What Are The Worst Character Designs You Have Ever Seen?

[66andtwothirds]

bob's burgers and everything that looks like it. (sanjay and craig, great north)

and THIS.


looks like a newgrounds flash game.

 

[Fat Tub of Lard]

bob's burgers and everything that looks like it. (sanjay and craig, great north)

and THIS.

View attachment 2605114
looks like a newgrounds flash game.

I tried watching that thing when it first came out. Couldn't make it through half a fucking episode.

 

[Massively Strong Greed]

Yanyan from Super Monkey Ball. That hair just pisses me off.

 

[Kiwi & Cow]

I've seen a few odd opinions on this thread (Like Code Lyoko, it's nothing fantastic, but it's not really shitty either), so I wanted to make a small post to clarify what makes really bad character design or good character design.

Good character design vs bad character design​

The first reply is the best possible example of bad character design in this entire thread:

I just don't know where to start, first the huge fucking weapon maybe? It's horrendous and I thought Cloud from FF was the worst one off. Then there's a whole bunch of accessories, he looks like he would be so inconvenienced with all that junk, also he has a second sword on the side for whatever reason, what even is this used for? What's wrong with his socks too? I doubt there's anything that can top this piece of shit and I have yet to see it in this thread.

Now as for good character design, for something to work well it must be simple, but also effective.

Demifiend from SMT is a very good example, it is even better than the entirety of the persona franchise, as the characters are either generic (P1, P2, P3 and P4) as shit or eccentric (i.e: Persona 5 and a few characters from Persona 3 and 2) as shit. Everything about demifiend's design makes him stand up, the markings are also a cool aesthetic without being too much of a sore to look at.

I've seen some people call him ugly, but this has no bearing on the character design itself which is both simple and effective, he is a recognisable character despite only existing in one single two games. I cannot so easily remember every other generic looking Anime character if I was asked to name them all.

Saitama from One Punch Man is also a very good looking character because he has a design that's simple yet effective. To top it off, not that many Anime characters are bald, so he is easily recognisable.

I should also mention that Olaf from Frozen isn't a bad character either, he's just fucking buttugly and I think it was done on purpose because for the big conglomerates "ugly = stupid", "stupid = random + funny".

To the contrary, that parody/satiric/troll character right there could be considered bad character design:

I wonder who's the 4chan genius who came up with this because it looks so wrong in many ways. He did a great job with this drawing.

And for something less satiric and actually serious, there's Soul Calibur's collection of shitty character design. I got reminded of them when I saw the one reply about Overwatch because Soul Calibur has similarly unnecessarily complicated character designs.

To some extent, the cast from Sonic Boom could also be considered bad character design all around since all the characters have superfluous accessories that have no reason to be there.

There are also unintentionally funny character designs like that one Pokemon with the purple skin and the large lips.

 

[Quijibo69]

Yanyan from Super Monkey Ball. That hair just pisses me off.
View attachment 2617605

All the monkeys in the game look like ass. I got the new game and hardly ever play as them.

 

[starborn427614]

All the monkeys in the game look like ass. I got the new game and hardly ever play as them.

You can switch back to the classic skins IIRC.

 

[SirQuicksand]

And for something less satiric and actually serious, there's Soul Calibur's collection of shitty character design. I got reminded of them when I saw the one reply about Overwatch because Soul Calibur has similarly unnecessarily complicated character designs.

Speaking of SoulCalibur, I think the designs got stupider and worse after 3. Case in point, Sophitia's SCIV attire.

 

[Flaming Insignias]

Speaking of SoulCalibur, I think the designs got stupider and worse after 3. Case in point, Sophitia's SCIV attire.
View attachment 2630209

I dunno, looks pretty "Greek Heroine" to me. Pretty simple and effective, even if the cleavage is a little excessive.

 

[Fag Albert]

I dunno, looks pretty "Greek Heroine" to me. Pretty simple and effective, even if the cleavage is a little excessive.

I think most of SoulCalibur's TnA squad is pretty whatever but I think he does have a point with a lot of the other characters. Characters like astaroth started with some very strong design elements (Face Mask, Pupiless eyes, the exposed beating heart) and let it snowball into some overly designed, busy looks like whatever you'd call that purple lava monster outfit in 4 was.

I think the guy that's gotten it the worst is the French swordsman Raphael. Where the character started out in a pretty modest outfit that did the job, kept to a pretty good colour palette of purples, blue, and maroons with some gold jewelry. He went through a weird stage of being a vampire but not vampire. His current look in the sixth game evokes a bit of the original design, but ends up being this mess of pleated and gold trim, metal bits everywhere, a cape and those awful glasses/eye mask.

 

[cactus]

I think most of SoulCalibur's TnA squad is pretty whatever but I think he does have a point with a lot of the other characters. Characters like astaroth started with some very strong design elements (Face Mask, Pupiless eyes, the exposed beating heart) and let it snowball into some overly designed, busy looks like whatever you'd call that purple lava monster outfit in 4 was.

I think the guy that's gotten it the worst is the French swordsman Raphael. Where the character started out in a pretty modest outfit that did the job, kept to a pretty good colour palette of purples, blue, and maroons with some gold jewelry. He went through a weird stage of being a vampire but not vampire. His current look in the sixth game evokes a bit of the original design, but ends up being this mess of pleated and gold trim, metal bits everywhere, a cape and those awful glasses/eye mask.

Looks like a good design to me. It looks like they took the original design and decided to give it some flourish and more details. Just because you don't like it doesn't make it bad.

 

[Flaming Insignias]

Looks like a good design to me. It looks like they took the original design and decided to give it some flourish and more details. Just because you don't like it doesn't make it bad.

I do have to give his argument some merit: the gauntlets and thigh-high greaves do toe the line between good flourishes and clutter. Everything else seems pretty reasonable and helps convey Raphael’s character as an arrogant French duelist, especially in comparison to his horrid SCIII outfit.

 

[cactus]

I do have to give his argument some merit: the gauntlets and thigh-high greaves do toe the line between good flourishes and clutter. Everything else seems pretty reasonable and helps convey Raphael’s character as an arrogant French duelist, especially in comparison to his horrid SCIII outfit.View attachment 2635090

I don't agree. This design is unbalanced, all the interesting stuff is on his torso and his pants over his boots hide things that could help provide the balance and more visual interest.

 

[Flaming Insignias]

I don't agree. This design is unbalanced, all the interesting stuff is on his torso and his pants over his boots hide things that could help provide the balance and more visual interest.

That’s the point: Raphael’s SC3 design, which I showed, is badly balanced and generally goofy. The SC6 design, while having a few pieces that I think could be done away with, is rather good, a point we both agree on.

 

[cactus]

That’s the point: Raphael’s SC3 design, which I showed, is badly balanced and generally goofy. The SC6 design, while having a few pieces that I think could be done away with, is rather good, a point we both agree on.

My bad, I misread.

 

[Fag Albert]

Looks like a good design to me. It looks like they took the original design and decided to give it some flourish and more details. Just because you don't like it doesn't make it bad.

I'm sorry, I just don't agree with that. I try to admit when I think a design is just not for me, but I honestly think the look is just so busy and could seriously be improved by cutting out a few elements here and there while still retaining that high class, arrogant look they're going for.

 

[cactus]

I'm sorry, I just don't agree with that. I try to admit when I think a design is just not for me, but I honestly think the look is just so busy and could seriously be improved by cutting out a few elements here and there while still retaining that high class, arrogant look they're going for.

The only difference between the pics you posted are the length of the boots and some smaller details on the clothes, and maybe a different, more detail oriented art style. You like plainer design, but doesn't make the other one bad.

 

[Fag Albert]

The only difference between the pics you posted are the length of the boots and some smaller details on the clothes, and maybe a different, more detail oriented art style. You like plainer design, but doesn't make the other one bad.

I think we'll just have to agree to disagree here.

 

[Overcast]

Demifiend from SMT is a very good example, it is even better than the entirety of the persona franchise, as the characters are either generic (P1, P2, P3 and P4) as shit or eccentric (i.e: Persona 5 and a few characters from Persona 3 and 2) as shit. Everything about demifiend's design makes him stand up, the markings are also a cool aesthetic without being too much of a sore to look at.
View attachment 2619444
I've seen some people call him ugly, but this has no bearing on the character design itself which is both simple and effective, he is a recognisable character despite only existing in one single two games. I cannot so easily remember every other generic looking Anime character if I was asked to name them all.

Technically three if you count SMT4A's DLC.

But yeah, I love Demi-Fiend's design. Those symbols look great aesthetically and they work from a narrative standpoint as they essentially let everyone in the story know what he once was, what he has become and that he could be used as a tool for their own ends. They also symbolize his struggle between being both human and demon and which path you take in the story determines which one he'll be.

 

[sparklemilhouse]

I was reminded of The Garfield Show from about ten years ago when watching 80s/90s Garfield :

garfield doesn’t look like that!

 

[Clorox Cowboy]

I was reminded of The Garfield Show from about ten years ago when watching 80s/90s Garfield :

garfield doesn’t look like that!

That Garfield looks fine to me. Never seen the show, but it just looks like the late 90s proportions in CGI.

This thing on the other hand is easily the worst Garfield design.