Is your character left or right handed?

[Aaron]

I felt this thread was something needed. I'll open with a little rant.

 

I was born ambidextrous, living in a right handed world has had no affect whatsoever with me because I can casually do anything with either hand with the same amount of precision. But as you know, majority of people are right handed and less than 10% are born left handed. Even less are born ambidextrous (like me). But whatever that's besides the point.

 

Laterality plays a big part in character development moreso than most probably think it know. And I feel if people took that into account during their rp they'd find it brings much more realism to their characters. I'll start off by giving an example, an example sadly had never been able to be used by me in rp because people over look the simple things.

 

Left handed people generally do better at fighting than right handers. In my experience from boxing & mma training received from my dad & uncle (who used a left handed stance) I noticed that the human body in general is used to fighting with most of their guard ready to defend from the opponents right side attacks, because evolution has made 90% of us right handed. (Also read on it in a couple online sources, but I don't know how true it is in a whole this is just from my experience.) This leaves left handed generally free to deal heavy blows to the untrained person (Again from my experience of always getting knocked on my ass with my dad) and also buffs their left side defense because they are used to that dominant side and allows them a subtle advantage. Just by being left handed, one could possibly already have a innate advantage in a fight.

 

HOWEVER left handers also have a greater weakness against right handed fighters because their right side is basically foreign territory compared to their mastery with the left. It's like a double edged sword. However imo the advantage is better than the disadvantage because I believe the best defense is a strong offense. Exploit before you get exploited. In short, I'm suggesting if a left handed and a right handed of equal skill went at it. The left handed would have a minor advantage because they fight with a much rarer dominant side. Sorry if this sounds confusing. I'm not good at explaining stuff like this.

 

Aaron in game is ambidextrous, hes comfortable fighting with either hand (hence he can dual wield pretty proficiently) HOWEVER though he can MOVE easily with either side he is completely terrible at defending from repeated left side assaults and his right side is a bit less adept with motor skills simply because in his brain doesn't can't process how to defend both sides equally compared to how to sync both sides to attack. It fucks with his perception skills. Also because in his development I wanted to keep that odd twist in his combat skills. If a person rped swinging a sword at Aaron's left side compared to his right, chances of him getting cut because you attack from your left is going to be higher than from the right.

 

Also makes me upset I can't switch the DRK sword stance to where its powered by his left hand moreso than the right. But as I said, even in game everything seems to cater right handers.

 

Left handers also are more creative and imaginative compared to right handers who would be more logical and good at things such as cognitive thinking. The differences between a left vs right handed in intelligence and all in itself isn't drastic, but when it comes to things like fighting, or catching someone off guard or even susceptibility to injury (your dominant side is generally more resistant to injury than the weaker) it could play a big role in rp. 

 

So, what laterality is your character and have you ever rped them having issues or something because of their laterality? I have links too if anyone is interested to read more on this stuff. Just finally got around to bringing it up!

[Ignacius]

I don't tend to make it a big issue.  IRL, it can be for left-handed people, but in FFXIV most of the things we use from day to day are made by artisans (who make it for the handedness you need, not the handedness that's most common).

 

I'm sure having the shifter on the wrong side of an airship could be an issue, but I don't have anyone who flies them.

[Blue]

Jet'a is left-handed when writing and right-handed for everything else, just like me IRL. It's the only similarity I decided to bring over from my real self to my character.

[D'aito Kuji]

The game mechanics make my character right-handed and that's all to the good for me even though I am left-handed.  But unlike right-handed people who often seem nearly helpless without their right hand, I can use both for most tasks.  The rule in my brain is basically for strength use the right hand, for detail use the left hand.

 

So in my art & handwriting I use my left hand.  I have a left-handed stylus and graphics tablet and I use my left-handed gaming mouse.  I cannot play some games if the arrow keys cannot be programmed as I am rubbish with trying to control WASD with my left hand. Character movement implies strength and apparently right hand wants to do it.

 

Anything that involves strength, I use my right arm.  I pitch and bat with my right arm, open jars with my right arm, punch with my right hand, and carry my backpack with my right arm.

 

I imagine D'aito Kuji doing the same kind of things.  She might even use this to her advantage.  Say that someone notices D'aito signing into an Inn using her left hand. That person tries to ambush her later, ready to defend themselves from a left handed attack only to find that she strikes with her right.

 

(I have done such a thing in softball as a psych out)

[Cynel1]

Cyneler is Right handed while using Swords but uses His Left hand when using a Arcanist book.

[Altitis Acquired]

I like to use both hands.

[Caspar]

Two handed sword attacks in this game are powered by the right hand? I thought the left was closer to the pommel, so I'd assumed it powered while the right guided. Unless that's not how they did things in euro. Or

Am I remembering incorrectly in game?

[Coatleque]

I just go with what's available. The sword hangs on the left, and I can't change that, so Crofte is right-handed. If there was some choice in the matter I might be more inclined to change it.

[Blue]

Two handed sword attacks in this game are powered by the right hand? I thought the left was closer to the pommel, so I'd assumed it powered while the right guided. Unless that's not how they did things in euro. Or

Am I remembering incorrectly in game?

 

It's the opposite, actually. The hand closer to the blade is the one that takes most of its weight, so it's the "strength" hand. While the ones that is furthest is the "precision" hand. Think of dogs or horses pulling sleighs or carriages. The dogs/horses who are tied closest to the sleigh/carriage will be the strongest, as they are the ones to pull most of its weight, while those in the front (and thus, most distant from the vehicle) are the keenest, in charge of guiding the others by pointing in the right direction.

 

When I did archery IRL I was taught that our laterality depends on which side of the brain we use the most. This can be determined by finding out what your "dominant eye" is. Though we have two eyes, most of the work is done by just one of them, our dominant eye, while the other is used to see only that small percentage of our range that the dominant eye cannot cover.

 

To find out which your dominant eye is, my archery teacher taught me this quick, easy exercise.

 

Put your hands together in front of yourself to form a viewfinder. This can be done just with fingers, or with whole hands. Here is a picture:

 

Now use your viewfinder on an object, any object that stands before you. After that, slowly move your hands towards your face, making sure the object remains in your finder the whole time. Do not look away.

 

You will find that your hands will go towards one eye in particular. That is your dominant eye.

 

 

In 90% of cases (there are some rare instances in which this seems to not be the case), your dominant eye is on the same side of your stronger arm, the hand that you use to move objects roughly, lift things, drink, or pull a bow's string.

 

The other hand will instead be your precision hand, with which you do precision works such as sewing, cutting, writing (usually, as the strongest arm normally lacks the gentleness for a good, clean writing), or take aim with a weapon. In this case, that is the hand that holds the bow.

 

EDIT: For some amusement, once you determined which your dominant eye/side of the brain is, take a look at this video!

[Aaron]

Two handed sword attacks in this game are powered by the right hand? I thought the left was closer to the pommel, so I'd assumed it powered while the right guided. Unless that's not how they did things in euro. Or

Am I remembering incorrectly in game?

Yep! As Blue said, the DRK weapon, DRG , BRD and also the WAR weapon are both right hand dominant. The closer to the edge or base hand is the one that powers while the farther one guides.

 

It'd be a lot of fun watching people fight rp more at least imo if they exploited little tidbits like laterality in a battle. Brute strength is useless if the powering hand gets cut across and so on and so on.

 

It'd also be a good lecture to those IC teachers teaching their students how to weild a weapon.

[Raik Samil]

Ive actually been wanting the option to hold weapons lefthanded for a while now in this game and raik, like myself is amidextrious to a extent but left hand dominant.

[13uddy]

Loosely ambidextrous, but favors the right hand.  This is one of those select few details that are directly lifted from myself.  I was actually left-handed until I started school and the teachers decided I needed to be "corrected".  For my character, though, it is a product of his attempts to push himself and multitask while growing up on a farm.  He can't write two different things at the same time, but he can write legibly with both hands (though writing with his left hand is a little sloppy) as well as practicing various skills using both hands just in case he ever needs to use them or his right hand or arm is injured.  

 

If he wasn't such a stickler for doing what he believes is right, he might have made a decent small time hustler by making bets that he could beat somebody at something (a friendly duel, throwing knives at a target, etc.) and use his left hand the first time and being okay, then his right hand the second and being better.

[Chris Ganale]

Chao is left-handed, Yuuna is ambidextrous, and all my rest are right-handed as I am.

 

It's interesting to hear so many people saying that your dominant hand isn't typically the one for doing most of your motor skills, as in my experience I've done very nearly everything with my strong hand; writing, punching, feeding myself, et al. My left hand is more used for stabilizing things I'm carrying and the like, and I've carried that over with Chao only in reverse; she writes left-handed, makes most of her gestures left-handed, leans her left side ever so slightly more forward. Most of her kicks come from the right though, but that's because she favors sweeping kicks with a lot of from-the-back power and leads with her left side forward.

[Ryanti]

Ryanti writes left handed, and fights right handed.

 

I would say that Ryanti grew up with a natural affinity to the left hand, and that his dominant eye is his left eye. This reflects myself in real life. My left eye is my dominant eye, and my left arm is also my precision arm, which I suppose makes me the 10%.

 

Ryanti is more of a creative person and a cognitive thinker versus someone who is by the books and straightforward. He fights using unorthodox tactics, and I do utilize MMA techniques in his fights at times.

 

He is right-footed though. I may hint in the game that his form slightly changes when he starts emphasizing kicks. He sometimes switches his dominant foot in his stances when he is focused on throwing punches or defending himself vs. kicking and takedowns. I try to draw a correlation there.

 

Ryanti is definitely effected by firearms, because while he fights with a sword right handed, he shoots left handed with rifles. He is alright with pistols in the right hand, though, so really his only beef is with right handed firearms. He certainly prefers ambidextrous firearms.

 

So I guess I can say he is naturally left handed but due to training and how he was raised growing up, his right hand does a fair amount of work too.

[Jana]

Jana is right-handed which works with the majority of the game's animations. The big exception for me are the ACN ones, where the book is held in the right hand. In my head, Jana would hold it in her left so she can write/trace patterns with her right hand... And also throw punches.

[Virella]

Vi can write with both hands. The nerd forced herself to many years ago so she can work more efficient.

[Sylentmana]

I've never actually given this any thought before. I guess, because I'm right handed, my characters end up right handed by default. Ultimately, it doesn't matter much for Cecilia as she is a mage and magic doesn't care about which hand is comes from.

[Glacirus]

Playing mostly Healer, I just realized those classes don't really favor one hand over the other too much. CNJ/WHM spells have the weapon float in front of you as you use both hands to cast. AST is similar where you hold the Planesphere in your left hand, draw/use cards with the right, and cast most spells by raising both above your head. SCH has the most favoring with the book in your right hand, quill in your left to write the formulas.

 

That said, my characters all tend to favor their right hand heavily, as it's what I know best.

[Khunbish Avagnar]

Aiswynd is Ambidextrous by natural born talent. This trait is what first led him to fighting with two knives while working as a hunter and tracker.

[Archim]

Archim is ambidextrous with personal preferance of using left for small stuff like writing while right is often being in role of wielding weapons.

[Vaerimont Lectoroix]

Incoming headcanon: Vaerimont is equally left as he is right (ambidextrous); the reason being that he would have to take several sets of notes at a time during his enrollment at the Studium. He is studious and efficient, not a prodigy, but comes up with ideas that improve his efficiency at his work. I see him being a young kid at school, grumbling at how behind he was in his studies, so he would practice writing two sets of notes at once in order to save time. BUT he first learned to write with his right hand.. imagining my little elf at school surrounded by piles of books just puts a smile on my face.

[Klynzahr]

Klynzahr uses her right hand for writing, swordplay and most small tasks. However she has good overall fine motor skills and is fairly comfortable using her left hand to tie knots, or even sew.

 

She defaults to her left arm for heavy lifting and other strength based tasks. This is partly due to natural preference, partly from years of shield training and partly due to an old shoulder injury on her right side. She may be comfortable switching a scalpel from right to left hand, and able to fight left handed in a pinch, but you would never catch her trying to break down a door with her right shoulder.

 

 

Her right eye is actually much stronger than her left. If anything were to happen to it, Klyn would be left essentially blind.

[Martiallais]

Martiallais, in a very small homage to the Hero of Time himself, is left handed primarily. He can obviously use his right for some tasks (like striking/defending with his shield) but I wouldn't quite call him ambidextrous.

 

Aedan however is a heavily leaning right handed and most definitely doesn't use his left for more than small things here and there.

[Spethah]

I'm loosely ambidextrous, where I'm right hand focused. I type, eat, use a tennis racket, draw my bow and use a sword with the left hand while I do everything else with my right. It's less of that it's more comfortable but rather those specific things were taught by my mother who is left handed. I took a test a long time ago when my mother saw that I was handling left handed control easily and it came out that I was ambidextrous but right hand focused.

 

As for Auri, she's quite similar. She's ambidextrous but in the sense that she can do all of her things with both hands, rather than having a focus hand. It's easier for me to RP someone that way given that I'm closely similar.

[Miko Shiroi]

Oh man. I hadn't really thought about this much before I happened upon this topic. I also didn't realize that being more dominant in one hand or the other could affect fighting so much (especially physical combat).

 

Because of the in-game animations, I've just kinda rolled with K'heyo being right-handed. Even though it would be a petty issue, I'm not quite sure I could deal with the animations being inaccurate to his dominant hand if I were to change him to left-handed.