Kingdom Hearts II Axel's eye make up

I have been wondering about Axel's eye make up, what is the point of it. I have looked at Lea and he doesn't have it so why did Axel decide to basicly paint purple lines on his face?

 

It's possible that it's symbolic for something in Japanese culture, akin to how specifically-placed moles can be. Otherwise, I'd assume that it's akin to the multitude of zippers on the characters in the sense that it was just placed there for aesthetics.

 

if it's just aesthetics then why don't more mebers have some sort of facial diffrence like the make up? Though maybe it does have a symbol like how everyone thinks Marluxia is gay cos he uses flower petals where as in Japanise those same petals are the symbol of death which makes him seem more manly....

 

Well I think Axel looks nomish with his eye tattoo thingys xD
But yeah,theyre probebly representing something.....maybe showing that he can feel sympathy?
You never know....

 

I would of though his unnatural emotional range would of been down to more than eye make up lol but good theory

 

He's based off Reno* from Final Fantasy, and if my memory serves me right; Reno has two red curved lines on the side of his eyes. It might be because of that. Or of course, it might just be because it looks cool

* at KH wikia it doesn't say that he's based off Reno, but carries a lot of similarities. But after I've looked at the two characters, I find them to be enough alike, so I assume Axel is based on Reno. The guy voicing Axel is the same guy voicing Reno in many languages so I think that might be it.

 

Most-likely, the markings symbolize something from the Japanese culture. What you mentioned about flowers though, is right - they do represent death. (marluxia isn't so gay after all!)

 

well your right about one thing. It is widly exsepted by most fans that Reno is the base for Axel, though my question is then why doesn't Lea have the same markings?

lol yay I tought that was right! Though I can find any internet infomation about eye markings...

 

I always thought they were meant to be tear drops, showing how Nobodies (some of them, at least) actually do feel emotion. xD I'm not sure where I got that, though.

It's all speculation, really. Aesthetics seems the most plausible explanation.

 

That's what I thought the first time I played the game.
I think Aesthetic is right. But then again, one can never know for sure o.o

But about the flowers, wouldn't they represent more than just death? I mean, when I think of flowers I think of the life-cycle, in other words, birth, life, death. Might be different for others though, but meh.

 

the flowers thing YOU may think of the life cycle but Marluxia was created with spersific flower petals that represent death in Japanese culture lol and I guess it could be just Aesthetic the eye make up thing tbf Renio his base has it to so maybe it's just for similarity

 

I'm gonna have to agree with everybody who says that it's aesthetics. Look at some of the other characters that Nomura has designed and you'll notice that most of them have some weird feature to their clothing or body. Why did he put it there? Most likely because it looked cool 8D

Well in Japan, flower petal(cherry blossoms to be specific) can represent a handful of things. For Marluxia, they were used to represent death; he was given the name Graceful Assassin for a reason. But flower petals can also represent other things like spring, the beauty of nature, renewal of life, and first love. More info can be found here

 

I think I read somewhere, although I'm not sure exactly where, that the teardrops are supposed to represent the fact that Axel has killed. Given the fact that he is the one often sent to eliminate insubordinate members, this would fit well.

 

well clawtooth you`re right. I found this on the web http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061120211809AAdU0ZV and there they were saying that a teardrop means that you had killed somebody.

But why axel has this teardrops I don`t know and i didn`t found any other explanation on the web why he has those. so maybe one of the character-designer thought that it will look great on axel or he just placed them for fun.

But now I`m realy curios what those teardrops mean in the KH-Universere and the same thing for Reno. What is the meaning for his marks on the cheek bones?

 

Yknow, all of these answers make sense. As for me, I think it has something to do with his past. the three members that have distinctive marks are Xigbar, Sai'x, and of course Axel. Xigbar got his from the events in Birth by sleep. As for Sai'x and Axel, they were best friends in their Somebody personas. With no markings. I personally believe their marks have something to do with their friendship. Does anyone follow me on this?

 

you got a point maybe the marks symbolize a lost friendship.... or something lol

 

I never really thought about it like this. I always thought they were just part of his character. Although, Saïx's scar looks like a battle wound and they don't appear to get along as their nobody selves, maybe during that fight Axel was somehow responsible for his marks. I don't know though. Axel's markings look more like just plain Make up yet in the form of tear drops, well that's how I see them anyway. To me that just seems like a marking of sadness with his lost friendship with Isa. But I don't know, this is just an idea.