Special Fan Service
Introduction
Fan service refers to the inclusion of images or innuendo with sexual or even erotic connotations in a work, for the sole purpose of titillating the viewer.
In practical terms, this often takes the form of strange poses or questionable camera angles...
She almost managed to reveal what she was wearing underneath...
...or even completely surreal.
If you look closely, a pair of breasts has just dodged a bullet fired at 600 km/h.
Fan service adds no value to the story. The sniper shot above is just one example amongst many.
Another typical example is the use of clothing that covers as little skin as possible.
And it doesn’t matter whether it’s unsuitable for the weather conditions or whether the ‘clothing’ couldn’t possibly stay on the wearer as a Carryall (the carryall) without defying the laws of physics.
The comic book at the height of its art...
The three examples above illustrate the following:
- A completely surreal pose. Catwoman is in a highly unnatural position, unsuitable for high-stakes nocturnal activities. The artist’s aim was to show both Catwoman’s breasts and her bottom at the same time;
- Clothing unsuitable for the weather conditions. Red Sonia is fighting in an outfit more akin to a bikini than armour, even in wintry conditions. We shan’t even go into the level of protection offered by armour that is, in fact, nothing more than a glorified loincloth;
- Clothing that defies the laws of physics. Did you know that Emma Frost’s outfit forms an X across her body? Can you imagine how stiff the whole thing would be if her outfit were actually made? All Emma Frost would have to do is take a slightly too deep breath and she’d find herself stripped bare.
Now that we’ve explained the concept of fan service in great detail, let’s see how it features throughout the series.
Command & Conquer 1
There’s hardly any fan service in Command & Conquer 1.
It is only during the end-credits cutscenes for both factions that it appears, featuring the TV news presenter.
Perhaps this is the player’s reward for saving the world from the Brotherhood of Nod (or the tyranny of the GDI).
The newsreader and the actress (Monika Schnarre) 10 years on.
This presenter adds a touch of fan service but is merely a prelude to what is to follow in the series.
Red Alert 1
It’s from Red Alert 1 onwards that the fan service really begins with Tanya.
Tanya Adams introduces a recurring element to the saga: that of the sexy female Commando. She is the prototype for all the C&C Girls who would follow.
Tanya Adams (AR1), played by Lynne Litteer: Tanya Adams’ uniform is clearly fan service. Admittedly, it doesn’t have a plunging neckline, but it’s still unsuitable for real combat conditions.
Her bulletproof vest won’t stop her from being shot through the stomach, as it doesn’t cover her lower abdomen.
She still has 50 per cent of her armour left; the other female Commandos won’t be so lucky.
Tiberian Sun
One might think that in the world of the Tiberium saga – a world where the atmosphere has become toxic and where Tiberium poisons everything it touches – there would be very little exposed flesh.
But that’s not the case, and Tiberian Sun also offers its fair share of fan service.Umagaan, played by Christine Steele:
Some might argue that Umagaan’s costume isn’t fan service, as it maximises her exposure to Tiberium and thus her regenerative capacity.
It is true that The Forgotten regenerate on contact with Tiberium, but the Tiberium contained within their bodies kills them by crystallising their internal organs over the long term.
Any additional exposure accelerates the process.
Umagaan is not wearing suitable protective clothing (nor a bra).
Umagaan should therefore protect herself from Tiberium in the same way as any other person.
A suitable suit would have been a sort of GDI-style armour with detachable sections or Tiberium stim-packs, similar to those in StarCraft.
Cdr. McNeil versus Slavik: A Duel of Warlords.
Tiberium Sun features two groups of characters with contrasting styles.
Here is a comparison between Cdr. McNeil and Slavik.
Cdr. McNeil: I’ve got a flying Kodiak. And I’ve fitted neon lights to the Reactors.
Slavik: I’ve fitted some killer spikes – look at that line.
Cdr. McNeil: Your girl’s a bleached blonde.
Slavik: Yours is wearing filthy rags.
Cdr. McNeil: The Tiberium crystals on her face make her even more beautiful.
Slavik: Stop spouting rubbish like that Tiberium Sun manual. Those crystals look like a facial herpes.
Mission Hydra or Slavik’s Revenge
Fan service has completely disappeared from Mission Hydra. It has to be said that the prospect of humanity’s annihilation by Cyborgs, coupled with the certainty of Tiberium poisoning, hardly makes one want to strip off.
Fortunately, there’s still one man who stands out in this macabre atmosphere.
It has to be said that, surrounded by two bald men, a man with a receding hairline, an old wreck and an evil (bald) AI, it’s not hard to look good by comparison.
Red Alert 2 and Yuri Prime's Revenge
Yuri Prime played by Udo Kier
Did you know that one of Udo Kier’s first roles was that of René in Histoire d’O? This film was one of the first erotic films released in France, and dealt with sadomasochism.
It’s amusing to see that in both roles, Udo Kier shines as a dominator – whether over bodies as René, or over minds as Yuri Prime.
It’s therefore a nice cameo for all fans of 1970s erotic cinema.
No comment
Incidentally, we can see that the cast of Red Alert 2 is divided into two groups:
- Men, actors in B-movies;
- The women, former B-movie actresses who’d appeared in a few erotic films.
Udo Kier was therefore doubly qualified for this game, being an actor in both B-movies AND erotic films.
We can therefore deduce that the game’s casting directors harboured a secret passion for late-night television, the time slot when B-movies and erotic films are broadcast.
Here are a few highlights from the careers of the three actresses starring in Red Alert 2.
Lieutenant Zophia, played by Aleksandra Kaniak
Clip taken from Forbidden Games
Lieutenant Eva, played by Athena Massey
Clip from the TV series Black Scorpion.
Contrary to appearances, this isn’t an erotic role, but a part in a B-movie. Here’s an example of an erotic role in Undercover.
Judging by this image, Athena Massey might perhaps have been better suited to playing Lieutenant Zophia.
Tanya Adams, played by Kary Whurer
Kary Whurer is also an erotic actress, but she is slightly better known than the others thanks to her role in Sliders. Clip taken from Lip Service.
Here is the second image in the article where you can see both a pair of breasts and a pair of buttocks.
General knowledge: Kary Whurer had her breast implants removed in 2002 due to lower back pain, making Yuri Prime’s Revenge one of the last appearances of her voluptuous bust.
This breast reduction meant that Kary Whurer was unable to appear in Red Alert 3, as she was no longer on a par with the other actresses in the game.
Goodbye, you’ll always remain in my dreams.
Renegade
C&C: Renegade wasn’t the game it could have been, and certain flaws marred what was otherwise a very decent game.
Among the flaws noted at the time were the graphics, which were considered very inconsistent throughout the game and at times rather ‘limited’ in places.
Here’s a comparison of Hotwire’s Lara Croft on the PS1 and Lara Croft in Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness.
It’s clear that Renegade is somewhat behind the times. Over time, the graphic designers have clearly focused on Hotwire’s chest, this being the most fully realised part of her anatomy. Unfortunately, they forgot that a female character is also sometimes looked at in the eyes (and from behind).
In short, this limitation in the graphics can be summed up in a single image.
Different realities, two (or more) things in common...
Nick "Havoc" Parker The Command & Conquer series is primarily aimed at a male audience.
However, C&C: Renegade features one of the rare – if not the only – instances of fan service aimed at the series’ female audience.
Sydney Mobius loves spatial geometry; she’s a scientist.Sakura Obata The concept of beauty is not universal. Sakura Obata specifically targets fans of alt-erotica, a sub-genre of modelling that does not adhere to classic beauty standards (blonde, large breasts, small bottom, 1m80). Alt-erotica focuses on tattoos, piercings and other body modifications, and is linked to the goth subculture and other related movements.
Sakura was wearing too much leather to be in the GDI.
Sakura is a carefully crafted gothic fantasy and brings a breath of fresh air amongst the stereotypical beauties of the saga. This approach was not repeated subsequently. It should be noted that Ganassa’s C&C Girl version of Sakura addresses the question of whether or not she has piercings.
C&C: Generals
...
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
The actresses in Command & Conquer 3 are not erotic actresses. Like the majority of the cast, they come from science fiction films and TV series, notably House M.D.
The actresses serve the story by delivering their lines, unlike in Red Alert 3, where the story is there to showcase the actresses’ physical attributes.
Low-cut necklines are certainly present but aren’t emphasised. In short, the fan service is less sexual; the aim is the ‘nerdgasm’, a sort of intellectual orgasm.
When nerds see this avalanche of references, they imagine their own story.
Or even
The nerd over-analyses out of habit and for fun. How can Star Wars, Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica be linked?
The breasts are simply there to prevent them from suffering irreversible brain damage.
Red Alert 3
Red Alert 3 has a disastrous storyline. It has to be said that, after eliminating Einstein – the man who, let’s not forget, eliminated Hitler and who forms the basis of this saga – there wasn’t much left to tell.
How do you make a game with a single-player campaign without a storyline? In the same way you make a B-movie: you take a pitch – in this case, a comical invasion of Japan featuring mecha – and you include as many babes as the budget allows. Red Alert 3 had a larger budget, so the erotic actresses were replaced by Playboy playmates; however, there wasn’t enough budget left to dress them.
That’s why Eva is wearing a half-skirt.
Or rather, a third of a skirt…Natasha Volkov – Played by Gina Carano Natasha’s costume is pure fan service; she wears the same outfit whether she’s swimming in the 0-degree waters of the Volga or crossing an arid desert (although in the latter case, her costume would actually be almost suitable). What’s more, Natasha is a sniper; she has to lie down on various rough surfaces, and the lack of trousers would quickly make her legs far less smooth than they are now.
Here’s a comparison between Natasha and a real-life Russian sniper from the Second World War (the real-world one).
Spot the 7 similarities...Yuriko Omega – Played by Lisa Tamashiro(or, more precisely, her backside, as she’s only seen from behind)
Strangely, the camera isn’t positioned under her knickers…
Yuriko Omega has been given special attention by the game’s designers.
Her outfit reveals far more detail than meets the eye. CnCSaga has, in fact, devoted a feature to this topic.
Not bad for a character who is only ever seen from behind and in artwork.Emperor Yoshiro – Played by George Takei The industry and video games are evolving. Renegade broke new ground by including the first instance of fan service aimed at a female audience.
Red Alert 3 features the first instance of fan service aimed at the LGBT community, with George Takei, a gay activist and actor.
George Takei also starred in Star Trek...
Command & Conquer 4
After the ‘shock’ of Red Alert 3, it was only natural that the level of fan service would drop for several reasons:
- Any more fan service would have pushed the game into the 18+ category. It’s worth noting that a shot of bare breasts on TV is rated 16+, whilst the same shot in a video game is rated 18+.
- This is a Tiberium game, and bikinis don’t really go with Tiberium fields;
- The actresses in Red Alert 3 had already been signed up by Playboy at the time of filming.
Command & Conquer 4 failed completely in terms of fan service, to the point of creating anti-fan service.
Let’s be honest for a moment: men don’t like whingers and wrinkled old women.
In Command & Conquer 4, the two most important female characters are Lily, who’s constantly crying, and Colonel Louise James, whose glory days are long gone.
Louise James
This image tells us a number of things:
- Ionas Morris would have been perfect for the role if she were 20 years younger;
- MILFs are between 40 and 45 years old. Not 52;
- Ultimately, Louise James’s character is also a crybaby, which is bound to annoy players already frustrated by the end cutscene that resolves nothing in C&C4.
Louise James is just like C&C4: her face is a shambles, just like the C&C series after this game.Lillian Parker Lillian Parker is the Commander’s wife, which means he’s married to her (Captain Obvious), preventing him from finding comfort with the game’s other female protagonists. The idea of playing a married man is a form of anti-fan-service.
Imagine if the ending of Red Alert 3 had played out as follows:
Here’s a version dedicated to all fans in Japan.
In short, the fact that the player is bound to his wife (or his mother) would create an adulterous relationship. From a fantasy perspective, it’s far more interesting for the player to be free to marry.
To raise the standard of this article, here is a passage from Don Juan: ‘Budding inclinations, after all, have inexplicable charms, and all the pleasure of love lies in change.’ One savours an extreme sweetness in winning over, through a hundred tokens of affection, the heart of a young beauty, in seeing, day by day, the small progress one makes there, [...] But once one has mastered it, there is nothing left to say nor anything left to wish for; all the beauty of passion is over, and we drift off into the tranquillity of such a love, unless some new object comes along to reawaken our desires [...]
In short, the general idea is that it’s more interesting to win the heroine over through one’s actions than to already have her. The Commander must already have ‘consummated’ his marriage, so the product is second-hand.
That said, if the Commander weren’t married, what would his other options be?Sister Chava, played by Makinna Ridgway
Er, no, actually, I’ve changed my mind...
Conclusion (or Conclusiveness)
In the Command & Conquer saga, it’s not just the cannons that have big shells.
We’ll therefore conclude this feature on the scale of fan service across the various instalments of the saga.
Bonus
This article was published to mark Easter. The pretext was as follows.
For this Easter Monday, we’re bringing you a feature on fan service in Command & Conquer.
You’re probably wondering what this has to do with Easter?
Let’s go back to the origins of Easter: at Easter, it’s customary to give eggs as gifts. Eggs are a symbol of the cycle of life.
Fan service is an integral part of a series’ life cycle, increasing as the series declines.
Exposure to fan service makes you want to ‘take part’ in the cycle of life.
Now that we’ve cleared that up, we’re in a perfectly appropriate context to discuss fan service in the Command & Conquer saga.
Prior to its publication, this article had been teased on a number of occasions via the author’s signature.
It’s easy to imagine how perplexed our members must have been at the time.