Um...why did he have all those scars as a spirit? Also...a goddess sending an assassin after the Hero...that's different. Aren't Heroes, Heroes because they've been blessed by the gods? So why?
@Azure2290 How do you know he wasn't a pretty boy in his former life before the ravages of age caught up to him?
@BasicEden It's actually like that in a lot of Asian cultures. Has to do with their old caste system... Rich people stayed inside all the time or had shade wherever they needed it. Poor people toiled under the hot sun all day. Basically, being rich meant you were beautiful, too. Paleness became a sign of wealth and beauty.
Every time a Japanese manga goes, "her skin is pure white", I just think about the skin-lightening cream industry that's making bank on Asians' white-skin fetish.