Anthropomorphic characters (What are some of your favorites?)

[Koh]

So I noticed in video games the amount of cartoony anthros have declined and I believe its because no one takes those kinds of characters "seriously" anymore. Like such a character can't be the star of a deep story, only someone who looks like Cloud Strife or Master Chief can be taken that way.

Such an idea obviously annoyed me and inspired me to make my own cartoony anthro and put him in a world that already has a "chosen hero" who looks like Link or a FF protagonist. I wanted to contrast these two types of characters we see in video games using the theme of peoples-expectations vs self-determination.

I bring this up because another topic started talking about cartoony anthros being used in a more serious role.

I aim to do this with our games too, to an extent.  Like, there will be some lighthearted moments, but when it's time to get serious, serious things can happen, and will happen.

I think one of the reasons people often say this about games that feature toons is because they're often depicted as invincible beings who can take anything and not bleed, but are also really zany.  But what if they're just as mortal as other living things, and also zany?  That's what we're aiming to accomplish in our works, sans the gore.  Growing up in the 90s with cartoons everywhere definitely inspired us to craft our worlds this way, but also, just the neat concept of humans and toons coexisting in the same world, like Roger Rabbit (except I personally dislike the style clash in this one.  I can understand the novelty of combining the animated scene with the live-action scene, but I'dve just rather seen everything animated like...) or Disney's Bonkers.

[Kriven]

So you're trying to balance the existence of wacky toon characters in canon with real humans, but the wacky toons are mortal (despite still being able to twist up real tight and stretch their bodies, I assume?)

I've been trying to make up some rules for Looney Tunes coexisting with DC Superheroes as both "actors" (as often presented in their own shorts, and also because Roger Rabbit is canon to my fanfic universe) and living beings who can age and die and reproduce (which is how we get into Tiny Toons, where the old Tunes are teaching the young ones how to be entertainers), but I haven't been able to come up with a logical way of explaining how the toon characters can be mortal while also surviving having anvils dropped on them, or how to go about detailing the aging process of a Toon character whose age can fluctuate radically depending on what they're in (Baby Looney Tunes, for example). That might be much further than you guys are taking it, but I'd love to hear some of your specific universal laws as to these characters.

[Koh]

Well, to an extent. They can only do so much flexibility, like an actual person, and it depends on the individual for how far they can take that. The most they can really get away with is expressionism. If you drop an anvil on them, there's no telling if they'd survive that, like another living thing; it'd depend on how hard it hit them and where. And yeah, they'd survive and reproduce like any other living thing. Some introvert societies, some that mingle with other toons and humans in a more mixing pot scenario, like New York, etc. In a nutshell, they're basically for diversity, instead of having everything just human or monster. It leaves room for many different types of characters and appearances, even for just a bunch of random NPCs to interact with. It also gives more opportunities for expanding on lifestyles and culture within theirself, like religion, politics, and so on.

[Kriven]

Ah, so you're talking more Sonic the Hedgehog type of characters. At least your fiction won't have that weird situation where "Why are there only 12 anthro characters in this city and why do the humans not think they're mutant freaks?"

[Hiynastrike]

The reason I'm here in the first place is because I took interest in this game and was unhappy with the amount of sheets available at the time... That's how I began ripping and how it evolved 4 years later to where I am on this site now

[senjen]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRli1rRMoSQ

wish he would make a comeback in an actually fantastic Earthworm Jim Game

or even in smash bros i could easily see a move-set for him plus he's been in fighting games before.

[Dolphman]

Depends on how to bring Earthworm Jim back. It's obvious the developers for the original should return, if Interplay ever does that someday.

At times like this, I wish Disney would do more with Donald Duck. Especially when it comes to video games.
I mean, he's more popular than Mickey himself in both cartoons and comics, and has always been a favourite character of mine.
But at least he's going to have a bigger role in the DuckTales reboot. Judging from the teaser artwork they showed this year.

[miyabi95_]

Gonna go back to the topic of "overweight anthro characters" briefly to talk about a character who doesn't quite fit the stereotype that we know of:

Spoiler

Niccolo from Legend of Mana. He doesn't really look overweight or anything, but he is rather stout. While I'm not attracted to dudes in games, I adore this guy. He's super cute-looking. On top of that, his personality is so mysterious. On the outside he seems like some greedy and desperate asshole hoping to make a fortune on pieces of trash, deep down he's very kind-hearted, intelligent, and strong (in battle especially). It's rare for me to come across a male character design that's so appealing to me.

[Benny The Miraj]

So I noticed in video games the amount of cartoony anthros have declined and I believe its because no one takes those kinds of characters "seriously" anymore. Like such a character can't be the star of a deep story, only someone who looks like Cloud Strife or Master Chief can be taken that way.

Such an idea obviously annoyed me and inspired me to make my own cartoony anthro and put him in a world that already has a "chosen hero" who looks like Link or a FF protagonist. I wanted to contrast these two types of characters we see in video games using the theme of peoples-expectations vs self-determination.

I bring this up because another topic started talking about cartoony anthros being used in a more serious role.

That might be why I like Elder Scrolls so much is that it has a dark, gritty story, but it lets you play as anthro characters anyway, and still comes off as serious. I mean, the Argonians and Kajiit were never really true favorites of mine (the Kajiit in Skyrim are cool though), but in a game market oversaturated with dark, gritty human characters who hunt aliens, animals, monsters and misanthropic people, even a dark, gritty anthro character is a nice thing to see.

...Still, I do wish there were more games with more whimsy to them. I kind of missed when all games weren't dark and typical.

Also to the above post, is it just me, or does Niccolo really have... well... thighs?

[miyabi95_]

Also to the above post, is it just me, or does Niccolo really have... well... thighs?

I guess so...But I assume he's based on either a rabbit or a cat (or both), which are both have those thick muscles on their hind legs.

Spoiler

[Koopaul]

So I noticed in video games the amount of cartoony anthros have declined and I believe its because no one takes those kinds of characters "seriously" anymore. Like such a character can't be the star of a deep story, only someone who looks like Cloud Strife or Master Chief can be taken that way.

Such an idea obviously annoyed me and inspired me to make my own cartoony anthro and put him in a world that already has a "chosen hero" who looks like Link or a FF protagonist. I wanted to contrast these two types of characters we see in video games using the theme of peoples-expectations vs self-determination.

I bring this up because another topic started talking about cartoony anthros being used in a more serious role.

That might be why I like Elder Scrolls so much is that it has a dark, gritty story, but it lets you play as anthro characters anyway, and still comes off as serious. I mean, the Argonians and Kajiit were never really true favorites of mine (the Kajiit in Skyrim are cool though), but in a game market oversaturated with dark, gritty human characters who hunt aliens, animals, monsters and misanthropic people, even a dark, gritty anthro character is a nice thing to see.

...Still, I do wish there were more games with more whimsy to them. I kind of missed when all games weren't dark and typical.

Well Zelda has those big friendly Goron and other races. But the hero is still an attractive human. See ID like it if there was a Zelda game where you're in Hyrule and there's this legendary hero named Link that everyone loves, but you don't play as him... Instead you play as a random Goron or something. At some point in the game the hero Link fails in his adventure and now it's up to a goofy Goron to save Hyrule.

[Koh]

I think I'd rather play as a Zora, but I like the concept, lol. Or maybe a Tokay from Lybrynna or Subrosian from Holodrum; those guys were cute too x3.

[Benny The Miraj]

So I noticed in video games the amount of cartoony anthros have declined and I believe its because no one takes those kinds of characters "seriously" anymore. Like such a character can't be the star of a deep story, only someone who looks like Cloud Strife or Master Chief can be taken that way.

Such an idea obviously annoyed me and inspired me to make my own cartoony anthro and put him in a world that already has a "chosen hero" who looks like Link or a FF protagonist. I wanted to contrast these two types of characters we see in video games using the theme of peoples-expectations vs self-determination.

I bring this up because another topic started talking about cartoony anthros being used in a more serious role.

That might be why I like Elder Scrolls so much is that it has a dark, gritty story, but it lets you play as anthro characters anyway, and still comes off as serious. I mean, the Argonians and Kajiit were never really true favorites of mine (the Kajiit in Skyrim are cool though), but in a game market oversaturated with dark, gritty human characters who hunt aliens, animals, monsters and misanthropic people, even a dark, gritty anthro character is a nice thing to see.

...Still, I do wish there were more games with more whimsy to them. I kind of missed when all games weren't dark and typical.

Well Zelda has those big friendly Goron and other races. But the hero is still an attractive human. See ID like it if there was a Zelda game where you're in Hyrule and there's this legendary hero named Link that everyone loves, but you don't play as him... Instead you play as a random Goron or something. At some point in the game the hero Link fails in his adventure and now it's up to a goofy Goron to save Hyrule.

Gorons aren't among my favorites either, but if that was a real game, I'd play it. ...Too bad the closest we will probably get is Majora's Mask.

[psychospacecow]

I'd love to design for something like that. There's a lot of potential in a story like that.

[Jermungandr]

Depends on how to bring Earthworm Jim back. It's obvious the developers for the original should return, if Interplay ever does that someday.

At times like this, I wish Disney would do more with Donald Duck. Especially when it comes to video games.
I mean, he's more popular than Mickey himself in both cartoons and comics, and has always been a favourite character of mine.
But at least he's going to have a bigger role in the DuckTales reboot. Judging from the teaser artwork they showed this year.

Have you ever read the Italian "Duck Avenger" comics? Basically it's a series about Donald Duck as a legit superhero and they're actually pretty fun. You can find a ton of them translated here: [link] I recommend checking them out sometime.