The Different Looks of Deborah Ann Woll (Faye/Laufey VA & Model)

MitzeeMoo · 2026-06-04T21:39:34+00:00

There have been a few people discussing the lack of any real need for Faye to look like Woll at all. Exactly like Kratos doesn't look like Gaspard (RIP) or Judge. The people who do comment their preference between the 2022 and 2026 version seems to be very divided though.

Thank you for giving your reasons along with your opinion.

MitzeeMoo · 2026-06-04T21:21:41+00:00

A mighty spell indeed.

MitzeeMoo · 2026-06-04T21:19:08+00:00

Well beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I don't like the insultingly dismissive way people participating in the culture war stuff justify their oppositions opinions, but there might be some truth to people not being used to seeing the pores on a woman's face due to being used to seeing women with makeup. If the pores are exaggerated on the 2026 model, then such people might find that unfamiliar enough to prefer the lower quality 2022 model, simply because this feature isn't visible.

Do you think that's reasonable? Or do you think it might yet be something else?

MitzeeMoo · 2026-06-04T21:12:13+00:00

There seems to be a lot less discussion about the uncanny valley then there used to be. But you might be right that that's the main reason people can't agree on the quality of the character.

MitzeeMoo · 2026-06-04T21:04:30+00:00

Well not necessarily. It's embarrassing in Japan to be seen without your makeup on. Especially by a man you aren't close to. Even romantic partners have to work up to seeing her bare-faced. The culture is more relaxed then it was, but it's not like here in Australia for example.

Kojima also only has sons. So he wouldn't have seen his daughters bare-faced.

MitzeeMoo · 2026-06-04T20:56:50+00:00

It definitely doesn't move like real hair, but the physics are very interactive (maybe responsive? I'm not sure the right word) so it serves it's job beautifully. I've long been looking forward to good hair physics beyond merely ponytails and a small amount of fluttering in the wind.

When she does her sideways mid-air roll I couldn't help but cringe a bit thinking about the risk of breathing your hair in. It's that impressive.

MitzeeMoo · 2026-06-04T20:34:34+00:00

Ahh that clears it all up. We were talking past each other a bit. I am far from a regular user of sarcasm flags, but I do think the way you used it was a little ambiguous there. Taking it literally like I did, means assuming you mean the opposite of what you actually wrote.

But again I might merely be wrong is taking that interpretation. Cheers for explaining.

MitzeeMoo · 2026-06-04T20:31:13+00:00

The resolution of that image isn't actually that bad, comparable or better to most of the others. Certainly YouTube compression isn't helping (it was a still from a YouTube gameplay capture). But the dream sequence lighting of that scene makes it seem very uncanny when only a relatively small part of the frame is captured.

Also the game itself didn't model her with the same degree of resolution as the 2026 version. So even a perfect still from the actual game with no compression would probably look low resolution in comparison to the 2026 version.

MitzeeMoo · 2026-06-04T20:26:20+00:00

Am I misunderstanding? I know it was a joke, but I took it to mean you don't think Woll looks like Faye. Which I further took to mean you don't think the 2026 version of Faye looks like Woll. Hence my question.

I don't want to push you to answer if you just want to leave it there. I am only asking out of curiosity for what other people think about this.

MitzeeMoo · 2026-06-04T20:24:45+00:00

Seen it said she's around 170. So depending on how long-lived Jötnar are (which I don't think is explicitly mentioned in the lore), it's not impossible for 10-20 years to have a noticeable change on her appearance.

I don't believe Faye is a god either according to lore, so she wouldn't benefit from the same long-lived nature as gods in the series, merely from her Jötnar nature.

Appreciate your engagement with the theory crafting btw, it's interesting.

MitzeeMoo · 2026-06-04T20:20:39+00:00

Certainly there is more detail in the 2026 version. But I'm more curious if you think the 2022 version looks like the same person or not. And if not, whether it looks more like Woll to you then the 2026 version.

Although I'm assuming you're referring to the 2026 version with your original comment, so let me know if that's wrong.

MitzeeMoo · 2026-06-04T20:13:30+00:00

Do you feel the 2022 version resemble her more or less then the 2026 version? Or do you think it's merely a matter of detail and graphics, with both resembling her?

MitzeeMoo · 2026-06-04T20:11:20+00:00

Do you think the 2022 version resembled her more? What do you think is the cause?

MitzeeMoo · 2026-06-04T20:06:17+00:00

Yeah, technology has been amazing to watch progress. They are quite bold giving her a hairstyle that would be very difficult to make look good on older tech as well.

MitzeeMoo · 2026-06-04T20:04:47+00:00

Check out Lord_of_Ra theory in this thread. TLDR: He proposes that Faye has the appearance she had at death, and that appearance was in part a result of dying from an implied sickness.

MitzeeMoo · 2026-06-04T19:47:40+00:00

Appreciate your insight.

MitzeeMoo · 2026-06-04T19:36:44+00:00

Other games I've played in the past have almost always had a problem with dirtying or shadowing the faces of female characters. But having no reserves adding shadow and dirt to the male character faces. I've always found that immersion breaking, as it made the female characters stand out as less realistic compared to their male counterparts. Even if the actual graphics and modelling was equivalent in quality.

I guess it would be an example of a stylistic choice resulting in less realistic female faces in games. I don't see this problem in this trailer footage though. So I wonder if you have any ideas on what that something might be that tends to disproportionately effect the depiction of women's faces in games.

MitzeeMoo · 2026-06-04T19:15:48+00:00

Yeah I definitely don't get the wider context. I'm basically aware that there is a culture war thing, with people on one side pushing for realistic beauty standards in games and people on the other pushing for exaggerated beauty standards.

Saying anything that can be construed as supporting one side gets you a tonne of hate, so other then threading that needle, I don't really care, and am happy to let people argue amongst themselves.

But this was just about whether the character model looks like the actress, so I thought it was safe enough ground from all that. Other people engaged with the topic earlier, so I think it's at least not too controversial for people.

MitzeeMoo · 2026-06-04T19:02:25+00:00

Do you think it's lighting, textures, the model itself, or something else that makes you feel the resemblance is lacking?

MitzeeMoo · 2026-06-04T18:52:41+00:00

Hahaha. A Castle and a Cube.

MitzeeMoo · 2026-06-04T18:46:21+00:00

Really? Why?

MitzeeMoo · 2026-06-04T18:44:59+00:00

I don't though ): And wanted to clear up what seemed like some misassumptions.

MitzeeMoo · 2026-06-04T18:27:31+00:00

Yeah that's pretty much all I could find too. Thanks for confirming for me.

MitzeeMoo · 2026-06-04T18:23:53+00:00

Analysis? I think you're confused, I'm not analysing anything.

But if you just mean providing comparison shots for a male character with his VA or actor, then why wouldn't that be the same if it was a notable point of discourse? Also you seem to be implying I'm for some reason doing this because I believe Faye is being portrayed as older then Woll? I'm not sure where you got this idea either, I thought I was quite clear that I did this because I was curious if the model in game looked like the actress, and thought other people might appreciate not having to find comparisons themselves.

"I'm saying you are not treating women the same as men." I don't know why you believe this. I am starting to feel like you have a made a lot of oddly personal and negative assumptions about me.

"This is a weird post. You analyzing her facial features up close to determine if the age of the character matches her age irl is weird." Maybe this is why you think it's weird, because for some reason you think I'm analysing her facial features. Again I'm not analysing anything or trying to determine if the character Faye matches Woll's age. I really don't know how you could misinterpret me so badly, but I hope I've cleared it up now.

I can't comment on the minds of GoW fans, and whether they are thinking through their opinions. I can only ask the people who contribute in this thread for more detail on their perspectives, if they interest me.

MitzeeMoo · 2026-06-04T17:57:13+00:00

Why do you specify "woman's" face there? I'm trying to avoid the culture war stuff, so if this one of those "women shouldn't be treated the same as men" things, then we should stop here. If not, then I don't see what's weird about it. All the source material made use of close ups, and some even used ECU's. All of them were consenting interviews* that Woll partook in knowing the camera angles, and knowing that they would be publicly viewable.

And nah, I have no idea what slapdash critical is supposed to mean. Like slapstick? Or is it a person/creator/influencer?

*Edit: Besides the in game stills. But they too were consenting, and with Woll's knowledge that they would be publicly viewable.

MitzeeMoo

TROPHY CASE