Rusted's Ringers, Gallery II: Non-SoulCalibur Reference Designs

[Rusted Blade]

How are you gonna make a Trogdor that’s not even green? That’s crazy-go-nuts.

Well as far as the original and any branded versions go, he is purely monochrome, so I don't see why we'd presume he was green, other than that apparently some fan versions have coloured him as such (which I was unaware of, and remain unconcerned with). He is after-all the burninator, so I see no reason why he shouldn't be red; he's got teeth, spinities and angry eyebrows--he's the consummate Trogdor.

walks away muttering ...Lady wouldn't know majesty if it came up and bit her on the face!

Loving those Holy Grail ones!

Thanks! I'm glad they tickled some funny bones here as I don't get much mileage out of them in play and they were mostly "can I..." experiments.

That Rocksteady is pretty darned amazing! Good job. : )

Thank you too! Once I realized I could complete the rhino mask into a feasible full rhino head, what I was going to do with it became a foregone conclusion.:) I almost posted some gifs of him fighting someone else's Michelangelo, but I just don't feel right posting the creations of others, even though I'd be surprised if the originator cared. But I'm telling you, when he charges forward and headbutts that turtle backwards, it provokes some real 80s nostalgia!

 

[DanteSC3]

Well as far as the original and any branded versions go, he is purely monochrome, so I don't see why we'd presume he was green, other than that apparently some fan versions have coloured him as such (which I was unaware of, and remain unconcerned with). He is after-all the burninator, so I see no reason why he shouldn't be red; he's got teeth, spinities and angry eyebrows--he's the consummate Trogdor.

walks away muttering ...Lady wouldn't know majesty if it came up and bit her on the face!

In the original cartoon/e-mail, he wasn’t colored, no, but he became canonically green with the arcade game, and has been green in everything ever since. He’s also in Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People, green there as well. It’s possible that fanart made him green and they rolled with it, that part I’m not sure about, but the creators do acknowledge his green-ness and he’s been green for quite a while.

Now there is Trogador, the spinoff variant that is red, more based on a Chinese dragon and has more of an anime influence, but that’s not quite getting you off the hook for not being as up on your Homestar Runner lore as I am. :p

(I do like the custom character, don’t misunderstand, I just had to point out the inaccuracy because it’s what / how I do. This could be like, his cousin or something. I’m okay with that.)

 

[Rusted Blade]

Mia Fan:

For goodness sake!

 

[Rusted Blade]

A couple of princes of the universe:

Immortal:

(Non-)Mortal Enemy:

 

[Rusted Blade]

The lethal cobra execution force:

Cottonmouth:

T. Elle C.:

Rattler:

Say What I Dare:

 

[TiraRules]

that Say What I Dare guy look like Samuel L Jackson's character from Pulp Fiction

his name is Jules Winnfield

 

[Rusted Blade]

that Say What I Dare guy look like Samuel L Jackson's character from Pulp Fiction

his name is Jules Winnfield

You don't say? ;)

 

[Rusted Blade]

Saphire:

I probably could have put a bit more on to the textures here in terms of grit and grime, both as a means of adding a sense of depth and realism to the surfaces and also in keeping with the visual tone of the source material. It's also just occurring to me that I could have given her a rainbow cloak. Well, maybe I'll do an updated version some time.

 

[Rusted Blade]

Well, I'm Alright...:

The least graceful swordsman in the 'Verse, but he gets the job done. By the way, if anyone has done any experimenting with textures on objects that would allow be to put a barrel aperture on that Big Damn Gun, I'm all ears!

 

[Rusted Blade]

Li Fan:

 

[Rusted Blade]

Lewis / Lord Wyrm:

There really should be more detail in the embroidery on these outfits if i was to do proper homage to the storyteller behind the characters who inspired these next two designs...

Sounder:

I really need to refresh myself on which eye that patch is supposed to go over...

 

[Rusted Blade]

None of these guys ever quite got to where I would have liked them, but rough as they are, they still might entertain a person or two here, so I'll include them all the same:

Frossen Oum:

Platinum Oum:

Ochre Oum:

Onyx Oum:

 

[DanteSC3]

No Penny using Azwel’s style? Hm.

Still kind of a shame what happened with that series, it had a ton of potential, but Monty dying and then the stuff that happened after that, the show just rather tanked. And then there’s just trouble with RoosterTeeth in general, their unjust firing of Vic Mignogna as Qrow notwithstanding (there were other issues, this was just really the straw breaking the camel’s back for me personally). They’re not the great company they once were, and it makes me sad.

 

[Rusted Blade]

Still kind of a shame what happened with that series, it had a ton of potential, but Monty dying and then the stuff that happened after that, the show just rather tanked. And then there’s just trouble with RoosterTeeth in general, their unjust firing of Vic Mignogna as Qrow notwithstanding (there were other issues, this was just really the straw breaking the camel’s back for me personally). They’re not the great company they once were, and it makes me sad.

Spoiler: About that.

I haven't really followed the behind the scenes story on the production after Monty's death, despite consuming a fair bit of RoosterTeeth production/meta-entertainment content over the years. But I think it is fair to say that the obvious drop in quality subsequent to Monty's death was of course also fiarly inevitable. But I always got the impression that while Monty certainly set the thematic tone and overall creative direction, both the production and the story were nearly as heavily controlled and influenced by Miles Luna, even at the beginning. And unfortunately, even from the start the show had problems in the story department--they got worse after Monty's death unfortunately, at a time when it needed to be reaching to a higher level.

There's a couple of reasons for this. One, the show has always had a kind of identity crisis: it was clear that at the beginning it was supposed to be a sci-fantasy version of what Monty gave them in the seasons of Red vs. Blue that he had worked on as head animator (or perhaps better said, the animation department--the man was an utter machine by all accounts and evidence I saw over the years). But everything Rooster Teeth is more than a little bit camp, and the show had really predictable, cliched and outright tired writing from even the earliest seasons; I used to have a hobby for a couple of months where just before the weekly episode would drop, I'd go on to a forum or discussion page somewhere and predict the entire breakdown and flow of plot beats and character interactions of the forthcoming episode just based on the setup from the previous one. It was disappointing how precise one could get.

But it was initially buoyed by Monty's unparalleled artistic eye in the design and animation, including, especially, unbelievably creative action pulling from as wide an assortment of influences as anyone in his profession has ever synthesized into their own unique and eclectic brand of action and fantasy martial arts choreography. I really think that only maybe Legend of Korra and a handful of high quality films like Sword of the Stranger can compete with what he was capable of producing as a regular matter with a fraction of the resources. And as a great bonus, charming physical comedy too. I almost bust a gut in that early first season episode when the hunter initiates get springborded into the air and everyone turns into a sleek aerodynamic missile...except for Jean who flips rapidly end-over-end around his center of gravity as if he were a figurine imbued with too much spin--classic!

But even a team of decent animators who got to learn directly from Monty couldn't make up for his absence and thereafter the show just descended into above average action animation--it's probably fair to say none of it would feel that disappointing if not for the absence of Monty's work that you can feel while you take it in. The action has definitely had its moments here and there since, but it's not enough to keep me invested for the ride with the story as it is. The show turned out to be a hit with young girls as I understand it (perhaps not surprising given its lead female cast, consistent female empowerment generally, and it's aesthetic), and it seems as if they chose to tweak the formula a little to capitalize. Which is perfectly fine--its not like it had landed on it's tone and voice yet at that point anyway, if you ask me--but dialogue continued to be soapy and melodramatic, the overall story (from what I've seen) is still kind of a paper-thin pastiche of pop-fantasy tropes, and the direction and voice acting is...let's say mixed.

So I've only watched a 1-4 episodes per season over the last few years. It's fine, I suppose. A little candy-apple and paint by numbers for my taste, but you can't deny that they put still put a lot of work into their art design and animation, running with that look that Monty established for them. And the music is pretty boss too: even with sometimes saccharine/melodramatic lyrics, that rock-meets-thematic-meets-neodisco-meets-pop sound that Jeff and Casey Lee Williams have landed on in so much fun, so unique, and such a perfect compliment to the tone of the show. But when I'm watching it, I just can't help but think of all the years of brilliant, unparalleled animation fight choreography that we've already lost in the years since The Man died far, far too young.

Edit: Wow, I have to walk back some of what I said above; I just decided to give RWBY Volume 7 a try the last few days, and as it turns out, it is certainly the best season from a storytelling perspective and the best in terms of action and artistic vision since Oum's death. The show has finally really hit its stride and the writers and directors seem to be figuring out how to tell a story like this: the plotting and dialogue is a huge step up, as are the performances from the principle cast--even those who were previously weak links. The tone is significantly more weighty and not just "dark" in the melodramatic quasi-edgelord manner to which the middle seasons were prone. Character dynamics feel real and loaded with mostly realistic emotional subtext, things are much less predictable and plot holes are more scarce--as is the general sense of vaguery that was so often needlessly present in earlier seasons because of a poorly framed and structured back story: we more or less know all of the principle players behind the scenes now, the stakes and the rules by which the world operates are more clear, stable, and refined, and the story is better for all of this.

The music continues to excel: Neopolitan's new theme is just so good; usually a song with lyrics that on-the-nose would make me feel like it was a guilty pleasure to enjoy it, but I can't even be bothered to burden it with that caveat--it just pumps the blood. The non-lyrical score is also more nuanced than it has ever been, with many very subtle variations on returning themes that effectively twist the feeling of critical scenes in effective ways. The animators also seem have to finally gained the experience to start to truly do a decent homage to the style Monty left them--there are some battle sequences here that I think he would be truly proud of. I'm seriously back on board for this ride in a way I haven't been since the earliest episodes--they've turned it around that much.

Oh, and (trivial bonus that it may be) everybody gets brand new designs this volume, some of which I think may be fertile ground for CaS!

Anyway, it's also a pity that there aren't more feasible parts for creating these and other characters inspired by the same source. Because if you watched Montys earliest, independent work, it is pretty obvious that SoulCalibur was one of those countless sources of fight aesthetic that went into the great synthesizer of the Oum frontal lobe: long before Weiss became a pretty obvious movement expy of Amy, Monty was slipping little SoulCalibur flourishes into certain fight sequences. Actually, much of the audio for the Dead Fantasy vignettes is just repurposed Japanese voice samples from SoulCalibur games, haha! It's really a pity that Monty didn't live to be the giant he was meant to be in his industry, who knows what might have been when it came to his characters making guest appearances in games. Alas, it seems BlazBlue alone is probably likely to be the extent of it now.

No Penny using Azwel’s style? Hm.

No, no Penny because I had already stumbled across somebody else's, done well, before it occurred to me. I pretty much almost exclusively do reference characters I have never seen anyone else do before (minus a Link or a Spawn here and there), and the more random, obscure, or questionably do-able, the more likely I am to give it a try. I did have a couple different Rubys, but I lost them along with hundreds of SCIV and SCV designs in a tragic disk corruption. These galleries would go on for days otherwise. As it is, I am about two thirds of the way through what I have to offer--or at least the designs I have decided I have decent enough pictures of to bother sharing. I still have photos of Nora, but she came out even farther off target than these here, so she's been left out. But anyway, surely the appropriate moveset for Penny would be 2B?

 

[DanteSC3]

But anyway, surely the appropriate moveset for Penny would be 2B?

Maybe, but I was thinking more in terms of getting multiple weapons and using the more as a sorcery, which is more the vibes that RWBY gives off. And the carousel spin that Azwel does is very Penny. Though mostly I don’t like 2B’s style on others that aren’t her, it’s fairly iconic. Maybe A2, but we would need to let her have Kilik’s rage mode to be complete. An automaton character using Azwel’s style would feel right for Penny, I think.

 

[Rusted Blade]

Maybe, but I was thinking more in terms of getting multiple weapons and using the more as a sorcery, which is more the vibes that RWBY gives off. And the carousel spin that Azwel does is very Penny. Though mostly I don’t like 2B’s style on others that aren’t her, it’s fairly iconic. Maybe A2, but we would need to let her have Kilik’s rage mode to be complete. An automaton character using Azwel’s style would feel right for Penny, I think.

Eh, Penny is an android girl who uses multiple, hovering, em-field-guided techno blades to sweep, slash, and stab at enemies from any range, bolstered additionally by beam effect weapons. I'd say if ever there was a moveset available to a character in a SoulCalibur game that even vaguely approximates Penny's fight aesthetic, it's very much 2B, not Azwel.

 

[Spanky]

Sounder made me think of Snuffkin from Moomin Valley for some really cursed reason. It was probably the green and the hat. Now I feel compelled to make a Snuffkin CaS! Haha! Nice work on these, Rusty :)

 

[Rusted Blade]

Sounder made me think of Snuffkin from Moomin Valley for some really cursed reason. It was probably the green and the hat. Now I feel compelled to make a Snuffkin CaS! Haha!

Haha, I presume that's a contemporary rebrand of The Moomins? That would be an unlikely reference indeed for a SoulCalibur CaS; ping me if you get around to creating it!

Anyway, I suppose in the grander scheme that the actual inspiration source for that one is about as obscure (for the moment); I'm interested in seeing if anyone recognizes either 'Lord Wyrm' or 'Sounder'--all the more so because the source in this instance is a literary one and thus this one is necessarily a bit more discretionary in design. But I think I've captured the defining features more or less. Anyway, said source is, even as we speak, being developed into the next massive budget fantasy epic/attempted Game of Thrones clone, so its possible in a couple of years everybody and their cousin will know exactly who he is and have opinions...can't wait...! ;D

Nice work on these, Rusty :)

Thank you, Spanky! :)

 

[Rusted Blade]

MaxiFeid:

A unique case among my creations, a hybrid between a SC regular roster character 2P and a non-SC reference design. Maxi's face is a little intense to make the combination perfect, but over-all the design is able to leverage some similarities in the physique and quality of movement between the two.

 

[Rusted Blade]

Sounder made me think of Snuffkin from Moomin Valley for some really cursed reason. It was probably the green and the hat. Now I feel compelled to make a Snuffkin CaS! Haha! Nice work on these, Rusty :)

Inspired by our chit-chat made a new version of 'Sounder' yesterday (well just an alternate for SCVI that mainly replicates the SCV design). I'll admit, it probably will not do anything to dissipate that sense of Snuffkin! :D