CHARACTER SHOWOFF 01 - 2024 (Marko Ocram, Ninja Girl, Burkhard Enea, ZiKa)

The Character Showoff of 2024 is here featuring many new and returning characters such as Ninja Girl, Fey, Dr. Donovan, Marko Ocram, Michael Fitzwater Jr, The Carnage, P. Bizier, Elisabeth Rabe, ZiKa and Udeskys Wife from SotU.
0:00 Intro
0:17 Mario Heroes Characters
8:13 Path of Silence Characters
10:17 New Fighting Project Characters
15:37 Secrets of the Unknown Characters
18:49 Outro

[@samlev9871]

A lot of nice characters! My favorites are Goomba Guy and Dallas von Sacheverell.
I'm really looking forward to fighting them (and many others) once MH1.5 finally releases.
Also, I immediately recognized the theme used for Mt. Irons as Francis' battle theme in Super Paper Mario.

[@drmekar]

New Character Info List - Mario Heroes Section
Mt. Irons
Mt. Irons, short for Master is the third and presumently last sorcerer after Master Quarzal and Master Quefeero to still be alive, having found a way to escape the wrath of Sorcererhunter Doctor Weißparsch, a fusion between a man and a member of Xerinos Species so far and to no surprise as he deals with death on a daily basis, posing the power to people back from the dead, if only for hours do to intervience from the Keepers of Time.
It wouldn't be Irons though, if he allowed himself to be stopped by them, so he found a way to instead bring people back in a constant state between life and death, beings well aware of there death and the pain from it, fuelling them with rage and making them a good addition to Irons Army.
Despite looking like a man who is somewhat in his 60s or even early 70s, Irons cannot die through mortals means and if someone did get the better of him, it's almost certain he's planned far ahead and prepared accordingly.
Rodrick Qadir
A former military officer turned Mercenary, Rodrick used to believe in the good in people and the good he can add through his profession. During an ambush in the field though, he got betrayed by his superior officer Rowan Stirling, causing him to lose his entire batallion including his little brother Ibrahim, aswell as his right hand.
And if that wouldn't be enough already, Stirling later twisted the story to his favor, making it seem like Rodrick's Mistake and as it looked better in the books, Rodrick was dishonorbly discharged from the service the same week.
Peregrine 'Black Penguin' Garcia
A Mercenary with a special taste for explosive things and a plan for revenge regarding the demise of his late son David.
ZiKa
A former special ops member who fell into the hands of the lunatic John Normal, turning him into an immortal zombie-like creature tasked with hunting down his enemies. While not known for certain, he might still have some conciousness left in him, aware of the terrible things he can't stop himself from doing.
Marko Ocram
a major entrepreneur from Xvilfish who got into the possesion of a powerful artifact, making him age much faster then the average person. However it has it's upsides aswell.
Michael Fitzwater Jr.
The son of the late Michael Fitzwater Sr is out for revenge when he found his father dead in his bed one morning through everything, but normal means.
Rowan Stirling
a high-ranking military general who got clean slate to everyone, but the few who know, what he is captable off to keep it.
Det. Dahlberg Chen
An honest Police detective from Dietrichsburg, who's seen it all. Rumors say he came so close as nobody before him to bringing in the Pimp and secret organ trafficker Eli Norwood, before latter was found gunned down near the doorstep of one of his usual clubs.
Dr. Howard Bling
As his name may state, he's the one you go too if you can't visit a hospital and need urgent care, at the right price of course.
Jose Collier
Owner of Club Reaper located within the City of Winterbottom, Collier is not only a source of information, but also the Guy who's permission
you need to do anything under the radar within 30km around his club.
Armsie and Normand Cheng
Two seemingly normal Street Thugs with a secret.

[@drmekar]

New Character Info List - New Fighting Game Section
P. 'PB' Bizier
A Fighter who already made a small name for himself partakes in the Tournament to find
and slay the murderer of his sister, Gi'nadaa.
Mineequa
A girl from a small village from North Pandomas partakes in the tournament to earn money for her home village.
Marlo Harshgold
A veteran of fighting who experienced both the highest highs and lowest lows of the Buisness. His reputation got tossed into the ground when a person, he thought of his
best friend used his tournaments for money laundering, blaming Harshgold when it all blew up. 2 innocent Years in Prison and a divorce later, Harshgold makes ends meet
with small fights in local pubs and clubs, using a drunken fighting style he learned from nearly drinking himself into
the grave. He partakes in the tournament in hopes of regaining his reputation:
Harry Rheinhard 'H.R. Klose' Klose
Formerly Marlon Harshgold's Best Friend, Klose used his friends fighting career for his schemes of money laundering, using his connections to flip the blame of Harshgold when it all blew up. He joined the tournament to find a new 'protege' for his next scheme, which his eyes set on Elisabeth Rabe.
Elisabeth Rabe
Born into a priviledged family, Elisabeth has more money then on could spend in there lifetime. Despite
that, she still partakes in tournaments from time to time, giving the prize money to charity, if she should win.
In addition, she also decided to take in the young Dede Walker as a Trainee this Year.
Dede Walker
Ethusiastic, goodhearted and hopefull, Dede is still relativily new to fighting and easily believes peope, if she thinks
it will make her stronger.
Jared 'The Doom' Kayode
A former Superstar Wrestler whose time in the spotlight came to an end, after a legendary loss, followed by losing out on a potential new contract and second loss not long
after that. This caused Jared to fight brutal, which ended with the tragic death of an opponent. Knowing he would most likely be found guilty of manslaughter, Kayode evaded the law and began working for Klose not long after that. He serves as Klose Right-Hand Man and pretends to enter the tournament to clean his name.
Elize Katagiri
A former Ninja and one of the only Survivors from the Carnage's Attack, Elize turned bitter and gave into her darkest thoughts, doing smalltime gigs from time to time using her increditble skillset. She joined the tournament out of of sheer boredom and a lack of sense she sees in life.
Alite 'Merc' King
As former soldier, who's been dishonerbly discharged from the service,
Alita King aka Merc makes her ends meet by doing small gigs here and there,
including robbery, kidnappping and vandalism. She joined the tournament to
find and capture Harshgold as per her clients request.
Gi'Nadaa
A hybrid between a Tycesses and the almost exstinct Ranavig, Gi'Nadaa is lethal and used to mop the floor with her enemies blood and guts.

[@almondjoy4938]

I think I finally figured out why I like the original ones better (and it's not just because of the face and body proportions).
The original ones, while simply being modified versions of pre-existing models, has very distinct and dynamic poses. Yours generally are fairy static and similar between characters, regardless of their personalities.
Now, I fully understand that it takes time to make unique poses for so many characters but I think more variation for both generic and prominent characters could make the designs pop out more.
Speaking of design, I actually really like the designs of your characters. They are very striking, especially for villains like Goomba Guy and the Carnage. But the aforementioned issues I mentioned holds back their true potential. (Except for the Carnage. The new model made a perfect transition between the old art style and new one, especially because it actually keeps a distinct pose.)

[@drmekar]

I hear what you're saying and can absolutly understand that you prefer characters with unique poses. The main reason why I give most characters the same poses so nowadays is to have all my assets be useable for them. Alot of the original models were, as you rightfully stated, edits from already existing models, which, while offering up lots of different poses, also severly limited the things I could do with them, not even mentioning the fact that theres not much room for my own identity in an edited model, while now with over 150 easily usebale Heads all made by me, it gives me a range I would've been able to have before.
Said limit with editing models is also the reason why I changed styles so much as a Ranma Sprite might be fantastic for Characters like Ninja Girl or Fey, but if I know would want to make a guy in a suit for example, I gotta find something new for that completly. (That of course was before I discovered Pokemon Sprites which I envolved into my own thing entirely.)
I do though still try to make unique assets for some major characters and think I'm on a pretty good way already by now atleast regarding Heads. Bodies of course take more time, like for example the Body for Dede took several hours to look the way I want it to and even more important, be something I can still use in the Future if needed.
Overall, I can fully understand that you prefer the bodies of the old models, so what I don't understand is your point about the faces. Mind elaborating on that?

[@almondjoy4938]

@@drmekar
I do not.
For the most part, the shape of the faces are a little unappealing to me.
They kind of lack personality (for the most part.) and seem to have shrunken drastically in comparison to the originals.
It's difficult to fully articulate since I'm not an expert on art design but I hope I am able to convey my thoughts clearly.

[@drmekar]

​@@almondjoy4938 What are you referring to when you say 'Shape'? Nothing really changed there except maybe the fact that the Eyes are now allined on one height, which wasn't the case for alot of earlier characters, so that is a must as unlike Pokemon Sprites, they won't always be facing one side.
The Lack of personality though is something I can kinda get behind for a few faces as the the majority of the faces have a more neutral outlook, so that's something I work on giving more and more of important characters there own heads for which there are also already alot of in this video.

[@almondjoy4938]

​@@drmekar
I think it is the position of the face that made the head "shrink". Some of them, such as Dallas and Peregrine, has this trait especially pronounced. In that case, I am mistaken and I apologize for the confusion.
That's good to hear. Really, if you can figure out a way to add more varied poses and body types while remaining efficient, future characters will greatly benefit from it.

[@almondjoy4938]

Wait, Earth countries exist in this universe?

[@drmekar]

No, they don't. Only Places inspired by some existing within the Republic of Winterbottom as theres only so much you can do within a snowy city theme.