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[OsirisBlack]

How is there no Urien?

 

[Tizoc]

Let me tell you all about the most badass NInja in fighting games.
No not that Ryu Hayabusa scrub, I'm talkin' Zantetsu from Last Blade-

How many FG ninjas do YOU KNOW can rock a hat like that (as their DEFAULT attire) and still kick ass? Bonus points for being able to grab people in the air, disappear and then slam them to the ground.

Leo from Capcom's Warzard/Red Earth is such a simple straight forward design yet still manages to be badass.
I mean he's a gladiator/sword & sorcery lion man WHO DOES A STABBING PILE DRIVER ON YOU WITH HIS SWORD

AND THAT THEME
BAH GAWD THAT THEME
This theme is so badass you want to chop a dinosaur dragon in half
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mgp4I-H3nlE

Next is effin' Krauser from Fatal Fury, granted he predates Rugal (whom he got the Kaiser Wave from), but over time I've come to like this regal purple haired and mustachiod body builder. 'I'll chisel your gravestone! SLEEP WH-ELL!'
The man will PERSONALLY chisel your gravestone! I can't hate on that.

He also has one of the coolest grabs ever: He tosses you to the air then just does an uppercut to your spine; simple and effective.
...and I can't seem to find a GIF of it :v

Also bonus Baws Geese artwork

 

[ptown]

For awesome character designs I go with Akira

Agreed.

Would be really cool to have her as a DLC character in SFV what with Rival Schools characters in the Kanzuki beach stage. Could be at least some chance of it as SFV's character concept art shows they've been digging up stuff from canceled game, Capcom Fighting All-Stars (like characters Ingrid, Rook, D.D.) of which Akira was planned to be in and of which SFV shares a few of its characters already (Ryu, Chun, Alex, Nash).

 

[KiteGr]

Vanesa from KoF.
Why do we see so little of her?

 

[Tizoc]

So back in 1993, aka the decade where Capcom just went balls to the walls creative making whatever game they can, they released a Wrestling themed game for their CPS Dash (this board was available before the CPS2) titled Muscle Bomber in Japan.
For one thing the game featured Mike Haggar and canonically, the plot of the series take place BEFORE Final Fight.

Now Muscle Bomber had some really whacky designs for its wrestlers, but it's one thing for the sprites to look diverse and wild, but when you get frikkin' Tetsuo Hara of Hokuto no Ken fame to do the ARTWORK THEN these designs are elevated to another level-

HG101 has a more comprehensive article on the series which is worth checking out
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/slammasters/slammasters.htm

...but two characters of note I want to bring up are 80s Jacked up Hulk HoganVictor Ortega

For that fabulous beard and hair, and

The Astro aka Scorpio who just looks freakin' badass

You can see the post apocalyptic HnK asthetic in many of the character designs.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Vanesa from KoF.
Why do we see so little of her?

The Japanese don't like middle-aged people in their games.

Spoiler

/s

 

[Platy]

Oh god can't unsee! >_<

And THIS is why we need package physics for every boob physics in gaming

Mr. Game & Watch for all intents and purposes is an original Smash Bros design as the Game & Watch series never had a fixed character. Obviously, his design on its own isn't anything special, being a simple black silhouette, but the concept is amazing. Being a uniquely flat character in a 3D world, his missing frames of animation, which was really perfected in Smash 4, and how he encompasses so many Game & Watch titles in his moveset, are a joy to behold.

He was a truly special secret character in Melee.

He is also a good choice... not the "omfg ridley" type of fan favorite, but a character that truly belongs to the nintendo history and deserves to be recognized, just like I hope Diskun, a toy and a tetrimino is added to the next smash.

Also, I was MIND BLOWN when I discovered that he is actualy a 3d model and not sprites =O

 

[Mephala]

I was going to start posting some Samurai Shodown, Last Blade, Rival School stuff but I see you guys have that covered already. You even got Terry Bogard and my favourite design of him. Good work GAF!

I'll try not to double up and post some designs I like. Just so you know, I do like the chinese martial arts outfit.

Guilty Gear's Holy Order Sol

He looks meaner and rougher. Even that slab of concrete of a sword is just so... unrefined and rough. Compared to the smiling, carefree Sol Badguy it is an interesting contrast.

King of Fighters 11. Shion and Whip

Shion is great. Such a shame he is stuck in a less popular KOF game and will probably not make a return any time soon. His effeminate design isn't really my thing but his martial arts strikes are great to watch and bonus for being a master of several weapons including dual chinese straight swords, roped dagger and the spear.

Not a whole lot to say I just like the design. Her whip attacks were nice to play too. I do enjoy whip users. Particularly when they aren't dressed in skimpy bondage gear *cough*Ivy*cough*

SNK fighters in general. Gato, Yuki, Duo-Lon, Kasumi

Look at this champ. One of his attacks has him snapping your neck. He is looks confident and powerful.

Polearms are generally my favourite melee weapons. I think they look very cool and Yuki rocks the naginata very well.

Kasumi reminds me of some of the older anime I use to watch such as Ranma, YuYu or Rurouni Kenshin. She wears a pretty traditional martial arts outfit but she wears it well and looks the part in the same way that Makoto does in Street Fighter.

Duo-Lon is an odd character. His stance (foot) in KOFXIII disturbs me greatly. But I find him insteresting because of this. His animations are also kind of cool.

Soul Calibur. I do like Hilde and even Talim but some of the guys are pretty good too.

Zasalamel looks great and has some fantastic attacks. He looks imposing and his weapon makes it more so.

Hwang. Another chinese based martial arts character. I like that his fighting style incorporates a lot high kicks as well as slashes with his sword. It speaks to the wuxia fan in me. Vastly superior to Hong Yun-Seoung which replaced Hwang because Namco are idiots.

Raphael. No other reason than Alucard, Symphony of the NIght vibes. Being pretty fun to play helps.

Honourable Mentions: Kilik, Cervantes

Yuzuriha, Merkava, Valkenhayne

I actually considered not choosing Yuzu because her heels always bothered me a little. But her catchy theme and the way she uses her jacket is damn awesome. She also has one of my favourite walk animations which even has a little musical notes coming out of her as if she is whistling as she walks. Pretty neat. She is also generally happy. She just looks like she is having a good time without being weird like Platinum in Blazblue.

Merkava is an odd one. A lot of "monster" type characters are either cute or monstrous. I find Merkava's design to be an interesting neutral sort of vibe where it isn't really either of those (until he starts attacking). He looks like he exists on his own particularly in his neutral state. The way his hair blows is nice too. He also gives me the impression that he is intelligent as well. I just find the design fascinating I guess.

This old butler is well dressed and ready to kick you across the arena. He looks like he means business.

 

[Coriolanus]

Always enjoyed how... classic jin's design is.

reminds me of makoto, for some reason

 

[emiliano]

Still my favorite after all these years.

 

[oneida]

Wolf Hawkfield from Virtua Fighter has to be my favorite Pro Wrestler in video game history.

Not only is his look classic, but he has the Rock Bottom, Stone Cold Stunner, Giant Swing, German Suplex, Shinning Wizard, Burning Hammer, Jack Hammer and STF all in his arsenal.

VF character design is criticized for its simplicity but I really like designs like this. Wolf is obviously the same character as he was in 1993, and even back then was totally distinguishable from characters like Akira, Lau or Jacky. I'd take this over super complicated designs absolutely any day of the week. But... I like VF.

 

[1upsuper]

Let me tell you all about the most badass NInja in fighting games.
No not that Ryu Hayabusa scrub, I'm talkin' Zantetsu from Last Blade-


How many FG ninjas do YOU KNOW can rock a hat like that (as their DEFAULT attire) and still kick ass? Bonus points for being able to grab people in the air, disappear and then slam them to the ground.

Shiren the Wanderer.

 

[L Thammy]

The Scorpion from the Saturday Night Slam Masters series (Which went from fighting/wrestling games to a fighting game with a grapple button)

Bunch people from Red Earth. Leo, Kenji, Tessa, Hauzer, Jihad.

From Waku Waku 7, Mauru and Politank-Z.

Buncha cool peeps from Cyberbots who I can't be bothered to find an individual image for.

But I am willing to find images for some of the robots from Cyberbots. Blodia, Guldin, Warlock, and Zero-Akuma.

 

[emiliano]

VF character design is criticized for its simplicity but I really like designs like this. Wolf is obviously the same character as he was in 1993, and even back then was totally distinguishable from characters like Akira, Lau or Jacky. I'd take this over super complicated designs absolutely any day of the week. But... I like VF.

I loved Virtua Fighter 4 designs from the first time I saw them on magazines. The character design, after years of approximative works due to the technology limits, was astounding to me. It was like the characters finally had found their real definition. It's something that wasn't dictated by the mere evolution of technology. For example I really loved, in a similar way, Tekken 3 designs, at the time I found them complete, even with the limits of the psx.

 

[Alboreo]

How am I the first to post Zappa?

Easily one of my favorite guilty gear designs. I wanted to main him so badly, but I just hate his playstyle. Still looks awesome though, and is a cool idea that stands out in a series that is filled with cool designs.

 

[PHOTOSHOP]

Suprised no one posted these iconic characters. No love for American fighting games

 

[Loona]

Let me tell you all about the most badass NInja in fighting games.
No not that Ryu Hayabusa scrub, I'm talkin' Zantetsu from Last Blade-


How many FG ninjas do YOU KNOW can rock a hat like that (as their DEFAULT attire) and still kick ass? Bonus points for being able to grab people in the air, disappear and then slam them to the ground.

There's also the understated fact that if a ninja lives to reach his age and remains effectively active, thatsaus a lot about how good he is at his job.

 

[Bruno_Arrais85]

Mostly all Guilty Gear and Darkstalkers cast.

 

[Deleted member 57681]

Tekken 3 Yoshimitsu has one of the greatest fighting game character designs of all time.

Yup. Somehow they slapped a lot of patterns and shiny stuff and a skull alien head on his neon green sword wielding ass, and he still does not look overdesigned. Yoshi is the GOAT.

 

[Kinyou]

If you're not a friend of Voldo you're not a friend of mine

 

[FloatOn]

Genan from Samurai Showdown

Blade from Eternal Champions

 

[Caith_Sith]

Yuiren from Daraku Tenshi

Also, Rabbit have some good character designs

 

[RevolverRoden]

Hwoarang. Specifically from tekken 3. Simple and classic. Not a huge fan of the newer overdesigned outfit but its aight

Dem long-ass legs

Shaheen from tekken 7 is also cool. Classy middle eastern design not some sterotypical bs. Good balance between simple and flashy too

Terry from King of fighters/fatal fury
Just straight up cool

 

[oneida]

Terry from King of fighters/fatal fury
Just straight up cool

needs maracas

 

[petran79]

Suprised no one posted these iconic characters. No love for American fighting games

Lord Deimos too

 

[Septimus Prime]

Nu-13

Probably the best 1-button fireball character ever made. Only Cable can possibly contend.

 

[.JayZii]

All of the designs from MvC2.

http://www.creativeuncut.com/art_marvel-vs-capcom-2_a.html

Stellar.

 

[Garlador]

Always had a soft spot for these designs.

KoF's Leona, Soul Calibur III's Siegfried, MK: Deadly Alliance Sub-Zero, and Tekken's Armor King all looked sweet to me.

And all of Darkstalkers. ALL of them.

 

[1upsuper]

Suprised no one posted these iconic characters. No love for American fighting games

Growing up I disliked how MK looked and played. I never understood the fascination with the series outside of the fatality gimmick. The designs are consistently ugly and/or too campy IMO.

 

[Systemwarrior]

 

[Slamtastic]

One of the things I like about the series is how the designs change between games, but these are some of my favorite versions of them over the ages.

 

[Platy]

The pallete swap ninjas are both lazy and uninspired .... but i have to give to Ninja Cowboy dude from the latest MK that it is a genious design

 

[Veedot]

I love Eileen's design and her fighting style is awesome. I'm always partial to monkey related styles

 

[Keasar]

I usually lean towards the heavy archetype of fighting characters. So two of my favourite designs would be Iron Tager from Blazblue.

I love that he is so imposing compared to all other characters, he moves slowly but deliberately and uses the giant magnets inside his arms to pull around his enemies. He also has a great personality of being a actually quite kind man. So it all comes together well in a visual package.

The second would be Big Band of Skullgirls.

A former detective made into a cyborg of mysical instruments. Like Tager he is absolutely huge compared to his competition and moves much slower too. I also love that many of his attacks are musical instruments of different kinds that he have hidden inside that robe.

 

[Tizoc]

Shiren the Wanderer.

I said FG as in Fighting Game, not VG :V

...but now that someone brought him up, I've completely forgotten about Yoshimitsu, at least the one in Tekken 1 and 2 had a similar hat
Though if I were to choose, I'd say Zantetsu wins out for sheer style and for being badass in green.

 

[Evilisk]

I said FG as in Fighting Game, not VG :V

Well, the hat's not the same, and it turns out he's actually a monk, but Sokaku's pretty cool. His design is a bit bland (apparently) but he's got some great attack animations (unfortunately I don't have any gifs of those).

 

[UnemployedVillain]

Always enjoyed how... classic jin's design is.

Edit: Completely misread it, but hey, another excuse to post the BLODIA PUNCH

 

[Korigama]

A lot of my possible answers have been mentioned already, so I'll try to stick to some of the ones that haven't.

Kula Diamond

Mature

Jam Kuradoberi

Elphelt (don't care for the -REVELATOR- redesign)

Jack-O

Tsubaki Yayoi (regular and Izayoi)

Cassandra Alexandra

Orie


Might have gone a bit overboard, but I suppose I could add at least one male example.

Always liked the NESTS design in particular for Kyo Kusanagi.

 

[Valahart]

No LeiLei love so far?

 

[DiipuSurotu]

No LeiLei love so far?

The entire Darkstalkers cast.

No, really.

Mostly all Guilty Gear and Darkstalkers cast.

And all of Darkstalkers. ALL of them.

.

 

[Slamtastic]

 

[Numb]

Underrated and underplayed game
Needs a PC HD port