Favorite character designs

[bartholen_v1legacy]

What character designs do you like the most? Anything that's caught your eye lately? I'll be honest: I'm making this thread just as an excuse to talk about the Fume Knight, aka Raime, from Dark Souls II's Crown of the Iron King DLC.

Image cropping fucked up, here's a link instead: http://soulslore.wdfiles.com/local--files/data:fume-knight/Dark%20Souls%20-%20Fume%20Knight%201.jpg

I just find this design immensely cool. I don't know what specifically, but something special strikes me in this design, and in a game filled with "Dude in armor" bosses, that's definitely saying something. Maybe it's his silhouette, this tall, lanky guy who still wields the biggest sword in the game, perhaps the entire series. Maybe it's how he looks like he's been burnt to a crisp, armour blackened and clothes tattered, that makes him all the more frightening. What I definitely like is his helmet: it doesn't look right. It looks like it's been bent and beaten out of shape until it looks like something that would be no use to a human. That big-ass sword which I believe is supposed to be, or at least look like, cooled down lava, certainly doesn't hurt. He's also become one of my favorite boss fights in the game, despite being proven to be the toughest fight in the game in terms of how many attempts players need to defeat him.

Normally I don't think about this kind of stuff at all, but this I wanted to share. What would your picks be?

 

[Zhukov]

That might not be the best picture. Can't really see it clearly.

Personally I've developed a severe distaste for oversized weaponry in character designs. Looks childish. I realize it's often necessary is game so players can tell at a glance what enemies are wielding, but they still often go overboard.

Anyway, I'm rather fond of the design of The Kindred, the newest character(s) in League of Legends.

A grim reaper-esque personification of death in the form of two hunters, Lamb and Wolf, one compassionate, the other savage.

Although Wolf could have done with being more distinct. I suspect his design was hampered by gameplay requirements and animation limitations. Also, while it isn't obvious in that image, Lamb's bow is a bit too large.

League has a lot of shitty character designs, and taken as a whole they're an utter hodgepodge. But every now and again they come up with something cool. Diana and Leona are also favourites of mine.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

The Sorceress from Dragon's Crown. It's a favorite of something alright.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Says what you want about Bayonetta but I loved her desing as in being sexy WITHOUT having big breast and wearing revealing clothing (as in her normal attire and not her summon hair attacks).

 

[Hero of Lime]

As far a recent designs go, definitely Inklings from Splatoon. The female design in particular, I'm not a fan of the male inkling design.

Spoiler

When Splatoon was first shown off I thought they looked weird, and I wasn't a fan. After getting the game, they grew on me, and now I think the design is great. It so simple, she is a squid creature, but is simultaneously a kid...creature. They can be pretty adorable too, especially when paired with their voices.

Spoiler: One of the best, weird videos ever made. :3

As for my favorite design of all time, it's definitely Link in his Twilight Princess/Smash Bros. Brawl, 3DS, and Wii U designs.

Spoiler

It takes the iconic tunic, and gives it a well fleshed out, more realistic look. All while retaining its fantastical appearance.

 

[kommando367]

As a general rule, the weirder and more alien in appearance, the better.

I also like lithe figures with disproportionately large hands/gauntlets and feet/boots, glowing marks/lines, and a fair amount of asymmetry with high color contrast.

 

[DefunctTheory]

I like big and bulky character designs. Astartes and 'Western' style mecha, for example.

Spoiler: Battletech

Spoiler: Adeptas Astartes

I appreciate a fatty, you can say.

Not too aware of many current games where is is common though, and I can't remember the last time I saw a character design and just thought to myself 'Wow, god damn.'

Well, that's not true. I guess there is that game.

Spoiler: Warning, Not for the Faint of Heart

 

[Eddie the head]

I was always a fan of the Draenei Paladin form the "World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade" cinematic.
I also rather like Bellona form SMITE.

Spoiler: Bellona

 

[The Wykydtron]

I have a lot of favourite character designs, Battler and Beatrice from Umineko No Naku Koro Ni are high up there. Beatrice's original outfit is one of my favourites.

Spoiler: Beatrice

Spoiler: Battler

There's something about that elaborate dress that fits Beatrice's tendency to cackle maniacally and be generally sadistic. Her other costumes don't compare. I would add Erika in but we don't talk about that character here.

Battler just looks cool. I mean look at that, that's Hazama levels of pulling off a suit and tie perfectly. Speaking of which, Hazama from Blazblue needs to be in here.

Spoiler

No words can describe how perfectly that black and green outfit suits him.

Also my main girl Mu-12 for best character design.

Spoiler: ArcSys pls

I main her for her gameplay, I swear.

Finally I have to add a design I stumbled across a month or so ago, I can't say I thought I would find a character design in Hyperdimention Neptunia that is legit just all of my physical and clothing preferences in women just shoved into one character then with a witch hat on top but y'know. It happens.

Spoiler: 10/10

Fuckin' MAGES. actual S+ material in a game I expected to have B material tops...

I'm noticing a theme of suit and tie here. Guess I must just be into that kinda thing. Formal wear worn as casual clothes maybe?

 

[Casual Shinji]

I'm quite fond of Ciri's design in The Witcher 3.

I primarily just love her face. She has these great piercing eyes, and while young characters with white hair in fiction usually turn me off or look a bit douchy, she just makes it work. I also love how her loose fitting shirt gives her just that bit of sex appeal, but mainly shows she doesn't really care about making herself look that presentable, and that she sorta makes due with what she can find on the road.

I also love her sleek, steely physique. (Totally not skeezing here, seriously! >.>)

She's just got a cool look to her.

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

Well, ever since playing Danganronpa 2, I've quite liked this character's design...

Spoiler: My 2nd best female character of all time

As well as this character's design, and for using as a gif for when gaming companies do stupid shit...

Spoiler: One of the memorables from DR2

Also, as a Breath of Fire fan, I've enjoyed many character designs, as well as some of Ryu's transformations

Spoiler: Nina

Spoiler: Katt

Spoiler: Shaman form Jean

Spoiler: Ryu's Rudra form

Spoiler: Ryu's Tiamat form

And, of course, I absolutely love the FF14 design of Bahamut.

Spoiler: So badass

 

[Harlemura]

I've been watching the Monogatari series recently and I like almost all of the character designs in that, but the one that sticks in my mind the most is Mayoi Hachikuji.

I like the design because when I first saw her, I thought she just had a standard little girl design with a bit of typical anime exaggeration. But later on when it's revealed she has a snail connotation, it's really obvious her design mirrors aspects of a snail, with her backpack being a shell and her twintails being antennae. It could just be because I'm a bit slow on the uptake, but I thought it was pretty clever because I sure as hell wouldn't have made the snail link from her design alone.

I like finding out about the thought behind character designs though. A couple of years ago I got a Persona 4 art book which had some notes on the characters, and found out there's more reason behind what goes in to a design than "that looks right good, that does", even if the design itself isn't all that interesting.

Spoiler: For example, Rise Kujikawa.

She was given pigtails for the sole reason not many people in real life have pigtails, and this was meant to relate to her being an idol and how her being famous and on TV all the time sets her apart from the normal, everyday folk. Or something to that effect, anyways.

 

[bliebblob]

I still really like what guild wars 2 did with the sylvari: rather than the usual wood elf cliche, they went with actual walking talking plants.

Spoiler: Image

It of course also helps their lore makes them pretty much the polar opposite of the usual elf tropes, because oh my god am I tired of those...

 

[EyeReaper]

Well, right now I am really digging new Skylander Fiesta's look

Spoiler: A Dia de los Muertes Cowboy with a gun that shoots weaponized Mariach music? yes please.

Spoiler: Also comes in a more Halloween-y flair

Really I could flood this post with a lot of Skylanders. I buy them as figures first, so they need to look good, you know?

Although my absolutely favorite character design is Taokaka from Blazblue. I love the Hisenko style of "Shirt whose sleeves bell out to be wider than their head and hold a million objects," I love that her hair is her jacket drawstrings, and I especially lovē her lack of face.

Spoiler

 

[Scy Anide]

Ryu and the Sylvari were already mentioned so I guess I'll go with Raziel from Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver.

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

[Zhukov]

[snip]

Thank you for the link. I just spent the last few hours devouring every detail of that game.

I'm torn between sincerely hoping it will be good and a nasty suspicion that it won't be.

 

[InfinityCubed]

Cyber Sub-zero. MK9's character design was all over the place in terms of quality, but when they got it right, they got it right. I'm severely disappointed he's not at least a skin in MKX.

 

[Halla Burrica]

Well Luna from Virtue's Last Reward is a character I quite like, and her design is a favorite of mine. Humble, which suits her character. A lot of people ike character designs that reveal are quite revealing, but for me it's the opposite. I find moderate and reserved designs to be more appealing, either because I'm a romantic for the older days of clothing (even though I was born in the nineties) or because the more clothing the more room it gives for my horrible fetishes. Take your pick.

I also like the character design of Ashur in The Pitt DLC of Fallout 3. His armor is basically a pretty roughed up power armor from the Brotherhood of Steel, with a bit of a personal touch (like a goddamned Brahmin skull for a shoulder plate, how cool is that). That, combined with the face of a really weary and hardened man and you can kinda see why he's the boss of all the crazy violent psychos in the Pitt. It also helps that he's one of the better characters in FO3.