Sonic Boom's New Characters designs

[MegasonicZX]

My only real issue with Sonic is the lankiness. Just tone it down a tad with the legs and I think it'd be fine. It just looks a tad awkward at the moment, particularly in those running shots in the TV trailer.

Yeah, the legs are the only thing that really bothered me about him after seeing that since it looked a bit awkward seeing him run like that when his height seems to look a bit off balance.

[JezMM]

What's up with people thinking Amy looks too lustful, I mean wat. She just looks cheeky to me.

 

Some people basically apply sexist values to female characters without really even realising they are.  Much in the same way people don't think anything of a female character being the only one to wear clothes because femininity is sexualised while masculinity is considered just "default" and "neutral".

 

In short, Amy gets given a redesign that simultaneously heightens her femininity with makeup and a slightly curvier waist, yet also is given an animation overhaul and focused design that suggests her strength and capability among the team.  What do people focus on?  "She has eyeshadow.  Prostitutes wear eye shadow. She looks like a prostitute".

[Mauro Fonseca]

Oh come on. I'll post more later, but denying that historically in cartoons the half-closed eyes with heavy make up and puckered lips is a traditionally more sexual look is ridiculous. Is it wrong? Sure, it shouldn't mean everyone wearing make up is doing so for sex. But then you look at Sonic and the only character loking remotely like Amy's expressions and face here is Rouge, a clearly more lewd character. Which, again, is fine and dandy, in this case it's just incredibly jarring since Amy was a 12-year-old hyperactive brat girl.

We went from Minnie Mouse to a neutered Jessica Rabbit, basically. And there's nothing wrong with either, but it does bear the question "why".

EDIT: I mean, hell. I'm hoping they actually do prove this wrong. I love it when you have a traditional symbol and image inverted, IE a cartoon woman with half-closed eyes and heavy make up not just being overly sexed. That's brilliant. Just as brilliant as a strong guy not having to be buff, even.

[Diogenes]

Oh come on. I'll post more later, but denying that historically in cartoons the half-closed eyes with heavy make up and puckered lips is a traditionally more sexual look is ridiculous.

Where exactly are we seeing this with Amy?

[Octarine]

In short, Amy gets given a redesign that simultaneously heightens her femininity with makeup and a slightly curvier waist,

 

I'm not even sure if I see that stuff. Her eyelids are darker in the 2D art, but they're the same colour as the rest of her in that CG render and I think in the in-game footage, and I'm not sure they were supposed to come across as makeup in the first place. And even if it were possible to make a real judgement about the shape of her waist (how could you even tell with her old outfit?), the less ridiculous skirt makes her look less curvy to me if anything.

 

It's really just the eyelids thing. I can see where people might jump to a conclusion based on that at a glance, especially if they were assuming by default that these redesigns would be silly super edgy tryhard last-ditch save-the-brand stuff, but there's really nothing else in the design or any of the other images of the character to back it up.

[Blue Blood]

Knuckles design has really grown on me these past 24 hours. Like, to the point where I'm thinking "fuck yeah Knuckles!" instead of "what did they do to my favourite character?".

[Soniman]

Knuckles design has really grown on me these past 24 hours. Like, to the point where I'm thinking "fuck yeah Knuckles!" instead of "what did they do to my favourite character?".

 

Its almost shocking how fast these designs warmed up to me

[JezMM]

Oh come on. I'll post more later, but denying that historically in cartoons the half-closed eyes with heavy make up and puckered lips is a traditionally more sexual look is ridiculous. Is it wrong? Sure, it shouldn't mean everyone wearing make up is doing so for sex. But then you look at Sonic and the only character loking remotely like Amy's expressions and face here is Rouge, a clearly more lewd character. Which, again, is fine and dandy, in this case it's just incredibly jarring since Amy was a 12-year-old hyperactive brat girl.

We went from Minnie Mouse to a neutered Jessica Rabbit, basically. And there's nothing wrong with either, but it does bear the question "why".

EDIT: I mean, hell. I'm hoping they actually do prove this wrong. I love it when you have a traditional symbol and image inverted, IE a cartoon woman with half-closed eyes and heavy make up not just being overly sexed. That's brilliant. Just as brilliant as a strong guy not having to be buff, even.

 

It's mainly people's negativity towards it that bothers me.  Like even if she was a more "sexy" brand of feminine, why do people focus on that alone?  Why can't somebody be sexy AND asskicking?  This is of course, ignoring the fact that Boom Amy's qualities that are reminiscent of said tropes you mentioned are so incredibly mild, but people still jump on them.

 

It's one of those sorts of things where it's not the actual words that are annoying, but the slightly backwards thinking that leads to them.

 

 

This was weird to reply to because 50% of what you said is basically what I'm already saying - that there's nothing wrong with old or new Amy's take.  Basically all I'm saying is, your comments at the end there, about how you hope they subvert it - I personally am already seeing that in her in what little we've seen.  As said, to me she looks feminine and ass-kicking, which is why it bothers me endlessly that people just focus on the feminine aspects while simultaneously doing a mild sort of slut-shaming by implying that she looks provocative in a negative way.

 

It honestly annoys me when people do the same with Rouge when she's so much more than her looks (as far as Sonic characters go anyway), and Boom Amy is even LESS that character trope.

[Indigo Rush]

I am curious to see how Amy is portrayed in full, though. We didn't get an opportunity to hear her speak in the trailer...

 

... and I'm also curious to see if Rouge or any other characters are going to change their portrayals, if indeed they will be used in the Boom canon. (lol... boom cannon).

[Vertekins]

 

...She's evocative of Marine but she sure as hell isn't her. Unless this is supposed to be an older adaptation of her.

 

- Different markings

- Very different 'pigtails' i.e Marine's are thinner and not extensions of her head like this character

- Different frame. Marine has the child bodyframe when it comes to Sonic characters. This character is obviously slim and follows after the adolescent bodyframe.

- Where's her tail?

[Conando]

People seriously think Amy looks sexual in that picture? She looks like your typical cheeky action girl to me.

[Detective Shadzter]

Where are people getting make-up from on Amy? I don't see any.

[Celestia]

Yeah, I'm thinking it's a new character that sort-of resembles Marine. Although she could potentially be this universe's take on her? If that's the case, it'd be cool if they expanded upon that...water...superpower...thing.
 

(lol... boom cannon).

Of course, the title was a hint all along that Sonic Boom would be a whole new canon! Why didn't we see the signs?!!

 

[Rey Skywalker-Ren]

Ill voice what I think about the designs:

 

Sonic - I really really like it. Blue arms to. His design fit his personality better then the modern design. Because his spines being a little messy says that he doesnt care what he looks like as long as he can kick butt. It also makes him look young and I like it because he is young.  I really like the scarf because it gives an elegent and classy look to him. It also makes him mature and makes him look piolit like. I dont mind the bandages because they are sports and Sonic moves around and hes atheletic so it fits him.

 

Tails - I like Tails design. It makes him look more mature, smart and elegent and it also makes him look piolit like.

 

Knuckles - his body being bigger was wierd at first but now I like it. it makes him look stroger than he was before and the bandages help.

 

Amy - i was happy when I saw her. I dont like the character but she looks more mature yet girly. I hope that it will be her personality. She also looks badass with the hammer.

 

Eggman - i dont mind the dispicable me-ish design but the lack of Egg shaped belly: but he looks great!

[Emmett L. Brown]

Here's my 2 cents.

 

Sonic is a hedgehog. He can roll into a ball. When he jumps he he hugs his knees to make a round shape thanks to his short stature and long quills. THIS Sonic design is the wrong shape to be able to do that. That's my main problem with it. There was a reason why his design was kept so simple and consistent  when it came to relative proportions. That's gonna bug me.

 

Knuckles...really can't roll into a ball anymore.

 

Tails...actually has the same proportions as before. Well done.

 

Amy...you're not wearing any bandages. Well done. Make the others stop doing that.

[The Pit of Mystic Cave]

Yeah, I listened to it again. Knuckles speaks first; he says "What is exactly is this place?"

That was without a doubt Roger Craig Smith speaking, so unless he's also the voice of Knuckles, then that was definitely Sonic speaking.

[Chooch]

I still think Knuckles' design is utter shit and there's absolutely nothing that you can say or do to really convince me otherwise. The sports tape is a common issue with all of the characters because it's completely unnecessary detail and compromises a lot what made the original designs so good in the first place.

 

The change to Knuckles' size was apparently made to define his "role" more clearly but steps were already taken to define said role back in the fucking 90s when they decided to make him taller than Sonic, give him a more broad and puffed out chest and give him boxing gloves with spikes on them.

 

They did not adjust his head to match the changes to the upper body which adds to the goofiness of him. It doesn't fucking help that his fucking legs are as skinny as ever which brings into question how he can even support his upper body let alone run at supersonic speeds.

 

I guess people don't mind it that much because it's fucking funny but I'm only really laughing to stop myself from crying.

[Octarine]

Amy...you're not wearing any bandages. Well done. Make the others stop doing that.

 

Amy's got tape around her forearms and waist, actually. The waist stuff might be the silliest and most superfluous application of all, though it does break up her outfit pretty well.

[JezMM]

Knuckles' legs don't bother me too much.  It's not an uncommon character shape for strong guys:

 

 

Granted these guys wore it better, but yeah still doesn't bother me.  I think it's a side effect of Knuckles still looking weird - the stuff that HASN'T changed between his regular and Boom designs is more noticable.

 

Where are people getting make-up from on Amy? I don't see any.

 

It's just in her concept art.  Some of my earlier posts were admittedly based off the incorrect memory that it was in her final model too (though my replies were to opinions that also talked as if this was the case).

[Lady Soniko]

Even so, their legs are still clearly defined and semi-muscular in tone to match the overall look of the character, Knuckles still has spindle legs, they should really at least chunk them out a little, although I think it works only because of how they animate him.

 

Kinda like Werehog in Unleashed HD. 

[Blue Blood]

Here's my 2 cents.

 

Sonic is a hedgehog. He can roll into a ball. When he jumps he he hugs his knees to make a round shape thanks to his short stature and long quills. THIS Sonic design is the wrong shape to be able to do that. That's my main problem with it. There was a reason why his design was kept so simple and consistent  when it came to relative proportions. That's gonna bug me.

 

Knuckles...really can't roll into a ball anymore.

 

Tails...actually has the same proportions as before. Well done.

 

Amy...you're not wearing any bandages. Well done. Make the others stop doing that.

 

I'd not actually considered all the characters being able to curl up into balls, and I know it's going to really bother me if they don't. Sonic can spindash/roll, as evidenced once in the trailer, but now I'm really worried about everyone else.

 

Also, Amy does have tape. All the purple around he lower arms and legs is tape, as well as the white stripe in the middle of her dress (spoiler'd for size):

[Indigo Rush]

Knuckles' legs don't bother me too much.  It's not an uncommon character shape for strong guys:

 

 

Granted these guys wore it better, but yeah still doesn't bother me.  I think it's a side effect of Knuckles still looking weird - the stuff that HASN'T changed between his regular and Boom designs is more noticable.

 

Don't forget the prime example of bulbous bodies with twigs for legs..

 

 

Having thin legs with a bulky body does look weird, but that isn't the reason why Knuckles' design is bad, and it should not be ever used as a reason. The reason Knuckles' design is bad is because that's nowhere near Knuckles' traditional size proportions. At least with Boom Eggman, he still has a large body with skinny legs, though it's more fat+muscular than fat+egg shaped (really odd, but at least he's still large.) So, it's not that it looks bad for a Sonic character, it's that it looks bad for Knuckles specifically.

 

With Knuckles, it simply doesn't just add random unneeded sports tape (which I would argue is a fitting attire for him, with the fighter complex and everything), but it completely changes up his established body form. This is why, blue arms aside, we are more forgiving of Sonic, Tails and Amy's design changes. They're a bit taller, yes, but they still fit their basic body shapes. Knuckles' goes to the biggest extreme we've seen, and it's pretty jarring. I mean, of course, he's the muscular strong guy of the group, but the way Knuckles has always looked was enough to show this. If they wanted to show it off more, just use the sports tape and make his chest and arms a little thicker... that's all you'd need to do. Giving him a ridiculously buff bod was not needed.

 

Like I've said before, I can get used to this, especially considering this is a separate canon, and also since the rest of the game and universe itself looks pretty darn awesome, but I still don't think making Knuckles a beefcake was the best choice.

[Vertekins]

The irony of Boom!Knuckles is that he looks like off-model Echidna warriors from X's Sonic Adventure adapt;

 

 

 

Maybe, just maybe he was inspired by them? Not that that's a good thing or anything.

[Mauro Fonseca]

But Indigo, if he's not buff how will we ever know he's strong?

 

Popeye Boom, coming 2015

[Indigo Rush]

The irony of Boom!Knuckles is that he looks like off-model Echidna warriors from X's Sonic Adventure adapt;

 

 

 

Maybe, just maybe he was inspired by them? Not that that's a good thing or anything.

 

I always cringe when people show that image from Sonic X as an example for why Knuckles' design change isn't an issue (I'm not saying that you are, Verte, but this brings up an important point). Thing is, those characters are totally fine with muscular bodies because that's how they were designed to be. Knuckles never had a body like that, so while you could argue that he may have looked like that if he were to grow older (he may very well have), the point is that his established design is closer to Sonic's proportions, just a bit thicker and taller is all.

 

Now, here's an odd case.

 

 

Vector beefed up significantly crossing the Classic/Modern threshold. But this is due to aging specifically, so I don't think you could use this as a fair example for justifying Knuckles' incredulous change in form. 

 

Not that people were arguing this, but I figured I'd mention it since it came to mind.