Worst character design?

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Yo'Goodfella
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Re: Worst character design?

Post by Yo'Goodfella » Mon Jun 14, 2021 4:43 am

OH BOY, have I missed something while I was sleeping. Dang time zones, I could have had something interesting to talk about for about an hour.

Anyway, please let me get my twenty cents in this, at the risk of going off topic.

I say off topic because while there is a design among the Magical Girls that I don't like (Giant, as I've said before), I find Ribrianne mostly fine, Kakunsa looks good, and Rozie is a precious bean and I adore her, she makes my heart melt with everything she does (intentionally). But I'll admit I quite like weird cutesy stuff.

I do have to give a point to their design as a team though. I am not super familiar with magical girl shows, but in most I've looked at, the teams tend to have very similar clothes in the magical girl transformations, but color coded. The only case that I saw this not being the case is Winx.
However, the Maiden Squadron's members all look quite distinct between one another, which I like. The only common point I've found in their design is skirts, and the antennae, but Kakunsa doesn't even have that.
Yuji wrote: Sun Jun 13, 2021 8:22 pm Also, and this is speaking more broadly, I think a lot of folks' distaste of some characters comes down to the characters really not being as fit as you would expect for a series that has essentially presented itself for the past three decades as "buff, athletic men fighting each other" (some exceptions notwithstanding). Anything that goes against the norm, be it skinny characters like Cabba, fat characters like Ribrianne, or even women more generally, will cause confusion and an instinctive dislike among folks who think the series is trying to disassociate itself from its traditional aesthetics.
Oh, I've seen this example quite a bit before. I am mostly familiar with Fighting Game cases, and you could say that I was in the same boat as our man CJStriker_CBR, with me adoring a character that people don't like because they're weird and annoying and "don't belong in that specific series" and seeing more in them than most people do.


Getting to the point of the Ribrianne being a "surprise uggo" joke, I did not take it the way most people did. I was actually off of Dragon Ball during the ToP, only hearing about it on Facebook with GOHAN BLANCO and sliding Vegeta memes. Then I started playing Dokkan Battle, and one of the first banners I came across was a "girl power banner" and Brianne De Chateau was front and center. I was like "oh, wow, she looks pretty. What a nice design! I wonder why I haven't seen her until now, where is she from?" Then I came across the event with Super Ribrianne and made the connection that the beauty I just saw was the same character which people said was an abomination. Then, out of curiosity, I checked out what that was all about.

I could probably go on on what I think about U2 as a whole, but not here. I think I've derailed enough.


To get back to the point somewhat, while I don't mind most designs of the ToP participants, and there are a few I enjoy, I think Prum looks like a reanimated piece of clay and Narirama also looks kinda stupid.
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Re: Worst character design?

Post by Polyphase Avatron » Mon Jun 14, 2021 10:27 am

MasenkoHA wrote: Sun Jun 13, 2021 8:13 pm Do people not like Ribrianne because she’s fat or because her fatness is part of the joke or is something else?
Nah. Majin Buu was fat (and pink) and he actually came off as intimidating despite that. Ribrianne is just purely goofy looking, you can't take her seriously.
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Re: Worst character design?

Post by Kuririn-sama » Mon Jun 14, 2021 12:26 pm

First post here after ages of lurking, figured this would be good place to start!

I love Semi-Perfect Cell! I know I saw some people talking about how they didn't like his look, but I think he's kinda cute.

Not a big fan of Freeza's 3rd form. I get what the idea was behind it, but it's goofy looking (and not in an endearing way like Semi-Perfect Cell is).

I really don't like Zarbon's transformation. Again, I get the idea, it's just not for me.

I'm also going to second that I love Ribrianne and her whole deal. I'm a sucker for those parody characters.
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Re: Worst character design?

Post by MasenkoHA » Mon Jun 14, 2021 12:54 pm

Kuririn-sama wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 12:26 pm
Not a big fan of Freeza's 3rd form. I get what the idea was behind it,.
I think the idea behind it was Toriyama caught some of Alien on cable tv during a smoke break.

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Re: Worst character design?

Post by DestructoDisc » Mon Jun 14, 2021 12:59 pm

GOTENKS

Nothing about his design is original in any way except for the clothing maybe. His body is Cell Saga Gohan's body re-used, while his head is just Vegeta's, but tinier. Doesn't help that he was an annoying piece of shit overall.

GOHAN

Ok not really, Gohan's alright, I just hate how DBS gave him Vegeta's face, and the fact that he almost always has Yamcha's hairstyles.

ALMOST ALL OF THE EOZ AND GT DESIGNS

Very ridiculous hairstyles and clothing. I also think it's OOC for Bulma to let herself look that old. GT Goten was hot, but his clothing just screamed that he belongs in the 90s. Bulla looked the worst, that's not a clothing a kid should be wearing. Some characters looked way older than they should be, while others looked like they didn't age a day. I think Gohan and Videl were the only ones who looked decent and timeless, except EoZ Videl, that hairstyle was garbage.

KID CHI-CHI

Just change that outfit

MOST OF SECONDARY VILLAINS/ANTAGONISTS

There are many of them that just look plain ugly.

SSJG XENO TRUNKS

Oh boy I might get some hate for this, but I really don't like Trunks' hairstyle here, like, at all. Actually, I was never a fan of long haired Trunks, but he just looks the worst here for me. Red just doesn't suit the guy.

CABBA

Way too skinny, and it was lazy how they gave him Gohan's hairstyle. Also looks too much like Tarble.

MARON

Yeah she's sexy, but couldn't they give her a different hair color at least? When I first began watching DB I thought she was Bulma's sister.

SEALAS

Just give him a different face please, he looks WAY too much like Hit. Aside from that he looks dope.

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Re: Worst character design?

Post by JulieYBM » Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:35 pm

Second Form and Third Form Freeza are so underrated. I hate the role that they have in the story but goddamn would I let them romance me. 😭😭😭
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Re: Worst character design?

Post by DBZAOTA482 » Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:48 pm

MasenkoHA wrote: Sun Jun 13, 2021 11:39 pm
BWri wrote: Sun Jun 13, 2021 11:03 pm
Kataphrut wrote: Sun Jun 13, 2021 10:49 pm People who like the Ginyu Force, Jaco, Great Saiyanan, Top and/or Fat Buu aren’t allowed to dislike Ribrianne. Because its all the same joke. Thin genre parody for the former three, goofy powers in a rotund former for the latter and…both for Top.
I really like (the anime version of) Ribrianne and the Kamikaze Fireballs, but the Ginyu Force are designed much better. It's not even close. It's also different genres that are being parodied. Sentai, Superhero, (maybe Tokusatsu), and Magical Girl. So I don't see why you can't like one and dislike the other.
I agree the Ginyu Force are designed way better than Ribrianne but the disdain for her design seems entirely based on her being big? You know, because Yadjirobe, Fat Boo, Baby Janemba, and Android 19 weren’t fat or anything.
I don't like most of their designs either (although Fat Boo's design juxtaposed with his character and role pretty well) but Ribrianne's is just so ridiculous that I cringe whenever I see her.
Kuririn-sama wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 12:26 pm I love Semi-Perfect Cell! I know I saw some people talking about how they didn't like his look, but I think he's kinda cute.
I loved his design too. People say it's ugly but I'm pretty sure that's the point. He was a nice cross between the bug creature he once was and the humanoid he later becomes.

Shame most of his time was spent getting his ass kicked.
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DBZGTKOSDH wrote:... Haven't we already gotten these in GT? Goku dies, the DBs go away, and the Namekian DBs most likely won't be used again because of the Evil Dragons.
Goku didn't die in GT. The show sucked him off so much, it was impossible to keep him in the world of the living, so he ascended beyond mortality.
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I always side eye the people who say "Now my kids/today's kids can experience what I did as a child!" Nigga, who gives a fuck about your childhood? You're an adult now and it was at least 15 years ago. Let the kids have their own experience instead of picking at a corpse.

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Re: Worst character design?

Post by Koitsukai » Mon Jun 14, 2021 2:02 pm

I liked Ribrianne but I did not like the colours of her second form. Red and green I prefer over red and light blue-ish, the orange gloves aren't my thing either.
I liked that her second form, her hot form is a reversal of the hegemonic standards, but I just hate the colours they chose to go with the red and green of her dress.

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Re: Worst character design?

Post by Kuririn-sama » Mon Jun 14, 2021 2:20 pm

JulieYBM wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:35 pm Second Form and Third Form Freeza are so underrated. I hate the role that they have in the story but goddamn would I let them romance me. 😭😭😭
We'll have to agree to disagree on Third Form Freeza, but I'll say hell yeah to Second Form!
:D :D :D
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Re: Worst character design?

Post by JulieYBM » Mon Jun 14, 2021 2:48 pm

Kuririn-sama wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 2:20 pm
JulieYBM wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:35 pm Second Form and Third Form Freeza are so underrated. I hate the role that they have in the story but goddamn would I let them romance me. 😭😭😭
We'll have to agree to disagree on Third Form Freeza, but I'll say hell yeah to Second Form!
:D :D :D
Second Form is so Daddy, omigawsh. My legs are like Jell-O. 😭😭😭
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Re: Worst character design?

Post by BWri » Mon Jun 14, 2021 3:36 pm

Yo'Goodfella wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 4:43 am I say off topic because while there is a design among the Magical Girls that I don't like (Giant, as I've said before), I find Ribrianne mostly fine, Kakunsa looks good, and Rozie is a precious bean and I adore her, she makes my heart melt with everything she does (intentionally). But I'll admit I quite like weird cutesy stuff.

I do have to give a point to their design as a team though. I am not super familiar with magical girl shows, but in most I've looked at, the teams tend to have very similar clothes in the magical girl transformations, but color coded. The only case that I saw this not being the case is Winx.
However, the Maiden Squadron's members all look quite distinct between one another, which I like. The only common point I've found in their design is skirts, and the antennae, but Kakunsa doesn't even have that.
This was actually the main problem that I had with their designs. Magical girls don't have to necessarily look the same or even be uniform in design, but when that's the case they at least follow some sort of theme. I think long gloves and boots are the only thing they all have in common.

Rozie's "theme" fit her the most because she wore a kung-fu inspired outfit and used kung-fu inspired techniques.

The other two don't really have a theme. Kakunza could have used more animal or beast-like theming to fit her fighting style and I would've went with "Djinn" for Ribrianne and gave her more magic abilities. A butterfly theme could work too, but I think the big skirt hampers the design. Giant Ribrianne's pants and jacket look much better to me.
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Re: Worst character design?

Post by Kodoshin » Mon Jun 14, 2021 4:30 pm

I think the amount of screen time Ribrianne got while basically just talking about love is what made me hate her so intensely. The Ginyu's had quite a bit of silliness to them, but were well-performing functional villains most of the time they were on screen. Ribrianne's dialogue writer just went out of their way to make her super annoying. I think this only applies to her Super TV show appearance though. In her story appearance in Dragon Ball Legends she's not annoying at all.

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Re: Worst character design?

Post by JulieYBM » Mon Jun 14, 2021 4:39 pm

Being gay and annoying is actually the best personality.
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Re: Worst character design?

Post by Kodoshin » Mon Jun 14, 2021 5:02 pm

JulieYBM wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 4:39 pm Being gay and annoying is actually the best personality.
You know, the more I think about it - Ribrianne is basically Nermal if Garfield happened in a universe that was more violent.

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Re: Worst character design?

Post by jjgp1112 » Mon Jun 14, 2021 5:13 pm

Kataphrut wrote: Sun Jun 13, 2021 10:49 pm People who like the Ginyu Force, Jaco, Great Saiyanan, Top and/or Fat Buu aren’t allowed to dislike Ribrianne. Because its all the same joke. Thin genre parody for the former three, goofy powers in a rotund former for the latter and…both for Top.
This logic doesn't really make a whole lot of sense, especially since the Ginyu Force had a pretty limited screen time. Just because they're both campy genre parodies doesn't mean you can't have differing tastes.

I thought the Universe 2 stuff was funny at first because I absolutely despise the Magical Girl genre to begin with so it was funny seeing them poke fun at all the stupid shit with the recycled animations and such, but after a while the shtick got one note and took up too much time when I would rather the story focus on cool shit.
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Re: Worst character design?

Post by super michael » Mon Jun 14, 2021 5:42 pm

Kataphrut wrote: Sun Jun 13, 2021 10:49 pm People who like the Ginyu Force, Jaco, Great Saiyanan, Top and/or Fat Buu aren’t allowed to dislike Ribrianne. Because its all the same joke. Thin genre parody for the former three, goofy powers in a rotund former for the latter and…both for Top.
Those characters that you mentioned what exactly is the parody? I can understand Universe 2 is trying to be a parody of Sailor Moon.

However with the Ginyu Force we see they are strong and intimidating and Fat Buu. Ribrianne there is nothing impressive about her and normally transformation looks powerful either by looking cool or ugly, but her transformation doesn't look powerful and instead looks ugly.

Ribrianne got so much screen which was really bad.

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Re: Worst character design?

Post by JulieYBM » Mon Jun 14, 2021 5:48 pm

The Gi'nyuu are a parody of the Super Sentai series, perhaps most clearly Sun Vulcan going by the use of a V symbol and the poses.
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Re: Worst character design?

Post by super michael » Mon Jun 14, 2021 6:02 pm

JulieYBM wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 5:48 pm The Gi'nyuu are a parody of the Super Sentai series, perhaps most clearly Sun Vulcan going by the use of a V symbol and the poses.
So that is were it is from, thanks for the information.

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Re: Worst character design?

Post by Kuririn-sama » Mon Jun 14, 2021 6:03 pm

super michael wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 5:42 pm
Kataphrut wrote: Sun Jun 13, 2021 10:49 pm People who like the Ginyu Force, Jaco, Great Saiyanan, Top and/or Fat Buu aren’t allowed to dislike Ribrianne. Because its all the same joke. Thin genre parody for the former three, goofy powers in a rotund former for the latter and…both for Top.
Those characters that you mentioned what exactly is the parody? I can understand Universe 2 is trying to be a parody of Sailor Moon.

However with the Ginyu Force we see they are strong and intimidating and Fat Buu. Ribrianne there is nothing impressive about her and normally transformation looks powerful either by looking cool or ugly, but her transformation doesn't look powerful and instead looks ugly.

Ribrianne got so much screen which was really bad.
The Ginyu force are a massive Super Sentai parody. All the poses, over-the-top...everything, etc.
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Re: Worst character design?

Post by Soppa Saia People » Mon Jun 14, 2021 6:13 pm

god i love mahou shoujo series'.
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