Should I talk about She-Ra 2018's character designs?

She-Ra's Character designs A thread.

I just wanted to mention that I am kind of doing this off the cuff so, if I make any mistakes, I apologize.

First, let's discuss She Ra 1.0

I think that while the character design for She-Ra has some very strong shape language, she's mostly made up of triangles which signify, danger, and competence. Which would be great, if it fit her character.

This show has a consistent problem of the character's shape language never matching up with the character's personality. So keep an eye out for that.

I digress, back to She-Ra 1.0. Her outfit makes no sense. While I understand wanting to create a version of She-Ra that is more wholesome. The bike shorts, the warrior breastplate, and the weird sneaker shoes don't really mesh well together, or even give the impression of her

being a hero. Rather it somehow looks like a really cheap cosplay, while also being something that no one could wear.

If you want to see a legacy character with a more wholesome design don't right, look at Kamala Khan. Since Kamala is muslim, it makes sense that she would dress more modestly than her past counterparts. For example, I really like how they repurposed Captain Marvel's

Scarf. Also the boots look combat ready, and appropriate for the era.

Next is Adora, not She Ra.

I think I actually prefer Adora's civilian form over her She Ra form. I like how outfit of the original was turned into a a really cool jacket, more on the jacket later, and the boots look really cool, like they look like something a person could wear. While I like the outfit,

I don't think that it particularly suits her character.

Here we can see in this picture that Adora is mostly made up of triangles.

In shape language Triangles can mean danger, confidence, evil, intelligence, aggression, or they may relate to sexuality.

None of these things really describe Adora, like at *ALL*. Throughout the show, she acts dumb, she's a hero?, and honestly in her civilian form she isn't that dangerous. The only thing that could potentially apply to her is that she is somewhat aggressive.

OK let's talk about Glimmer now.

I don't like Glimmer, or her design.

There are some Aspects of her design that I do like however, such as the fact that her hair looks like a bird taking flight, and her cape looks like fairy wings. I think that part of the reason that the cape look like wings, is to make up for the fact that she doesn't really

have full grown wings like her mother.

Glimmer is mostly made up of circles, which is weird because, she's incredibly aggressive, and mean.

I already mentioned this in my Beetle + Bean thread, but circles, are meant for playful, childish, immature, and relatively harmless characters. While Glimmer encaptures some of these traits, *cough* immaturity and childishness *cough*

I think Glimmer should've had a more triangular design, while Adora had a more circular design

Here's another thing about Glimmer, and She-Ra's design that is a microcosm of the show's character design problems. The characters have unclear appeal.

Now for the uninitiated, when it comes to appeal in character design, it isn't how appealing a person finds a character, but rather the general vibe the characters give off.

Here are some characters with some really strong appeal. Bayonetta: she's a sexy and badass femme fatale, Saorise: cute and otherworldly seal girl Mario: funny plumber guy

The problem with She-Ra's designs is that I don't know how I am supposed to feel about these designs.
Bow: Jojo but without any of the style, Glimmer: A magical girl I guess? She-Ra 1.0: uhhhhhh

Since I've mentioned that Bow exists, I have to talk about him.

Ugh Bow is such a boring character.

Bow is mostly made up of Squares, which is appropriate since he is one.

I actually wanted to mentioned that Bow's shape language is really unclear. The only thing that is box shaped is his torso and head.

The lines make his torso look really triangular. Which doesn't really fit him. Since he's somehow more bland than gluten-free bread.

Ok Since I have covered the three main characters, and She-ra. I think I will take a break from the time being. I'd like to hear your thoughts in the comments below about this thread. @mjtannertwins @DanGuy96 @C15Podcast

Ok since I have taken the time to rest I will continue talking the rest of the characters in She Ra.

But first I feel like I have neglected Bow, like the show did, so I am going to go in more depth with him.

Earlier I mentioned that the design for Bow seemed like the chr designer was trying to make something inspired by Jojo without understanding why the chr designs of Jojo worked.

Araraki makes it clear that he takes inspiration from outside his medium. For example a lot of the stand names are named after bands and songs, and many of the poses are taken from fashion magazines. Also the clothes that the characters wear are inspired by brands like Gucci.

The character design of Bow seems like a case of the character designer taking inspiration from a previous form of media, but not studying the history behind it.

Now Let's discuss the princess alliance. yaaaaaaayyy

First let's talk about Perfuma

The first thing that actually struck me about this design is how much skin it showed off in comparison to the original design.

in the original design her legs and and chest are mostly covered.

Which is weird since the Showrunner complained about the original show having chr designs that were skimpy.

I digress though, I think that this design actually is pretty good. It mixes a kind of shrine maiden design with a SoCal hippie look really well, and I like that her hair looks like vines.

Also the foot jewelry looks like something that someone could wear!!!

Next is Mermista.

I think that Mermista, kind of looks like a Seaworld employee who was forced to become a princess against her will.

Ok I'm joking but I think that other than her having shoulder pads, her outfit doesn't look particularly battle ready. Also its the only thing she wears in and out of battle, and since she swims in it, that's going to cause some problems.

I would fix this by giving Mermista an alternate outfit that she would wear outside of battle.

I also wanted to mention that I like the fact that Mermista has a different eye shape, which helps her stand out more.

Next is Frosta

Frosta's design really frustrates me since, its obvious that they just looked at Avatar and called it a day. Other than that I think that her design is passable, it looks like something that someone would wear in a cold climate. She's also very circular which is appropriate for

a child character.

Next is Spinerella and Netossa. (what's with Spinnerella's left eye?)

I'm struggling to find points to bring up with them.

I like the idea of them switching necklaces, but the problem is, is that the necklace that Netossa is wearing looks like is connected to her clothing. In fact it took me a while to realize that its a necklace.

I also wish that Spinnerella looked more like a dancer. Her clothing looks super restrictive, and uncomfortable.

I have less issues with Netossa's design. I really like how her design looks sort of like a knight in shining armour.

Also I wanted to mention that Spinerrella's shoes aren't very useful for fighting, or dancing. I also think that it doesn't look particularly stylish, or make any sense.

Since I have finished the princess alliance, I'm going to take a break, before I talk about the horde.

So what do you all think!!!

@mjtannertwins

Aight I am back in the game. Let's talk about the Horde's Character designs!!!!

First off I want to discuss Hordak.

Hordak, has some excellent shape language. He's made up of mostly triangles. His cape, shoes, and broad shoulders, all make him very triangular, and very intimidating.

However one of the biggest problems is that because he's a cyborg, his design makes him REALLY difficult to animate. Basically the more lines, and details you put in a character design the more difficult it is to animate.

I am just going to scream just looking at it!!!!!

Next is Shadow Weaver.

Much like Hordak she has some excellent shape language. Her triangular design makes her look very intimidating.

My only complaints is that I don't really care for that random strap that is on her shirt it's distracting. I wish that they made her hips wider to really make her look more like an octopus. I think it would have been a really cool reference to The Little Mermaid.

Next up is Catra!!

Catra also has a fairly triangular design as well, but not near to the extend that Shadow Weaver, and Hordak do.

I wanted to mention this now, but I don't know why Catra has this random strap on her waist, it's just an unnecessary detail that creates crossing lines, and adds even MORE lines.

I guess I'll discuss Catra 2.0 now.

I actually prefer this design to the first one. I think the darker desaturated grey pops more than the red of the first design, and I like how Catra looks a bit more battle ready.

I also noticed that Catra wears a long glove on one of her arms as a reference to her deletion form. While it is a cool nod, it makes me wish that she had both lost an eye, and had her arm permanently injured as punishment for trying to mess with dimensions. It would also make

more sense for her to cover her arm up. In the original show, she just puts on a different outfit, for no real reason, other than to put Hordak in his place.

While I think the mask looks really cool in both of her designs. The show doesn't really explain why she has it. In the 80s show she stole it from the Magicats so that she could turn into a cat.

Maybe, Catra stole it from a Village, when she was in battle. But who knows.

Now Catra's final design- Oh GOD DAMMIT SHE HAS A RANDOM USELESS STRAP AGAIN!!!

In all seriousness I think giving Catra short hair was a bad idea for two reasons. One it makes her silhouette indistinguishable from her previous designs, and two it makes the chip on the back of her neck way too obvious.

Next is Scorpia

Scorpia has uses both a squares and triangles in her design, which makes her look dependent but also dangerous.

I honestly don't have that much to say about Scorpia's design I think its a really good one. However I will go on a tangent to discuss original Scorpia.

people who like the new show, will frequently call OG Scorpia ugly or insinuate that she is ugly just because she has strong cheekbones. It really angers me since they are basically being hypocrites and body shaming women who have high cheekbones.

Ok next I'm going to talk about Kyle, Lonnie, and Rogelio, or rather the design of the Horde Uniforms and how they make absolutely no sense.

In anime you'll have characters who will customize their uniform based on their personality. For example Midorya clearly doesn't know how to tie a tie so his tie is kind of a mess, meanwhile since Bakugo is a lil shit he has his shirt unbuttoned, and has no tie.

With Kyle, Lonnie, and Rogelio the way their uniforms are customized doesn't make any sense They just change the sleeve lengths and nothing else. It feels like laziness not the characters expressing themselves.

Next is Double Trouble. *breaths in* aaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Ok lets get this out of the way, Double Trouble's new outfit makes them look like they are wearing a bondage outfit, and that is quite ironic.

I also don't understand why DT has a random strip in their pantyhose. I mean certain exercise pants have clear parts in them. It just makes the design really line heavy.

And I think that having the only Non-binary character in the cast be exposing the most skin and acting the most sexual out of all the characters was a really bad idea. Not to mention that DT's entire character is Being the only confirmed onscreen trans person transforming into a

little girl in order to trick the cis protaganists.

next is Entrapta

I actually like Enrapta's design though I think that comes with Entrapta being the most likable character in the show.

Again she has some really strong shape language. She's made up of squiggles and circles befitting her spacy nature.

I also like how she has a stain on her shirt, and bright magenta soles.

I don't really care for the cut on her shirt revealing her non-existent cleavage, and the cuts on her sleeves.

However, one thing that I cannot excuse about Entrapta's design is that she doesn't look like a 30 year-old. Like you cannot show me a picture of Entrapta, and look me straight in the Eye and say that she is a 30 year-old. I'd laugh in your face, if it wasn't cannon.

*canon
sorry.

Next is Horde Prime.

Horde Prime is very triangular blah, blah, blah.

I honestly don't have that much to say about his design. I don't know why he has like 4 eyes apparently someone on the crew says that he steals body parts from his clones, but why would he do that? Having 3 eyes on one side of your face messes with your field of vision

I also don't know why they constantly made him shirtless, this just makes him sexually appealing, not scary. Like uhhhh......

Ok since I have finished talking about the Horde's designs I am going to stop to get ready for work. See ya!!

People in the comments have been really kind and supportive I'm really surprised!!

Now It's time to time for me to discuss some loose ends on my thread that i forgot to mention.

I really like how Glimmer's new design has a more triangular shape to it overall it makes her look like her mother, and it also makes more sense she's more aggressive now.

However an element from both of her designs that I don't really like is the weird flower-arm band thing.

It just feels like an unnecessary detail that really feels clunky rather than stylistic.

While I think that the design for She 2.0 looks better than the original something about it still doesn't feel right. I think in the show her ponytail makes her look a bit too long in certain shots.

I wish that they hadn't have so that when Mara turns into She Ra her hair turns blonde. I think that her natural brown hair would've looked better.

I know that in magical girl shows that the main character's hair sometimes changes color, but here it looks like she is a brown woman turning into a very tanned valley girl.

I wish that they made this dude less attractive. In the original he looked like a zombie, and that was kind of cool

While I overall prefer the designs of the Star Siblings to the rest of the cast. I like Starla's strong circular shape language, her bow, and Tallstar's cool cape thing....

I wish that they used actual real life skintones instead of the weird desaturated magenta colors that they used in the show. People in real life, come in a variety of colors.

Also side note I noticed that this show is straight up terrified of using neutral tones for hair, for skin, for clothes etc.

I don't really like how Castaspella is drawn without noticeable breast lines despite how curvy she's meant to be. And I don't really care for her weird hair. I think it was supposed to be square shaped at the end but sometimes it looks like a really long dred.

OK the thread is over

what did you all think? @mjtannertwins @TheLunari @C15Podcast

Also one more thing I hate the STUPID nose thing. WHY IS IT HERE??