Thank you for the helpful reply, I might get in touch with that artist in for a commission of my own favorite curvy zako, those nasty ladies of the night from target renegade. I'm in the process of commissioning some pencil sketches of them at the moment, to try and establish the basic look for them, and I think that Zelmarr could be just the right artist to produce some color works.
I think there are a lot of similarities between what you're going for with the biker bitches and what I'm trying with my hooker gang - they have very similar physique, attitude and moveset, I guess the difference is that the bikers are more badass, while the ladies are more sexualized with a s&m theme. I guess that the ladies are a little taller in high heels and maybe from (ahem) professional experience a little better at handling and inflicting pain. Now that I think about their weaknesses, they can only move by tottering about in their stiletto heels so they're quite slow, and their very tight, vey small pvc outfit means they are always on the brink of a wardrobe malfunction and restricts their agility, so they can't evade moves like flying kicks. Like the biker bitches, their cockiness means they can't resist taunting and humiliating a downed opponent, which is often their downfall.
Soon after you first posted your spritesheet last year, I started trying to make a reskin of the sprites. It was pretty easy since you'd done the hard work of designing the frames, but sadly still quite time consuming and as usual, RL meant that I didn't get that far, but i think it had potential. FWIW here's what I managed.
With the biker sprite's hair, it looks like at least the head of the sprite is based on Linda from Double Dragon, for some reason (and I may be in a minority of one here) i imagine that Linda has a really round curly permed hairstyle - in my mind Linda's hair looks kind of like this:
Which is a real shame because she's still such a significant example of an early zako that I'd quite like to have commissioned a sexified pinup of her, but I just havent been able to find a way to stay fairly true to her sprite appearance and still make her look desirable with hair like that. (apologies to Linda fans but its just how she looks in my head, I'd love to see a different interpretation though)
Anyway, if you want a sprite head that more closely matches your commissioned pic, I think that there's a character from King of Fighters called Blue Mary who has a similar but shorter hairstyle. The sprite size in KoF is a bit larger than in Double Dragon, but it could still be a useful guideline. IIRC It might also be worth looking at the blonde chain wielding zako from the arcade version of renegade, she still has quite big hair but its a similar sized sprite to double dragon.
Thanks for the post Rayushi. Though it might go better in the zako artwork thread (unless this is a zako you created yourself).
Zakome, that sprite sheet is some great work! The clothes, the shades, the hair...I'm liking all of it.
Regarding the biker sprite's hair, I did indeed use the sprite for Linda from Double Dragon, and it does have a round, permed appearance. Though I used the sprite from the Sega Genesis version, which is a bit less round and permed than the Arcade version of Linda.
That hairstyle you posted...haha wow. I never imagined Linda's hair as looking quite that permed/curly. If you were to commission a pic of Linda now, I would recommend just commissioning her with straight hair. Much of the art of her, both official and unofficial, showed her with straight hair anyway. It was only the sprite that had the unfortunate perm. For example...
Here is Linda's art from the NES manual of Double Dragon. Both in her profile, and in the pics that show the hero beating her up, she has straight hair. Same in the colored versions:
In both "Battletoads and Double Dragon" and the gameboy version of Double Dragon, Linda is depicted as having straight hair in the artwork:
Seems like most fan art of her today gives her the same hairstyle:
And even artwork that depicts her with curly, permed hair does not make it look quite as bad as in the photo you posted. :)
Speaking of hair, since I'm trying to fix the hair of my biker chick zako, and you've already done such a great job on your sprite edits, would you mind if I used the hair from your sprite edits as a template for fixing the hair of my biker chick?
Best,
- Kimblis
Hey thanks a lot for those pictures, I'd forgotten about gorgeous GBA cover art. I tend to be a little bit obsessive about trying to make my commissions match the original sprite art, so giving her straight hair would be cheating but perhaps I could take some liberties and not make it quite so round. I'd first thought about how she looks in the battletoads manual, but then I looked at that last picture and had one of those lightbulb moments and thought of this:
Which is an improvement:) So maybe I'll be able to give Linda some appreciation after all. I'm very glad I brought it up now because it's been something that has been bugging me for a few years.
Of course you're welcome to use what you want from my sprite edits, it is based on your original work after all :)
Moved from the Zako artwork thread after realizing that it was the wrong place to put it. lol
(Damnit, I'm such a noob. I really got to watch where I post stuff)
Anyway, Here's a WIP sketch that I drew of my Zakos for my current project, The five legged Divas project:
This is a fan project that I wanted to do as a mugen project a very long time ago back when I was into Mugen but never bothered with due to the lack of passion. But now after noticing a pattern in my own projects that I have kept doing all this time, I've realized that I still want to do it so two weeks ago I decided to say "Screw it, I'm going for it!" and decided to revive it (only as a different project altogether with five characters instead of one) while pushing back my other stuff to focus on it. Unlike the other projects which were mainly fan movelist writing projects for already existing characters, this one is a project for my own original characters (with the purpose of showing my huge admiration for Kick Chicks and Zakos) that will hopefully become a sprite project. These five characters are primarily based on the four amazons from Jackie Chan's Armour of God movie, with their fighting style being heavily inspired by kick-based fighting styles and fighters from other mediums including fighting games, beat'em up games, anime, and martial arts movies (all which I love), as well as famous real life martial artists like Ken Lo and Chloe Bruce who are know for there awesome kick-based fighting styles. The girls are also a representation of 2 other things with the first being my fetish for hot girls fighting in leather and high heels (especially high heel boots) and the second being my admiration for female baddies from beat'em up and action games.
Anyways, time for the introduction:
This is a group of five beautiful and vicious looking women who are called the "Five Legged Divas", a group of female fighters who work as either bodyguards or assassins for various clients around the world. They are all masters of the "Way of the mighty Leg" style, a powerful and deadly superhuman martial art style that revolves around the art of kicks and using ki (especially dark ki), using both simultaneously in perfect unity. Each one is a master of a pacific variation of the fighting style beyond just the general basics. They start off fighting similar to each other using the using highly skilled kicking and footwork techniques that you see in all normal martial arts, but at 25% of their power, they start using the basic techniques of the "Way of the Mighty Leg" style. Then at 50%, each one will start using an unique advanced version of the style that differs from each other. Once they start using 75% of their power, they will start using super moves and finally at 100%, they will use their most powerful attacks of their styles (aka Ultimate techniques)!
Now before we introduce the ladies, let's talk about the style first. Here are the basic techniques of the style:
1. The infamous Shadow fake technique, which is where the user moves her legs during fakeout movements so incredibly fast (especially during flamingo or wing fakeouts) that her following footwork movements (during the fake outs) become like mirages, as if the user using 6 or 8 legs at once. Plus the following kicks will become after-images, which can trick her opponents easily and leave them wide open for the following real kicks that come right after. The "Mighty Lighting Leg" style has a special advance version of this technique called the "Thousand Shadows" technique.
2. The Cannon kick technique, a long range attack where user fires a Ki blast through her legs. The appearance and strength of the ki blast varies depending on the user. It should be noted that the "Mighty Cannon Leg" takes this technique to a greater level as it revolves around using a variety of projectile techniques.
3. The Piercing Foot technique, where the user strikes her target with the toe end of the foot (with the toe of the foot being surrounded with cutting ki to make it as sharp as a knife) in a "scythe" motion or one of her high heels in a powerful thrust motion to leave very painful stab wound, making stabbing weapons like knives unnecessary. If aimed at a vital point, it can kill an opponent easily. With the combined force of superhuman strength and ki that's put into this technique, it's strong enough to pierce even through steel armor!
4. The Sturdy Leg Technique, a defensive technique where the user uses her ki and willpower to harden the muscles of the legs to nullify any attack aimed at them, although it does require the user to stay in place to do so. The "Mighty Iron Leg" style allows the user to attack while the muscle hardening element of this technique is still activated, making her kicks a lot more stronger but at the cost of some speed.
5. The Soundless Feet technique, where the user moves on the ground at a superhuman level of speed so fast that it causes the user to "vanish" and appear in a different spot, with the feet making no sound throughout the technique. The "Mighty Lightning Leg" has a few advanced variations of this technique that allows the user to go beyond superhuman speed.
6. The Titan Crush technique, where the user stomps the opponent with her foot that is infused with ki.
7. The Sticky Feet technique, which allows the user to walk or run on other surfaces like a wall, ceiling, or even water. There is even a high level version of this technique called the Skywalk technique where the user uses her ki to bounce off and run on the surface of the air itself.
8. The flying Arrow, an ki infused flying kick technique that differs from user to user!
9. The Hurricane kick technique, a technique where the user spins in place with her foot out, knocking back all enemies surrounding her.
10. ???
Now once the practitioner passes all the training exercises and tests, as well as mastering all the basic techniques, she will then be taught a pacific advanced form of the style that is suited for her. These advance styles are:
1. Mighty Lightning Leg (Speed), which relies primarily on fast and rapid techniques, along with constantly evading and attacking while still moving at extreme speeds. While the basic style (as well as all 5 advanced ones) does revolve around moving at superhuman speed in general (like the Soundless Feet), this particular advance style revolves around moving and attacking at Godlike speeds. It should also be noted that while it is the fastest of the five styles, it is also the weakest.
2. Mighty Cannon Leg (Firearm), which revolves around using the Cannon kick technique at a far higher and greater level, including launching other kinds of various Ki blasts through their legs instead of just one type. Mainly used for Long range combat.
3. Mighty Iron Leg (strength), which relies on very strong powerful single strikes (like charging attacks) that borrows a few elements from Muay Thai and other hard based styles, all while the hardening aspects of the Sturdy leg technique is activated. While this style may be the strongest, it is also the slowest. This also has a more defensive version of the style.
4. Mighty Bladed Leg (Sharp), which revolves around using one's legs as cutting blades. The most graceful of the all advance styles since it borrows many dancing elements from various kung fu and capoeira styles.
5. And then finally, the Mighty Grand Leg (All), the most advanced form that is taught to only the most dedicated students of the school and is allowed only one successor per generation! This style uses the best aspects of the other 4 styles along with some techniques of it's own.
Now it's finally time to introduce the ladies!! From top left to bottom center:
Tira, age 25
Appearance: Brunette long haired girl with a black one piece leather leotard, dark brown pantyhose leggings, and black high heel shoes Status: Master of the Mighty Lightning Leg Special techniques:
Sonic boom (temporary name) - her own version of the cannon kick when fighting at 50% or higher. Looks just like Guile's sonic boom.
Lightning kick - A rapid fire kick. Nuff' said.
Hundred woodpecker kick - Similar to Lightning kick, only that Tira kicks her opponent in one spot multiple times with one leg.
Flamingo Flurry -
Razor - A combination of Skywalk, Sticky feet, and Soundless Feet that allows her to move at vanishing speed in the air in a zigzag motion.
Warping Feet - A super advanced version of the Soundless feet technique that makes it look like she is in multiple places at once (clones of her as one would say). Super technique: Thousand Thunderous pecking Leg Ultimate secret technique: Warping Million Legs
Dana, age 27
Appearance: Orange long haired girl with one piece leather leotard, black leather leggings, and high heel ankle boots Status: Master of the Mighty Cannon Leg Special techniques:
Three shot - A triple version of the Cannon kick with each going three different directions.
Soccer shot - she creates an energy ball and kicks it like a soccer ball.
Rocket shot -
Reflect shot - she sticks her leg out at mid level and spins it in a circle, creating a shield in front of her that absorb projectiles and backfires them at her opponent. Super technique: Cannon Leg War Ultimate secret technique: Giant Exploding Cannon Leg
Sandrea, age 29
Appearance: Blond long haired girl with a black one piece leather leotard, black leather leggings, high heeled knee-high boots, and arm bracers. Status: Master of the Mighty Iron Leg Special techniques:
Big Boot - her own version of the cannon kick when fighting at 50% or higher.
Charging Spear Kick -
Rocket Knee - She does a dragon punch like technique only that she uses her knee instead of her fist. Basically Joe Higashi's Tiger kick.
Arc Drop Kick -
Punt kick to Rolling Frankinsteiner (temporary name) -
Monster Stomp - A more devastating version of the Titan Crush. Super technique: Leg Grab Assault Ultimate secret technique: Strongest Kick in the Universe
Wandra, age 30
Appearance: Dark blue long haired girl with a black one piece leather leotard, dark blue pantyhose leggings, high heel thigh boots, and arm length gloves. Status: Master of the Mighty Bladed Leg Special techniques:
Wind blade - her own version of the cannon kick when fighting at 50% or higher. Basically the Rankyaku technique from One Piece.
Hurricane slicer - A more deadly version of the Hurricane kick.
Razor Top - A forward moving spinning handstand kick with slicing wind properties.
Lethal ballerina 1 -
Lethal ballerina 2 -
Lethal ballerina 3 - Super technique: Furious Leg Slash Ultimate secret technique: Leg Slash of the Goddesses
Zakora, age 33
Appearance: Dark Jade long ponytailed haired girl with one piece leather leotard, black leather leggings, high heel thigh boots, arm length gloves Status: The leader of the group, master of the Mighty Grand Leg! Special techniques:
???
???
???
???
???
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Super technique: ??? Ultimate secret technique: ???
This is a messy rough sketch of mostly the basic attacks of the "Way of the mighty leg" style (with the exception of the "Sturdy leg", Sticky Feet", "Skywalk", and "Shadow fake" techniques). I also should point out that the projectiles in the upper-left corner are each woman's unique versions of the cannon kick technique when they start fighting at 50% of their overall abilities.
(Note: The Piercing Foot sketches are supposed to be bloody but it came out awkward.)
Btw, I've updated the previous posts with the addition of Special technique movelists to each character (some descriptions of techniques are missing btw).
New FLD (Five Legged Divas) sketches! This time with three individual sketches of three of the divas showing two techniques:
Sandrea:
Dana:
And Wandra:
Also, I made some updates on the profiles of the girls, among other few things. However, I moved all the info to google documents in order to have enough space for future updates:
Another attempt.
Part of an ongoing series I'm trying to put together. A Bronze Age heroine is roused from her slumber when minions loyal to an evil Queen attack her camp. She only has time to don her helmet and weird fur scarf thingy before charging out.
New updates have been added to the Five legged Divas project with personalities now included in the profiles in order to make each kick diva more unique, along with a WIP of the title card that is serving as a place holder until the title card is complete:
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