DAZ released some new characters. The last time I needed a man and a woman of African descent, I had to search high and low for some morphs and materials that fit the bill. I messed around with Skin Builder and eventually had to ditch the figure I wanted to use in favor of another one. It's frustrating when you have a vision in your head of how you want the scene to look, but your hands are tied by the availability of assets you need to complete the scene.

There have also been several complaints in the DAZ Forums that there is no DAZ Original characters for Africans. They added some ethnic diversity to their portfolio with the release of Mei Lin and Lee 6, but still no African characters. In the past, we've had to rely on a limited supply of 3rd party offerings.

Introducing Monique & Darius 6.

I'll start off with Monique 6.



DAZ says Monique is a dark-skinned beauty who's meticulously sculpted to bring out all of her stunning details. I have to agree. She's no Victoria, and a welcomed change from all the white girls they've released over the past year.



Here's a closeup. She does have a lot of nice detail and a great skin map. Strange how the default map has pubic hair. And a lot of it! I guess DAZ thinks all Africans are hairy down there. It's too bad no one will be able to use the likes of Skin Builder to give her a custom look there.



Her face has an incredible amount of detail. She's definitely not just another Victoria with a dark skin map. DAZ has paid close attention to all the distinct features.



She has several SSS settings as well as makeup options. Here's a render with a 50% SSS and some makeup.



I didn't feel the need to buy the Pro Bundle this time. I stuck with the base figure, but did pick up some new Vidal Braids to match the character.



It comes with several color options.



You can also hide the hair wrap.



I quickly threw this one together just to see what Monique looked like with some simple lights. Not bad.



Moving on to Darius.



You can't just throw a dark skin map onto Michael 6 and pass him off as African. It's nice that DAZ released these two characters at the same time. Again, I just picked up the base character because I didn't need the clothes and extras that came with the Pro Bundle.



Seeing as I didn't pick up the Pro Bundle, the male genitalia was not included with the base model. However, I you add the male genitalia from a previous Pro Bundle purchase, the default Darius skin map will work just fine.



Here's a closeup. There's a lot of nice detail. Like Mei Lin and Lee 6, I don't think an HD-Add On will do much to improve the standard charters. DAZ will inevitably release and extra Add-On for these two new characters. I'll tell you right now, I'll pass on them both.



Darius comes with several SSS settings as well as eye colors. 50% SSS with green eyes and 25% SSS with blue eyes. You can see the difference, but only when side-by-side.



I put the two characters in a scene together to see how they look. For the sake of time, I reused the scene I build for the "Walking the City Streets" render. They look pretty good.



Along with Victoria, Michael, Mei Lin, and Lee…these are some great additions to my collection of characters. DAZ finally has all their ethnic-bases covered.