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[MoogleWizard]

The Peach design is shit. Makes no sense for the character or the games she's in. Samus is terrible too. The Zero Suit is what she wears under her power suit, how is that going to fit in the powers suit?. It's skintight because she has to fit in her armor with it. That's the point, it's not a combat suit.

Some of the others are ok though, I like Morrigan.

 

[LiK]

I didn't like the Samus redesign at first, but I came around to it. Zero Suit is supposed to be just underwear or some kind of skintight interface (like Iron Man's Extremis), but if she's expected to fight and be combat capable outside of the Power Suit then it makes sense that she should be geared for it. Smash Bros. would tell you she can still brawl without the aid of her suits, even if it's not canon.

don't get me wrong, I really like the Zero Suit redesign but it's not the Zero Suit. It would be better off being an alt piece of armor instead. Something suit.

 

[HK-47]

The point of the Zero Suit is that it goes under the armor. All that shit won't fit under the armor. It's a neat idea for something in between the two but as a replacement for the Zero Suit...no.

As for the Zero Suit itself, removing the dumb heels and changing the weird bit about how it molds to each individual breast would go a good way towards making it look less dumb.

But that the last thing they would ever change. They know what they are doing with that shit.

 

[anotherthought]

As someone who loves soviet tank helmets; the Samus one looks really cool. I really don't like the zero suit.

 

[PayOffWizard]

Awesome

Awful

 

[axisofweevils]

I'm OK with most of these.
The Peach redesign must win the award for "completely missing the point", though.

 

[lil]

Hmm, I like a lot of those, actually. Very cool.

The only odd one is Samus - it doesn't make any sense knowing that the character, in Metroid games, fights in a suit. The zero suit isn't her combat gear (at least in proper Metroid games). You would expect something form fitting when wearing such a suit. Never really liked the zero suit to be honest, though.

Yeah, I kind of agree. The design is cool, but the zero suit is form-fitting for a reason? I think it's possible to do something skintight and not egregiously sexualized, ZSS just wasn't it. Think Pacific Rim opening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiNVjkJDsqI

 

[Scientist Supreme!]

They all look worse for me.

But specially Samus and Peach.

.

 

[ActuallyHulk]

Kojima said they're gonna give a reason that will make everyone "feel ashamed" for judging the design.

So I can only imagine it's gonna be really dumb.

He really just shouldn't have said it. Whether it's a good reason or a bad one people made up their mind about it already and have had over a year to reinforce those beliefs, so no matter what the reason is the vast majority of minds won't change.

 

[KojiKnight]

This is embarrassing and should be rightly held up as what is wrong with female character design.

But will it be all right when we find out that that's actually Chico?

He really just shouldn't have said it. Whether it's a good reason or a bad one people made up their mind about it already and have had over a year to reinforce those beliefs, so no matter what the reason is the vast majority of minds won't change.

Obviously to avoid spoilers... not everyone wants their games 100% blown story wise before they even play it.

 

[Orochinagis]

Isn't the whole point of Zero Suit Samus to be more acrobatic and quick? That redesign doesn't accomplish any of those goals and it looks like she may as well just keep the Varia Suit.

Polaris looks fine though.

Nop, its just a suit, Samus is pretty vulnerable without his powersuit

The bad thing about the zero suit redesign is just the designer ignored she already have an armor and put an armor inside the armor.

If samus lose her powersuit she is nearly done for it, only have her speed and her reflexes (and an stun pistol), She cant summon another layer of armor

 

[Korigama]

Hm...can't say I like any of those (well, the Emma Frost one is okay), and the ZSS redesign does pretty much miss the point of it being something worn under her armor. Metroid: Zero Mission made it pretty clear that the Zero Suit wasn't ideal for combat. Either way, I was never one to complain about it (except the one with the stupid platform heels in Other M).

As for the Dizzy one,

Spoiler

as of Guilty Gear Xrd, Daisuke Ishiwatari himself did a better job of designing a more modest transition for her return in that game

.

 

[Messofanego]

Even if there isn't a woman designing a woman protagonist (don't know the ratio of artists), at least using one already in your dev team in a minor consultant role would be rad for writing that character to be believable.

There is no one right way to depict a woman character, and it is not as simple as "cover her up more" because, as you'll see, some of these redesigns are sexier than the original. And I have found through my own work that you CAN absolutely have a single depiction of a character that is sexy and empowering to all genders.

Good. A lot of those redesigns look really cool. I'm more of the opinion that a confident woman is very attractive. There are very few sexy women who are also interesting characters. Someone who has agency and is a more complex character than just their looks. Life Is Strange and Dreamfall Chapters recently are good examples of this. They also happen to have cool looks.

And Zoe has a nice butt

 

[Spring-Loaded]

Anything that makes Zero Suit Samus's suit not mold perfectly around each breast is an improvement.

If we're saying she should look essentially naked for practical reasons (to fit inside her armor), then woul dthis more armored version be OK in Smash Bros. since ZSS is actually fighting there?

 

[Crocodile]

Look past the Peach and Samus ones guys, a lot of these are pretty cool

• The Heavy Metal and Red Sonja redesigns seem to miss the point completely and the new Scarlet Witch looks way less imposing and powerful (but I guess if you were going to just cover her younger years that makes sense).
• New Star Sapphire seems meh (though the original is kind of.......not very good at at all so its an improvement by default).
• I think the dissonance between Dizzy's personality and her attire was intentional so I think the redesign, regardless of aesthetics, might be missing the point but I might need to double check Guilty Gear lore.
• New Gamora is supposed to be a monk right? Not sure I'm feeling it, especially after being bombarded by excellent female monk designs from Khans of Tarkir block.
• Its been a while since I've seen Record of the Lodoss war but I recall her sexuality being a part of her character. Is my memory faulty?
• New Power Girl just looks boring as all heck but I guess its better if you are inherently opposed to boob window or something
• New Chun-Li is fine but is still a step down from the CLASSIC
• Noriko and Seven are lateral transitions. Neither better nor worse
• Fran still looks kind of dumb either way
• The Dragon Age and DOTA redesigns seem better than the originals
• I really like new Polaris, Storm and Phoenix (though the later might not be able to pull off the fury the character can sometimes exhibit).

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Nop, its just a suit, Samus is pretty vulnerable without his powersuit

The bad thing about the zero suit redesign is just the designer ignored she already have an armor and put an armor inside the armor.

If samus lose her powersuit she is nearly done for it, only have her speed and her reflexes (and an stun pistol), She cant summon another layer of armor

And yet the zero suit has a) high heels and b) is ubiquitous in SSB. It's annoying how the zero suit is becoming more common than the actual armour.

For a game like SSB, if you want to play as Samus without her power armour, that redesign would be perfect. No, it wouldn't be worn under her power suit, but it's at least combat-ready.

 

[raphier]

Why do they hate a female body so much, I mean what is wrong with Drow Ranger? You couldn't have added more clothes on her. Red Sonja is from a barbaric, primitive world, she is allowed to be the way she is, nothing wrong with that. Peach makes no sense whatsoever. From all of these, only Tayil N'Velex and Pirotess are perfectly viable.

 

[Vermillion]

Most of those designs are not that good and some of them go against the world characters live in.

Other than Samus i like Emma Frost.

Except that i don't understand why the artist didn't cover her but just inverted the bust-legs nudity lol.

Probably because it's still Emma Frost, lol.

 

[galvenize]

Why would Samus wear an armor under her armor? Who's got pants under their pants?

 

[AdaWong]

The Jean Grey redesign is really well done?

 

[ElBoxyBrown]

Characters like Sonja, Power Girl, Chun, and to some extent Emma Frost are never gonna get that type of redesign because at this point it's become iconic. Power Girl did get a new costume in the beginning of the New 52. They went back to the boob hole cuz nobody liked it.

Same thing can be said as to why Wonder Woman doesn't wear pants.

Kojima said they're gonna give a reason that will make everyone "feel ashamed" for judging the design.

So I can only imagine it's gonna be really dumb.

Or the greatest thing ever. Her powers from what I heard only work when she's naked like that. That Kojima logic.

You realize the original is a real live actress and her natural..... umm... assets.

Hmmm well.........I got nothin.

 

[RoboPlato]

Aside from Peach, I really like all of these designs. ZSS especially.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

• The Heavy Metal and Red Sonja redesigns seem to miss the point completely

• 
  How so? The point of these characters are to be powerful warriors. Dressing them up in kinky gear to begin with was missing the point; these redesigns fixed that.
  
  

  [*]Noriko and Seven are lateral transitions. Neither better nor worse

  Noriko is certainly infinitely better. She's dressed comfortably and looks like a more believable warrior.

 

[MMaRsu]

Because fictional characters have bearing on our opinions and how we see real people, they colour and skew our social views. A majority of female characters being sexy and in spandex vs. more regular clothing for men is an unhealthy standard to uphold, even in fiction.

What.

I don't know why you think that, or how you came to that conclusion but I will firmly disagree with this notion right here.

 

[Spring-Loaded]

Why would Samus wear an armor under her armor? Who's got pants under their pants?

Who says she's wearing this under her power armor?

 

[mdubs]

Why would Samus wear an armor under her armor? Who's got pants under their pants?

My first thought as well. Pretty impractical armour considering none of that would be stopping a space pirate beam shot or whatever, she's in the power suit for a reason.

 

[Oersted]

And yet the zero suit has a) high heels and b) is ubiquitous in SSB. It's annoying how the zero suit is becoming more common than the actual armour.

For a game like SSB, if you want to play as Samus without her power armour, that redesign would be perfect. No, it wouldn't be worn under her power suit, but it's at least combat-ready.

On top of that, there is always an inverse excuse for these kind of dresses. Which is part of the problem, but people fail to grasp that everytime.

 

[LifeLike]

Samus reminds me of that girl from edge of tomorrow.

Yeah The Full Metal Bitch !

 

[Intheflorsh]

Samus looks badass.

Still wonder if we'll ever get an explanation why a soldier would be wearing a bikini and stockings.

A shirt killed her parents.

 

[MoogleWizard]

Who says she's wearing this under her power armor?

Because that's the whole point of the zero suit?

 

[Fuchsdh]

I'm not liking some of the redesigns, but while some just miss the point (Peach) I'm not sure if my distaste with the others is the concept behind the redesign or simply that the concept artwork isn't that good so it's hard to compare to official or promo art.

Also, it's kind of funny that a lot of the armoring up/covering up has this sort of "leather bucklepunk" aesthetic like we were in a Rob Liefield/Joe Johnston alternate universe. Don't get me wrong I like the look in some cases, but it seems anachronistic or wrong for the characters in others.

(Also, since I'm a Trek fan I thought the Seven of Nine one was interesting. I never understood why a former Borg would have high heels, but the catsuit seemed to make sense to me in that she would wear something simple and out of the way. I do like the nod to "The Cage"-style mock cowls the female crewmembers had though. Also, again: belts. Why? Star Trek doesn't use buttons or zippers or belts.)

 

[MUnited83]

Most of those are pretty good(except for Peach, and I'm not really feeling Samus) I love especially the Storm redesign. That looks badass.

So this is more about what some female artists want rather than something actually representative of all women.

Well, no shit. Women aren't a singular entity, so that's kind of impossible.

 

[KojiKnight]

Who says she's wearing this under her power armor?

Because it was stated as a redesign of the Zero Suit, which is what she wears under her power armor... Let's not be willfully ignorant here.

 

[Bizazedo]

I am of the simultaneously amused and horrified thought that, while some are definitely pretty nice designs, they would not draw my eye to them like the more "incorrect" versions of the characters...and for a commercial product, that transforms them into bad.

 

[Vermillion]

Who says she's wearing this under her power armor?

Her military outfit from Other M (end of the game) is much better than both the Zero Suit and that nonsense redesign.

 

[FluxWaveZ]

Who says she's wearing this under her power armor?

Then why is it being compared to Zero Suit?

 

[LiK]

nm

 

[akidnamededdy]

Who says she's wearing this under her power armor?

...the person who drew it and said "this is my idea for a Zero Suit redesign"?

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Why do they hate a female body so much, I mean what is wrong with Drow Ranger? You couldn't have added more clothes on her. Red Sonja is from a barbaric, primitive world, she is allowed to be the way she is, nothing wrong with that. Peach makes no sense whatsoever. From all of these, only Tayil N'Velex and Pirotess are perfectly viable.

Drow society is matriarchal; it doesn't make sense that they'd dress in ways to please males, whom they consider as weak and inferior. They would dress in ways that would suit their own interests. And yet they're always dressed in ways that are designed to please the male gaze, funny how that goes.
And if Red Sonja were really the primitive barbarian you say, she wouldn't be wearing fucking bikini metal and making pin-up poses; she'd be wearing a loin cloth or something comfortable and glare at you menacingly:

 

[Terareflection]

The zero suit redesign is not good, but it is much better than the original, which is a testament to how bad the ZS design is.

I do get the point that they want practicality the most out of these designs, though. But sometimes that can look butt ugly ( as with the Chun redesign), I think the comic book characters and Nariko are a good balance.

 

[Lumination]

But..why?

They are fictional characters, not actual human beings who need to be covered up from head to toe.

Because it's embarrassing. These characters (male and female) are often born from manifestations of male fantasies. Women are fine with curves and sexuality. As a matter of fact, many of the alternatives proposed still accentuate breasts and butt. However they mostly have one thing in common: they are much classier than some heroine wearing tights that would make a stripper blush.

 

[Leunam]

don't get me wrong, I really like the Zero Suit redesign but it's not the Zero Suit. It would be better off being an alt piece of armor instead. Something suit.

Well that's why I mentioned that she's geared for combat. The Zero Suit itself doesn't seem to provide much in the way of protection. If she's expected to fight back or just survive, the redesign steers it more in that direction than just having a gun and wearing heels does. It provides minimal armor and some form of life support while still clearly being a pilots outfit, as indicated by the cap and flight suit conventions.

Granted, it looks a bit out of place given how advanced Chozo tech is, but it's a step in the right direction, I think.

 

[DroidDev]

Storm and Emma Frost redesigns look pretty good.

 

[SmokyDave]

Because it's embarrassing. These characters (male and female) are often born from manifestations of male fantasies. Women are fine with curves and sexuality. As a matter of fact, many of the alternatives proposed still accentuate breasts and butt. However they mostly have one thing in common: they are much classier than some heroine wearing tights that would make a stripper blush.

How would that work then?

I'm thinking that would make for an ungainly routine.

 

[Ansatz]

Why do these things always focus on characters they want to change and saying something is wrong with the industry in general when it's just cherry picking?

There are people who enjoy these designs as they are, if you don't like them then no problem there are other games out there with female character designs of your liking.

 

[Stone Ocean]

Well that's why I mentioned that she's geared for combat. The Zero Suit itself doesn't seem to provide much in the way of protection. If she's expected to fight back or just survive, the redesign steers it more in that direction than just having a gun and wearing heels does. It provides minimal armor and some form of life support while still clearly being a pilots outfit, as indicated by the cap and flight suit conventions.

Granted, it looks a bit out of place given how advanced Chozo tech is, but it's a step in the right direction, I think.

The thing is the Zero Suit isn't supposed to be used in combat. Hell, Samus only uses it because her armor gets completely fucked, and then she only has minimal survivability.

You could argue that stuff like heels are stupid, but the point of the Zero Suit is so she isn't butt naked under the armor and not so she has a fighting chance without it.

 

[Orochinagis]

And yet the zero suit has a) high heels and b) is ubiquitous in SSB. It's annoying how the zero suit is becoming more common than the actual armour.

For a game like SSB, if you want to play as Samus without her power armour, that redesign would be perfect. No, it wouldn't be worn under her power suit, but it's at least combat-ready.

The weird thing is she doesnt need the high heels because she is athletic enough to stand those jumps without counting the chozo dna boost to survive harsh enviroments but yeah what you said makes sense (and it would push samus to not use her main armor for more fanservice).

EDIT: According to other M samus just used more straps on her suit lol

 

[ElBoxyBrown]

Drow society is matriarchal; it doesn't make sense that they'd dress in ways to please males, whom they consider as weak and inferior. They would dress in ways that would suit their own interests. And yet they're always dressed in ways that are designed to please the male gaze, funny how that goes.
And if Red Sonja were really the primitive barbarian you say, she wouldn't be wearing fucking bikini metal and making pin-up poses; she'd be wearing a loin cloth or something comfortable and glare at you menacingly:

Then the main argument is how the artist approaches the character. That's been something Gail Simone, current writer of Red Sonja, has said as to why she doesn't ditch the bikini armor.

 

[Lumination]

How would that work then?

I'm thinking that would make for an ungainly routine.

lol dave you know what I mean.

 

[Lunar15]

I love a lot of these, Zero Suit in particular is neat because you can kind of see how it connects to the power suit.

Some of them, however, are just plain bad designs. The Peach one in particular is just too ridiculous for the point of this article. Leading with it is a horrible idea.