Character design/comparision topic - Discuss various character designs here

[Dan Hibiki]

I consider myself well-exposed to good character design, and the CvSNK debate topic in the General Comments and Strategies section gave me an idea. Why not debate on how original character designs and moves are, and compare such rankings to other characters to see how things work?

Here's the format... list it EXACTLY as it is here. Cut and paste it and fill it out in your reply box for the quickest results.

Company:
Video Game:
Character:
My Rating:
Reasons:

Do that for introducing a new character into the debate. Posts that follow need not be so structured, such as correcting the game, debating the rating/reasons, and comparing characters. I shall start things off:

Company: Namco
Video Game: Soul Calibur
Character: Isabella Valentine (Ivy)
My Rating: 9.5
Reasons: An insane English woman with a sword that transforms into a whip whose father is a murderous and possessed bloodthirsty pirate who slaughtered his own crew for fun. What's not to love?

Company: Namco
Video Game: Soul Calibur II
Character: Raphael Sorel
My Rating: 10.0
Reasons: Once again an insane person, this time an insane ex-nobel Frenchman. Driven into madness by his nobel family's betrayal by allowing a rival nobel family to capture him, Raphael fled into the slums. Raphael seeks the maddening sword Soul Edge to give to the nobelman so that they may obliterate one another and make a better world for the common person in France, specifically his adopted common daughter, Amy. Overall a very deep and complex character, and looks good to boot.

Company: Namco
Video Game: Soul Edge/Blade
Character: Cervantes de Leon
My Rating: 9.3
Reasons: The original possessor of the Soul Edge blades in the series. Cervantes went insane upon getting the swords and slaughtered his entire pirate crew for fun. He then went into a nearby Spanish port town and killed everyone there. Sophitia Alexandra challenged him and shattered one of the Soul Edge blades, throwing him off-balance, and Taki finished the job. He was resurrected by a broken piece of the shattered Soul Edge before Soul Calibur II's story begins.

Company: Sammy
Video Game: Guilty Gear X
Character: Sol Badguy
My Rating: 8.9
Reasons: The closest one can put him is the Ken of the GG series. A subject of genetic experiments some two centuries before the time GGX takes place, Sol fights against his past by acting as a bounty hunter and fighting to obliterate Testament's gear uprising. An interesting character. Uses a neat red sword and possesses a superior, half-assed attitude in battle.

Company: Sammy
Video Game: Guilty Gear X
Character: Ky Kiske
My Rating: 9.3
Reasons: The Ryu of the GG series. Ky uses an electrified sword and fights against the gears. As GGX comes about, Ky starts to wonder if all gears are truly evil, and wonders if obliterating them is the right thing to do. My main complaint is that, somehow, in some way, Ky reminds me of Kyosuke of the Rival Schools series.

Company: Capcom
Video Game: Rival Schools
Character: Kyosuke
My Rating: 7.5
Reasons: Don't have much on his personality besides he is the main good guy in Rival Schools: Project Justice (DC). Seems pretty level headed, and I love that nifty stance he is in.

Company: Capcom
Video Game: Street Fighter II Turbo
Character: Akuma
My Rating: 8.0
Reasons: Ansetsuken style in its most pure and potent form. Akuma is a master of the killing arts. After learning how to perform the ultimate killing art, the Shun Goku Satsu (Instant Hell Murder), Akuma returns to the dojo he learned in and kills his master and his fellow pupil Gouken in fair combat. While he kills in battle, he is not evil according to his code. To fight is to fight for ones life, and to give it all you got and to hold nothing back.

Company: Capcom
Video Game: Street Fighter Alpha
Character: Dan Hibiki
My Rating: 8.9
Reasons: I have always liked the funny characters, and Dan is on the top of the heap of those. Bad attitude, big talk, and insignificant strength all wrapped up into a tight little package, making for some fun times.

Company: SNK
Video Game: Fatal Fury
Character: Joe Higashi
My Rating: 8.9
Reasons: Same reason as Dan; I like the silly characters. "Ora, ora!"

Company: Capcom
Video Game: Darkstalkers
Character: Felicia
My Rating: 10.0
Reasons: You don't get much more original than this. A catwoman with cute cat ears, long blue hair, white fur on her body and a white tail, and carrying a cute, lovable, cat-like behavior and attitude with her. Some say that Felicia is a rip-off of a character from SNK's Samurai Showdown 2 (Tam Tam? I don't remember her name), but I am not convinced.

Company: Tecmo
Video Game: Dead or Alive 2
Character: Ein
My Rating: 8.3
Reasons: An expert superninja who has forgotten who he was. Ein ran a karate school in Germany until he decided to enter the second Dead or Alive tournament. There, he regained his memory that he was the Shinobi of the Wind. An original story at least.

I'll leave SNK characters to princevegetam, because I don't know SNK game storylines that well.

BEGIN!

[SSJKarma]

i won't go into the games i don't know ok !

Company: Namco
Video Game: soul caliber (DC)
Character: MAXI
My Rating: 10.0
Reasons: i can practice my nunchaku techinque now and that is real martial art !

Company: Tecmo
Video Game: DOA
Character: JANN-LEE
My Rating: 10.0
Reasons: i just love jeet-kun-doo

Company: CAPCOM
Video Game: DARKSTALKERS
Character: JOHN TALBAIN aka GALLON
My Rating: 10.0
Reasons: i love werewolves ! my favorite night creatures !

Company: CAPCOM
Video Game: SFA3
Character: DAN HIBIKI
My Rating: 9.9
Reasons: like dan SAID he OWNS in this game !

Company: CAPCOM
Video Game: MvsC2
Character: servbot
My Rating: 9.8
Reasons: i really am annoying with him as i can pull out the magnificient 15 hit combo ! most likely 9 hit combo but i happen to have done up to 15 hit ! am still practicing on my DC !

Company: CAPCOM
Video Game: Megaman X4
Character: ZERO
My Rating: 9.0
Reasons: i really like close quarter battle with his SABER, too bad he isn't replacing megaman in the MvsC serie !

Company: CAPCOM
Video Game: XMvsSF
Character: KEN
My Rating: 8.9
Reasons: he own and now he is totally different from ryu !

Company: CAPCOM
Video Game: SFA3
Character: zangief
My Rating: 8.0
Reasons: he is strong and even do i don't use him that much cause i have trouble pulling off his tricks, i do use him to fight hard to kill opponents !

pretty much all cause i don't want to make all the VIDEO GAME chars i love !

[princevegetam]

I LOVE THIS TOPIC!!! and i have to admit, i agree 99% of the times with that Frankie guy from gamegen (not that i'm copying him or anything it's just that we're sort of have the same interests).

Company:SNK
Video Game:Samurai Shodown Series
Character:Ukyo
My Rating:10+
Reasons: this guy is AWESOME!! he is one of the ORIGINAL guyz to have a calm and peaceful personality. one that's quiet and doesn't attract attention to himself. all of his movements are fluid like a grasshopper(excuse the metaphor, but that's all i can think of at the moment). his moves are so damn original as well. his swallow swipe thing is based on slicing swallows in midair. it's like a downward motion that counters your opponent's attack.

Company: SNK
Video Game: Samurai Shodown Series
Character: Genjuro
My Rating: 10
Reasons: this is the most badass character i know of(more badass than vegeta, iori and many others). he's been 99% evil from the very beginning. the guy's a really cool gambler and many of his moves are based off gambling. plus, he is truly the stronger samurai compared to haohmaru cause he has defeated haohmaru befroe and if it wasn't for that secret technique haohmaru had, genjuro can crush haohmaru ANYDAY!! his style and moves are also VERY original(especially that dashing backslash). plus, he's so powerful that he can slash the air and send a powerful enough wave of air pressure to cut through wood.

Company: SNK
Video Game: KOF 2001
Character: Igniz/Ignis
My Rating:9.5
Reasons: this boss is the most powerful character i have EVER faced (if you manage to touch him, i will bow before you). his robe and god-like attitude makes him so cool. plus, his moves maybe cheap, but he IS THAT POWERFUL. have you ever seen what he does to you when he executes his super(or desperation, watever). that thing is RIDICULOUSLY painful to watch and practically invincible.

Company: SNK
Video Game: KOF+Fatal Fury Series
Character: Terry Bogard
My Rating: 9
Reasons: At first when i saw this guy, i didn't like him much since he was an American hero and i usually perfered Azn heroes. but after learning more about this guy, i started to like his originality. first of all, this guy is GREAT variation from the usual hero in karate uniform type. his moves are very original(the powerwave on the ground, the rushing fist thing and the flip back kick thing) and his hat just makes him look even cooler while doing his moves.

Company: SNK
Video Game: KOF Series
Character: Kyo Kusanagi
My Rating: 9.5
Reasons: this guy is just TOO cool man. i know he isn't given much credit cause he is the rival of Iori(and we know just how much everyone just LOVES Iori), but all those cool tricks he does with the flames is so cool (i especially like that taunt where he blows away the flame at the tip of his finger). personally, i liked his white jacket much better than his original black thing(it made him look evil, like Iori). and his moves are very unique. i must admit, seeing his attacks, it was the first time i've seen a style like his(making a series of different combos by rusing forward with different types of punches). plus, his flaming uppercut is much more slick lookin than a shoryuken.

Company: SNK
Video Game: Samurai Shodown Series
Character: Basara
My Rating: 10
Reasons: this guy is spells out the words UNIQUE to ya. i mean, when's the last time you've seen a guy who welds a giant blade attached to chains disappear into shadows and reappear to stealthily strike. plus, he's got an interesting love story behind his will to fight. and he is an expert at controlling his UNIQUE weapon.

Company: SNK
Video Game: Garou: Mark of the Wolves
Character: Rock Howard
My Rating: 10
Reasons: this guy is like a dream come true. the awesome power of his father, geese howard, combined with the cool and unique personality of Terry Bogard. the blue aura and flames in his mvoes are just too cool (his taunts are the coolest in any character).

Company: Sammy
Video Game: Guilty Gear
Character: Justice
My Rating: 10
Reasons: I LOVE this guy. even though he looks like a robot, his mecha design is ONE of the most original anime designs ever, sprouting from tekkaman blade. he is just one cool badass robot.

anyways, that's all FOR NOW.

[Dan Hibiki]

Company: Namco
Video Game: Soul Edge/Blade
Character: Hwang Sung Kyung
My Rating: 7.5
Reasons: A generally typical strong-willed Korean swordsman. Nothing terribly original in his back story or his personality. The story of mistakened identity (Soul Edge being the sword of Salvation) to the realization of his errors. Nothing special.

Company: Namco
Video Game: Soul Calibur II
Character: Hong Yunsung
My Rating: 8.5
Reasons: After the fame that Hwang Sung Kyung has achieved through his military victories and travels, Yunsung seeks Soul Edge to obtain what Hwang could not. He suffers from the same problem that Hwang has, namely thinking that Soul Edge is a weapon that can save his country, but he has such a badass attitude.

Ukyo rocks, no doubt about it, but I personally feel that Johnny of GGX is the better cool and collected character. While Ukyo was one of the originals, Ukyo simply can't touch Johnny's fashion sense. In terms of fluidity and uniqueness in their fighting styles, they both use similar enough weapons (they even keep them in their sheaths usually), but I prefer Johnny's fighting style to Ukyo's. Johnny's style typically consists of quick-hitting combo strings while keeping his sword out, with the occasional insane 11-hit QCF S/HS/K combo. Also, Johnny's super is full of style. After executing his super, he turns his back to the camera and says, as the person explodes, "Perfecto-da." ("It's perfect.") Also, you can't argue that Johnny's one-hit-kill isn't full of style. He catches the opponent in a Joker card, and then casually takes his sword out and cuts them in half. Personally, I feel that Ukyo can't compare.

[princevegetam]

personally, i think johnny is too much of a pimp with his shades and stuff. i'd prefer ukyo's kimono thingy and he is more stylish than johnny because when he puts his sword back into it's sheath, he does it quick but slows down just be fore the handle touches the sheath. and his attacks are quick. plus he's more defensive rather than offensive. it's easier in a fight cause you can counter your opponent's move by analyzing his/her offensive.

[Dan Hibiki]

Yeah, Johnny is awfully pimp. Just check him out with his pink costume and try to say he isn't pimp.

Also, I agree that Johnny is typically a very offensive character. He is generally meant to be played aggressively, using combo setups to utilize his QCF S/HS/K quick slashes. Ukyo is far more defensive, and thusly requires terrific timing in using Ukyo's moves to their best ability. That isn't to say that using Johnny doesn't require timing, but Ukyo is harder to time in many cases. The only thing that might make Johnny harder to time is the fact that the pace of GGX is faster than of SS games.

[Roll]

Company: Ban Presto
Video Game: Tenchi Muyo!
Character: Tenchi
My Rating: 7
Reasons: While being the main character, and having well balanced abilities, he acts weak, and never really stands up to fight and tries to avoid them terribly. Plus, you'd think by now he would've chosen Ryoko as his wife...

Company: Squaresoft
Video Game: Final Fantasy 7
Character: Red XIII
My Rating: 9
Reasons: Strong, fierce, and coated with fire-red fur, Red XIII is one large and powerful beast. However, his mind and soul are a different story. With amazing intelligence and a warm heart, Red XIII joins with Cloud after being rescued from a horrible Shinra experiment. Although Red XIII becomes a loyal and promising ally, much of his life remains a mystery. Plus he's totally cute!

Company: Capcom
Game: Resident Evil 2
Character: "Licker"
Rating: 8
Reasons: How can you get more original than something that has it's brain outside of it's head, looks like it was turned inside-out, and kills with its very own tongue?

I don't even know if these are very good... but hey, I tried, right?

[princevegetam]

yeah, you're right dan. SS is a slow strategical fighting game. one false move and you could easily lose your life(btw, dan, when was the last time you played a SS game? just wondering).

[Dan Hibiki]

I only have SS for SNES... been quite some time since I played it. I seriously need to play some Neo Geo versions.

[princevegetam]

i agree... neogeo versions are much more better. but SS machines are hard to find these days