Board 8 > I rank 155 characters by visual design [ranking]

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/e/ecc9c7e2.jpg
Pictured: The gangs all here! (with special guest in 156th spot?)

It is time.

You (yes, YOU!) gave me fictional characters 155 of them, to be exact. I have analyzed each characters visual design based on a variety of factors, researched their general personality and role in their stories, and assigned each of them a relative position in the overall ranking. Now, here is that ranking, excruciatingly drawn out one writeup at a time. What fun!

The full list of 155, arranged alphabetically (match them up with the picture above for MAXIMUM FUNZO):

2B (NieR: Automata)
Admiral Bobbery (Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door)
Aku (Samurai Jack)
Alicia (Valkyrie Profile 2)
Allura (My Little Pony: Tell Your Tale)
Amaterasu (Okami)
An Ena (ENA)
Anya Forger (Spy x Family)
Aquamarine (Steven Universe)
Artoria Caster (Fate/Grand Order)
Artorias the Abysswalker (Dark Souls)
Ashe (League of Legends) [PROJECT]
Aya Brea (Parasite Eve)
Azel (Panzer Dragoon Saga)
Battler Ushiromiya (Umineko When They Cry [manga])
Bowser (Bowser's Fury)
Cable (Marvel)
Campsite (Preeny Has to Repeat 6th Grade)
CatNap (Poppy Playtime: Chapter 3)
Chloe Price (Life is Strange)
Chun-Li (Street Fighter II)
Clodsire (Pokmon)
Colonoscopy Elephant (colonoscopy early detection pamphlet)
Courage (Courage the Cowardly Dog)
Cryptic (The Stormlight Archive)
Daniel (Eternal Return)
Dante (Devil May Cry 5)
Dante (Limbus Company)
Delta Ludicolo (Pokmon Trading Card Game)
Demi-fiend (Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne)
Devourer of Souls (Anvil of Dawn)
Diona (Genshin Impact)
Donquixote Doflamingo (One Piece)
Drachma (Skies of Arcadia)
Edea Kramer (Final Fantasy VIII)
Edward (Cowboy Bebop)
Elesh Norn (Magic: The Gathering)
Elliana (Rivals of Aether)
Emmrich Volkarin (Dragon Age: The Veilguard)
Eurydice (Hades)
Galactus (Marvel)
Ganondorf (The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker)
Gilgamesh (Civilization VI)
Glenn (Chrono Cross)
Gogotte (Puyo Puyo Fever 2)
Golden Harvest (aka Carrot Top) (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)
Guernica (Persona 5 Tactica DLC)
Guile (Street Fighter II)
Gundramon (Digimon)
Gut (fursona)
Harley Quinn (Batman: Arkham Knight)
Heismay Noctule (Metaphor ReFantazio)
HOBaRT (SiIvaGunner: King for Another Day)
HUMANOID DJ (HUMANOID DJ)
Hummel Trabaldo (Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana)
Ico (ICO)
Inugami Korone (hololive)
Jack Knight / Starman (DC)
Jessica Rabbit (Who Framed Roger Rabbit)
Jimbo (Balatro)
John Silver (Treasure Planet)
Jotaro Kujo (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)
Judy lvarez (Cyberpunk)
Juste Belmont (Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance)
Kanbaru Suruga (Monogatari)
Kass (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild)
Kat (Gravity Rush)
King (The Owl House)
King of All Cosmos (Katamari Damacy)
Kirby (Kirby)
Kitasan Black (Uma Musume: Pretty Derby)
Klonoa (Klonoa 2)
KOS-MOS (Xenosaga) [Xenoblade version]
Kratos (God of War [original trilogy])
Kuon (Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception)
Lady Kikka (Saiyuki: Journey West) [butterfly form]
Lap Sap Chung (Keep Hong Kong Clean)
Larry (Pokmon Scarlet/Violet)
Little My (Moomin 1990)
Lum Bam-foo (Fantasy Strike)
Magik (Marvel Rivals)
Majin Buu (Dragon Ball Z)
Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty [1959])
Marghild Esmund (Final Fantasy XIV)
Marina Ida (Splatoon 2)
Marx (Kirby Super Star)
Master Chief (Halo)
Matt Damon (Arthur)
Maya Fey (Ace Attorney)
Megumi Aikawa (Heaven Burns Red)
Megumi Kitanji (The World Ends With You)
Midna (The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess)
Mind flayers (Dungeons & Dragons [3e])
Miss Heed (Villainous)
Mizutsune (Monster Hunter)
Moze (Honkai: Star Rail)
Nate Mitotsudaira (Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere)
Nero (Devil May Cry 5)
Nightcrawler (X-Men)
Nightwing (Batman)
Niko (OneShot)
No-Face (Spirited Away)
Optimus Prime (Transformers)
Overseer (Helldivers)
Pancham (Pokmon)
Parin (Gurumin)
Pepelogoo (Monster World IV)
Peppermint Patty (Peanuts)
Percy de Rolo (The Legend of Vox Machina)
Pomni (The Amazing Digital Circus)
Popoi (Secret of Mana)
Poppy (League of Legends)
Queen Chrysalis (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)
Rambley the Raccoon (Indigo Park)
Rauru (The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom)
Remilia Scarlet (Koumajou Remilia II: Stranger's Requiem)
Repede (Tales of Vesperia)
Rosie the Riveter (We Can Do It!)
Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy (Elden Ring)
Saiki Kusuo (The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.)
Saya (Saya no Uta)
Scourge the Hedgehog (Archie Sonic the Hedgehog)
Sef (A Dance of Fire and Ice: Neo Cosmos)
Shanoa (Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia)
Shiki Ryougi (Kara no Kyoukai)
Shuma-Gorath (Marvel)
Sissel (Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective)
Slylandro (Star Control II)
Snoopy (Peanuts)
Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic the Hedgehog)
Specimen 8 (AKA, The Deer Lord) (Spooky's House of Jumpscares)
Sthertoth, God of Chaos (Bomberman 64: The Second Attack!)
Storm (X-Men 97)
Tali'Zorah nar Rayya (Mass Effect [2 and 3])
Terebi-chan (Nico Nico Douga)
The Globglogabgalab (Strawinsky and the Mysterious House)
The Grinch (How the Grinch Stole Christmas [1966 TV special])
The Line (The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics)
The Sultan (Aladdin)
Tiamat (Forgotten Realms) [dragon form]
Titania (Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance)
Todd (from Mario) (Drawfee)
Toree (Toree series)
Tracer (Overwatch)
Utsuho Reiuji (Touhou Project)
V (Devil May Cry 5)
Viridi (Kid Icarus: Uprising)
Virtual Cat (Virtual Cat)
Voteless (Helldivers)
Voyager (Fate/Grand Order)
Vritika Balakrishnan (Heaven Burns Red)
Xavier (Xavier: Renegade Angel)
Yo-a-mong (Eastern Mind: The Lost Souls of Tong-Nou)
Zero (Mega Man X)
Zizou Olympia (The Legend of Dark Witch [Episode 2])

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But before we dive in! A retrospective. Please queue up some warm, pastoral music to set the mood.

The Character Design Ranking: A Post Mortem
This one was a lot of fun! Visual design is something Im not very good at analyzing, so I especially wanted to try this ranking and see if I could become more literate in the nomenclature and analysis, which I will call nomenalysis moving forward (expect to see an entry about it on Wiktionary soon).

For a previous ranking, I ranked series by visual design, where you (yes, YOU!) nominated with videos and images. That got me thinking about expanding the visual design category to fictional characters (drawn/animated). The series from that ranking with character rep in this ranking are God of War, JoJos Bizarre Adventure, League of Legends, Monster Hunter, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Okami, One Piece, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and Virtual Cat's Neko Katsudou (Cat Activity) seriesand none of those made the top ten in the series ranking! But obviously series are not characters, and anything can happen.

As I analyzed the designs, I quickly came to some big ideas about what sorts of things I valued in character design. These were things I genuinely hadnt realized I valued before the ranking, so that was exciting! Obviously Im not going to intentionally spoil anything, but I think youll be able to tell where my preferences stand. I do apologize to those of you who nominated with, say, an aesthetic that I didnt vibe with, because its not like I gave any signs about that; like I said, this was a real process of discovery for me. If I revisit this ranking topic in the future, Ill be able to better articulate what Im looking for.

The actual ranking process was different too. I didnt have any scale of 0 to 10, or any objective criteria. What I did was assess each characters position in relation to the others. For example, if Bubble Man (Mega Man 2) was in position 30, and I decided Bub (Bubble Bobble) was better than Bubble Man, then Id look to the character above Bubble Man in position 29 (lets say Wolverine (X-Men)) to see if Bub was better than them, and so on, until I got to a point where I could say no. As I went along, I was able to compare characters more directly. Is Bob (Bubble Bobble) better than Bub? Once I answered that question, I was able to move more expediently. It was a fun way to go about things!

Research mostly considered of reading Wikis (where applicable), looking at additional pictures (where applicable), and occasionally watching videos (where applicable).

Anyway, a friendly reminder that this is meant to be fun! There will be somehot takes in this ranking. I am not an average connoisseur of, well, anything, so while Ive tried to account for some degree of objectivity, theres also a lot of subjectivity too.

My taste might be infallible, but my research skills are not. Some details about your nominations may have eluded me. Rest assured Ive given every single character a fair shake.

My pace for this topic will be uneven. Unlike other rankings Ive run, I havent written the writeups yet. I have notes, so any given writeup shouldnt take me long, but this wont be done super quickly. Which is what you want, right? More CONTENT.

Nominators may observe that some nom pics are different. Sometimes I swapped out a picture if I felt like there was a better reference, but I worked hard to preserve the originally nominated design.

As is becoming standard for me, I included two of my own nominations: Pancham and Ena. I said I would only include them in the final ranking if they placed outside the top three. And while that still happened this time, it wasa little close But well worry about that when we get there, mmkay?

Finally (whew!), please feel free to predict as the topic goes along! The OP image has glimpses of all the nominations. Also, I pleaded with everyone to read every writeup in the friend ranking; the writeups wont be nearly as detailed here, but Id love it if you followed along with my thoughts. Ill try to avoid unmarked spoilers wherever possible.

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Okay! I think thats everything. Ill compile some stats based on character info at some point (Im definitely going to do gender and media of origin), so if you want to see something specific, let me knowbut that can wait. For now, lets get started with our last place, which I suspect will be a bit of a hot take

It's-a me, topico!

Oh shit it's done

rwlh posted...

The actual ranking process was different too. I didnt have any scale of 0 to 10, or any objective criteria. What I did was assess each characters position in relation to the others. For example, if Bubble Man (Mega Man 2) was in position 30, and I decided Bub (Bubble Bobble) was better than Bubble Man, then Id look to the character above Bubble Man in position 29 (lets say Wolverine (X-Men)) to see if Bub was better than them, and so on, until I got to a point where I could say no. As I went along, I was able to compare characters more directly. Is Bob (Bubble Bobble) better than Bub? Once I answered that question, I was able to move more expediently. It was a fun way to go about things!

this is literally the only way i can rank things preferentially - i approve

It begins.

Enthusiastic tag.

Wooooooo

Tag

rwlh posted...

For now, lets get started with our last place, which I suspect will be a bit of a hot take

also my bet for this is kirby

We won...

The real question, though, IS Bob better than Bub?

Tag

Chaeix posted...

also my bet for this is kirby

That's more than a bit of a hot take, lol. There's a line on this list

Tag

Plasman posted...

That's more than a bit of a hot take, lol. There's a line on this list

i would choose the line over teddy from persona 4

who of course isn't on this list, but is used to demonstrate the example of a character uglier than a line

Tag

lol Gritty

Tag 1

Tag hype

Rigged

nominates Niko (Oneshot)

Tag

Yippeeeee! I can't wait to have my character picks epically owned by you.

Woo!

Tracking!!!

To answer the poll, it's about 50/50 between western animation and video games. When it comes to anime and manga I tend to prefer how lines and colours are used more than the actual character designs themselves. I've been trying to grasp an art style that works as a good medium between western animation and anime.

But I voted Gritty because he's on a plane of existence far beyond our comprehension.

Guten tag

Behold, the glory of last place.

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155. Edea Kramer (Final Fantasy VIII)
@andylt

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/a/a4235194.jpg

I have an unusual relationship to the Final Fantasy series, at least for somebody who hangs around a community of gamers: Ive never really played any of them. My knowledge of the series comes mostly from cultural osmosis and from their soundtracks. A result of this is that I have no particular nostalgia for Final Fantasy. I watched someone play Theatrhythm and I came away realizing that Ive missed out on an entire subculture of existence. I dont even know what a Tonberry looks like. How can I continue in this incomplete life

Anyway, all this to say that I have no idea if this is a popular character from this game or not. She could be bottom in popularity polls. She could rival Squall as fan favorite. Who knows?

What I do know is Sorceress Edea needs to reassess her fashion choices.

Edea appears throughout part of the game as an antagonist to the party. She presents as this mysterious, evil wizard lady. She has an aura of menace around her. But she is in last place in this ranking because to me at least she commits the cardinal sin of character design: she fails at the thing she intends to do in the story. She doesnt look evil or mysterious. She looks pretty goofy, actually! And I know that shes not really evil, shes being brainwashed, but this is how she looks when shes the antagonist.

Lets examine the various sundry pieces of Edea Kramers design.

We have her shapeless black dress thats sort of like a blob, probably a limitation of the PSX hardware. We have her seashell like crown, which could actually be kind of neat on a different character, but it looks so out of place here. She has long fingernails, which I guess is kind of spooky? She has a plunging neckline, which I guess is kind of sexy, if you like low-res women rendered in bad CGI?

Those wouldnt be enough to net her the bottom spot by themselves. No, the biggest sin Edea commits is her weirdcurtain thing? behind her? What even is this thing? Its partially a cape and it billows behind her in two sheets. At first I thought it was weird background elements, but then I watched some gameplay (both cutscene and in-game) and she goes out of her way to generate it behind her, like shes donning armor. Im imagining Edea walking down a crowded street and banging into people with the nodules of her curtain rod. What a baffling design choice.

There are characters in this ranking who commit greater design sins than Edea, but Edea just does so much badly. Like I said, she fails at the basic criteria for effective design: do you do the thing youre supposed to do? Edeas design does not do many things, and what it does do, it does poorly. Is this truly what Ive been missing these years with this franchise? Curtain rod capes and rainbow seashell headgear?

Tag!

oh no

tag

This is such a hot take that I think I could cook an egg on my phone if I laid it down!

That said, I did get a good laugh out of this

Im imagining Edea walking down a crowded street and banging into people with the nodules of her curtain rod.

It's a well-written writeup, you get what they were going for with her, but we have wildly different opinions on the execution!

Fun fact, Edea was originally designed for FF7. They cut her part out of the story but Nomura liked her design so much it was put into 8 >_>

I kind of agree that Edea looks a bit goofy, but I always thought it was deliberate? Like in-universe I always thought she was something like a celebrity or a diva.

I don't really know though. Been many years since I played and some things about FF8's story always confused me. So I could be wrong on basically all accounts.

Anyway I always liked her design though. Reminds me a lot of a peacock.

For the record I never had the impression she was that popular of a character overall though.

Luckily if she ever needs to take a shower she's already got the curtain

154. Cable (Marvel)
@MarkS2222222222

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/e/e9027e33.jpg

I went through the nominations alphabetically. When I got to Cable, I said to myself, surely theres no way anybody could be worse than Cable, right? But Edea Kramer walked in, dropped the mic, and left the room. Talk about a superstar!

Cable is notoriously the epitome of bad 90s comics design, specifically the style popularized by his creator, Rob Liefeld. He exemplifies every awful trope of 90s hyper macho comic book heroes. The aggressive musculature. The disproportionate body, with tiny heads and micro-feet. The shoulder pads. Its all here. Its that brand of Mountain Dew-flavored edge you only really get from the 90s.

The nominator provided multiple reference pics for Cable and I picked the funniest one. But even disregarding the Liefeldisms that seem to be phased out in the modern era, he still has muscles broader than his face and the one glowing eye, which is super goofy.

Is there something redeeming about Cables design? Im not somebody who likes things unironically when I like something, its with my whole heart but I guess there could be a certain appreciation for kitsch of the era, or for nostalgia points. Cable as a character still seems to get some play in Marvel comics; he starred in a monthly series with Deadpool for years. Not sure what hes up to now, but its like a little bit of Cable lives on in all of us. Perhaps we are all Cable, and perhaps our feet are about as big as our ears.

Tag

off to a good start

edea looks like a gottmik drag outfit

Oh hey a tag.

rwlh posted...

154. Cable (Marvel)

Fair

rwlh posted...
Im not somebody who likes things unironically when I like something, its with my whole heart

One too many negatives I think there lol. But yeah, this guy is insane.

I'll tag in as well, let's see how I do!

153. Nate Mitotsudaira (Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere)
@MacArrowny

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/d/dfb58ee0.jpg

Theres a lot to take in here. Nate Mitotsudaira is wearing what passes for a school uniform in this anime, which is like a jumpsuit with long, flowing sleeves with orange frill. Curious clothing choices aside, Nate also has a powerful example of drill hair, which is a term I learned in researching her. Most examples of drill hair have two hair turrets that spike out behind the person, sometimes not extending very far, sometimes going far down, often appearing like spirals. Nate doesnt just have drill hair she has like, like, a drill thunderstorm. Five separate turrets drape down from behind her head like a blanket. Its bizarre and off-putting.

I watched a clip of the show because I had to see the drill hair in action. Disappointingly, they dont balloon all over the place or fan out or anything fun. When Nate jumps into the air and does fancy fighting techniques, her hair barely moves at all! Its like, whats the point of having hair like this if it doesnt constantly move around?

I also just think this art style isnt for me. Definitely some uncanny valley stuff going on with Nates face. So weve got confusing clothing choices, untapped potential with hairstyle, and an uncomfortable art style thats enough to net a spot near the bottom.

That just might be the worst designed anime character I have ever seen

Ooo yeah Tag!

Edea's design works for me, but I'm more familiar with her through fan creations and not the rather quaint PS1 graphical style of FF8

Cable is a design I would like if he was from a 90s cartoon, smth like the Powerpuff Girls. I actually really like ridiculously proportioned characters, but not if the art style is meant to be gunning for some level of realism.

Nate's design is definitely a little too busy for me. It's a fairly simplistic style but her outfit is a bit all over the place. A lot of "stripey" bots in different directions.

Can't say I'm surprised to see these designs go out early, especially Nate and Cable.

RIP. I figured she wouldn't do well, but I do like her design quite a bit, personally.

I am starting to believe the bottom of the barrel here is gonna be dominated by characters whose designs are just too much, in one way or the other.

YESSSSSS

/caps

Me skimming through this topic:

"Cable is one spot too high."

*sees the next character*

"Nevermind, this one is worse."