Another generic with a big hat? I think those samurai umbrella hats also have a problem fitting in hackboxes and offer their own unique challenges. One day maybe if I feel like taking on some more hats.
The as for this next character, Soul Calibur 2 was my first Soul Calibur and probably that fighting game series is probably the most time I’ve invested into a FGC series. Unfortunately the series is struggling/a lot more dead compared to other more popular fighting games, but I still love the designs, characters and character creator. I used to upload Soul Calibur 6 CAS to the Caliburbooru site (a site for Custom characters to be shared) a few years ago. I feel like Nightmare neatly fits the bill for a villain and fallen alt of a character. I also kept him roughly the same height and size of my Siegfried sprite for consistency too.
I’ve updated the third main post with the below entry under F2E - Non Fire Emblem Properties (Other Game Franchises - Soul Calibur 2 - Nightmare)
Soul Calibur 2 - Nightmare
Here is another villain/fallen alt carrying on this year’s October theme. Another fallen blonde warrior, Nightmare in his Soul Calibur 2 incarnation (Chosen because he doesnt have the unicorn horn or helmet plume and he uses less colours). I’m actually really happy with how this one turned out, especially the armour detailing. I think the weakest point of this sprite is probably helmet wings, but they were sacrificed to the hackbox dimensions. If I were to re do the sprite, I’d maybe resize the overall helmet size to be a little bit bigger. As is, its big enough for a head (most FE sprites have bigger looking heads because of their hair), but it still fits a head.
“Transcending history and the world, a tale of souls and swords, eternally retold.” “Now, two souls are fiercely entangled.”
Awesome! Another Soul Calibur character!
Yeah, I also think the same as you, since Soul Calibur 2 was the first SC I’ve played in my life, and I think it’s also the fighting game series I’ve played the most. I did think about making some SC character portraits for quite a while, but I was wondering how could I make a Nightmare portrait. Well, since you ended up making one now, I guess I don’t have to do one anymore haha.
Earlier in my spriting career, Soul Calibur was actually a somewhat popular choice to do in the Fire Emblem GBA style by a couple of artists back in the day, I recall seeing Ivy done a few times, Taki, Astaroth and Sophitia. However that was a long time ago.
Here is another female villain and another character from Symphony of War. In this game the Macguffin power ups seem to make characters (except for one) huge (male and female). I finished it a while ago, but since 100% it, a DLC has dropped and an art update, so I thought it would be fun to revisit what was updated and draw another character from it. To replicate the shiny hair, I went a tried shading again similar to how I did Altina’s (since Senri Kita’s hair seems to be done shiny (for Begnion purple anyway at least).
I’ve updated the third main post with the below entry under F2E - Non Fire Emblem Properties (Other Game Franchises - Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga - Beatrix)
Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga - Beatrix
So its been a while but here is another Symphony of War character. This villain intros into the main story campaign by single handedly (actually solos, in a game based around squads) basically your entire allied cavalry and is treated as an optional objective (either defeat her or survive her encounter, eventually she gets bored from committing war crimes dropping meteors on your allies) on her intro map. I actually raised her strapless dress on her chest to make it more PG, as it actually sits lower on her bust normally (however in the source game the characters are shown as halfbodies not portraits). I decided to make her hair more shiny in a reflection of the art update the game has undergone since its launch. If I were to revisit this portrait, I would probably try her eyes again. This was the 4th variant after playing with them for a while and the one I settled on and was okay with.
We’ll see if I feel like doing a Vigarde. I don’t think he’d necessarily be that interesting as Formortis host. In Sacred Stones Formortis looks like regular Lyon most of the time and then more sullen and annoyed. His Sacred Stones portrait already has the same skin complexion, so I’m not sure it’d be that much more different to regular Vigarde. Mad King Ashnard is the Lehran’s medallion making characters go more berserk, which is why they usually look more intense compared to their base counterparts.
As for this character, I decided to revisit Fire Emblem Heroes because they have a number of villains, in fact I feel like there is usually more OC villains that heroes in that game. I feel like that game is gonna run out of characters soon, OC and Fire Emblem ones. It’s been running for 7-8 years now. Its probably got the best longevity out of Nintendo’s mobile venture and probably has the best returns too. Favourite Character PNG power too strong.
I’ve updated the main post with the below entry under F2E - Fire Emblem (FE Zenith Saga - Fire Emblem Heroes - Thórr)
Fire Emblem Heroes - Thórr
It’s been a while since I’ve done a Fire Emblem Heroes character (unless you count Fallen Chrom). However I feels she counts sort of as a villain. This one was sort of a challenge because the face angle and the hair made the eyes a bit awkward. Combined with the fact that Thórr has yellow eyes also made the shading slightly more challenging too. Her hair also went through several iterations as well before deciding to shade this way. Her hair design didn’t lend itself well to other styles (like Beatrix and Altina’s shading). Really happy with how the clothes turned out, but it did take the body a couple of iterations to get proportions and angle to work a bit too. If I were to revisit this, it’d probably be the hair and eyes.
Now the father is here. This was a fun mug to do, and may be the last post for this week, I’ve got a busy next few days. Going to a convention and some other IRL events, which should be fun.
I have considered toying with the idea of doing like an alt of some characters like Garon pre corruption/possession and/or younger etc. Or some characters that are offscreen or mentioned but not officially revealed yet (like some of Garon’s Concubines, or one of the Eight Legends). However probably not on my plate anytime soon.
I’ve updated the main post with the below entry under F2E - Fire Emblem (FE Fates Saga - FE 14 Fates - King Garon)
FE 14 Fates - King Garon
So this one was fun and also a bit of a challenge. Once I completed his head, I realised how much space his cloak was going to take and had to make some adjustments (mainly to his haircut and collar) to make everything still look right. I decided not to draw in his eyebrows because they’re not critical to his recognisability and they almost blend in with his brow anyway. I actually did a fair bit of work on his shoulder emblem things (even though they get covered up by his cloak) and was happy with how they turned out. Below is a screencap of them uncovered (it helps me to picture and shade things if I go a bit extra like making parts and colouring underneath visible layers.) I also did his teeth smiling alt because it also meant changing his eyes a bit too, however I decided to have the smiling and regular talking frames be the same because hes basically unhinged in that look. I think if I were to revisit this one, I’d take another shot at his cloak, I still struggle with furs and feathers and the like.
Sometimes I forget lightningbug-lane’s interpretations aren’t canon. Camilla’s mother Ione was neglectful and controlling, using her to kill Garon’s other lovers and their children. Leo’s mother Theodora was a manipulative dastard who used her perfect son as a pawn to gain power in Garon’s court. Elise’s mother Livilla was an envious, murderous kitchen maid who only carried her to term because she knew how much Garon loved his children. the Super Ninja Bros’ mom Kameko has to be my favorite tho
Oh damn! This a little bit off-topic (great Garon portrait tho) but ever since seeing my younger brother play DBZ: Sparking! ZERO lately (he ended up getting early btw), I think that something you could do would be making a Goku Black portrait by using the Goku portrait you’ve made earlier this year.
Just a bit of a suggestion, you don’t have to do it, but it would really fit into the portraits of villain characters you’re making for this month.
Lightningbug-lane’s versions of the concubines and wives have some pretty cool designs. There is a lot of world building in FE that still could be fleshed out in most series, which I think is neat and allows for some cool creations such as Elibian Nights or Bwd Yeti’s Immortal Sword. As for other portraits to make, Dragon Ball characters are cool, but I’ve already got other characters and designs I want to draw lined up for a while.
So here is another Fire Emblem King, and one of the few final villains of a Fire Emblem game thats not, really godly or draconic in power and on top of that is purely martial. When I first played through PoR I felt he seemed kind of cartoonish, but on retrospective and after playing a lot more FEs that came after it, he started to stand out as unique like the protagonist of his game too. Both which are probably why PoR is probably my favourite FE, (also the first 3D one and the first home console one I played).
I’ve updated the main post with the below entry under F2E - Fire Emblem (FE Tellius Saga - FE PoR - Ashnard)
FE PoR - Ashnard
So the big bad of Path of Radiance. A might makes right villain, similar to Walhart and Duma. I actually did his berserk form first, so technically the regular version of Ashnard is the alt. I wanted to try the leaning head back angle again and I think it turned out very well this time (probably because its not nearly front on like the OC I did). Ashnard’s colours always seemed simple to me when playing Path of Radiance, but after starting this one, he does have a few that would exceed the colour palette. I couldn’t fit red anywhere in his palette so I decided for the berserk eyes, to go with whited out ones with no pupils (like Walhart and angry Super Saiyans). I did try orange eyes (which is used in his trimming),but it didnt quite look good to me. Thankfully the red in his cape doesn’t need to be in this portrait so I could get away without using it. Overall pretty happy with how the berserk one turned out. As for the standard look, if I were to revisit, it’d probably be his eyes and mouth. I’m also suprised I managed to fit this all into the regular hackbox nicely (whereas the Black Knight is always a struggle).
Yeap Symphony of War was enjoyed. I may do some more characters from there down the line, but probably not in October.
Here is another OC from me, I was itching to make some elaborate/intricate armour designs, so this is what I ended up with. I also felt like using orange armour because I haven’t really used it that often. Overall was pretty fun, although the concepting for this design took the longest part of this sprite. I actually had a different haircut originally and another idea for the shoulderplates.
I’ve updated the third main post with the below entry under F2E - Non Fire Emblem Properties (OCs - Jacinth)
Jacinth
So I was craving to do some intricate armour and thought I hadn’t done any more heavily armoured female characters since Diana from Symphony of War and Sejuani from League of Legends. So I went looking around for a Fire Emblem character to do, and came to the conclusion most female knight types generally end up wearing lighter armour compared to their male counterparts (eg, Isadora and Vaida) which wasn’t what I was looking for or they were really simple (eg, Edelgard, Jade, Effie, Kjelle, Wendy) I suppose Sheena works, but she didnt fit my villain theme for October. So then at a short loss I decided to make an OC and thought about what kind of theme I wanted. After playing Space Marine 2 a bit last month, I decided on Eagle/Gryphon themed armour with a winged chest plate and Eagle/Gryphon heads on the shoulders. This was fun armour to draw and if I were to revisit this, I’d probably re do maybe the cloak and Jacinth a bit inside. I tried making her slightly more older and villainous looking. The head cannon for this OC would be they are the Empress/leader of a martial kingdom/land where might makes right.
Recommendations:
I originally envisioned her design to be one of the following class types
General/Baron, Greatknight/Paladin or Gryphon Rider/Wyvern Lord/Wyvern Knight.
With the mineral theme naming, I get the thought Beryl is a general of hers who may defect to the player’s army, even moreso if you recolor her armor to bixbite.
Yes F2E means you can use the portraits for splices, I believe the ruling is posted here (I think this used to be pinned, but it took me a while to find it). I’ve seen a few people use them already for their own portraits, recolours, hacks etc. I decided on making most portraits I produce F2E, so people can use them for their own needs. I believe it will help people to improve their own skills if the resources are accessible and available for everyone and then the community as a whole gets better. Besides if I’m not using them, then the sprites just sit pretty on my computer doing nothing.
However, the Observation Only section is off limits, mainly because the rights of usage for those sprites are either not solely determined by me (they may have been made specifically for another user’s hack or usage (eg Black Fangs, The Last Promise, etc) or they’re particularly personal to me.
I’ve updated the third main post with the below entry under F2E - Non Fire Emblem Properties (Other Game Franchises - Golden Sun - Menardi)
Golden Sun - Menardi
It has been a couple of years since I last did a Golden Sun character. I did once attempt Saturos a long time ago, but couldn’t even be satisfied with my line art at the time. There isn’t a lot of good official material out there of the villains to reference and for Menardi, her pose isn’t very good either. Her hair colour appears more slight green tint blonde in game from memory vs her artwork which has more yellow blonde. So I went with Selene’s hair tones. I do wish I had maybe another two colours to work with, so I could also make the trimming on her armour a different type of yellow to her hair, but I guess I’ll make do. I’m happy with how her skin colour and patterns turned out, but I always have mixed feelings on shading with Selene’s hair colours.
Can’t have Menardi going far without her partner. I got a bit sidetracked playing through Hetja’s quest, a fun rogue like rom hack if you haven’t played it yet. I had completed the line art for this sprite and basic body colouring, then went to playthrough Hetja’s quest a couple days.
Golden Sun (+TLA) and FFX are my most favourite JRPGs of all time and the characters and world settings help make it for me the most. Saturos has always been a cool villain to me, design wise and then as I grew older his character as well (a bit cocky and ultimately an Anti-Villain with full context). He had one of the coolest battle themes from Motoi Sakuraba (although my favourite Proxian battle theme is the one vs Agatio and Karst), that a bit of it is used in the one Golden Sun song in Smash and is reused post his game in TLA and Dark Dawn.
I am also considering re arranging the Non Fire Emblem section of my sprite thread as some of those sub categories are getting really big.
I’ve updated the third main post with the below entry under F2E - Non Fire Emblem Properties (Other Game Franchises - Golden Sun - Saturos)
Golden Sun - Saturos
Proxian warrior pairs don’t go far without their partners, so when Menardi was done, Saturos was not far behind. I attempted lineart for Saturos when I was doing initial full customs years and years ago. I actually found the line art I made back then when I started working on this one and decided, the pose was actually pretty good for fitting Saturos in the hackbox and went with the same pose. I always thought he had a cool design and was a pretty cool villain in Golden Sun so getting him right and the impression he gives off was important. He was interesting to tackle because his armour and hair colours are very similar to his skin and scales(?). In fact his hair and skin share colours (similar to how I do some blonde characters). Another thing that was interesting was trying to interpret his shoulder pads, because the angle in his official artwork doesn’t really let you understand how it works and their battle sprites are a bit too blurry to make out such detail, however I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.
Below is the old line art I made back in my first attempt in 2008
“You have endured so much, and now you want to throw your lives away? Fine. If that is your wish, prepare to have it granted.”
Well managed to fit in one more sprite for October and this one will conclude the villain theme I had going. Although this one I suppose is more of an alt of a villain than a villain themself. I was still craving to draw some more intricate armour and this was a fun excuse to do.
Also as I mentioned in the previous post I have re organised the Non Fire Emblem Properties post, so Other Game Franchises that have at least 4 portraits underneath a parent company, they are in their own sub category (at the moment that is Blizzard, Capcom, Koei Tecmo, Namco Bandai, Nintendo, Riot Games and Square Enix)
I’ve updated the main post with the below entry under F2E - Fire Emblem (FE Elibe Saga - FE6 - “Heroic” Zephiel)
FE6 - “Heroic” Zephiel
What if a chair was moved and Zephiel wasn’t despised by Desmond and grew jaded and hated humanity? What if he kept the compassion he had as a prince and became the Compassionate King? I decided for the last sprite of villains for October to do an alternative take on Zephiel where he wasn’t evil. His colour scheme is largely based on Guinevere’s colorus (Red, White and Gold) and removing his stress lines and bags under his eyes went a long way to making him look much more nicer. With his pose changed to face people he is talking he also seems more nicer too. His armour designs still incorporate what to me seems like the Bern armour insignia (Zephiel ironically I think lacks this in his original design (its covered by his cloak straps)) the diamond with a few upward spikes coming out underneath it (seen on Galle, Murdock, Miledy, Zeiss, Douglas, etc). I also decided to give him a lower collar for his cloak/cape, but more fluffier which is a bit more bulkier like Legendary Guinevere’s from FEH. Overall happy with how this turned out, I was still craving intricate armours to draw. I did consider also doing a version of him in his FE6 armour too but got a bit lazy (to be honest you could probably splice his collar and head onto the original Zephiel’s body and it would work, just need to balance the colours a bit)
Below is a collection of all the sprites I drew for Spritetober this year, which was fun.
EDIT: Didn’t realise this but it is kinda fitting opening with a villainous alt of a hero and closing with a heroic alt of a villain