I don’t recall when it is said that the MC is supposed to be good looking, and since there has been a lot said on that thread about appearance and origins of the MC I don’t know what are the official things said in the game? Can you by any chance remember the part in the game where it is said so? I would line to see that part
I also really like you user name
I can get behind that! 
And thinking about it that way I can agree.
This is how the MC thinks of themself after retrieving the nanovores and comparing themself to the puppet.
It’s not that you are bad looking, at least not with your clothes on. They made sure of that. Of course, you can’t allow yourself to look too attractive either and draw another kind of attention you are not ready for.
During character creation, as a woman the MC says:
In a world of voluptuous heroines and seductive villainesses, you’re not the most beautiful of women, but you were never meant to look that way.
Standing out too much would be detrimental to the mission.
Male MC gets a similar line:
In a world of muscle-bound heroes and hulking brute villains, you’re not the most masculine of men, but you were never meant to be one of them.
All you had to do was look, talk, and stand the way you were supposed to, and make sure nobody would notice anything odd.
So I think the MC is attractive in an average kind of way, but they keep comparing themself to some masculine or feminine ideal that they don’t fit. Current MC is not eating healthy, working out, wearing anything stylish or flattering, or getting much sleep. They are running their powers almost constantly, which if you pick sugar as your vice, the game mentions is a real caloric drain. Right now they most likely look skinny, unkempt, and exhausted.
Fits what I was told about spies and infiltrators. Average height/build/frame and above average/handsome looks are the ideal for your average intelligence service field operative in the human intelligence branch.
Still back when the mc was hiding out as SideStep they were certainly handsome enough. I envision more mr. Efron then say Liam Hemsworth or his even taller brother Chris. On the other hand if those latter ones more represent the “average” hero in build and frame and the mc is/was constantly comparing themselves to that it would certainly be one way to (start to) feel insecure about yourself. If you make the puppet look like the mc on the other hand it is frequently noted how handsome and attractive they are, but then they eat right, work out, dress-stylishly and get enough rest.
Still if that is the average among male heroes and the mc was trying to blend in they may just have chosen the wrong career, though in fairness there likely weren’t much more legitimate job options paying at least living wages open to re-gene escapees with scary powers
In addition another big part in the insecurity and uneasiness about their appearance could stem from the fact that if the mc really is a re-gene and therefore property and was always used to be treated as a slave or a thing, then well in the mildest possible terms standing out and being handsome or even too handsome rarely ends well for slaves. Volunteer for nothing at the Farm and that probably includes avoid standing out in any way you can, including downplaying your appearance, but do that too long and it becomes an ingrained behavioural habit that becomes very difficult to ever get rid of.
Look in the post above me by @bobsmyuncle who beat me to the punch here, the mc wasn’t designed to be ugly or even average but they might be and have been holding themselves to a near impossible standard, both now and back as SideStep.
Ortega more or less states so when they approach the puppet, if you made them look like the younger mc that they really remind them of their old friend/sidekick and since the puppet is considered very attractive it stands to reason the mc probably was too, at least back in the day as SideStep. MC themselves also remark on how fit they used to be if you choose to smash the SideStep memorial at the museum.
Damn. What did you do to get that response from Ortega?
Eventually this is probably gonna be unavoidable, still I get this and I would like it to happen on the mc’s terms too. Preferably when the mc’s new villain personality is ready to openly declare war by killing the current president on live television during the state of the union address or someting like that.
lol on his defense, the MC really did look like crap when they meet again. even Argent says that the MC looks creepy (which Ortega takes offense at).
i think he’s just being concerned and still having a hard time reconciling his MC of the past (all dashing hero who may even be an old flame) to the MC he sees now (average and “looking empty”). he hasn’t seen his friend for almost a decade – even believed that they were dead because of him – and suddenly they see them looking unkempt and average at a diner. just what happened to his cool yet distant best friend?
@Chain321 i’m assuming i raised the hidden suspicion stat too much and the high relationship may have played a role too (~90?). not sure which choices raised ortega’s suspicion but here are some noteworthy (IMO) decisions i made:
yep and at the very least, my MC wants to be prepared for the Farm. she doesn’t want them to get the upper hand and catch her unaware again. even if she has suicidal tendencies, the Farm is definitely not the way to go.
anyway, all this talk about MC’s appearance got me curious: what do y’all’s MCs look like? how have they let themselves go? do they look any similar to the Puppet?
for my main, she’s an Asian woman with straight black hair up to her shoulders and almost-black eyes. the descriptor was apt when it said that the MC couldn’t be bothered to take care of her hair and just cuts it off when it becomes too bothersome. i imagine my MC to be skinny but more of the skinny who doesn’t take care of herself, if that makes sense? as in, kinda the skin and bones but with a bit of a tummy. her dark hair also emphasizes her pallor and the bags under her eyes.
Puppet is obviously a cute blonde Caucasian woman because that just fits the ““ideal beautiful woman”” of the media and i headcanon that my MC internalized that because of her self-loathing. she plays a role when using the Puppet but still lives vicariously through her… and this ofc blows up on her face when she finds herself in a love triangle with her “self” 
My MC looks like me. At least my canon one is.
Narcissus would be proud.
Little joke aside in most CoG games that is the case for me, which kinda goes in favor of the average looking MC, not ugly, but not a model.
I’m curious about your Ortega, Steel and Herald. Do you have a specific personality in mind?
It’s because you fought Ortega using your knowledge of his style. That makes him suspect the villain seems a lot like you.
The game actually tracks his suspicions of both the puppet and the villain so you may be racking up points in both categories.
Argent is stated to be good looking as well and Ortega is also up there especially in the day. Honestly what probably makes Herald stand out is probably his personality…it sucks…
Are you Sidestep?
(20 characters)
(Puffs Cigaratte)…Never Heard of them…(Blows Smoke and walks away)
lol. in hindsight, my MC could look like me too then seeing that I am an Asian with black hair and eyes. but then again, Asians generally do have natural black hair and eyes so whatever. i never really pictured my MC as me either way.
what do you mean? like character interpretations and such? or the MC’s relationship to them?
yep, i probably did. though not that i’m too worried. i’m honestly very curious how this mess will play out in the sequels 
I’d imagine it’ll play out like when you play with any fire…third degree burns. But let’s face it that’s why we came here.
Hum my English found its limits after all, in French the use of “personality” could refer as someone famous, so I guess I meant celebrities 
I actually did the monologue with Ortega saying I know her but later said about her not knowing the truth and supporting the bad government and things like that, and she actually became supportive of the villain instead of suspicious. In the end she even asked if she’s fighting for the right cause
By the way is Mortum black? When you joked about having coffee they got all insulted about you comparing them to that. I don’t think there was a description of them being black before that
Yeah they are. It’s said when you first see them.
Oh I didn’t notice that, I had no idea why they suddenly got insulted.
It was a really awesome moment indeed!
Yeah, but still my “mirror, mirror on the wall” tells me Herald is definitely the fairest of them all. Which unfortunately for him draws the ire and jealousy of my mc’s villain persona and the lust/love/whatever/it’s confusing of his normal one. 
I don’t dispute that all of the others, except maybe Steel are good-looking too, tends to come with the territory after all, but Herald is likely to be good-looking even among the notoriously good-looking hero community. More frequently than with the others the game takes note of how handsome and charismatic the guy is.