Best Character Design

K

Keila

New member
Out of all the cartoons you've seen, who do you believe has the best character design? Name your absolute favorite, your top 5, or whatever. Remember to give reasons why they're your favorite.

(No rank order)
1. Kyle from South Park: It may be a simplistic style, but doodling a cartoony Kyle is some of the most fun I've had when it came to drawing. His colors are bright and stand out without hurting the eyes. It's not generic at all and seems to work perfectly for his character.

2. Wooldoor Sockbat from Drawn Together: I have no idea why, it could be the Spongebob imitation voice or the personality, but there's something about Wooldoor and his design that make me like him even more than Spongebob's. You have no idea what this creature could possibly be leaving a whole lot to the imagination. Also, I love those wings on the top of his head.

3. Eddy from Ed, Edd, n' Eddy: Same with Kyle, I haven't seen many designs such as his. Bright colors that doesn't hurt the eyes and, even though he only has 3 strands of hair, I never get the imperssion that he's bald. Short characters have some of the best poses.
 
Chowder from Chowder: His design has to be the most flexible I've seen. He can go through several faces without losing his cuteness, and helps with the physical humor that's pretty abundant in the show.
 
Franky (One Piece)- It like Popeye/Johnny Bravo combination gone right. Big arms, Hawaiian shirt, doesn't care that he runs around in a speedo, shades, blue hair and he a cyborg. He one of my favorite characters in One Piece and his design is one of the reason.
 
I always did like Captain Flamingo's design. He's acts and believe he's comic book hero that faces everyday problems and not real dangers like Danny Fenton, Ben Tennison, even Atomic Betty. He doesn't even have enemies, well except for his cousin(more rival then enemy) and a monkey. And his "superhero" costume owns all ass! I mean who else has balls to dress as one of the most girly animals in the animal kingdom? A pink beak helmet and everything! And he uses items instead of having actually superpowers. One of the reasons why people like DC Comics' Batman.
 
:sweat: I generally stay away from Best Ever threads because I usually run into conflict of opinion. But this one is so out of kilter to me, I have say :eek:

I like and dislike shows even in the animation form. Style and design are really just to make shows that can't be called "copies".

I have several favorite shows in design styles from 3D motion capture to even a few basic 'cut paper" styles. If the characters move with feeling, I'll likely enjoy it.
 
Spongebob Squarepants. It's a marvel that the animators were able to make a square shape as cuddly as Mickey Mouse. And that square shape is no rigid cage, but allows for an infinite array of expressions. And by making Spongebob's hands and feet so small, the artists made sure that the audience focuses in on those expressions - there are no distractive elements anywhere on the character.

And speaking of Mickey...probably the best-designed toon character ever. Tight round circles that are immediately memorable, attractive and appealing. I have a ton of retro-Mickey T-shirts, and I always say "no more of the damn things", but then I see another one, and I'm sunk. Oh well. There are worse addictions.

The Looney Tunes gang. Every one of them. They've got weight, depth, mass, skeletal structure, fur, yet are able to believably squash and stretch with the agility of less-textured toons. A marvel of graphic engineering.

Right now, I like the World of Quest character designs, especially Nestor. But that's about all I like about the show. Those clever designs are wasted on really bad scripting. It's like dressing Larry the Cable Guy up in a tuxedo. Clothes do not make the man.

And the Disney big cats. I love the design of all of them - Bagheera, Scar, Mufasa, Shere Khan. Feline grace weighted with a real, palpable power. And faces that have a feline slant but are just human enough to inspire empathy. I think the Disney artist Bill Peet is primarily responsible for the Disney Big Cat look. If so he contributed to the Disney legacy in a way that can scarcely be measured. And come to think of it, he was pretty good with Dalmations too! :D
 
good choices.

hmmm *thinks*

I always loved ren and stimpy's character designs. It's nothing I've seen before and I love crazy cartoon styles.

jack spicer, I'm a sucker for characters with goggles. I always liked his character design besides that. I liked omi's too even though it's simple.

Dutchess and wilt. I love how colorful dutchess is with a face like something from van go. Wilt just had a really cool playful design that sets it apart from most characters out here.

the whole hey arnold cast: crazy shaped heads and everyone looks different. Coulden't ask for more.

Harley Quinn. I always liked jester designs and she had a great outfit design in my opinion.

Bumblebee from TAS. I really like the new take on the character's design. It's fresh and new from past designs. Even if it's a bit anime-esque.
 
I forgot about Spongebob. He face is big enough for any wide array of expressions, and almost anything works. All you really have to do is mix and match.
 
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