วีดีโอ

Thank you for sharing your experiences. As an author I want to represent as realistic as possible but this is an area I have no direct experience with. I have been trying to write a character who depends on a wheel chair to get around and my greatest dred would be for it to come across as patronizing.

If you don't mind me asking, what did you use for the 3d renders and is it free? I've been looking to getting into 3d modeling but idk where to start and I don't have the money for a paid modeler

As a fellow disabled person, without a limb difference, this is super helpful! I’m pretty well versed in other mobility aids, but I’ve never seen anyone go this in depth on different types of prosthetics with pros and cons. Thanks so much!

I think this kind of thing doesn't just apply to prosthetics as well, but most disability aids, like medications and seeing-eye dogs, for example. Obviously, they're not as prevalent as limb differences in media, but with medication in particular is often treated as completely curing an issue unless something goes wrong with it, or it's missed (usually for out-of-control circumstances too, rather than simply forgetting, which we definitely do do.) I think it's really great to talk about, and it applies to other things as well with very little but word changes! Also, love the shading on that art, and the character looks really interesting!

as a life long wheelchair user, but newer double amputee, this is the most useful video for general info i''ve seen.

I once created a character who got his arm amputated in war. For continuing in war, he was prepared a new one that was near good as his original one but required some fine-tuning and getting used to. It is then taken away from him and replaced with a rather lousy one out of wood, meaning the fingers barely function. Eventually he decides to just live without prosthetics (and he's already been doing most with only his own arm since he got the wooden one). I am however guilty with giving a character perfect eye prosthetics. He's still utterly terrified of darkness though (his eyes were violently stolen).

I had an OC who had a robotic arm. Prior to this vid, she fell into this trope and was basically a non character (mostly because i never bothered to flesh them out lore wise), but simply realising the idea of drawbacks both minor and major gave me so many ideas for everything to add to her, from world building/her backstory, to even adding uniqueness to her fighting style. TL;DR creative mind liked exploring new ideas in character design I never thought off, and thanks for showing that.

I don't really have any experience to comment on this, just take in the advice so: I like how Avery wraps her tail around the inner bars of the wheelchair! Its a nice little touch that fleshes her out as it shows how she intracts with disability and prosthetics/mobility devices in a real and subtle way.

Found this video seemingly at random, but I'm happy it was recommended to me by the algorithm, as someone who plans on writing a main character who loses a leg. While I'm not really planning on giving him a prosthetic leg (he's a dragon, so a quadruped with wings), I'm happy to learn more about all things surrounding the subject of amputated limbs, and look forward to seeing any other videos you've made, or will make, in addition to the rest of my research.

Considering that even today we already have prosthetics with capabilities that surpass that of regular limbs in certain aspects, a high fantasy or high technology setting would appear off if a missing arm or leg couldn't be replaced with a prosthetic with only relatively minor drawbacks. Like people demanding disabled adventurers in D&D as if implying that nobody in a high magic setting that includes healing magic would have developed something like 'cure spinal wound' spell. Meanwhile, the amount of setbacks by applying real life disability logistics is so large that writing an important character as having them without derailing the story entirely is way easier said than done outside stories that are entirely focused in disabled people dealing with their hardships.

I think when it terms to prosthetics and high tech the world of Cyberpunk is a not so bad example, as they are overall shown as having drawbacks. One of the clearest examples is cyberpsychosis, too much cyberware and you'll go crazy. It's never explained what exactly causes it, i've seen theories of heavy metals in the cyberware poisoning the user, viruses being uploaded, the immune system attacking the brain, but never a proper explanation other than immunosuppressants reduce its effects (which works in favour of the immune response theory). The game doesn't show it much aside from a few missions where you have to take down psychos, but the anime Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is partially focused on it. It is unfortunate that it's not an actual in-depth mechanic. At most you have a perk that allows you to go beyond your point limit, which reduces maximum HP and gives a chance to "go psycho" at every kill (you just get screen and sound effects, and deal extra damage, and receive less damage). There are visible side effects to prosthetics too, such as the Maelstrom gang who are all covered in cyberware, and so the little skin they have left is red and inflamed, it is also shown in a few other characters such as Placide or Mr. Hands. There is also a gap shown, in the lower classes we see more crude prosthetics, cheap and mass produced, prone to failure. The clinics are often small, badly lit, dirty. Whereas the higher classes can afford more sophisticated ones, that meld into the body, and have access to top tier medical care. Money is very often a question around them, from the prevalence of black market parts that offer better quality at lower monetary costs (but are more dangerous, prone to critical failure) to veterans talking about how their top of the line limbs were replaced with the lowest quality scrap once they left service. It definitely feels like today's prosthetics, although they would be considered crude, would be much better than all those low-cost cyberware. But it does have some bad points, such as many cases of the perfect prosthetic that acts just as well as flesh limbs, although explainable by over a century and a half of constant heavy research it doesn't really apply to Johnny Silverhand who did die half a century before the game, and so it is less believable. Or the lack of proper consequences for getting chromed up, as i said with the reduced HP and "going psycho" it's just not enough. So overall i think it is a pretty good example, especially Edgerunners, and i hope Cyberpunk: Orion, CDPR's next project, will avoid the bad points.

Thank you SOOOOO much for this content.

why is the entire body of your oc shown if its almost never doing anything? i think it'd be downright better if only the upper-torso and the neck (along with the shoulders and maybe hands if they're lifted) were visible. dialogue-box-style. also i'd recommend redrawing each face? it looks kina bad when all that changes if the expression and the face is just... tilted. get more stylized... especially since you clearly.. can? you're clearly not bad at art... except for the oc you use to talk, that is.

I really enjoyed the way the How To Train Your Dragon TC series treated Hiccup's prosthetic, as something he kept tinkering with to get different functionality out of

there's a character in blue eye samurai who was born without hands but he makes his own tools for different scenarios like eating or cooking, he's my favorite representation of missing limbs

I have countless, but my most insane was from a homeless man on the bus telling me (the 20 year old with a walker) that the guy next to me in a wheelchair was going to be sent to hell for being in the chair (which I immediately took as a holocaust refference).

I really love this video and agree with just about everything. Granted, I rely on an AFO, but so many things like this come up in my life and how I appreciate this representation too. One of the only Ive liked so far was FMA, while I still have small gripes with it. But the small things like how the cold causes Ed pain, growth changes with his leg, and limits on fine motor skill. But others really bothered me a lot. Number 1, I can never like Winry and Ed as a couple because of her calling it "my automail" all of the time. If my prosthesor called my AFO theirs, I'd have WORDS to say. I can’t even let people touch my cane without feeling hurt or bothered. It is by far the best I've seen, ESPECIALLY in fantasy where perfect limbs are everywhere, but as you said, it is outdated.

I think it's not brought up very much? or perhaps not at all and just implied, but in FMA I always got the impression that ed was short BECAUSE of his heavy-ass prosthetics. Which would be a drawback I think? idk just somethin to note

One of my favs is Olli from the Children of Time series. She’s fucking awesome.

Cool vid and fantastic art! One of my OCs has a prosthetic arm, knowing and understanding these tropes will hopefully flesh them out more as a character. Thanks!

something that I'm pretty sure I've _known_ but not really formed into a concrete realization myself until recently is that in a lot of "perfect prosthetic" media, the prosthetic is hardly meant to be disability representation _at all._ it's just a visible scar, a visual reminder/hint for the viewer that the character has been through it. a character getting their arm cut off isn't meant to disable them, it's meant to freak them out. which is super weird, to say the least!

Has anyone read Brandon Sanderson's stuff? There's a minor character who lost the use of her legs, and there's a novella from her perspective which explores it more than I've seen elsewhere.

All I can think watching this Timelapse is “snilk”

i appreciate so much that you've chosen to share your experiences to help all of us creatives do better. you are so generous with your knowledge, thank you ❤

As somebody who's deep into the Pathfinder community, as far as I'm aware, the main issue with the wheelchair thing was the fact that WoTC released a module for D&D 5e that featured a wheelchair accessible dungeon, which is an oxymoron because the purpose of the dungeon is that it's SUPPOSED to be a nobody-accessible dungeon. I don't remember all the details (and I don't play 5e) so I might get something wrong, but for me the whole thing felt like the module was being flippant about disabilities in a way that was both not particularly respectful AND didn't make sense in-universe- 'Oh, you want more options to play disabled characters? Here you go! We've made this dungeon wheelchair accessible and we made this neat wheelchair that basically 'fixes' you while you use it with no real drawbacks, so that you can play your disabled character in exactly the same way you'd play an able-bodied character. We're such allies, teehee.' Granted, I have seen a handful of people complain about wheelchairs simply existing in D&D and Pathfinder, but I think the people complaining about it are the same type of people who complain that a game is 'woke' simply because there's a woman in the game somewhere.

For someone who doesn't know a lot about arm prosthetics you were pretty accurate my Dad recently 2 years ago lost one of his arms and yeah it he has a general purpose one and a pure claw one, the general purpose one requires a app to constantly change gestures and grip types

Re: Fullmetal Everyday problems with automail would also have strengthened Ed's motives for wanting his limbs back

I stumbled upon your tumblr first and your posts and this video are insanely helpful. I have a Sci-Fi story where a good chunk of the cast are amputees/physically disabled in some manner and your advice has given so much insight!

35:24 YES!!!!! Oh my god this bothered me SO MUCH in Mad Max Fury Road. I adore that movie but you're telling me that in a world where PLASTIC MEDICAL TUBING is a rare commodity that Furiosa has a prosthetic so advanced that she could move the fingers???? Totally takes me out of the film every time I notice it, especially because it basically only happens in scene where a much more limited and realistic prosthetic COMPLETELY works for the physical actions she's taking in the story. Worst scene for me is always when they're going through the pass with the bikers and you see her raise her hands to show she's not carrying any weapons and she wiggles her prosthetic fingers. WHY!!!

Important question. So, it it makes sense for a character to use their prostetic to protect themselves in a fight. Does that mean, that they may not be afraid to take it off and use as a weapon? Also like to hear about the potential I'm thinking from a perspective of a person who uses a cane and mine is made out of wood, so even though I do drop it constantly, in any dangerous situation I would...well, drop it and use my body, cause I'm basic in sword fighting, but if it was steel, yeah, can totally deal great damage with little skill. But no clue about prostetics beside wowie cool stuff

Very interesting, I'm A DM in many game where loss of limb can occur and I admit I never really knew how to make it more realistic. Cyberpunk limbs are nice and good but there is no reason i can't add some of the stuff mentioned here.

Loved the video! Got some pointers on fma tho. the manga focuses even more on Edwards struggle with his disability than the animes. One detail that made it to brotherhood is that his stumps ache. And to dive a little deeper, Ed struggles in both hot and cold climate, not just when visiting Briggs but in the desert on his way to Xerxes. And while his arm does break its done in verry diffrent ways. like sometimes Scar deconstructs it, but when its a diffrent alloy he cant, at the fifth labratory it stops working beacuse of improper maintinence, or is blown of by a bomb then used for a trap. I think this variation and situational issues creates much better stories than the usual "oh no it broke" stuff. I apreciate your insight and gennerally agree i think you are a bit uncharitable to how well written fma is in this aspect. They also mention how the automail is actually connected to nerves, explaining why some people can get automail and Havoc cant after beeing paralyzed. And while not a direct parallel to a real world disability, the story focuses greatly on how Alphonses body disables him, like loosing his sense of touch and temperature, not beeing able to sleep or eat or swim. I have heard so many disabled people seeing themselves in this and i found it both relatable and compelling. I definatley understand your issues with the series blindspots, but i think it has held up amazingly well over time and is more detailed than most recent media. Anyhoot, thank you for this informative and fun video!

Even as just a cane user I never saw any of the problems I'd face in any media (besides the time the one impatient rich guy kicked it out from under me, seen that in a movie). So I had to figure out things myself like: Juggling it to the crook of my arm to do things with my hands. Giving up on ever using an umbrella because having a free hand is important, and cane is more necessary when slippery. The barrage of people knocking my over or making me wait to long because they just go to pick it up every time I drop it, when I can just flip it back to my hand real quick. The days my arthritis is bad, which means my knees and hips want it more, but i just cant grip it with my hands. Someone borrowing my cane, then giving it back to me, but not telling me its been adjusted so I just fall over the first time I try to put weight on it because its 4 inches shorter. How to efficiently swing and use a cane because we only ever see some old man just doing his best to look pathetic and mean.

Damn. The worst I've ever done is ask a uni acquaintance with a limb difference, who wanted to be a prosthetics engineer, what the difference between prosthetic and prosthesis is. (iirc, prosthetics replace a missing limb and prostheses work with limb differences)

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts, also watching you draw a wheelchair around the person using it was mind-blowing for me. I'd love to get your thoughts on the manga Run On Your New Legs, where a single-leg amputee is shown using a walking foot and running blade, going to a prosthetist and getting new sockets for his prosthetics, taking his prosthetic leg off to relax... From my (able-bodied) pov, it seems to handle prosthetics really realistically.

As a fully abled bodied person (physically anyway lol) , I agree with wanting more realistic prosthetic characters. I understand things through others majority of the time, but without good representation it's difficult to find that understanding without being disabled yourself. This is a great educational video and I hope more people put thorough thought into their disabled characters!

Thank you for making this, I love your snake character

Me waiting for an anime character with demigod like power who can't climb stairs without hopping on one foot.

Genuine question: I'm working on worldbuilding for a series I plan to write that centers around cats that live in a (mostly) post human world, they have magic and can craft tools, foods, etc. I do plan to have disabled characters in the story and have already decided for those missing limbs to have prosthetics (though possibly not under that term because /cats/ but I'll defer to your advice) that'll largely be low tech but customized to the cat. I saw your vid title and when you started talking about the different foot types, it made me wonder if adding some kind of magic that allows the prosthetic to change shape to suit its wearer's (correct term?) needs or if it would be better to leave it as something that needs to be interchanged manually. As of right now, there is no such magic, and no enchanted items, but there is magic that alters the body that could theoretically be extended to prosthetic limbs. I want to avoid common pitfalls if at all possible. Thank you!

hey, this was fascinating and informative, thanks! I love when things I don't get exposed to too often show up on my feed.

I feel like FMA definitely did a way to combine the two, with the perfect prosthetic by making it similar to a regular arm or leg, but it has plenty of draw backs from the components necessary and the actual putting on of them, idk im not disabled so i cant say, but I think it did pretty well

I don't have any current disabilities or limb differences, and I'm very curious of what your opinion might be for Kotallo from Horizon Forbidden West. That game doesn't spend a lot of time with the companion characters so he doesn't get a lot of time to breath. But, the broad strokes of his story come down to him combating the internalized ableism that comes from being in a warrior society and while he does get a prosthetic, he makes an important decision to only use it in combat situations and doesn't wear it at the home base. I don't think it avoids this trope entirely and his story is kind of woe is me at the beginning but, if you ever get the chance to look into that I'd love to hear your personal take on it.

I am writing a novel with a main character having a prosthetic leg so this video comes handy!

Great video ! I am curious about Cy's opinion on Guts, from Berserk. He's a bellow-the-elbow amputee with a prosthetic arm that doubles as a cannon, and like. On one hand, "he has a prosthetic that doubles as a cannon in a medieval setting" is a pretty wack disability representation. On the other hand... The prosthetic itelse if pretty elaborate (it's attatched both to his stumpt, but also to his biceps with springs and whatnot), it's clearly not a *functional* hand (we only see it use it for two things : punching, or holding a sword using magnets. -That's it-.) He's seen without it several times when he's resting / tending to his wounds / not expecting to fight (which... Well, most of the manga, he spends combat-ready, so, he has it on a lot more than would be "feasible", especially considering how heavy the thing is). Even when he fights and uses it, it's integrated in his style : his metal fist has a *mean* punch, it's pretty heavy and helps with balancing his ridiculous sword, he deflects a few blows with it ... Obviously, he's far from "perfect disability representation", a little bit of engineering and a lot of training has him surclass literally everything he's encountered, -but- I still think his limb missing isn't treated as *just* "oh look he has a cool weapon arm".

Thank you so much for this video! I am studying animation and game and I really want make good representation. It’s so important! I have autism and adhd myself and am always so happy when I see characters like myself well represented. Since all my limbs are made of flesh, I am so grateful that someone with lived experience with a limb difference has taken the time to educate me and others and talk about their experiences.

Speaking of prosthetics as a weapon, I once watched a local tournament for Tae Kwon do sport fights and Katas. ( I don't know the korean name for a series of choreographed moves, but kung fu, karate, and other styles were encouraged to participate.) One participant was an above knee leg amputee, and nobody wanted to get near him while, for fear of getting tagged by his prosthetic. 😂 it was a fun watch, and I think he got 3rd or second place.

I immediately thought of leutenant Dan when you said wheelchairs are used to indicate sadness with disability, while prosthetics are used to show that they're doing better.

Incredibly informative video, very cool very nice job. I also like the lizard lady's moon necklace, hope she ends up kissing girls

Come to think of it, at the very least, Edward Elric should probably have to routinely see a chiropractor (probably twice a month, if not weekly) due to lugging around that extra weight on a pretty regular basis.

Sweet, I have a word for it now. The perfect prosthetic trope is very jarring to me in a lot of media and nullifies the whole point of that being part of the character. I enjoy making stories around disabled characters and how they have to come up with creative solutions to overcome their obstacles, and when I see the perfect prosthetic trope always seemed to cheapen the story for me. I keep wanting to talk about the characters and snippets of stories I've come up with, but I really kind of realize I just need to write them into actual works and put them out for people to read.