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Japanese Hero Creation Guide
Archived Post
Posts: 1,156,071 Arc User
Well, I'm a big fan of Japanese style superheroes. If you are too and want to play one in CO, but have no idea for a concept, this little guide here could help you. 
Basically, there are 6 archetypical designs for Japanese superheroes:
The Ranger
Attachment not found.
Appearance: Usually come in a team of 3 - 6 and wear tight fitting suits and full helmets, often with a black visor and more often than not without anything near facial features, usually with a heavy focus on one main color per character and a secondary color (usually white) for the entire team. Teams often have a shared motif, while solo heroes do not necessarily need one. Multiple colors, a diferent secondary color, a cape and/or additional armor is optional and commonly used to point out one character's special status, or, in case of a solo hero, to make him look less minimalistic.
Examples: All the Super Sentai/Power Rangers shows. Catchaman is one of the few non-parody/expy examples in anime.
Powers/weapons: The most common are martial arts, pistols and/or swords. Ranger teams, called Sentai, reley more on teamwork than on outstanding individual superpowers. Special or solo Rangers may have special weapons and/or powers on their own though.
Power Set suggestions: Any Martial Arts, Munitions or Gadgeteering as basic powers. Teams can easily be themed on different Martial Arts, Elemental, Mentalist or Magical powers.
The Rider
Attachment not found.
Appearance: Mostly used for solo heroes, this design is based on a tight suit, chest armor and a helmet that often features the typical "bug eyes". Scarfs are their version of capes. Usually feature a motif; animals (not limited to insects) or machines/weapons, sometimes both.
Examples: The Kamen Riders, of course, but there are others, like Inazuman, Kaiketsu Zubat, as well as mascot heroes like Ecogainder and Sea Jetter Kaito. Viewtiful Joe is a parody of Zubat and Captain Falcon is one of the whole archetype, but they still quallify.
Powers/weapons: Usually unarmed or armed melee combat. Relies on either one signature weapon and/or martial arts moves. Ranged weapons are rather rare, but not uncommon. May also have elemental or energy-based powers. Changing weapons/fighting styles usually includes changing the whole costume along with them. This hero type often comes with a vehicle that may or may not have weapons attached to it.
Power Set suggestions: Any Martial Arts, Heavy Weapons, Munitions or Gadgeteering. Possibly Electricity, Fire, TK Blades or even Bestial.
The Metal Hero
Attachment not found.
Appearance: Heavily armored and/or robotic, but not heavy and/or big enough enough to quallify as a mecha. May wear either a suit with armor pieces attached to it or full body armor. Capes or cloaks are usually limited to anti-heroic examples. If skin is visible, it will be limited to the lower half of the face.
Examples: Many, even outside of Toei's Metal Hero franchise. The most popular (in the west) are VR Troopers (a remix of Metalder, Spielban and Shaider), Beetleborgs (B-Fighter) and Winspector, as well as the anime Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs. Western examples are Robocop and Iron Man. Newer Japanese example would be Sazers and Armor Heroes.
Powers/weapons: Commonly uses a wide range of mechanical weapons, with a slight tendency towards ranged over melee weapons. Sometimes even additional armor pieces, vehicles and robots may also be part of his arsenal. Projection powers are rather rare, except if they are weapons build into the heroes armor/body.
Power Set suggestions: Power Armor, Gadgeteering, Munitions. Possibly Force, Electricity and any Martial Arts too.
The Magical Girl
Attachment not found.
Appearance: A female exclusive class. Tends to dress in an elegant, ornate and usually not really revealing costume, though it usually shows skin around the legs, arms and/or shoulders. May wear many accessoirs like jewelry and ribbons, maybe even a short cape, and have an outstanding hairstyle and/or haircolor. Armor is very rare and limited to a few mostly decorative pieces. The design's focus lies on elegance and beauty.
Magical Girls can form themed teams, but don't have to.
Examples: Sailor Moon, Wedding Peach, Pretty Cure, Card Captor Sakura, Cutey Honey and Magic Knight Rayearth.
Powers/weapons: Relies mostly on magic, but swords are common too. Ranged weapons are limited to wands, bows, magical music instruments or other elegant devices. Guns are not technically a taboo, but extremely rare and uncommon; usually limited to the very few anti-heroic examples.
Power Set suggestions: Celestial, Sorcery or Mentalist powers. Alternatively Single Blade, Archery, Unarmed, Darkness, Munitions or Elemental powers.
Note: Males are usually limited to supportive or villain roles in Magical Girl stories. They usually dress in elegant, formal suits or downright fantasy-style clothes and may, unlike most other Japanese heroes, often wear long capes. In battle, they will use swords, polearms and/or rather simple magic.
There is a sub-genre of "Magical Boys": The Mystic Armor Hero. They gained their power from training, skills and magic armor or empathic weapons. Mystic Armor Heroes tend to be the powered avatars or chosen warriors of some mythic deity or demigod. They are not really like male versions of Magical Girls though.
Examples are Saint Seiya (aka Knights of the Zodiac), Yoroiden Samurai Troopers (aka Ronin Warriors), Tenku Senki Shurato, Visionaries (a US created series, but it fits the theme) and Spider Riders.
The Urban Warrior
Attachment not found.
Appearance: The newest and least heroic looking archetype. These are the equivalent to Dark Age/90's anti-heroes. Rarely use hero costumes, but rather fight in "cool", unusual and sometimes downright freaky looking more-or-less-casual clothes. Black leather is very common and their costume colors are mostly limited to dark tones, with brighter colors used only for small details or to make one character stand out from the rest. Compare: Visual Kei.
But this is not always the case. In fact, many Urban Warriors fight in normal civilian outfits or even school uniforms. This is more likely to be the case the younger these heroes are, and even more so if they have only recently discovered their powers and/or havn't really got an idea what to do with them.
Examples: X, Hellsing, To Aru Majutsu No Index, Sukeban Deka (aka. Yo-Yo Girl Cop), Shibuya 15 and others along that line. Many characters of the Final Fantasy series from VII onwards dress like more extravagant examples of this archetype, including their impressive weapons and powers. Dragon Ball Z may also count, for the characters don't have hero costumes (Sayaman aside, whose costume fits the Rider archetype). Matrix, Heroes and Mutant X are western live action examples.
Powers/weapons: Any; from elemental, psychic or magical projection to melee and ranged weapons. And the more impressive they are, the better. Big and/or unusual weapons and powers with massive damage potential compensate for the characters' comperatively less impressing appearance: The more simple a character looks, the bigger, cooler and more destructive his powers/weapons have to be!
Power Set suggestions: Heavy Weapons, Munitions, Force, Fire, Electricity, Ice, Darkness and any Matrial Arts or Mentalist powers. Even Sorcery can work, when build for damage.
The Mutant
Attachment not found.
Appearance: The very essence of the early Riders' origin stories, taken to the extreme. Mutants are even more Dark Age-ish than Urban Warriors: They are extremely powerful, more often than not absurdly brutal, -and- have the looks to imply that. Mutants usually appear as semi-bestial versions of Riders or Metal Heroes; clad in armored suits that look (and often actually are) metallic and organic at the same time, with lots of spikes, blades, claws, huge shoulders and a face/helmet that bears little to no human looking and more alien looking features. What sets these usually anti-heroic characters apart from the monsters (called Kaijin) they fight is that they usually retain a shade of humanity in both their appearance and personality. A Mutant is a humanoid figure with inhuman features, not an anthropomorphic animal of object.
Their personality is usually defined by a "Hulk complex"; their transformations quallify as body horror, their powers are barely controlable, their appearance makes others want to either kill them or run away really fast and the fear and threat of loosing their humanity (which is considered far worse than death in Japanese culture) is ever present. Most of them also have a tragical backstory -aside- from this.
Examples: Gyver, Guyferd, Scryed and EATERs (from the game Super Tokusatsu Taisen), as well as Shin Kamen Rider and the latest incarnation of Skullman. Western examples are Ghost Rider, The Hulk, Toxin (and Venom to a lesser extent), The Darkness and Prototype.
Powers/weapons: Mutants usually have the ability to grow weapons from their body, not unlike the Roin'esh. Many can also project energy to very destructive results. Wielding weapons is rare and unusual, as mutants usually -are- their own weapons.
Power Set suggestions: Bestial, Power Armor, Force, Might, Darkness and Metalist powers. Possibly Infernal, Fire, Electricity, Fighting Claws and Unarmed.
Since we don't have shapeshifting in CO, growing additional weapons and armor can be simulated by changing costumes, especially when using macros.
Basically, there are 6 archetypical designs for Japanese superheroes:
The Ranger
Attachment not found.
Appearance: Usually come in a team of 3 - 6 and wear tight fitting suits and full helmets, often with a black visor and more often than not without anything near facial features, usually with a heavy focus on one main color per character and a secondary color (usually white) for the entire team. Teams often have a shared motif, while solo heroes do not necessarily need one. Multiple colors, a diferent secondary color, a cape and/or additional armor is optional and commonly used to point out one character's special status, or, in case of a solo hero, to make him look less minimalistic.
Examples: All the Super Sentai/Power Rangers shows. Catchaman is one of the few non-parody/expy examples in anime.
Powers/weapons: The most common are martial arts, pistols and/or swords. Ranger teams, called Sentai, reley more on teamwork than on outstanding individual superpowers. Special or solo Rangers may have special weapons and/or powers on their own though.
Power Set suggestions: Any Martial Arts, Munitions or Gadgeteering as basic powers. Teams can easily be themed on different Martial Arts, Elemental, Mentalist or Magical powers.
The Rider
Attachment not found.
Appearance: Mostly used for solo heroes, this design is based on a tight suit, chest armor and a helmet that often features the typical "bug eyes". Scarfs are their version of capes. Usually feature a motif; animals (not limited to insects) or machines/weapons, sometimes both.
Examples: The Kamen Riders, of course, but there are others, like Inazuman, Kaiketsu Zubat, as well as mascot heroes like Ecogainder and Sea Jetter Kaito. Viewtiful Joe is a parody of Zubat and Captain Falcon is one of the whole archetype, but they still quallify.
Powers/weapons: Usually unarmed or armed melee combat. Relies on either one signature weapon and/or martial arts moves. Ranged weapons are rather rare, but not uncommon. May also have elemental or energy-based powers. Changing weapons/fighting styles usually includes changing the whole costume along with them. This hero type often comes with a vehicle that may or may not have weapons attached to it.
Power Set suggestions: Any Martial Arts, Heavy Weapons, Munitions or Gadgeteering. Possibly Electricity, Fire, TK Blades or even Bestial.
The Metal Hero
Attachment not found.
Appearance: Heavily armored and/or robotic, but not heavy and/or big enough enough to quallify as a mecha. May wear either a suit with armor pieces attached to it or full body armor. Capes or cloaks are usually limited to anti-heroic examples. If skin is visible, it will be limited to the lower half of the face.
Examples: Many, even outside of Toei's Metal Hero franchise. The most popular (in the west) are VR Troopers (a remix of Metalder, Spielban and Shaider), Beetleborgs (B-Fighter) and Winspector, as well as the anime Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs. Western examples are Robocop and Iron Man. Newer Japanese example would be Sazers and Armor Heroes.
Powers/weapons: Commonly uses a wide range of mechanical weapons, with a slight tendency towards ranged over melee weapons. Sometimes even additional armor pieces, vehicles and robots may also be part of his arsenal. Projection powers are rather rare, except if they are weapons build into the heroes armor/body.
Power Set suggestions: Power Armor, Gadgeteering, Munitions. Possibly Force, Electricity and any Martial Arts too.
The Magical Girl
Attachment not found.
Appearance: A female exclusive class. Tends to dress in an elegant, ornate and usually not really revealing costume, though it usually shows skin around the legs, arms and/or shoulders. May wear many accessoirs like jewelry and ribbons, maybe even a short cape, and have an outstanding hairstyle and/or haircolor. Armor is very rare and limited to a few mostly decorative pieces. The design's focus lies on elegance and beauty.
Magical Girls can form themed teams, but don't have to.
Examples: Sailor Moon, Wedding Peach, Pretty Cure, Card Captor Sakura, Cutey Honey and Magic Knight Rayearth.
Powers/weapons: Relies mostly on magic, but swords are common too. Ranged weapons are limited to wands, bows, magical music instruments or other elegant devices. Guns are not technically a taboo, but extremely rare and uncommon; usually limited to the very few anti-heroic examples.
Power Set suggestions: Celestial, Sorcery or Mentalist powers. Alternatively Single Blade, Archery, Unarmed, Darkness, Munitions or Elemental powers.
Note: Males are usually limited to supportive or villain roles in Magical Girl stories. They usually dress in elegant, formal suits or downright fantasy-style clothes and may, unlike most other Japanese heroes, often wear long capes. In battle, they will use swords, polearms and/or rather simple magic.
There is a sub-genre of "Magical Boys": The Mystic Armor Hero. They gained their power from training, skills and magic armor or empathic weapons. Mystic Armor Heroes tend to be the powered avatars or chosen warriors of some mythic deity or demigod. They are not really like male versions of Magical Girls though.
Examples are Saint Seiya (aka Knights of the Zodiac), Yoroiden Samurai Troopers (aka Ronin Warriors), Tenku Senki Shurato, Visionaries (a US created series, but it fits the theme) and Spider Riders.
The Urban Warrior
Attachment not found.
Appearance: The newest and least heroic looking archetype. These are the equivalent to Dark Age/90's anti-heroes. Rarely use hero costumes, but rather fight in "cool", unusual and sometimes downright freaky looking more-or-less-casual clothes. Black leather is very common and their costume colors are mostly limited to dark tones, with brighter colors used only for small details or to make one character stand out from the rest. Compare: Visual Kei.
But this is not always the case. In fact, many Urban Warriors fight in normal civilian outfits or even school uniforms. This is more likely to be the case the younger these heroes are, and even more so if they have only recently discovered their powers and/or havn't really got an idea what to do with them.
Examples: X, Hellsing, To Aru Majutsu No Index, Sukeban Deka (aka. Yo-Yo Girl Cop), Shibuya 15 and others along that line. Many characters of the Final Fantasy series from VII onwards dress like more extravagant examples of this archetype, including their impressive weapons and powers. Dragon Ball Z may also count, for the characters don't have hero costumes (Sayaman aside, whose costume fits the Rider archetype). Matrix, Heroes and Mutant X are western live action examples.
Powers/weapons: Any; from elemental, psychic or magical projection to melee and ranged weapons. And the more impressive they are, the better. Big and/or unusual weapons and powers with massive damage potential compensate for the characters' comperatively less impressing appearance: The more simple a character looks, the bigger, cooler and more destructive his powers/weapons have to be!
Power Set suggestions: Heavy Weapons, Munitions, Force, Fire, Electricity, Ice, Darkness and any Matrial Arts or Mentalist powers. Even Sorcery can work, when build for damage.
The Mutant
Attachment not found.
Appearance: The very essence of the early Riders' origin stories, taken to the extreme. Mutants are even more Dark Age-ish than Urban Warriors: They are extremely powerful, more often than not absurdly brutal, -and- have the looks to imply that. Mutants usually appear as semi-bestial versions of Riders or Metal Heroes; clad in armored suits that look (and often actually are) metallic and organic at the same time, with lots of spikes, blades, claws, huge shoulders and a face/helmet that bears little to no human looking and more alien looking features. What sets these usually anti-heroic characters apart from the monsters (called Kaijin) they fight is that they usually retain a shade of humanity in both their appearance and personality. A Mutant is a humanoid figure with inhuman features, not an anthropomorphic animal of object.
Their personality is usually defined by a "Hulk complex"; their transformations quallify as body horror, their powers are barely controlable, their appearance makes others want to either kill them or run away really fast and the fear and threat of loosing their humanity (which is considered far worse than death in Japanese culture) is ever present. Most of them also have a tragical backstory -aside- from this.
Examples: Gyver, Guyferd, Scryed and EATERs (from the game Super Tokusatsu Taisen), as well as Shin Kamen Rider and the latest incarnation of Skullman. Western examples are Ghost Rider, The Hulk, Toxin (and Venom to a lesser extent), The Darkness and Prototype.
Powers/weapons: Mutants usually have the ability to grow weapons from their body, not unlike the Roin'esh. Many can also project energy to very destructive results. Wielding weapons is rare and unusual, as mutants usually -are- their own weapons.
Power Set suggestions: Bestial, Power Armor, Force, Might, Darkness and Metalist powers. Possibly Infernal, Fire, Electricity, Fighting Claws and Unarmed.
Since we don't have shapeshifting in CO, growing additional weapons and armor can be simulated by changing costumes, especially when using macros.
Post edited by Archived Post on
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No clones, of course, but OCs of my own creation. I was thinking about showcasing them in an own thread sometime.
Here are two example costumes for Mutants, the second with additional pieces.
Heroic Rolemodels
If you watch a classic Japanese superhero show (70's to mid 90's), you will likely notice that the heroes are always designated paragons of justice (despite being actually either vigilantes or government agents in most cases) and even in their civilian forms all but perfect. They are outstanding athletes, always friendly and polite to their allies and civilains (especially to children), absolutely fearless an battle, regulary giving speeches about justice (usually to the villains before kicking their butt) and, depending on their gender, are either shining examples of manliness or feminine grace.
That raises one question: How is the audiecne, especially kids, supposed to identify with these characters?
The answer: Not at all!
Superheroes are (or rather 'were') supposed to be rolemodels; idols of perfection kids should look up to in hope of becoming like them one day. Personality-wise, not power-wise, of course. Most of these shows were actually PSAs (Public Service Announcements), well hidden in a nice wrapping of science fiction, fantasy and most of all action.
A hero is a godlike figure in Japanese culture, which humans are supposed to try to become like, even though they couln't possibly come even close to their idols. The strive for perfection is a central part of the cultural philosophy of Japan, after all. Therefore, up to this day, children are educated towards the ideal images of men and women of their culture, which this kind of superhero shows represent.
This trope has grown a bit of a beard in modern times and is often averted or parodied, but not really dated or dead at all. (Please excuse my TV Troper speech.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Not all Japanese superheroes are examples of the kind above. As everyone who is a bit into this genre knows, there are plenty of antiheroes in Japanese fiction. Credited as the first super-antihero is Skullman, but the one who gave the darker side of the superhero genre a (Rider-)kickstart was Kamen Rider Black (both created by Shotaro Ishinomori).
But what is it that seperates an antihero from the standard heroes and villains? Well it certainly isn't the violence. Killing the enemy is the modus operandi of nearly all japanese superheroes. As villains aren't considered human, either because they are complete monsters or not even physically human, they are acceptable targets. But to be fair, antiheroes tend to be really over the top violent. Basically, you can say that an antihero is a character who does heroic deeds and has noble intentions, but acts and/or looks like a villain, similar to Western style antiheroes. The difference is the "and/or" part, which seperates them into three kinds of antiheroes:
The Hero with an F in Good
This kind doesn't look different than standard heroes, but are complete jerks who fight evil with unheroic intentions, don't care about innocent civilians or even the whole idea of justice and would rather fight heroes too than teaming up with them.
These are usually used in deconstructive parodies or as a token bad-but-not-really-evil counterpart to a stright hero, to make him look even more like a boyscout.
The Noble Monster
Most Mutant archetype heroes are this: Tragic heroes who are not completely human anymore, but still have a heroic personality. However, expect heroes of this kind to be feared, hated and hunted buy the normal people and even by other supers, worse than the X-Men or Spider Man. (see below)
The Almost-Villain
This kind is both physically inhuman and nowhere near a nice guy, but still has good intentions and/or does heroic deeds. If a character shows neither of them, then he IS a villain.
Basically, it is rather the origin than the behaviour that determines if the character is a hero or an antihero.
Examples:
* Avatar: Fighting in the name of or being an incarnated god simply makes the goodest heroes. Being powered by demos in any way usually makes one an antihero, though.
* Arcana: If the charater casts magic, he is usually a hero. If he is under a spell or curse, he's an anithero.
* Enchanted Gear: Depends on if it's good or evil magic, usually.
* Martial Arts: Practising at least one is usually required. Fighting evil with martial arts only makes a charcter completely human, and therefore not only good (except if he has a bad attitude), but also badass. Transcending humanity soley by physical training and discipline is (aside from being a god to begin with) the ONLY purely good way to be a superhuman!
* Alien Biology: Not human and therefore usually anti-heroic. Except if the character is a very human looking alien. The look is what matters!
* Ordonance and Inventions: Firearms and armor are technology, which is good by default. Except if the user is a jerk, or...
* Exposure and Mutation, including Cybernetics: Cyborgs and Mutants have partially lost their humanity, which makes them antiheroes by default. A good enough personality can make up for that though.
* Psychic Powers: A bit complicated. Having these makes you a freak, but not necessarily looking like one. It's all fine as long as nobody becomes aware of your powers. But if that happens (what it usualy does at some point), the normals will either declare open season for you or force you to work for some secret organization. Cue antihero career.
What measure is a non-human?
"Humanity" is an idealized concept in Japanese culture. The more you fit the (gender-specific) stereotype, the more human and therefore the better you are. Freaks who cannot or deliberately refuse to and fulfil the (high!) expectations of society and fail to adapt are shunned. In fiction, this is taken to the extreme by portraying freaks as inhuman monsters (Kaijin = lit. "strange people") who are evil by default, a threat to society and mankind as a whole, and must be utterly destroyed by shining examples of the ideal human. And if one becomes a freak with best intentions or without any own fault, they are still considered bad, have to be constanly angsty and must try to re-earn their right to be considered human - sometimes by a heroic sacrifice. If this is averted, a hero makes up for his "taint" with pure heroism, which appearantly leads everyone (except a few extremists, maybe) to forget or ignore his non-human traits.
Killing a character who has lost his humanity completely (meaning he has gone insane, lost control over his powers and/or turned into something ugly) without any own fault counts as mercy kill. It's usually considered the only way of "saving" him and rarely causes a moral conflict, even in-universe, except maybe if the character who puts an innocent freak out of his missery is not quite normal himself or they were close to eachother.
So basically, unlike their western colleagues, Japanese superheroes kill as the default option to deal with problems and the concept of inhumanity is used to justify it. Few of these heroes would even consider letting an inhuman enemy live, except if he shows that there is good in him.
The basic formular: Unnatural equals evil; monsters are evil (unless proven different) and evil humans are monsters, making them not human in either way. And the first if not only way to deal with something inhuman is killing it, what is perfectly fine because no humans are harmed in the process.
Yes, that is vigilante logic (at best), but Japanese superhero fiction runs on it. Except if lampshading and deconstructing this highly questionable concept is the point of a story, of course, which is not uncommon these days.
Colour-Coded for Your Convenience
While the colors of a hero's costume are usually just cosmetic in the west, every color has a meaning in Japan. And yes, there really is a system based on this behind the color code of Sentai members! If you want to make fully Japanese style characters, you should mind this.
Red - The traditional color of heroism. It represents strong emotions; passion and agression.
Blue - The color purity and calm, but can also indicate a cold, calculating personality.
Yellow - The color of bravery and optimism.
Green - The color of life, vitality, vigor and nature.
Pink - The color of innocence, usually indicates a childish personality. Real men don't wear pink!
Orange - The color of energy, enthusiasm and flamboyance. Surprisingly rare amongst superheroes.
Brown - The color of endurance, simplicity and comfort, also represents earth and nature. Another rare color.
Purple - Can have many meanings; spirituality, nobility, mystery, wisdom, cruelty, arrogance and mourning. Generally considered a "dark" color, sometimes associated with death.
Black - The color of ambition and darkness, often but not necessarily associated with evil.
White - The celestial color, symbolizing goodness and perfect purity.
Gold - The color of superiority, usually associated with royalty and also considered a celestial color.
Grey/Silver/Metal - Depending on the shade, it represents the "imperfect", cold purity. See Blue above.
Note that when used as secondary colors, the meaning of Black, White and Grey/Metal do not stand for defining, but for underlining personality traits. When used as detail colors, they do not necessarily have a meaning.
Japanese Supernames
You may have noticed that many Japanese superheroes (and villains too) have exotic but also clearly English sounding names. If you want to emulate these too for your characters, here are some tips:
Composite Names
Take the first syllable of one word and make it the prefix of another word that conveniently begins with the same letter the prefix syllable ends with or the following syllable of the original word begins. Actually, it doesn't even have to be the same letter, just the same sound!
Examples: Vulcan + Cannon = Vulcannon, Cyber + Blade + a 'r' for coolness (see below) = Cyblader.
Poor literacy is KOURO!
Really, when it comes to Japanese supernames, correct spelling is not important. Especially when these names are at least partially English. Many English words are "japanized" by simply spelling them as just the sounds that are used to pronounce them, often with the Japanese accent spelled out.
* The infamous L-R-switching.
* The -t's sufix becomes a -tsu. Note that this is a silent U.
* -er can be speeled as simply -a.
"Retsu go, Kamen Laida Bui Suri (V3)!" :rolleyes:
More and better examples here: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GratuitousEnglish
All's cool that ends cool.
There is a number of sufixes that are considered very cool in the superhero genre. Simlpy attaching these to a name instantly makes it sound better - even if that takes away the last bit of sense from the name.
* -er, as in -der, -ser or -zer.
* -ion, -an and -ar, but not so much -on and -or.
* In general, names that end with a consonant sound cooler than ones that end with a vocal. If a supername ends with a vocal, just somehow attach a consonant to it to make it cooler!
* Male names usually sound "harder" than female names. Example: Vortex and his female sidekick Velvet. So it's okay for female characters to have a name that ends with a vocal.
We is the team!
It is not uncommon for team names to be spelled as if they refer to a single person. Team names that should end with -men become -man instead. And if the name is multiplicated by a -s sufix, it's simply cut. The origin of this trope is unknown, but it might have something to do with Japanese nomen in plural usually not being spelled different than in singular.
Examples: The first sentai were the Goranger, not Gorangers. The fourth were the Denjiman, not Denjimen.
http://nova_alliance.webs.com/Champions/EKMainFB.jpg
http://nova_alliance.webs.com/Champions/EKNinjaFB.jpg
Well, anime/manga is a drawing style, not so much a design style.
I think this character looks good. A bit of a 90's antihero, at leat the 1st costume, if you ask me. Maybe 2nd costume would look better with less black on the legs. But that's just my personal opinion.
Also, I had no idea Viewtiful Joe was inspired by Zubat! How did you learn that?
I actually like what you did with the "Magicial Girl' archetype. It's got a good sillouette to it. My niece walked by and even said she looks pretty in passing.
It's not so much the personality than it is the costume. I've seen people comparing them on many tokusatsu websites, and Zubat's Wikipedia site says it too.
I'm not an expert on builds, but I think I could design a costume.
But first, I need to know a bit more about the concept you have in mind. There are many ways of creating an antihero costume. "Like Skull Man from the manga or anime" is not enough information for me, since these two versions look -very- different.
http://d1466nnw0ex81e.cloudfront.net/iss/450w/469/384691/8078441_1.jpg
http://www.animepalm.com/images/skull-man.png
I can base the design on one of them or something else. And I need to know the motif for the costume (even if it's just a skull again), if there is supposed to be one.
Police type motif
Animal
Video Game based motif
Sports
Okay, here it is.
I used a simple Rider type design like the classic manga Skullman's, but with dark colors. He looks more like a costumed vigilante than a superhero, imo. Removing the mouthpiece reveals a part of the face, if you prefer that. For the motif, I chose a firebug (not a firefly, an actual firebug).
Note: Firebug is not allowed as a character name in CO. :rolleyes:
Hope you like it.
Thank you.
I'll see what I can do with a police theme. Haven't tried that before, but I already got an idea...
I will have to disagree with ya on one matter. The Magical Girl is not a female exclusive theme. Magical Boys are just really, really rare. But there are a couple running around.
Negi Springfield. Li Shaoran. (although Li does fall under the previous description in the later seasons) Saint Seyia is another one that's filled with magical boys.
I would like to challenge you, to make a Magical boy template. Although most fall under other themes, like the Ranger... But I would like to see what you can come up on this one.
I accept your challenge.
Done. I named him Dekaman (Detective Man), but you can name him whatever you want, of course.
For some reason, police-themed Japanese heroes tend to wear bulky Metal Hero type armor, even if they are supposed to be a different archetype. But since cops in power armor are nothing new to the Champions Universe, I tried tights instead. The Shields are optional.
Here you go. I made one version in formal clothes and one in armor.
You are right about magical boys, btw. They are rare and have no distinctive style to them, so I didn't list them as an archetype. Most of the powered male cast of magical girl and other shojo stories don't really quallify as superheroes, either because they are villains, comperatively low-powered or don't get to use their powers very often. The boys are deliberately made less impressive than the girls, who are the main characters after all. And in shonen stories, the male heroes are usuallly of other archetypes, because robots, martial arts, superstrength and weapons are more appealing to boys, while magic is considered girly.
I've actually tried and gone to look for Magical Boys, cause hey, variety is the spice of life. I do enjoy a good solid shonen, and sometimes a really sappy Shojo, but sometimes, I would like a shojo themed anime with a good solid male lead.
I know I mentioned making a sentai themed hero (all maxed out), And I'll show you the pic of the character. here he is.
Well, it's pretty hard to make good bird-themed characters with our current costume pieces. I would wait until the Bird Hero and Avian Warrior sets are available.
The Silver-age bird tights pattern probably works. Here's what I've got
Hmm, that looks pretty good. b^^
So, what should I help you with?
Exactly yeah.
And one more bit important thing for Magical Girl toon, they need school uniform variation and sometimes Hyper Form. xD
Actually it's easier than you think to get a bird look. I used the Ro'insh open helm and Ravenbeak eyepiece to great effect for my Japanese robotic tengu, a bird like spirit from Japanese lore. You could use the head for a ranger theme character, but the beak may be a bit too prominent. I chose to use the viper jaw, but a more beak like appearance can be achieved using the slim and long chin extension under mouthpieces.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q306/OniGanon/Corella.png
The nose guard eye accessory is great for hinting at a bird's beak without outright using the giant beak mask. The epic samurai top accessory gives eyes for the bird, along with a crest. The serpent ninja armor pieces and scaled tights gives a feathered effect, and the spikes are the bird's talons.
Here's 3 of my characters that are semi-inspired by several mangas. Can you guess which ones? Every Witch-Hunter must have a Demon Soul!!!
Witch-Hunter Aria
Witch-Hunter Shiori
Witch-Hunter Ishtar
People who want to play as Japanese heroes would probably want their nemeses in the same style, I thought. So I did some research on Japanese supervillains - beyond those I already knew.
This was not as easy as the research I did on the heroes, I can tell you! The problem with the villains is that they come in countless shapes, so it is hard to point out certain features that are typical for them.
I tried my best and this is what I figured out so far:
Evil Organizations
Solo villains are extremely rare in Japanese superhero fiction. In nearly all cases, they are part of an organization. You can very well take our VIPER as a prime example.
For every hero or hero team, there seems to be one of these evil organizations. If you want your hero to have one too, all you have to do is to connect all your nemeses, in their backstories as well as in their appearance. This can be subtile, like all of them wearing a belt with the organization's emblem, or more obvious, like them all following a creatain theme for their appearance. And if you don't get bored easily, I recommend using the same type of minions for all of them.
Minions
The one thing minions of Japanese supervillains have it common is that they look pretty much all the same. No, not the same for all villains, but all minions of one villain (group). There may be elite versions, but these don't look much different either.
Oh, and they tend to make silly and annoying noises, but we don't have to worry about that in CO. ^^°
These are the minion types that would work best with CO's nemesis minions:
Henchmen in Tights
The most classic type. These guys are humans - or at least humanoid figures - that are covered with tight-fitting, simple looking costumes. They may also wear face paint or masks, taking the term "faceless army" literally. VIPER and PSI minions are in-game examples of this type.
Minion Set(s): Charged Dynamos, Burning Lakeys, Frozen Minions and maybe Ninjas.
Power Set: Martial Arts or Military Weapons.
Mecha Mooks
Using robots as minions has one big advantage in the Japanese superhero genre: You can blow them up easily! Usually, these robot minions look like humans in rather tight armor and with a totally not human looking head, maybe shaped like a faceless mask or a skull. And while our Robot nemesis minions can pass for them, Cyberlord's robots, ARGENT's Mech Enforcers and especially Destroids fit their style much better.
Minion Set(s): Robots
Power Set: Military Weapons. Power Armor is not recommended, as it makes them look too heavily armed for mere minions.
Minor Monsters
This type includes organic non-human minions, which are usually weaker versions of organic, non-human supervillains. They can look threatening (which is not too common amongst Japanese minions ^^°), but harmless compared to their masters. So if you use these, make sure the nemesis using them really looks like a superpowered and more dangerous version of them. Maybe the best in-game example for this type are the Roin'esh!
Minion Set(s): Insectoids, Demons, Infernals, Lizardmen or Beastmen.
Power Set: Supernatural or Martial Arts
Monsters of the Week - Filler Villains
These are amongst the easiest nemeses to make, right after the generic Silver Age costumed rogue with a gimick. One could even say they are equivalents of one another! ^^
A Monster of the Week, or Kaijin (lit. "Weird Person"), is more or less an elite mook, working for the true supervillain. Unlike the minions they command, monsters can very well be a match for superheroes. And even when one is defeated, the next is already waiting. They are made to serve as the antagonists for filler episodes. And therefore, if you can't think of a special nemesis for your heroes, you can just make a kaijin for him to fight. Actually, I recommend using kaijin for most of your early nemeses and saving the true villains for later!
Creating a Kaijin isn't difficult, really. The base is a humanoid body, usually between 6'3'' and 6'6'' tall for males and 6' to 6'3'' for females. Then think of a theme: An animal, a machine, whatever. Animal-themed Kaijin usually retain a their humanoid siluette, while machine- or object-themed ones (as well as those themed on heavy or armored animals) should look rather bulky. One thing you should not forget is to give them a non-human head or a mask that adds non-human features at least to the upper half of the face. Another common feature is a weapon embeded in one of the kaijin's arms. The name can be created in the same way as the heroes' names, seen in an earlier post. But if you don't go for a simple "something-person" name, make sure it sounds dangerous rather than heroic.
Sidenote: People who are familiar with Mega Man X may notice that the Mavericks were created after the same formula. They are probably the best examples we have in the west. ^^
Below you see a few kaijin of my own creation. You can use and modify them if you want.
Ankoo-Otoko (Anglerfish Man), Shihai-Ari (Control Ant), Salamandora (Salamander), Dokuga-Ohjo (Poison Moth Princess) and Sangokiller (Coral Killer).
The Big Boss (sometimes not even seen until the final episodes)
Three to five Commanders (mid-bosses)
Kaijin (the elite mooks)
Minions (the cannon fooder)
I discribed the later two in the previous post, so we can now take a look at the true supervillans. Unlike kaijin, villains are leaders who rarely go into battle, unless it is necessary. Therefore, the heroes usually encounter them later in their career, after fighting kaijin after kaijin for some time.
The design of supervillans can vary extremely, but you can roughly seperate them into five categories:
The Brute
These are not very sophisticated villans, usually with a militarist theme. They may be skilled strategists, but violence is still their first answer to everything. Also, they tend to get enraged easily and then become very linear in their strategies. Sometimes, they just decide to fight the hero personally out of frustration, after seeing enough of their underlings fail. And therefore, they are usually the first villan a hero encounters - and the first one to go.
The Chessmaster
After the Brute's reckless attitude got him killed, the next villain to enter the stage will likely be a calculating and cunning strategist, often with a surprisingly un-villainous appearance. He can appear as a well-manered and intelectual gentleman, yet likely with a "cold aura" and occassional hints in his behavious at how twisted and evil he is inside. When the Chessmaster finally encounters the hero, he will usually have a seemingly flawless plan and already has arranged everything so the hero can't possibly win against him. But ultimately, his arrogance will be his downfall when the hero comes up with something he hasn't planed for.
The Dark Knight (no connection to Batman intended! ^^°)
This villain is usually the second in command and the last-before-final boss. He usually wears an exotic and intimidating, yet somehow still silly and impractical looking costume, likely some form of armor. In his personality, he combines the bravery and fighting skills of a Brute and the even-mindedness and strategical skills of a Chessmaster, seemingly without any of their flaws. He may even have a sense of honor. But it often turns out that in fact, he is either reckless, arrogant, or both. If not, he might either switch sides, die in an act of loyalty or be killed by the Big Boss himself for some reason.
The Token Bad Girl
This is an optional, usually female villain who... basically does nothing. Visually, she will likely be a femme fatal in a sensual and sometimes pretty revealing costume with a few odd looking accessories, like some oversized headwear or oddly shaped shoulder pads. She may have strategical and fighting skills, but if she uses them, she is usually outperformed by the Brute and the Chessmaster. And more often than not, she will try to avoid fighting - which is probably for the better of everyone. The only thing she is really good at is adding some visual appeal and maybe a social element to the antagonists' side.
[Sidenotes]
Please note that a female supervillain is not automatically one of this type!
A male example will usually be either a wannabe Chessmaster who just stands around looking fancy or, more likes, a totally not threatening Kaijin that serves as a comical relief. Only stories that aren't very serious to begin with tend to feature the later kind of villain though.
Female versions also tend to provide fanscervice, more often than not soley by their combination of figure and costume - with a few comical exceptions, like Doronjo from Yatterman or Malshina from Akibaranger. When the fanscervice gets blantant, it's usually played for the laughs.
It is an interesting fact though that the actresses cast for the roles of supervillainesses are often former porn stars. The directors appearantly know what's sexy.
The Alpha Monster
Many human villains transform into monsters when they go into battle. Some may be monsters by default. May even be a team pet for the bad guys. But either way, Alpha Monsters are much stronger than common kaijin and should have the look to imply that. This can mean that they have a more ornate, more detailed or just a more human looking appearance. Only making them bigger won't work well though.
The Big Boss
His position implies that he is the most powerful and evil of all villains. His performance, however, makes him more often than not look like just a bonus boss. He usually shows himself to the hero only after he ran out of commanders. And even then, sometimes, he doesn't even put up a fight! But if he does, he will use what little screentime he gets to give the hero the fight of his life.
For his appearance and behaviour, he will most likely be an up-to-eleven version of a Dark Knight or Alpha Monster for the better or of a Bad Girl or Chessmaster for the worse. "Better" meaning that he does put up a (good) fight.
The closest thing to a Big Boss we have in CO is actually Shadow Destroyer in Nemcon. ^^
Here some pictures of Japanese supervillains I found while researching:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lLsdaCVk3Kk/TEIsnk0JqrI/AAAAAAABuf8/3pq5MDZxzBo/s1600/img_984321_23516092_3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/hof/riders/apollo.jpg
http://kedah2u.com.my/kamen-rider/11-masked-rider-black/masked-rider-black-gorgom.jpg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lLsdaCVk3Kk/S76TRiEUmaI/AAAAAAABjwI/-v_ams1HZuw/s1600/2000full-power-rangers-ninja-storm-photo.jpg
http://www.supersentai.com/database/1985_changeman/images/change-vi-gozma.jpg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__AxBGnutuW8/S2bNDAeOyjI/AAAAAAAAGpc/N3-sWf90a3Y/s320/Gohmatrio.jpg
http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/8712/screenshot20120107at120.png
http://www.hyes.tyc.edu.tw/~m78/kamen04/1302b.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CHWe-nJYEwA/TypDbx3hI5I/AAAAAAAAL70/dSmmnnKIE9E/s1600/sentai1923.jpg
http://henshingrid.blogspot.de/2009/05/queer-eye-for-villainesses.html
http://valsagfantasy.blogspot.de/2010/05/fiveman-villains-paying-homage-to.html
http://akizukisentai.blogspot.de/2010/04/sentais-catwomen.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcQDPCNh-mI
It's not easy to find good pictures of Japanese villains in human form, sadly. Some series don't even have any.
And finally, one example costume for every type:
Nice thread but you forgot the angry lone wolf samurai dude
Well, I was aiming for modern superheroes rather than traditional heroes.
Samurai are more common in the fantasy genre. In a modern setting with superpowers, they usually fit the Urban Warrior type. And of course, other types of superheroes can have a samurai theme, as we see with Samurai Sentai Shinkenger.
And of course, villains can have a samurai theme too. These are usually either Dark Knights for true samurai or Alpha Monsters for ronin (mercs). The later are likely one-shot villains, but stronger than an average monster.
Attachment not found.
That one?
Head: Full Helmet -> Pattern: X
Eye Accessory: Helmet Front Plate
Mouth Accessory: Helmet Ventilator
Top Accessory: Antennae Backward
Side Accessory: Full Helmet Sideguard
You could also copy the picture into your screenshot folder (rightclick, then "Save Target") and then load it in the costume editor.
I also worked out two builds for the char. One is closer to the inspiration, the other is based on his current Darkness build.
Inspired build
1 Clobber (+ Onslaught)
1 Mighty Leap (+ Bull Rush)
6 Retaliation (+ Punitive Pummeling)
8 Hurricane (+ Perfect Storm)
11 Stormbringer
14 Arc of Ruin
20 Shadow Embrace (+ Nailed to the Ground)
23 Wall of Ice
Darkness build
1 Shadow Bolts (+ Despondency)
1 Shadow Embrace (+ Nailed to the Ground)
6 Void Shift (+ Emerging Nightmares)
8 Seraphim or Shadow Form - Both buff Dimensional damage. The difference is mainly that Seraphim also heals over time and Shadow Form makes you generate less threat.
11 Retaliation or Force Shield (+ Force Sheath)
14 Hurricane (+ Perfect Storm)
20 Wall of Ice
23 Frenzy (+ Fear Sense)
The following could be learned after the eigth basic powers, in any order you want. They do not only fit the theme, but also make the Fear debuff a main mechanic of the build.
Gatling Gun (+ Listen to Reason)
Howl
Void Horror
Frenzy (+ Fear Sense) - If you want it in the inspired build.
Havoc Stomp (+ Cry Havoc)
Vicious Descent (+ Relentless, for the inspired build)
Spirit Reverberation (only for the Darkness build)
Aggressor or Aspect of the Etheral (either only for the inspired build)
Well, I'm sorry, but I'm toku nerd, not a Japanese fashion expert. So I don't think I'm quallified to judge this kind of costumes.
But they aren't bad, I think.
You noted up-topic that there are no "Magical Boys" type series, but there was a sub-genre that is somewhat close, The Mystic Armor Hero. They gained their power from training, skills and magic armor or empathic weapons. Mystic Armor Heroes tend to be the powered avatars or chosen warriors of some mythic deity or demigod in a powerful struggle against their opposite numbers who are just as powerful. Their enemies range from cannon fodder in weak magic armor to the generals of the evil god to the evil god themselves. As a sub-genre, it really hasn't shown up too much in recent years, but it'll surely come around again.
Examples: Saint Seiya (Knights of the Zodiac to most of the world), Yoroiden Samurai Troopers (a.k.a. Ronin Warriors), Tenku Senki Shurato, Visionaries (OK, admittedly that's a US created series, but it fits the theme), Spider Riders.
i-Bot
Oh that's nice like the colouring.
Thanks Mess, I deliberately went quite bright to suit the Manga style. For comparison, here is a totally different look, that is almost monochrome:
i-Bot High Tech
also nice though I'm not a fan of those shoulder pads (in general)
Actually I agree and this is the one and only time I have used them. In fact, I accidently uploaded an old image, as I have since changed them, see here.
Thanks, the monochrome one wasn't meant to be anime inspired, it was meant to look cold, menacing and very inhuman.
Very cool, though I think I like the name best.