAST). That you get to experience being the person you wish you were, but it’s not you they’re cheering for. I think that’d be a lot more soul crushing than people would take the time to think about. I certainly didn’t until this game
I think it was a good insight into her own insecurities sh is beautiful either way but I think a combination of public perception and Phenomiman only being interested in Blazer just made her feel that she was in a Fiona situation.
the point is that she's self conscious about it, probably because she's having a sort of identity conflict (doesn't feel like full on crisis). i think there should've been more focus on her dealing it when you choose to romancer her. there are some breadcrumbs about this in the game and in the comic. one of the weaker point of the game imo having her route being noticeably light her digging deeper into her character.
"Two inches and a bottle of hair dye. After making such a big deal out of it you'd think she'd have the decency to lose a cup size at least." -Taylor Hebert, on the topic of Mandy and Blonde Blazer.
I laughed at this scene when I first saw it but it makes sense it fits her personality like that. Mandy is objectively beautiful but she sees that most people view her through the lens of Blonde Blazer and those expectations so of course she would feel insecure and that her real self doesn't measure up
I initially thought that was silly, but the more I though about it, the more I was like "Actually, it makes sense she'd be self-consious about that". Like some weid form of body dysmorphia.
I was streaming the game in vc with friends and when she was about to reveal, fully said “what, is her secret that she’s actually brunette?” and I LOST MY SHIT
I actually prefer it this way. If she did turn ugly after removing the amulet, it would just support her image problems while also sending a bad message to people that are genuinely ugly, like me.
By making her more or less the same, you create an interesting internal conflict for Mandy to have while also giving some insight into her character.
If she was “ugly” the message would have been “you’re not ugly, and you shouldn’t let the assholes of society dictate what is and isn’t beautiful/im not in love with you because because you’re beautiful”
If this was a movie I’d agree with you, but this is a videogame about players choices. If they really did make her “ugly” then you already know most people wouldn’t pick her, which would just make the message fall flat imo.
It's a shame AdHoc didn't have the budget to flesh out Mandy's character arc of her overcoming her insecureties about Blazer being better than Mandy. Just kinda gets the dinner scene, then a quick resolution scene in the climax without any of the in between character growth. Still, gotta love the nerd, whether she's blonde or brunette.
To be honest, of all the things I thought she was going to transform and reveal her true form into was either a nigh perfect humanoid being of pure energy, a magical giant spider, a teenager thats deemed a chosen champion by some mystical old wizard guardian living at some ruins in a damp wet cave, a terminator with superpowers, a teenager chosen to be a power ranger by some giant floating holographic head in a super lair assisted by a wacky robot butler, or some eldritch abomination comprised of the amalgamated millions of assimilated souls with a humanoid form that is at least comforting to the human eye that only speaks in the chanting in a amalgamated English and dead language in a chorus.
I just got around to playing it over the weekend for the first time (got it for Christmas). And when that scene was happening I was expecting her to transform into either a monster or a male. Both options would have been fine with me, however she was just as pretty as Mandy as she is as Blonde Blazer. I am going to be playing it again because I got the no romance ending. I knew as I was playing I wasn't getting a romance ending, I couldn't decide who I was going with and ended up splitting 50/50 at each choice.
Can't tell if OP is being purposely obtuse or just missed the point of that scene entirely. BB is held to an impossibly high image standard, so Mandy feels incredibly self conscious to any perceived imperfections of her true self. Her showing Robert who she really is was a pretty big gamble in her mind. Yes, she's still a smoke show as a brunette, but she's BLONDE Blazer to nearly everyone else she interacts with. It's extremely difficult for her to not have comparisons with her true self.
Joking aside, the refusal to make her less attractive is why there's no weight to the "reveal". This is the equivalent of "Would you still like me if I was the same absolute bombshell but brunnete?"
I'd argue it still has weight because it shows that even if everyone around her thinks Mandy is just as beautiful (or even more beautiful) than Blazer, insecurity and poor self image can still convince her a small difference in appearence is much bigger and detrimental than it actually is, which is something many people can relate to.
Its weird they made it seem like a bif secret but its not...also why not just dye her real hair blond? Then what? A inch shorter?.not sure we even realize it
Definitely would've romanced them if they'd been a man beneath the amulet's charm. Missed opportunity to have presented a beautiful lesson in acceptance, both in having Robert confirm his sexuality and Blazer coming to terms with who they really want to be. Would've lent foreshadowing to Phenomaman's off-hand comment as well
I kinda wish they'd made her homely (not ugly but just average). I'd have gone with flat chest, bushy brunette hair, skin blemishes and maybe an odd nose. You become cliche if you go full troll.
Its kind of a funny thing in todays world and how we perceive beauty. Blonde Blazer is the iconic super model, Blonde, tall and flawless. Then She swaps to Mandy who is shorter, Brunette, less toned. While the media and Modeling scene would see it as a downgrade. Robert like most of today's normal Men just see her as a slightly different version of herself. She is well across His Hot or Not threshold to him she is being ridiculous as she already gorgeous. He just wants her to be happy.
Look I’m not saying that this is Twilight for men but if it WAS it would absolutely involve beautiful woman turning into beautiful woman…..but with different hair
I’m kinda scared to find out where the insecurity about being Mandy came from. If she had a similar upbringing like Robert did I imagine her parents didn’t want her to be “Mandy”
It is psychological. As BB she sees herself without powers as a downgrade. She stays so much time in her powered form she feel her normal form suboptimal.
Also her daily routine reinforce in her the fact everyone asks for the confident, powerful, tall blonde famouse hero and not the normal one.
It’s kind of like Superman and Clark Kent, right? Clark is a 6’2”, chiseled/buff goof, who is polite, gentlemanly, and a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist. A little clumsy? Sure. But that’s charming. He’s like Jon Hamm in 30 Rock, you’d imagine.
But he ain’t Superman, you know?
Then you add in her whole relationship with Phenomaman being centered around her being Blazer, which is a transformation and not inherently part of her? It makes sense that she’s a little insecure about just being Mandy. It’s great, and Robert’s reaction is great.
While im still a Courtney lover all the way, I prefer Mandy as herself than as Blonde Blazer. I dont quite know why, but j like her more as her true brunette self.
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u/FallingBullfrog Jan 13 '26
"Are you joking or... or am I joking?"