actually yknow what i'm probably going into character design so there's my unneeded justification for making a thread about Cool Character Designs

Starting off with one of my favorite character designs from Any Anime Ever.
It's hard to place *what* I like so much about Reki's design, but it feels really nice, especially with how simple it is.
More importantly, it gives you a good impression of her character.

Impressive and flashy designs are always nice! But I think it's more important for them to suit their character first and foremost.
A character's appearance is ultimately still a part of their character. If there's a disconnect (that isn't explainable) then it-

-can come off as awkward or even frustrating at times, and both the design you spent time on and the character might not receive the full appreciation they deserve.

I think a decent example of this is Ulania from 7th Dragon III.
I can't obviously give my unbiased first impression of her character based solely on her design, but I can point out some inconsistencies.

I say this with the knowledge that Code VFD isn't a particularly outstanding game when it comes to the respect given to it's characters.
Ulania is the recently crowned queen of Atlantis, and a kind-though naive girl who doesn't exactly (for lack of better phrasing)-

-have much experience with both acting/making decisions for herself, and was thrust into her current position very suddenly with the death of her father.
Personally, I don't believe her character design really does a good job showing this- and is worsened by events in the game.

I won't elaborate or else this will turn into a thread on my personal complains on the game- but a sidequest surrounding her focuses on how people around her basically objectify and sexualize her, and her accepting this as a 'necessary evil' to prevent distress.

Simply put, there's a weird and honestly anger inducing disconnect between how the game presents her and how she is as a character.
This is worsened by the fact that she is 16, and appears as a fully mature, and based on the outfit she wears- very confident in herself.

As opposed to another character her age (and involved in her story!!) Eigur, it's even moreso frustrating.
It might not be as easy to glean his character as with Reki, but you can probably tell that Eigur is a) young and b) maybe a bit immature or hardheaded.

He's all around not a terrible kid though, and that's easy to tell just by looking at him.
He looks and fits with his character as presented in the game.

This brings up again the issue of Cool and Flashy or Sexy character design taking precedence over designs that fit with a character.
I'm not particularly against 'sexy' character designs (unless obviously the characters are minors) but it's disheartening to see-

-some people take the sexy route rather than having a design that might be less appealing but more fitting for their character.

This isn't to say that you can't have a design that fits a character that is ALSO appealing.
As mentioned before, Reki is a character whose design I really like on it's own- only strengthened by how well it fits with her character.

But- I wouldn't like it nearly as much if it didn't feel like it fit.

Another example is the Legend of Legacy, which all-around has nice designs that I personally really like and feel do a good job at fitting with their characters (even if the game isn't character driven).

My personal favorite of the bunch in this aspect being Garnet and Eloise.
An earnest knight with an (initially) unshakeable faith in her church, and an outwardly flirty and somewhat selfish woman with an extreme fixation on finding the fabled graal which grants immortality.

I won't go into analyzing every little detail since this thread is long enough as is, but aside from both having really appealing designs they both feel like they fit the characters well. Alongside not feeling cluttered or too plain.

This thread kind of derailed from just showing off cool character designs but hey I enjoyed typing it all up so! All's well that ends well!