RhymewithRay · 16 answers · 1y
What are your favorite character design tropes?
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What are your favorite character design tropes?
Long coats, unique hair, cool weapons, use of the colors black or blue.
I'm fond of when a character changes something of their base look/design to call back or honor another character they were close to (taking up their old weapon, wearing a piece of clothing or an accessory that held meaning to them, etc.)
That and when a design change in and of itself reflects character development: like a previously uptight person letting their hair down to symbolize them letting go, or a person who changed due to trauma having a physical mark to go along with their personality change: visual storytelling like that I always get a kick out of.
Honestly really love when characters have alternate eye/hair designs that signify a change in the person. Whether it’s simply due to their mental state, a power up/transformation or all of the above lmao XD it’s just a simple but effective little design change that makes my brain do a lil happy dance every time I see it. This is why Summer, Bael, and Astrea all have this design trope in some way.
Reasonably muscled characters.
By that, I mean characters whose muscle definition matches their occupation and/or exercise routine. Bonus if they're seen working out or doing the activity that warrants said definition and creators are knowledgeable about different types of muscular builds as reflected in their characters' respective designs. Kinda tired of seeing Bishonen characters with abs, even though it's later revealed they do little to no exercise whatsoever, and it's there for ✨aesthetic✨.
Also, silver/white/gray-haired dark-skinned characters are automatic favorites in my book. Mainly because of how much time I've spent developing Elio over the past couple of years. 😊
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