Can I level up now?

[Sevenstitch]

I think your main hindrance is the fact that you have him footed on the ground like a human and not a puppet.

Its been stated already, but the fact that he is a puppet means that he dangles rather than stands.
You should try making it so it looks as if he is suspended just above the ground plain, instead of standing on it.
This would allow you to exaggerate the effect of gravity on the limbs while they aren't being guided by the "strings."

Also, to be honest, if you are wanting puppet like animation for this character and don't particularly care about pixel by pixel perfection,
you could probably rig the separate pieces of your character in a program of some sort to simulate the "puppet" movement.