Lore-accurate Rock

[u/Skargeaux]

How I picture Rock. Most Rosharans have epicanthic folds, although most art I've seen doesn't picture them that way.

[u/avaud10]

I pictured him as a Big jacked Polynesian guy with long flowing hair like Troy Polamalu except ginger.

[u/SnorlaxGames → u/avaud10]

Exactlyyyyy. Idk why everyone characterizes him as a big Irish guy. I basically think of him as being the rock lol. Literally share a name

[u/tacowearsromans → u/SnorlaxGames]

Airsick lowlanders.

[u/BronBobingle → u/SnorlaxGames]

I think it’s just cause he has red hair but black redheads exist and I always pictured him black personally

[u/Skargeaux → u/BronBobingle]

Horneaters have pale skin. They're like a cross between Polynesian and Scottish.

[u/SnorlaxGames → u/Skargeaux]

Some of them are darker skin and some of them are lighter skin. Rock’s people are darker skin

[u/chalchihuitlicue → u/Skargeaux]

Yes but in Oathbringer Rock mentions that the people from his Peak are more tan. Syl even comments on that fact that Rock looks more pale after being out of the sun in Urithiru when he’s making stew on the Shattered Plains.

[u/khazroar → u/chalchihuitlicue]

That sort of suggests that it's a matter of literal tan rather than skin pigmentation though, no? Higher up in the atmosphere, like on the Peaks, you get hit with more UV, and the lack of shelter on the Shattered Plains keeps it up.

[u/SnorlaxGames → u/khazroar]

I guess, but it's pretty much implied that the skin color can vary depending on the peak. They're all pretty high up, so I don't think it's just about sun exposure. Plus, most ginger people straight up CANNOT tan which already kind of points to the horneaters not being explicitly pale. I mean even lore-wise the horneaters are stated to range from pale to bronze, with official art of Rock depicting him as having more tanned skin. here's the image by the way: https://uploads.coppermind.net/Rock_Card.jpg
Oh and also there's this official art from the upcoming Cosmere RPG thing that shows a depiction of each race in Roshar soo: https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2F2rvohdwxp6fd1.png

[u/khazroar → u/SnorlaxGames]

I think the skin colour varying by peak actually supports my point, they ran differently based on the amount of UV each peak gets. I never get the impression that the peaks are insular and avoid emigration or interbreeding among their populations.

Where do you get the idea that gingers can't tan? That's true in the sense that they generally can't actively tan, like "I'm going to sunbathe to get a tan", because the threshold to burn is so low that it's playing a dangerous game, but their skin will darken in response to sunlight the same as any pale skin. Although at the end of the day we can't rely too strongly on comparing them to real world people in that respect because they're not entirely human.

Personally I see them as mostly Polynesian, so darker than white but tanning is going to be a big factor in just how dark any individual's skin is.

[u/SnorlaxGames → u/khazroar]

I didn't say ALL gingers can't tan, just most and it's biologically true. Most gingers have a mutation in the MC1R receptor gene (which also gives them their red hair). This stops melanin from working properly, which prevents them from tanning. There are two different types of melanin: eumelanin is brown-black and pheomelanin is red-orange. Eumelanin is what causes tanning to happen. When gingers are exposed to the sun, they only produce pheomelanin, which doesn’t protect against sunburns and DNA damage (and also doesn't cause a tan).

[u/LegoRobinHood → u/avaud10]

Yas, the image in my head is always Alvin Fitisemanu as seen in The Legend of Johnny Lingo as the Chief Steward (center, below), or the drunk they clean up in The Other Side of Heaven.

His lines like "COWS MAY BE SMARTER THAN LITTLE BOYS, BUT THEY CANNOT OPEN GATES BY THEMSELVES!" (insert "Airsick lowlander!")

[u/Guineypigzrulz → u/LegoRobinHood]

Holy shit someone else saw that movie!

[u/LegoRobinHood → u/Guineypigzrulz]

I know, right?

[u/Skargeaux → u/avaud10]

Pretty much same as far as when he was unkempt, but this is how he keeps his hair more or less. I'm not sure if his chops are meant to be that long, though.

[u/Invested_Space_Otter → u/Skargeaux]

The beard length was going to be my only change. Otherwise it's perfect

[u/Reddit_minion97 → u/avaud10]

I pictured him as a white sun tanned ganondorf

[u/cr4sux]

First thought on seeing this is Uncle Iroh

[u/DripIntravenous → u/cr4sux]

Leaves from the vine, falling so slow…

[u/Lucashm → u/cr4sux]

lol came here to say this

[u/QuickPirate36]

This is Rock in my head

[u/Marcorange]

Isn't he described as having tan skin?

[u/Joe_Spazz → u/Marcorange]

Lore accurate ≠ how you picture it in your head

[u/therealdxm]

Oh yeah. Rock was great in Anchorman.

[u/Aodh472]

This is ginger Uncle Iroh

[u/DesTeddy]

This is great art work but has more uncle iro vibes. Pictured Rock to be more like a ginger Dave Bautista

[u/Skargeaux → u/DesTeddy]

I don't hate that, I could see him with a more rigid build. I was leaning a bit more toward the jolly giant side.

[u/Grandolf-the-White → u/Skargeaux]

He’s a ginger Dwayne the Rock Johnson. You can smell what he’s cooking. (It’s stew.)

[u/dIvorrap → u/DesTeddy]

Brandon fancasted bautista as Dalinar

[u/DesTeddy → u/dIvorrap]

Omg I did not know that! Dalinar is obviously adama from BSG, Brandon has it wrong

[u/dIvorrap → u/DesTeddy]

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/367/#e11861

[u/DesTeddy → u/dIvorrap]

Yes yes I am not denying Brandon Batista’d Dalinar, I had just pictured him differently in my head

[u/dIvorrap → u/DesTeddy]

Yeah I ge it. I was just citing my source and giving you the full reference

[u/DesTeddy → u/dIvorrap]

Thank you for the link! Reading the other Q&A from Brando was fun

[u/dIvorrap → u/DesTeddy]

Np. That website is the WoB repository.

[u/Super_Half_3753]

I imagine Rock as Samuel L Jackson in Pulp Fiction. Don't know why, buy I do

[u/GeR_eSt → u/Super_Half_3753]

"M&#&#&f&#&#& air-sick low-landers. Too much air makes your m&##f&####& brain sick...."

[u/ayerzicklowellandher]

Air sick lowlanders!

[u/tsunomat]

He's a combination of Samoan and Irish basically.

[u/The_Crying_Banana]

That's Mike Mitchell

[u/ngiori]

I always pictured him like Amarant from FFIX

[u/waverlygiant]

See, I imagine him as Jet Black from Cowboy Bebop but with red hair

[u/DeadCheshireCat]

Iroh

[u/Serkisist]

No, his reverse Mohawk has to be just as wide as his split beard

[u/No-Imagination-4751]

Air sick lowlanders on the vine

[u/rynbickel]

I always pictured him as a ginger Tito Makani

[u/bbbourb]

Eehhhhh...not bad, but more Islander. Polynesian, maybe. More Temeura Morrison, less Uncle Iroh, anyway.

[u/Morgan_NonBinary]

Yeah, really looks like I’ve imagined Rock

[u/Rickabeast]

Rock in my head is just ginger Braum from LoL

[u/RunicVVolf]

Personally, I always imagined ginger Matthew Willig

[u/Shangri-Lainen]

Wait, this isn't r/TwoBestFriendsPlay