Art Poll: Signature Characters

Ghost Widow for sure.

Statesman as well, though I don't care for the mask. Though I think there's some who wouldn't care for him no matter what he was wearing.

The rest have pretty comic book style superhero outfits imo (except BABS who just wears jeans and a shirt with power gloves), but they just seem to need some work (some more than others) especially Sister Psyche, who's outfit looks terrible in game but works when we see the drawings.

Positron not included in the aove statement.

Black Scorpion is good.

Sciricco has the worst outfit of Recluses inner circle. The outfit is just lacking.

Primal and Praetorian version of Mynx I always thought needed reworking. As well as both versions of Valkyrie and Swan.

Nightstar is awesome! Lumina on the other hand, not sure what it is about her, just always thought she looked terrible.

Lesse... characters that I like or feel are visually represented well by their costumes:

Requiem- First AV I really loved. I wish he kept his fire powers that kept him special in the sea of nictus though. When you first see him you can tell that he's immensely powerful, but also that he's the leader of the column... very "Red Skull" in spirit.

Nightstar- The NEW nightstar. I hate the old design, and I hate luminary as she is now. But when I first saw nightstar's new take I stopped and gawked. She looks powerful, but also stealthy. The only thing I DON'T see in her is how she's modeled after Dominatrix/Praetor Duncan.

Vanessa De Vore- Both the Normal and Praetorian versions. You can tell she's powerful and cocky (She's wearing almost nothing in the way of protection) but uses that to her advantage.

Captain Castillo - Not sure if this counts as a sig character... probably not... but I like him more than Duray. You can instantly tell what he's all about: He's a sky raider, but he's full of himself. He probably wants to be a hero but he has no powers, so he's going to be the dashing pirate instead... only he's not that great at it.

Marauder - JEEZ marauder looks cool. I wasn't there for his unveiling but saw the concept art unveiling on youtube. Definitely agree with the cheers from the audiance. This looks like a guy that went all mad max on hamidon.

Characters which don't represent themselves well through their dress:

Sister P.- Ya know... it's not that I don't LIKE her outfit but... a.) It could use an update and b.) as lots of people have already mentioned, it doesn't really suit her personality.

Battle Maiden - Here's... the thing with BM. She needs to be showing her hair some. When I think of a valykrie, I think long, flowing blond hair, armor, sword, etc. Of course you could keep her helmet and just add a hair option beneath helmets Please?

Luminary- Luminary is apparantly a very bubbly robot, almost anime inspired from the personality shown in the comics, but she looks very basic. She needs more flair. Lots more.

Siege- Siege's design is just kinda... boring to me. That, and it doesn't look robotic. I've never thought he looked like a robot, just a big, hulking, green guy. Could be that I don't care much about him as a character but eh.

Arakhn - By goodness she looks like a space clown. She's supposed to be the leader of the nictus on earth? Why not have her shapeshifted into an awesome beast, or posessing a normal woman to blend in?

Edit- Also, put spark blade in the game! He looks awesome!

Nightstar: The first time I saw her as a new Praetorian was a double take moment. I had to pause and mention in one of my globals how awesome the costume is. The epitome of sleek, deadly technology.

Rularuu/Aspects: Otherworldly, potent magnificence. The mix of enormous scale and alien design create a sense of immensity present no where else in the game. Costume details, facial expressions, and color effects mesh perfectly.

Now that I have read the thread:

Mirror Spirit is fabulous, as is Flower Knight.

Noble Savage. Yes. Very good. Oddly he is like Black Scorpion for me, but opposite, not quite enough armor. I like them both, but I think something in-between those levels would be good as well.

Numina - Gah. I knew I would forget someone. Her costume is fabulous, we need an unfaded version in game sometime.

I actually like some of the various phases of Fusionette. Huge, unbelievable pig-tails pushes the limit for me, and I know her costume is stuff we can just whip together on the editor, but I like how she was made and I like her formal wear outfit as well.

Ghost Widow is certainly at the top of the list.The look is simple and iconic. Very inspiring as well. Manticore, however, is plain and boring (which I hate, because I love the character, and the look does not do him justice.).

Another very nice rendition is Maelstrom. His look is again iconic and really brings a sense of determination. The new look for Mother Mayhem is also very good at conveying the character's will and dominance.

Mother Mayhem, how could I forget, you outfit to me actually seems very comic booky to me, with good detail (not talking about THAT detail...THE OUTFIT) and the jacket is awesome, and over all, I get more of a comic book feel from her, than Spirit Mirror, which the last I remember, I thought Spirit Mirror had one of the worst faces in the game.

Spirit Mirror also didn't feel very super hero either.

To reiterate pretty much everybody else in this thread, and likely every player of the game: Ghost Widow. She's hands down the most striking character in the game. The first thing I wanted to do when I got ahold of COV was go see her in person, and I spent about 15 minutes just walking around her, getting different angles, taking screenshots, that kind of stuff.

Mako is also really cool looking, though he's also a downside as, frankly, none of the monster/animal/mutant characters we can create look as good/cool as he does, so he kind of makes for a "I really like you, but you make me jealous" kind of dude.

Brawler draws eyes to him for the fact that he's a very large character but also keeps it nice and simple. He gives off that "Pretty cool bro" kind of vibe, like you could just walk up to him at a party, give him a fistbump (hopefully without shattering every bone in your arm) and be like "What's up dude?"

States is very iconic looking but needs work on that silly helmet and even sillier cape.

Swan is one of my faves (though she suffers from that awful tan-line issue with white tights with skin that needs to be fixed) and OLD Black Swan fit under this too. New Black Swan is absolutely hideous and looks like something that was made by a 7 year old emo wannabe. She was Swan with a malevolent bent and that was even more striking than normal swan.

Neuron and Bobcat are really cool looking to me. The only issue I have is that Synapse and Neuron are both grey-skinned and it just makes them look WEIRD. If they had a human skin-tone I'd like them both much better. They do a great job of saying "I'm a speedster" Bobcat is just very classic looking with her vintage Catwoman look. Mynx could do with a makeover to give her something that doesn't look like tiger-print footy pajamas.

Foreshadow and Mirror Spirit are FANTASTIC looking. They have very unique and striking looks, but are sadly sequestered away in zones that could very easily be skipped/missed altogether. (I played the game for 2 years before a friend pointed me to Faultline for the story and I was BLOWN AWAY that there was an entire zone that size that I'd never even heard of.)

Doctor Aeon is also very fun and eyecatching. You can look at him and know in two seconds that he's a mad scientist of the highest calibur.

Barracuda, Silver Mantis and Wretch are also very nifty-looking for sidekick style characters. Ice Mistral is okay but could use an update.

Numina has always struck me as very cool-looking, and not just for the ghost effect. Her outfit is very classic magic hero style and I like that.

My suggestion for future signature characters: Do NOT use mix and match bits from player sets and call it a day. Many high-res pattern sets don't flow into each other well and when paired look horrible and clash very badly. It also makes the character look less like a signature character and more like something that somebody just rolled up and power-levelled to fifty. Signature costume bits are part of what make the characters so striking, and cheapening those iconic looks by matching them with random player parts just cheapens the effect. If you must use a player set then use the entire set, or at least match the touching bits. See Black Swan for why mixing and matching is ugly.

Hmmm, let's see:

I like Ghost Widow, Mako and Scirocco's looks/costumes. I also like Praetorian Nightstar's costume.

I'm a bit tired at the moment getting home from work but...that's the only ones that I remember liking at this time.

I'll start with the villains.

I'd have to say for me, my favorite visually is probably Requiem. He's about as military villanous overlord as you can get in supervillainy. He does that look even better than Reichsman in my opinion. Out of the 5th, I really like Vandal's look too.

I also really dig Dr. Vhaz and his flesh-power-armor, though you have to look carefully to see how it's a suit and not actually him. I didn't think much of it (just thought he frankenstined himself up) until I noticed the difference, and then I thought it was really freakin' cool.

As for Heroes...

I'd have to say my favorite visually is Positron and conversely, his counterpart Anti-Matter. What? It's very cool looking power armor.

I'd like to say Statesman as well (I really like the patriotic angle) but there's just something about it that just doesn't click with me (no not the faceplate actually) I can't put my finger on it. I also like Hero-1's look as well, though like Statesman I can't put my finger on why it clicks with me the way it does.

I'll have to agree with a number of players and go with Mirror Spirit. I also really like Rose Star's look (though only have seen her in the City of Hero video).

As far as GM's go, I'd have to say my visual favorites are Lusca and Jack in Irons. Lusca really gives the feel of a Giant Monster encounter in every respect, and Jack is just really well rendered/colored/shaded and is very intimidating. He also kinda reminds of of the giant in Time Bandits (except without a boat for a hat). Conversely I'm not that jazzed about Eochai, but the pumpkin head thing just kinda puts me off (though my issues with a lot of stuff in Croatoa's a whole different story )

I'd like to point out some I don't like and why, but that's beyond the scope of what you're looking for here. I do hope you start another thread for that though. I bet you'd find those answers even more surprising and interesting.

Great idea for a thread. So, personally, I dislike most of the costumes our heroes wear. I think States is super corny (but acceptable as that is kinda where the idea was going...I think); I think Manticore is awful; Back Alley Brawler has a terrible costume (other than the gloves); Citadel isn't as bad but not good; Numina is ok just maybe a bit boring; Positron looks dated and clunky; Sister Psyche is cool and Synapse is kinda meh. Honestly, when I was shown this site almost 4 years ago by my friend, I thought the heroes were cheezy and B grade. The so so looking heroes actually caused me to skip this game and not play until my friend badgered me for several more months and I gave in.

I like the signature villains! Well done there. However, we need more groups of original enemies. Seeing the 5th, Nemesis, Arachnos so so often is too much (and now the Praetorians).

The Praetorian mains are decent as well (Marauder is a much better version but to have cables holding his gloves together is meh). Much better job with GR characters.

Just on a bit of a tangent, the constant use of non-spectacular looking enemies is a bit annoying. So many bosses look just like the mob (Skuls etc). Also having many main characters being alternate versions of one person is very lame in my opinion (ex.: States is also Imperius etc).

Adding missions that just tackle other supers would be cool. Not other mobs or groups but like another super team. The key is to make them visually stunning. There are far too many examples where this game just has the dullest looking enemies and does not take advantage of the great costume creator. Throw in some supers and maybe don't have them appear all over - it may cause us to play that content because the experience is unique.

I like Mako the best.

Sure the rest of the villians look powerful... but that guy. He looks DANGEROUS. You can tell just by his face he'd just as soon gut you like a fish as give you a mission. And enjoy the former much more.

I Personally really like Nemesis, story aside, the artwork is really good, and i'm quite partial to cyborgs and robots, especially steampunk ones. My hope would be to see some other nemesis AVs or GMs which fit that theme.

Some of the new character art is quite nice, like Maelstrom Synapse, Noble Savage and Tyrant.

I also really like Positron, but again that's me liking tech suits. On the other hand, I don't really like Anti-Matter, I was disappointed to see that he didn't get a graphical update.

Each of the patron villains and Recluse all have great design too, They are all quite fitting.

So many characters to choose from, so little time.

Favorite Praetor: Neuron. He's a genius, which makes sense considering how there is an emphasis of speed and electricity within his powers. One of my favorite things about reading his dialog during his story arc... is that he'll casually mention how he's doing 20 other things while talking to you. This is typical of a higher-up in an organization, but you really get the feel he's doing it because his mind works that fast. I also really dig the costume. I absolutely love his mixture of super-science tech parts with the classic tights and pattern/logo. It all works together really nicely.

Favorite Rebel: Noble Savage, of course. His story is interesting, but what stands out more for me is his costume design. I'm always a fan of asymmetry in CoH costumes and I certainly hope this means we'll get more options for it Soon™.

Favorite Primal Hero: Hero 1. Not only is his origin based around the legendary Excalibur, but he managed to come back as a twisted villain. Hero costume we iconic, villain costume was *awesome*. Yes it was mostly just the tattered remains of his original costume... but that's what I loved about it. I'd love to see more destroyed pieces options for our characters as well.

Favorite Primal Villain: Black Scorpion, no doubt. Just the armor alone is epic enough. Or better yet, those Crey Scorpinoid's. I'm a huge fan of any costume that breaks from what players can normally construct. You have no idea how epic it felt when I found out we could make Arachnos Crab Spiders.

Honorary mention: Metronome. Easily my favorite character concept in the entire game. A psychic entity that can posses robots? That's just awesome. Screw creating new characters, I want to see more from Metronome.

Mako >.> Ghost window... all the patrons and Recluse. Nemesis is pretty cool, same with the Clockwork King.

This is a great thread.

Mako: My favorite. Yes, he's just a humanoid shark, but you know who and what he is the instant you see him: sleek, cunning, unpredictable. My first ever patron, I remember being afraid to go back to talk to him after failing the timed mission he gives out. He's truly scary.

Ghost Widow: just iconic, beautiful, and simple. No one else looks like her and she is instantly recognizable anywhere. Of all the patrons, she embodies Arachnos. ("Embodies" may not be the right word...)

Backalley Brawler/Marauder: Tough, determined, but recognizably human despite the size and the gloves. BaBs needs a bit of an update, though.

Foreshadow and Mirror Spirit. It says a lot that I know almost nothing about either of these characters, but upon meeting each of them I had to walk around them to fully take in their costumes. Distinctive and beautifully done all around. I hope we eventually get more of their stories so they can live up to their costumes.

Dr. Vahzilok: Wow he's scary! He startles me every time he appears in the revamped Positron TF cutscene. I think "how on earth can we defeat that?!" (Please let us encounter him at higher levels!)

The Rogue Isles: Yes, I know, not a costume. But the Isles are definitely a signature character in this game. They are distinct from one another while sharing common elements that make it clear that they are in the same geography. The overcast sky, which can clear enough to see the sunset and all the stars at night; the beauty of the touristy parts of St. Martial and Cap au Diable; the workaday ports of Port Oakes and Sharkhead; the ruins of Mercy; the technological nightmare of Grandville; the sublime Abyss: this is a place in a way that Paragon City just isn't for me. The Isles have a personality, different aspects of which are present in each island.

My least favorite is Manticore. He just doesn't look right. His costume doesn't project the image of who the character really is. Red leather and a fright wig (at least that's what I think that is) don't give us a real sense of who this man is. Manticore is someone who overcomes enormous odds, who fights on and on despite not really having super powers, and who is willing to cross a line that others won't in order to bring about justice as he sees it. I would love to see him get an update. Most of the signature heroes really don't stand out enough. Manticore does, but not a in a good way.

While I haven't taken an official tally I have read every post so far and I just wanted to pop in and point out that it appears that players are responding more positively to the female models whose costumes depict them as strong/confident/capable type as opposed to a weak/slutty/dependent type. Combine that with the response against the depiction of Sister Psyche in the recent artwork for Freedom/Issue 21 and please learn from it when choosing how to depict females in game. I was personally disappointed with the choice to make Sister Psyche look like a blow up doll in tutorial picture and then clinging to her man in the signature story arc, perhaps I am not as familiar with her back story as I should be but is she supposed to that weak and unheroic? It will honestly be hard for me to view her as a strong hero after seeing those images.

It appears that the female characters most favorably mentioned are Ghost Widow, Ms. Liberty, Mirror Spirit, and Night Star. All have very different styles but have a couple things common is they are all fully covered and all look like they could kick butt and take names.

On the other hand Swan and Sister Psyche's names seem to come up frequently as needing revamps. Their depiction in game is much more one note... sex. Speaking for myself they don't instill a lot of confidence in their super hero abilities when I look at them. And this is not to say that I am anti having sexy characters in game just that they need more than just that 1 aspect to their character & costume. I think most would agree that Ghost Widow is sexy and this is accomplished without her costume being barely there.

In future I’d love to more females depicted as strong and capable and wearing a sensible costume. I’d also love to see more diversity in general. We have lots of white straight humanoid males. I’d love to see more mutant types, different races and ethnicities, a better male to female ratio, more aliens that look unique, more feminine looking males, butch females. While we all love Ghost Widow it would be a shame to try to please everyone by making multiple gothic NPCs. My ideal would be for a balance between costume types & styles.

Sorry if this came off like a rant or not exactly what you were looking for, perhaps I’ll post again later when I came go through and look at the various NPC costumes more carefully. Thanks for your time.

I've gotta say the most appealing looking of the signature characters for me are:

Mirror Spirit. Costume, face, everything - she has it ALL. And I want it.

Scirroco - I love this guy. Love the way he looks, love his powers, love his backstory. Seriously.

Back Alley Brawler and Marauder/Praetor White - Dear BAB (who is my official level 2/level 50 trainer and has been since 2004) and the affectionately-known-in-my-circle-of-friends "Praetor Scaryface" are totally awesome. They look like what they do, and they ooze personality. Even BAB, who's the much simpler of the two, just looked like a guy who can totally take care of business, then go out to a bar and have a blast.