Rouge the Bat from a Design Standpoint

[Mauro Fonseca]

I've never actually seen any soccer moms complain about Rouge. It feels more to me like people feel guilty of liking a sexy character so they have to disperse that guilt somewhere. "IOOOOH THOSE SOCCER MOMS PFFF"

I like Rouge's design, a sexy cartoon girl like something out of Tex Avery. Nothing wrong there. Could have a better hairdo.

[Your Vest Friend]

Could have a better hairdo.

I think you actually got one of my problems with her down. I dunno, I just often forget she has hair and see her as being bald. Not sure how I'd improve it though.

[Kuzu]

Well she does have those little tuffs on the back of her head, so....

[Rurifuu]

Even before Rouge was first introduced into the series, the media was full of images and graphics far worse that children would see on the t.v and in magazines. I remember 11-12 yeas ago that sadly a lot of children's idols had much worse showing and acted far less acceptable, yet when it comes to fictional cartoon or video game characters, that's where a lot of parents draw the line (Although anime seems to slip through a lot of the time as well).

Personally I find Rouge as an interesting character to study. We have two much younger female characters, Amy and Cream in the series. So the series needs that character to bring in the older market that may see the Sonic series turning into a toddler game. It's good to see a video game making an anthro character with a proper feminine shape and isn't afraid to use her in a lot of the titles.

Despite her obvious feminine shape, Rouge never uses that to get her own way. She is portrayed as a professional first and always does her job. I don't feel her clothes in any of the games sexualises her to any extreme. The Sonic Riders design I would imagine is actually quite tame compared to what they could have picked. They have her wearing trousers, instead of really tight shorts!

If I had to choose a rolemodel for my own daughter, I would pick Rouge anyday over the horrendous celebrities you get these days.

[azoo]

I find it really strange that her current proportions (I think from X - onward?) features a curve in her chest and torso areas but has the standard Sonic-character noodle legs. Looks incredibly goofy.

That said I think the SA2 design is the best; bat fangs and detailed wings are pretty cool, plus her ears looked and formed around her head like actual ears rather than some oversized ear-shaped helmet (although they (as well as her boobs) didn't have to flop everywhere any time she made the slightest movement).

[Solkia]

She looks like shit.

And you know what? I've realized it's not the boobs that I hate about her design, it's the stupid SA2 one-piece suit. I agree that her Riders design is great, and I wish it was her default outfit instead of that skin-tight heart armor shit.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Exactly how is her one piece suit shit?

...really, that's one of the things I hate about hyperboles sometimes.

[Sega DogTagz]

I was organizing some documents earlier and I ran across this.

Since this is a Rouge topic, does anyone know which game it came from? Rivals 2 maybe? (or did it come from that sticker series from a while back... that would explain why I don't remember it from anywhere)

Edited October 7, 2012 by Sega DogTagz

[Blue Blood]

The only source I know of. It's not Rivals 2 though. Probably is just from the Sticker collection, which simply did only use random stock art.

[JezMM]

I like Rouge's design. I do think SA2 was the best portrayal of her (aside from perhaps the ridiculous size of her boobs compared to the rest of the body, seriously her profile view was basically a P with a head on top), however the one thing I'd love to see is a game which gives her the wingspan that she had in Sonic X when flying. I hate how weedy her wings look, in Sonic X she properly sprouted them out Buzz Lightyear style.

Edited October 7, 2012 by JezMM

[Chooch]

The dumbest thing about Rouge to me has always been the fact that she doesn't wear red at all.

[Blue Blood]

I like Rouge's design. I do think SA2 was the best portrayal of her (aside from perhaps the ridiculous size of her boobs compared to the rest of the body, seriously her profile view was basically a P with a head on top), however the one thing I'd love to see is a game which gives her the wingspan that she had in Sonic X when flying. I hate how weedy her wings look, in Sonic X she probably sprouted them out Buzz Lightyear style.

In general, playing SA2 this part week has really made me appropriate the artistic stylings- character design especially. Rouge looks a lot better there because of her darker skin, curves and the shape of head and eyes. And her slightly more detailed wings deserve a mention too. In general SA2 depicts the characters in a much more styled way. They still look like cartoons, but more unique to one series than the exact same sort of style you see everywhere now.

[Sega DogTagz]

The dumbest thing about Rouge to me has always been the fact that she doesn't wear red at all.

Definition of ROUGE

1: any of various cosmetics for coloring the cheeks or lips red

2: a red powder consisting essentially of ferric oxide used in polishing glass, metal, or gems and as a pigment

**********

I think the name is a cheeky pun on the second definition. No red, but polishing gems does sound like a suitable pastime for our gal.

giggady

Edited October 7, 2012 by Sega DogTagz

[SoniClub]

I love Rouge; it's refreshing to have a character that doesn't fall into the strict Hero or Villain catagories.

I really hated her heroes design, it was just all wrong. It took away the well-sculpted figure from SA2 and made her look very clunky and more like a robot than anything. Her colour scheme was also atrocious: a gross combination of sickly pinks and dark purples, eugh! And as others have said, there was just way too much going on with the new clothes. Sonic characters should be simple and easy on the eyes.

Although I liked her in Sonic 06, despite the drab voicing, there was something so odd about her eyelids. They just seemed to be permanantly half-shut, even when she was meant to be shocked or suprised. Seems like they've patched her all up in Generations though, along with everyone else, the models all look a lot smoother and the movements are much more humanoid now.

Edited October 7, 2012 by Wordy

[ultim8life4rm]

I like her new voice actor introduced in Generations, and the character model that came with it.

The oddest thing about Rouge, in my opinion, is that we all know her as a jewel thief/G.U.N. agent. But if you listen to her theme song from SA2, Fly In The Freedom (love that song, btw), it has a real jungle-like feel to it. In fact, the first time I heard the song, I was very surprised to find out that it was her theme. I was expecting something totally different, and it really changed the way I looked at the character (in terms of personality).

[Sarah Jane Smith]

I think the name is a cheeky pun on the second definition. No red, but polishing gems does sound like a suitable pastime for our gal.

I always thought it was a play on the word "rogue"...

[Generations]

You forgot her designs from...

• Shadow The Hedgehog
  
• Sonic Rivals
  
• Sonic Rivals 2
  
• Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity
  
• Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
  
• Mario And Sonic At The Olympic Winter Games
  
• Sonic Free Riders
  
• Mario And Sonic At The London 2012 Olympic Games
  

Plus, she's going to be in Sonic Jump soon.

[Scar]

I always thought it was a play on the word "rogue"...

Rouge is French for red.

Edited December 2, 2012 by Scar

[Spin Attaxx]

I kinda liked her Heroes outfit, it was pretty futuristic and looked more like attire that would be used for stealth.

Also in 06, her teeth are fucking nightmare fuel.

[Cortez]

I'll second that her Heroes design sucks, I understand it was done because of the game being marketed at young kids but it's not like her regular design is particularly offensive.

I've only just noticed they changed her eye makeup colour for Heroes as well, it's all too colour coordinated and just looked weird compared to her normal design.

Much love for Rouge though, shame she's become a side character now, I always wanted her to become part of the core cast and is one of the few non-classic characters I actually really like, especially when she's being a total and utter two faced bitch.

[Kuzu]

To be entirely fair, she's always been a side character because the story almost always revolved around Shadow whenever she was involved. I'll admit, I do wish she kind of had more prominence myself, but because Rouge was never really one of the popular characters, that's never going to happen anytime soon. At most she'll probably just play a supporting role for Shadow or something.

Edited December 2, 2012 by Ragna Claus

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

She only really started being a side character in ShTH. Every playable character in SA2 had a strong role that didn't overshadow any of the other playables, and Heroes shouldn't be mentioned for any character due to it's very weak narrative.

[Kuzu]

Rouge's role in Sa2 is pretty negligible compared to everyone else's, and more or less just an obstacle to Knuckles, and for the very little narrative it did have, Shadow's is the one who takes center stage.

[Diogenes]

Every playable character in SA2 had a strong role that didn't overshadow any of the other playables,

No, not really. If I were to divide up the playable characters by importance, it'd probably be Shadow, then Sonic/Eggman, then Tails/Knuckles/Rouge. The main elements of the story are Shadow and things directly related to Shadow; the story exists largely to tell his story. Sonic and Eggman come second; the latter being the apparent lead antagonist for most of the game and the former the hero dealing with him and Shadow. The rest are just supporting characters.

[Heybunny]

I've always liked Rouge (except her 4kids voice) but especially her original and Riders designs. I kind of miss the tension between her and Knuckles, they seem to have done away with that for the most part. Always gave me a laugh.

Personally though, I've always absolutely hated the Heroes design. Too much garish pink and purple for a character who usually dresses in a coordinated and contrasting style.