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Women Characters Redesigned by Women SFF Artists
- Thread starter FlyinJ
- Start date
Dice//
Banned
There was a good link in the URL comments to a tumblr: Women in reasonable armor. 
http://womenfighters.tumblr.com/
Very nice!
http://womenfighters.tumblr.com/
Very nice!
Bazooka Peach is awesome if she were another character, but she is Peach, kinda misses the point of the whole franchise.(maybe as a secret character in Splatoon or Code S.T.E.A.M.)
Nariko looks fantastic!
I was thinking this, it would be kind of cool to see a more defensive zero suit in some game.
I don't have a problem with sexuality in games and media in general, for that matter, assuming there's substance to go along with it. I have a problem with violence and gore and have always found it funny that this country glorifies violence, but gets upset over boobs, but it was founded by puritans, so I guess it's not surprising.
MagnaderAlpha
Member
Hmmm...
When I see this interpretation, quotes I immediately think of are:
"I have two older sisters, Willow and Autumn! We're very close!"
"Sarah McLaughlin is totally a musical goddess!"
"Ugh, I'm a Wiccan, not a Witch. Big difference!"
"Being a vegan is not a choice, it's a way of life"
With the whole "super heroine" thing, you can still look super without looking like you are dressed in underwear. A LOT of the redesigns on that site hit the nail on the head regarding great redesigns. This one looks a little too like casual wear. Not bad for Wanda's "off duty" clothing, but while on duty, anything less than "super" wouldn't suffice. I'm kinda hoping Scarlet Witch gets a new costume after she joins the Avengers in the MCU. Maybe not so "drastic", but def more "super hero-y". It's why I don't have a problem with Thor and Vision having capes in the artwork... when it comes to super hero comics, sometimes practicality be damned. That's not a excuse for pin-up dressed heroines or villains, but that DOES mean you can go a little eccentric with the style. Storm and Phoenix keep the gist of their costumes perfectly. White Queen, personally like her top, but she should keen the fully panted bottom of the original. Power Girl's redesign is how you do "super + practicality" right. It looks like something a real person COULD wear because it's not too "out there", but it's also unique enough to look like something you could see a super heroine wearing.
New Zero Suit Samus, regarding what originla Zero Suit stood for, misses the point. But, Zero Suit Samus(original) was always a really doofy idea to begin with. Redesign, as a stand-alone, kicks ass. Hell, I'd rather Anna Fehr keep this, get together with some game designer and set in some Miyazaki-esque steampunk world where SHE is the main heroine. I'd fuckin buy that game in a HEARTBEAT!
Metroidvania
People called Romanes they go the house?
It may look similar to past-to-maybe-modern space suit interiors, but when someone has alien tech suit that they can manifest into being at (almost) any time, I don't really know if the whole-body astronaut suit is as necessary, aside from maybe keeping the hair out of the face.
Hell, something like that zero suit would arguablymess with the power ball functionality, or other elements of Samus' repertoire. (Not that argument works well either way, as it starts straying into the 'how does X work' in fantasy/sci-fi universes)
If Samus lost her power armor for a longer period of time, I can see her cobbling together something along the lines of the armor in the zero suit (and on that basis, it looks awesome), but I don't think it hits the right concepts as being a re-envision of what the concet of the Zero Suit was 'meant' to be, but rather, focusing on the fan-service elements that it contains.
Primethius
Banned
I don't really see how those two things are related.
I have no problem with boobs in games. I have a problem with needless fanservice and poor portrayal of women in games, which includes design.
Not really sure how that relates to a distaste for violence in games.
spyroflame0487
Member
Not gonna lie, if Samus had prep time and no suit, she'd probably wind up with something like that. Could be cool to see a game where she starts off with zero suit and is like "I need some armor" And gets upgraded stuff as you go along. Like tony stark kinda thing up to building a hilarious varia suit thing.
Peach is worrisome I think because it missed the point of peach. Why does she need to save her kingdom? Especially with guns and shit. She should have a big obnoxious gown and outfit because she's not going to be running out and doing any fighting herself. Like a big foofy queen of England thing.
Peach is worrisome I think because it missed the point of peach. Why does she need to save her kingdom? Especially with guns and shit. She should have a big obnoxious gown and outfit because she's not going to be running out and doing any fighting herself. Like a big foofy queen of England thing.
I'm just saying that people tend to get up in arms over sexuality, but violence does not come up anywhere near as much.
Astral/H3X
Member
Okay, from the VERY FIRST MOMENT that I saw this, I was incredibly disappointed, because she sticks out SO BAD.
You've got her suit, which is bright, colorful, striking, and again COLORFUL!
And then you've got this generic ass drab face coming out of it. It sticks out like a huge sore thumb. MP2 fixed that by using a model of her that had actual color.
And no, ZSS is NOT the defacto appearance for her. You see armored Samus on BOTH versions of Smash 4, and not ZSS. Armored Samus was the first announced Amiibo of the two, and is far, far more often shown in Amiibo promotions. MP3 you see Samus, and Dark Samus. No ZSS. Not even OTHER M has her on its cover, on neither the front nor the back.
Promotional material is still far and away HEAVILY siding on power suit Samus. Her only Metroid gameplay appearances are at the end of their respective games, and even in Other M she was almost exclusively shown in cutscenes.
In fact, being a playable character in Smash is the ONLY instance in which she's even close to as prominent as Power Suit Samus, and even then, in Brawl, she was a subcharacter.
So NO, Zero Suit Samus is NOT her current primary depiction, especially not officially. She is and always has been secondary to her armored self, even in the games she is most infamous for.
Anton Sugar
Member
I don't particularly like the Peach reimagining, but I think the idea there is to give Peach a sense of autonomy and purpose, other than being rescued.
"Princess" does not mean that you just wear dresses and sit around in court. Even Disney movies go beyond that.
Yeah, this.
BeatResetsTheWorld
Banned
Isn't the zero suit supposed to be under her armor? For instance, why have it lose and full of pockets when there'd be no instance where Samus would go into battle without her suit if she could... Aside from that and the weaponized Peach (who looks cool, but out of place lol) I like em.
orthodoxy1095
Banned
VanillaCakeIsBurning
Member
This applies to a lot things (games included). I think it's very easy for people to conflate what appeals and doesn't appeal to them with what is well crafted and/or designed. Not talking about any specific example in this thread but this concept extends well beyond depictions of fictional characters.
Primethius
Banned
And I'm saying that in regards to games, its because of the portrayal of characters that people get in arms about sexuality which isn't present when talking about violence.
@H3XAntiStyle: We'll have to agree to disagree on the face. MP2's face is awful for me. Doesn't have the same sort of bounty hunter vibe that 1's face off gave to me.
Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
I thought the whole point of Zero Suit Samus is that the suit is just what she's wearing under her power armor. You see it in the game because her power armor gets blown up.
It's like those plug suits from Evangelion.
Samus couldn't do the shit she wanted to do in the getup they drew. I realise the Zero-Suit is just a male fantasy "costume" but it is her "Zero-Suit" after all, what she wears normally is kick-arse.
Astral/H3X
Member
While I can see that, I was just saying that there is a good reason they went with the version design in Zero Mission, which pretty much boils down to having some level of consistency, both of her appearance between games, and of her versus her suit.
Astral Dog
Member
I like that Zero Suit Samus,the idea is good but im not a fan of the outfit, can look a little bulky and overdesigned, change it a little and she looks like a badass bounty hunter or warrior.
That Peach... well i don't know, its kinda gross, and doesn't fit with the character at all, unlike the others.
That Peach... well i don't know, its kinda gross, and doesn't fit with the character at all, unlike the others.
Since ZSS seems to be quite the talking point in here, here's another redesign. If we want a more "body-suit" design, I think this manages to do it reasonably well and not look like generic nonsense. I still prefer the "biker" one I posted on the last pager
Source
Looks very Dead Spacey !
I like it although it doesn't say "Samus" for me. I'd wager if i had to to a redesign based on the zero suit as "effective" i'd maybe do a headpeice and try to replicate the arm cannon in some way at least as like maybe a more barebones, skeletal version around her arm (like an unfinished arm cannon) so that it would stick more to the mythos
Dice//
Banned
Since ZSS seems to be quite the talking point in here, here's another redesign. If we want a more "body-suit" design, I think this manages to do it reasonably well and not look like generic nonsense. I still prefer the "biker" one I posted on the last pager
Source
I like that it actually looks like it has something going on whereas Zero Suit just looks like....y'know, a spandex suit with no real function in that "emergency" situation where she's armor-less.
paradise_circus
Member
the redesign resembles the boss
Palculator
Unconfirmed Member
Now that you mention it, yeah. So I guess the redesign is better if only for the fact that it's closer to perfection.
ElBoxyBrown
Banned
Except The Boss doesn't have thick padding on her suit.
He's also described as wearing a tunic, belted sandles and loincloth actually inside the books. The "national" Armours resembling romanticised ideas of late roman/sassinid panoply with lots of scale armour.
Howard describes the character as wearing whatever garb is typical for the land and culture in which Conan finds himself. ergo
I still think that the answer for Samus is to just stop focusing on the Zero Suit. The Zero Suit makes sense asides from the boob separation and high heels, the only reason it's a problem is because for some (obvious) reason there's a huge focus on her being in what is essentially her underwear.
The main issue with focusing on the Zero Suit less is that Smash still needs a second representative for Metroid. Ridley is out, and I don't think Dark Samus is a good reprsentative since it's almost just a palette swap. SA-X looks pretty much IDENTICAL to regular Samus. The various character from Prime 3 are pretty forgettable and don't play towards the fan-service ideal of Smash Bros.
My suggestion would be to perhaps include Fusion Suit Samus as the second representative. Her suit is sufficiently differently shaped & designed to be an interesting addition, and it has some unique abilities (Ice Missiles, for instance) that aren't included with the regular Power Suit.
The main issue with focusing on the Zero Suit less is that Smash still needs a second representative for Metroid. Ridley is out, and I don't think Dark Samus is a good reprsentative since it's almost just a palette swap. SA-X looks pretty much IDENTICAL to regular Samus. The various character from Prime 3 are pretty forgettable and don't play towards the fan-service ideal of Smash Bros.
My suggestion would be to perhaps include Fusion Suit Samus as the second representative. Her suit is sufficiently differently shaped & designed to be an interesting addition, and it has some unique abilities (Ice Missiles, for instance) that aren't included with the regular Power Suit.
I'm not offended by a character like Bayonetta who is someone who fully embraces and has fun with her sexuality in a very overthetop way. But most characters aren't that.
More often than not, it's characters who are supposed to be deathly serious while wearing impractical fetish gear or outfits intentionally designed to show as much cleavage as possible. It's gratuitous ass shots for no reason. Nintendo putting Samus in her Zero Suit more and more often, heels and all. Every character in Lost Planet being bundled up in winter gear to keep from the cold... oh except for the one girl character who has her cleavage exposed because... reasons?
Shit like that is just lame and pandering. The fact that it's labelled as 'fanservice' alone creeps me the fuck out.
Great Puma
Member
I don't really know what these concepts achieve. In some cases the women are more covered up, but in others the characters are just as objectified. A few of the described changes were personal preference and had nothing to do with the subject of preferred female representation.
Others just miss the point of the character entirely. The Peach redesign is sexier than the original, and a million times more violent. I suppose the point there is that she doesn't need to be rescued, but does Peach need a bazooka for that?
I think the Samus design is fine on its own, but again, the redesign ignores the point of the original version: it's underwear. Aside from the Smash Bros. series, Samus has never intentionally run around in just her Zero suit. It's like the Under Armor stuff athletes wear.
And I agree with what somebody else said about Red Sonja look at Conan. I totally get that female characters are very often designed as sex objects for guys to enjoy looking at, but if the male characters are just as perfect and near-naked, isn't that okay? I mean, we're really talking about equality here, right?
Anyways, I totally get where these women are coming from and agree with the underlying message, I just think these scattershot examples from a wide array of women, each of whom seemed to have approached the project differently, isn't a very useful way to say what they're trying to say.
Others just miss the point of the character entirely. The Peach redesign is sexier than the original, and a million times more violent. I suppose the point there is that she doesn't need to be rescued, but does Peach need a bazooka for that?
I think the Samus design is fine on its own, but again, the redesign ignores the point of the original version: it's underwear. Aside from the Smash Bros. series, Samus has never intentionally run around in just her Zero suit. It's like the Under Armor stuff athletes wear.
And I agree with what somebody else said about Red Sonja look at Conan. I totally get that female characters are very often designed as sex objects for guys to enjoy looking at, but if the male characters are just as perfect and near-naked, isn't that okay? I mean, we're really talking about equality here, right?
Anyways, I totally get where these women are coming from and agree with the underlying message, I just think these scattershot examples from a wide array of women, each of whom seemed to have approached the project differently, isn't a very useful way to say what they're trying to say.
Synless
Member
I think the point of zero suit Samus is that it what you would wear under armor that is right fitting to begin with, that redesign misses that point entirely.
WrenchNinja
Member
The point of zero suit Samus is to dress up the hot blonde in a skin tight suit
There's nothing else beyond it
There's nothing else beyond it
Anton Sugar
Member
Just remove the armor/jacket (although I think the jacket is awesome) and it looks like a more realistic, practical jumpsuit.
foxuzamaki
Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
Jesus christ guys smash doesn't represent what the.metriid games are, stop referring to it!
I think we can all agree that, while of course the zero suit wouldn't effectively work with the mythos, and that the zero suit isn't actually a combat suit despite what Other M or Smash would like us to believe, the designs are still pretty nice and the thought behind it is understandable
SillyEskimo
Member
I find it interesting that none of them drew the characters as overweight. It shows that these particular artists want to hold onto a certain level of femininity and beauty standards, but not as overt or "in your face" as they are currently depicted. I'm not sure that's a conscious or unconcious decision, but I think it raises certain points and there is a discussion to be had there.
ElBoxyBrown
Banned
Someone else here said that and I agree. With all that stuff she looks less like The Boss and more like Snake.
My favorite redesign is one that fans of the series would find blasphemous. I think it makes her actually look like a bounty hunter.
I like this.
Smoking makes everything looks cooler. (Not being sarcastic)
SSB is all about obscure reference and shit, sure the hunters wouldn't have fit with the Other M Samus, but it's not like that Samus is any good anyway.
And ZSS is barely above the amored bikini, it serves the same purpose really.
The most recent Link portrayal is really SS, the fact that it's a less popular one than SS really shows that he can pick and choose what he wants. Heck he picks Ness and puts a stage based on Mother 3.
Anything new from Metroid is straight out of Other M like the prime games never existed.
I can take a hint, after everything it's clear that from Ncl anything recent Metroid should refer to Other M above anything else.
In the same way that young Link is somehow Windwaker.
I'll give you that Smash ZSS design is really better than the one in Other M.
AzureSkies
Member
Dice//
Banned
Women's breasts need air from time to time, obviously.
I like the Samus redesign. Like others have said, she's probably not meant to fight in her Zero Suit, so when she, say, fights in Smash Bros., she's basically fighting in just her underwear.
I look at that redesign like this: Samus gets invited to fight in Smash Bros., but Sakurai says she can't bring her power suit. She's like, "Fine," and actually brings some gear for combat instead of just strapping on some high heels.
I look at that redesign like this: Samus gets invited to fight in Smash Bros., but Sakurai says she can't bring her power suit. She's like, "Fine," and actually brings some gear for combat instead of just strapping on some high heels.
Basketball
Member
That some bad design right there especially for Samus
fairy and Morrigan look decent (Morrigan looks terrible anyway)
I mean some look okay but the original design still blows pretty much all of them out of the water example that Storm one uughhh
and that Chun Li and Gamora
fairy and Morrigan look decent (Morrigan looks terrible anyway)
I mean some look okay but the original design still blows pretty much all of them out of the water example that Storm one uughhh
and that Chun Li and Gamora
KoopaTheCasual
Junior Member
Like all of the redesigns except for gun-totting Peach. Like... why?
Aside from that, great stuff. And original Zero Suit is a stupid pandering design. In a way, her original sports bra/shorts combo is better than latex everything.
Aside from that, great stuff. And original Zero Suit is a stupid pandering design. In a way, her original sports bra/shorts combo is better than latex everything.
Astral/H3X
Member
No it doesn't. Armored bikini is a laughable attempt at "armor", aka, something to be worn in battle. ZSS is her fucking underwear.
He uses the most recent portrayal of a realistic Link for adult Link, and has started using WW Link in place of Young Link because it further differentiates between the two characters, making them feel less like clones. Using SS Link would remove some of that differentiation.
This is my main justification of the rocket heels. Sakamoto wanted heels, so Sakurai at least made them rocket heels.
My thing is that there ISN'T a focus on ZSS. There isn't. Not even in Smash, except among competitive players who favor her speed advantage. I can't even truthfully say that Other M had ZSS as a focus, so much as a very poorly used tool to turn Samus into something she's not.
I would almost agree that Fusion Suit Samus would make a good replacement, except that FSS would have the same issue as Dark Samus, except worse. The only thing she really gets in Fusion that could differentiate her is the Fission missile. She'd make more sense as an alt costume.
