HOLD IT!
It's evident you're ready to call it quits, but I had some things I wanted to mention (yet again) before you do, some of which I forgot to talk about on my previous post.
Also, the obligatory edit!
![[Image: U6mglCn.png]](http://i.imgur.com/U6mglCn.png)
The main issue with your sprite is dynamism. Your sprite looks rigid as a board, and the reasons as to why are not all that difficult to draw out. Take a good look at his torso, and you can see that the spine line is essentially vertical. Now, I think this was mentioned before (probably in the tFR topic), that not all battle poses require bent knees and a lean, but the pose you're aiming for kind of begs for that. The body should be more inclined forward, to show he is ready for battle. His legs ought to be further spaced out and probably bent further for the same purpose.
About his arms... It's hard to word it, but basically, they are too perpendicular. In fact, try the pose out; stand with your arms at a 90 degree angle, them being parallel to each other. Pretty awkward huh? The pose doesn't invoke that battle readiness that is necessary for this pose. Try looking for some references on combat stances (as you mentioned, fighting games are always good references) for more dynamic angles for the arms. You don't have to emulate them exactly, but they can at least help thinking up of ways to fix yours.
Also, this has been a recurring problem I've noticed on your sprites (at least the ones I've given criticism on); the neck! The head is misaligned, and it really contributes to the stiffness witnessed here. Of course, this sprite requires to move the head even further than usual to add to that lean.
I forgot to mention this last time, but I agree about the 'darker than black' shades...it's kind of weird that such shades exist in this palette, I'd imagine they're mostly for graphic effects or something...So I came up with an alternative for your shades. Red hue shifting to purple is often a good idea, I'd say! Just a suggestion, in any case.
Finally, the other thing that makes your sprite look not battle-like, is the face. It's so neutral and bland. Not to mention, the eyes still look glassy... I came to the conclusion that the fact his sclera area was so small had to do with it, as well as the angle at the top left corner. His hat also does not look as hat-like as in the portrait...kind of looks like a leaf just fell on him or something.
OH! On the topic of the portrait, they are meant to be in the style of the manga Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, probably as ironic comedy or something. I added an example at the top; NicktendoDS's character, who is a fluffy animal like yours, has an absurdly manly and serious face. Not saying you have to do it that way, but it'd probably be out of place next to the others.
As a sidenote, I'll be a tad disappointed if your character's Midnight Moe is not Makoto Nanaya
It's evident you're ready to call it quits, but I had some things I wanted to mention (yet again) before you do, some of which I forgot to talk about on my previous post.
Also, the obligatory edit!
The main issue with your sprite is dynamism. Your sprite looks rigid as a board, and the reasons as to why are not all that difficult to draw out. Take a good look at his torso, and you can see that the spine line is essentially vertical. Now, I think this was mentioned before (probably in the tFR topic), that not all battle poses require bent knees and a lean, but the pose you're aiming for kind of begs for that. The body should be more inclined forward, to show he is ready for battle. His legs ought to be further spaced out and probably bent further for the same purpose.
About his arms... It's hard to word it, but basically, they are too perpendicular. In fact, try the pose out; stand with your arms at a 90 degree angle, them being parallel to each other. Pretty awkward huh? The pose doesn't invoke that battle readiness that is necessary for this pose. Try looking for some references on combat stances (as you mentioned, fighting games are always good references) for more dynamic angles for the arms. You don't have to emulate them exactly, but they can at least help thinking up of ways to fix yours.
Also, this has been a recurring problem I've noticed on your sprites (at least the ones I've given criticism on); the neck! The head is misaligned, and it really contributes to the stiffness witnessed here. Of course, this sprite requires to move the head even further than usual to add to that lean.
I forgot to mention this last time, but I agree about the 'darker than black' shades...it's kind of weird that such shades exist in this palette, I'd imagine they're mostly for graphic effects or something...So I came up with an alternative for your shades. Red hue shifting to purple is often a good idea, I'd say! Just a suggestion, in any case.
Finally, the other thing that makes your sprite look not battle-like, is the face. It's so neutral and bland. Not to mention, the eyes still look glassy... I came to the conclusion that the fact his sclera area was so small had to do with it, as well as the angle at the top left corner. His hat also does not look as hat-like as in the portrait...kind of looks like a leaf just fell on him or something.
OH! On the topic of the portrait, they are meant to be in the style of the manga Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, probably as ironic comedy or something. I added an example at the top; NicktendoDS's character, who is a fluffy animal like yours, has an absurdly manly and serious face. Not saying you have to do it that way, but it'd probably be out of place next to the others.
As a sidenote, I'll be a tad disappointed if your character's Midnight Moe is not Makoto Nanaya