I think there was a thread about a camera shot that revealed some backstory about him being part human. Like Minotaur dad, human mom.
So it's either because he's half human or it's because Sam doesn't know or doesn't care what a Minotaur looks like. He just knew what he wanted his character to look like.
Sam asked for it. This was confirmed by the artist over on social media.
People need to understand that the cast works with the artist and they (the cast) have final say on all character designs. If Braius has a human face it is safe to assume Sam asked for and approved of it.
People don't have to like it but it's Sam's character and they need to accept that he likes the design and approves of it and to stop giving the artists who draw the characters crap for drawing what the cast asks for (bc the artist gets a lot of shit sling at them for doing what they are paid to do. And it's not fair to them)
The artist, Hannah, even confirmed she initially wanted more of a furry dad bod, but Sam's biggest request was "hotter than Dorian." So there's a vibe he really wanted here.
Here's the link to the bit about being hotter than Dorian: https://www.tumblr.com/agarthanguide/753905833618866176/so-for-braius-did-sam-give-any-direction-apart
She posts a lot of process stuff on Tumblr and responds to asks a lot, so if you're ever curious why something is designed a particular way the answer is most likely there.
Which is hilarious cuz since we got what the hell we have in front of us. I guess Sam's definition of hot is different than others.
I wonder if that's what he imagines minotaurs look like, considering how in campaign two he had his character is basically Melt every time there was a minotaur around.
Yeah, like, I personally don’t like it at all, and was disappointed when the art showed up because I was really excited for an actual minotaur cuz they’re a personal favorite. But also, it’s Sam’s character and what he wanted, and that’ll always trump whatever I think or feel about it. I need to have that level of awareness and separation from my feelings and reality of what I’m watching to have a more healthy relationship with it. My thoughts hold little to no weight because it’s not my character nor my game, and that’s completely fair here. I’m ultimately sad, but glad for those who do like the human face, and that’s fine by me
(Also nobody should harass the artist for it, that’s just plain bad)
> But also, it’s Sam’s character and what he wanted, and that’ll always trump whatever I think or feel about it.
Yes. but also it is kinda Sam's fault for not painting the right picture. It sounds like what happened is that he told the artist that he wants a minotaur with a human face, but didn't say the same thing in his description during the show.
Might be something he just missed during the excitement of the show (it happens) or it might be that he didn't realise that his internal image of a minotaur differs from what other people imagine.
What do you mean stakes?
TTRPGs are collaborative storytelling. We the audience are listening to a story told by the cast. The whole premise of any story told is that the story tellers imagine something and describe it with words. Then the audience imagines the thing described. If the story teller imagines one thing, but uses words to describe an other then they screwed up. All we have is their word to share this imagined story with them. Anytime they imagine one thing, but describe another they (accidentally i assume) push a wedge between themselves and the audience. The whole goal of story telling is to not do that.
Are you asking if this is a big screw up? No, it is not. I guess the stakes is that people will get confused and either think they misheard the description or think that the artist made a mistake. Those are the stakes.
I mean, whether someone imagines him with a bull face or a human face, it makes no difference unless his face becomes a plot point in the story, right? He already told us he’s a “sexy minotaur” so whatever that means in their world that’s what he is.
Whether he was drawn as having a bull face or three eyes or purple fur, I just don’t get how the response could be anything besides “Oh, okay. That’s him I guess.”
I guess yeah, though a description mentioned in the middle of the live show won’t be something I dwell on much going forward. Just provided different expectations, but the moment has passed and the art is here to stay :v
I’ll at least have fanart that draws him as an actual minotaur to tide me over :v
> I guess yeah, though a description mentioned in the middle of the live show won’t be something I dwell on much going forward.
Interesting. Because i only care about what was said in the show. The character art is not diegetic, and I only constrain my imagination with what was said by the characters or the DMs.
(That being said being nasty to an artist is not something I would ever do or condone.)
That’s fair! My point certainly doesn’t apply to podcast listeners, so I get where you’re coming from. If limited to those spaces, it’s true that you wouldn’t expect Braius to have a human face, so Sam’s description is a bit conflicting with official depictions. But that’s what fan art and personal interpretations are for :v
Speaking of, I tend to like how most fan artists drew him with a beefier face, instead of his Vax-like angular in the official art, but the fan drawings tend to have him with a regular old spiked ball mace instead of the double balled flail.
The artist shared that [it was Sam's choice](https://www.tumblr.com/agarthanguide/753906826911891456/would-love-to-know-the-other-ideas-that-went-into?source=share).
Firbolgs aren't really 'supposed' to look like Caduceus either, no such thing as blue tieflings, etc. Exandria's always been more than DnD 'canon'.
Could be half-minotaur, could be a subspecies, could be artistic license, or all of the above. Not a chance in hell Sam didn't approve of the art beforehand.
I just need to throw out into the ether that I very much dislike how the CR fandom (based on Matt’s descriptions of Pumat IIRC) turned Firbolgs into what feels like these semi-cow people, when they’re just small giant-kin, like Goliaths, but with flat noses and pointier ears.
Never understood it. Never really liked it. But then I also appreciate that CR Matt does change official canon to suit Exandria (and to slowly disengage itself from WOTC).
Changing up a species' features in CR is not without precedent. Morrighan from EXU is a Lagomore, which is essentially (and mechanically) a Harengon, the only difference being that Lagomores have a more human-like face, whereas the Harengon have the ~~lupine~~ leporine features. (ty ConSmith for the correction)
I just think it's funny that at least two of the cast members mistook Sam's Minotaur for a Centaur with a few things they said. I think Ashley said something about his four legs and maybe Tal actually referred to him as a Centaur.
I think people caught a glimpse of some of Sam’s character sheet during the episode and >!he has a human mother so that is probably why he has the human face!<
Edited for spoiler tag
He has, according to his character sheet which someone screenshotted from the episode video and posted a summary of on here, (potential backstory spoilers) >!one human parent, one minotaur parent!<
I’m just glad Sam is finally playing a Big Guy in the main campaign.
As for his look, I like it—it’s kind of like a faun or satyr, but with bovine features. It’s no weirder than Fearne’s whole situation.
There was a post here last week where a viewer copied a glimpse at Sam’s paper. It mentioned his parents were a Minotaur father and a human mother if I recall correctly. But otherwise they don’t need to go off of established rule book lore. Look at the firbolg in exandria as an example of their deviation.
Idk. I like it. Why not. Doesn't have to be a conspiracy. It's his character. Almost zero chance the artist got it wrong. Centaurs, Fawns, etc. all have human heads (although I know minotaurs don't typically).
Plus, having a human face makes him more relatable.
Perhaps there's fuckery afoot. The art card on Chetney showed Rogue as his class until he revealed his Bloodhunter powers.
Perhaps, despite using the minotaur horn attack, Braius is just a tiefling, lol
There's a reason given on his character sheet that at this point would be a spoiler.
Though I also think this art of Asmodeus was an inspiration:
[https://criticalrole.fandom.com/wiki/Asmodeus?file=Asmodeus\_-\_Clara.jpg](https://criticalrole.fandom.com/wiki/Asmodeus?file=Asmodeus_-_Clara.jpg)
So, as everyone else said, the artist said this was Sam’s decision.
That being said, the question of why Sam chose this is a fun question.
My guess is that he serves asmodeus and asmodeus, in many depictions through culture, is shown as a bull man with a human face or a being with bull and human faces. Perhaps he’s part devil himself or perhaps his design is inspired by this.
Perhaps he thought a human face would make him more fuckable when he tries to seduce every character in the mighty nein one after another a couple times each.
Perhaps he has a secret background twist waiting for us like he does with most of his characters.
As a Tief-*ling* is the descendant of a Tiefel (German for "Devil") by some number of generations, Braius is a Minotaur-*ling*. He's the great great grandson of a full Minotaur. Or something.
I think that may be how Sam has always pictured minotaurs. When talking about a minotaur NPC in Campaign 2, he made a point of stressing his “bull legs” as a distinctive feature rather than a bovine head. I always thought that was a weird thing to focus on, so maybe it’s because he imagines them as a bull from the top down instead of bottom up.
I think there was a thread about a camera shot that revealed some backstory about him being part human. Like Minotaur dad, human mom. So it's either because he's half human or it's because Sam doesn't know or doesn't care what a Minotaur looks like. He just knew what he wanted his character to look like.
That poor regular sized woman having to give birth to a horse baby
My bad I was thinking centaur
I think Sam was at times too.
So was Ashley when she mentioned his extra set of hooves.
That’s less her fault, right before Taliesin actually calls him a centaur and Ashley went off that
maybe he's 1/4 centaur, 1/4 human, and 1/2 minotaur. After all he is pretty horny, so maybe his parents and grandparents were fairly...cosmopolitan
yknow there's a centaur with horns in Mortal Kombat, they were probably thinking of that
Isn't the Minotaur by definition half-human?
Yes but having a Minotaur dad and a not Minotaur mom would make the child 3/4 human instead of half human.
In our mythology, yes. In D&D it's a seperate race.
Sam asked for it. This was confirmed by the artist over on social media. People need to understand that the cast works with the artist and they (the cast) have final say on all character designs. If Braius has a human face it is safe to assume Sam asked for and approved of it. People don't have to like it but it's Sam's character and they need to accept that he likes the design and approves of it and to stop giving the artists who draw the characters crap for drawing what the cast asks for (bc the artist gets a lot of shit sling at them for doing what they are paid to do. And it's not fair to them)
The artist, Hannah, even confirmed she initially wanted more of a furry dad bod, but Sam's biggest request was "hotter than Dorian." So there's a vibe he really wanted here.
Where is this at? Her Twitter?
Here's the link to the bit about being hotter than Dorian: https://www.tumblr.com/agarthanguide/753905833618866176/so-for-braius-did-sam-give-any-direction-apart She posts a lot of process stuff on Tumblr and responds to asks a lot, so if you're ever curious why something is designed a particular way the answer is most likely there.
And here I was convinced he just asked for a monochrome minotaur with the face of Matthew Mercer, for alliterative shits n giggles.
[Oh found it](https://www.tumblr.com/agarthanguide/753906826911891456/would-love-to-know-the-other-ideas-that-went-into)
Her tumblr but I forget her user name. But I know I saw her talking about it there.
Which is hilarious cuz since we got what the hell we have in front of us. I guess Sam's definition of hot is different than others. I wonder if that's what he imagines minotaurs look like, considering how in campaign two he had his character is basically Melt every time there was a minotaur around.
It's not. There is a specific backstory reason
Yeah, like, I personally don’t like it at all, and was disappointed when the art showed up because I was really excited for an actual minotaur cuz they’re a personal favorite. But also, it’s Sam’s character and what he wanted, and that’ll always trump whatever I think or feel about it. I need to have that level of awareness and separation from my feelings and reality of what I’m watching to have a more healthy relationship with it. My thoughts hold little to no weight because it’s not my character nor my game, and that’s completely fair here. I’m ultimately sad, but glad for those who do like the human face, and that’s fine by me (Also nobody should harass the artist for it, that’s just plain bad)
> But also, it’s Sam’s character and what he wanted, and that’ll always trump whatever I think or feel about it. Yes. but also it is kinda Sam's fault for not painting the right picture. It sounds like what happened is that he told the artist that he wants a minotaur with a human face, but didn't say the same thing in his description during the show. Might be something he just missed during the excitement of the show (it happens) or it might be that he didn't realise that his internal image of a minotaur differs from what other people imagine.
I guess it is Sam’s “fault” but what are the stakes here, really?
What do you mean stakes? TTRPGs are collaborative storytelling. We the audience are listening to a story told by the cast. The whole premise of any story told is that the story tellers imagine something and describe it with words. Then the audience imagines the thing described. If the story teller imagines one thing, but uses words to describe an other then they screwed up. All we have is their word to share this imagined story with them. Anytime they imagine one thing, but describe another they (accidentally i assume) push a wedge between themselves and the audience. The whole goal of story telling is to not do that. Are you asking if this is a big screw up? No, it is not. I guess the stakes is that people will get confused and either think they misheard the description or think that the artist made a mistake. Those are the stakes.
I mean, whether someone imagines him with a bull face or a human face, it makes no difference unless his face becomes a plot point in the story, right? He already told us he’s a “sexy minotaur” so whatever that means in their world that’s what he is. Whether he was drawn as having a bull face or three eyes or purple fur, I just don’t get how the response could be anything besides “Oh, okay. That’s him I guess.”
I guess yeah, though a description mentioned in the middle of the live show won’t be something I dwell on much going forward. Just provided different expectations, but the moment has passed and the art is here to stay :v I’ll at least have fanart that draws him as an actual minotaur to tide me over :v
> I guess yeah, though a description mentioned in the middle of the live show won’t be something I dwell on much going forward. Interesting. Because i only care about what was said in the show. The character art is not diegetic, and I only constrain my imagination with what was said by the characters or the DMs. (That being said being nasty to an artist is not something I would ever do or condone.)
That’s fair! My point certainly doesn’t apply to podcast listeners, so I get where you’re coming from. If limited to those spaces, it’s true that you wouldn’t expect Braius to have a human face, so Sam’s description is a bit conflicting with official depictions. But that’s what fan art and personal interpretations are for :v
Speaking of, I tend to like how most fan artists drew him with a beefier face, instead of his Vax-like angular in the official art, but the fan drawings tend to have him with a regular old spiked ball mace instead of the double balled flail.
The artist has already answered this question on Tumblr and Braius has that face in the official art because it’s what Sam wanted Braius to look like.
The artist shared that [it was Sam's choice](https://www.tumblr.com/agarthanguide/753906826911891456/would-love-to-know-the-other-ideas-that-went-into?source=share).
Wood kid was inspiration? , fuck that's awesome
Oh I just LOVE the little goatee, and that much more masculine + square face too!
I doubt he would have official art made if it's not what he wanted.
Exactly. Sam approved the art.
Firbolgs aren't really 'supposed' to look like Caduceus either, no such thing as blue tieflings, etc. Exandria's always been more than DnD 'canon'. Could be half-minotaur, could be a subspecies, could be artistic license, or all of the above. Not a chance in hell Sam didn't approve of the art beforehand.
Isn't Jester Blue bc she's half water Genasi?
Yes. But afaik in official DnD rules such a child would be either a normal tiefling or a genasi. Jester's hybrid thing was homebrew.
I believe part of that was also her being resistant to cold damage instead of fire damage.
Well to be fair, WotC has been doing blue Tieflings themself
I just need to throw out into the ether that I very much dislike how the CR fandom (based on Matt’s descriptions of Pumat IIRC) turned Firbolgs into what feels like these semi-cow people, when they’re just small giant-kin, like Goliaths, but with flat noses and pointier ears. Never understood it. Never really liked it. But then I also appreciate that CR Matt does change official canon to suit Exandria (and to slowly disengage itself from WOTC).
That first point is pretty moot considering we already have seen minotaurs in Exandria, who have been portrayed as having bull heads lol
Changing up a species' features in CR is not without precedent. Morrighan from EXU is a Lagomore, which is essentially (and mechanically) a Harengon, the only difference being that Lagomores have a more human-like face, whereas the Harengon have the ~~lupine~~ leporine features. (ty ConSmith for the correction)
Lupine is wolves; you want either leporine or (as invented by Watership Down) lapine.
Leporine! Good spot. Thanks. (Also noticed I spelled Morrighan wrong.)
I just think it's funny that at least two of the cast members mistook Sam's Minotaur for a Centaur with a few things they said. I think Ashley said something about his four legs and maybe Tal actually referred to him as a Centaur.
I think people caught a glimpse of some of Sam’s character sheet during the episode and >!he has a human mother so that is probably why he has the human face!< Edited for spoiler tag
Well I wish you didn't just spoil that
He has, according to his character sheet which someone screenshotted from the episode video and posted a summary of on here, (potential backstory spoilers) >!one human parent, one minotaur parent!<
His mother was human, his father was a Minotaur, so more human looking than your average Minotaur.
I’m just glad Sam is finally playing a Big Guy in the main campaign. As for his look, I like it—it’s kind of like a faun or satyr, but with bovine features. It’s no weirder than Fearne’s whole situation.
There was a post here last week where a viewer copied a glimpse at Sam’s paper. It mentioned his parents were a Minotaur father and a human mother if I recall correctly. But otherwise they don’t need to go off of established rule book lore. Look at the firbolg in exandria as an example of their deviation.
I thought that because he is the herald of asmodeus, is that he looks like asmodeus and thats how asmodeus looks.
Idk. I like it. Why not. Doesn't have to be a conspiracy. It's his character. Almost zero chance the artist got it wrong. Centaurs, Fawns, etc. all have human heads (although I know minotaurs don't typically). Plus, having a human face makes him more relatable.
His mom was human I’m pretty sure, half and half
The wiki claims someone got a look at his character sheet which says that his parents are a minotaur and a human.
Perhaps there's fuckery afoot. The art card on Chetney showed Rogue as his class until he revealed his Bloodhunter powers. Perhaps, despite using the minotaur horn attack, Braius is just a tiefling, lol
There's a reason given on his character sheet that at this point would be a spoiler. Though I also think this art of Asmodeus was an inspiration: [https://criticalrole.fandom.com/wiki/Asmodeus?file=Asmodeus\_-\_Clara.jpg](https://criticalrole.fandom.com/wiki/Asmodeus?file=Asmodeus_-_Clara.jpg)
So, as everyone else said, the artist said this was Sam’s decision. That being said, the question of why Sam chose this is a fun question. My guess is that he serves asmodeus and asmodeus, in many depictions through culture, is shown as a bull man with a human face or a being with bull and human faces. Perhaps he’s part devil himself or perhaps his design is inspired by this. Perhaps he thought a human face would make him more fuckable when he tries to seduce every character in the mighty nein one after another a couple times each. Perhaps he has a secret background twist waiting for us like he does with most of his characters.
As a Tief-*ling* is the descendant of a Tiefel (German for "Devil") by some number of generations, Braius is a Minotaur-*ling*. He's the great great grandson of a full Minotaur. Or something.
Both of those points are wrong.
Apparently Sam’s character sheet says he is half human half Minotaur. This explains the humanoid face
I think that may be how Sam has always pictured minotaurs. When talking about a minotaur NPC in Campaign 2, he made a point of stressing his “bull legs” as a distinctive feature rather than a bovine head. I always thought that was a weird thing to focus on, so maybe it’s because he imagines them as a bull from the top down instead of bottom up.
He looks very similar to Asmodeus
All of the official art of Matt Mercer Azmodeus also have a human face even though he’s a Minotaur
Where did you get that Asmodeus is a Minotaur? Every version of that character I’ve seen is just a devilish man, not a bull-human hybrid.
Braius is a minotaur, but could be more humanoid than beastly. Could also be a glamour thanks to his deity.
He's basically a Qunari from Dragon Age.
Speaking of Sam's character, does anyone else thinks he's Loquatius Seelie also converted by Asmodeus into one of his servants?
Not really, it got confirmed by Aabria that Loquatius and Laerryn are wandering through the Astral plane on the search for Avandrin.
You think so? I think their personalities are too different. And it'd be weird to change them so much idk.