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A research study investigating how character design guidelines can be combined and modified to create ambiguous characters. The study examines the impact of color, shape, and posture on character interpretation and presents findings from online surveys. The results suggest that changing these design elements can significantly alter how viewers perceive a character's nature.
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Faculty of Arts Department of Game Design Bachelor’s Thesis in Game Design, 15 hp Program: Game Design and Graphics Author: Emma Fredriksson Supervisors: Ulf Benjaminsson, Iwona Hrynczenko Examiner: Steven Bachelder
Abstract This study explores how character design guidelines can be combined and remixed to create characters whose motivations are ambiguous to the viewer. I investigate some common guidelines that character artists generally follow when designing characters; summarized in a literature review, and then I test various applications of these guidelines through online surveys. I analyze the qualitative data from these surveys to answer the question of how flexible these guidelines are and how far they can be stretched. The study includes the design guidelines for color, shape and posture of the character, to see how each element is added to different kind of characters and how it affects the interpretation when changed. The final part of the study is done with a second online survey collecting qualitative data, including self-created characters built from the guidelines found for the protagonist or the antagonist and the results of the first survey. Two different designs are created and then changed to different versions, where the color scheme, shape or pose is reversed to the other’s role. The results collected from the online survey showed that by just changing color, shape and posture separately; the character is interpreted in new ways – which can be used when creating characters that are supposed to be hard to read. With the change of each separate element and by having the design elements counteract each other, the characters were read as good by about half the participants, while the other half interpreted it as evil. Depending on which design elements that were changed, opinions ranged between characters that are hiding their true nature, to characters that are trying to be good or a character that is supposed to betray the main character. By changing the two factors of color and shape at the same time, however, showed that the character was interpreted as almost strictly either good or evil. Keywords: Character design, color, shape, posture, digital art, good versus evil, stylized art
Glossary of terms Protagonist – The lead character in a game or other media. The most prominent figure in the story, leading it forward; depicting goodness. Antagonist – A person who is opposing the protagonist, an adversary. An antagonist is the evil character, hindering the protagonist’s path. Color wheel – A circle of colors with separate sectors for each color, showing the relationship between colors. Character design – The act of designing a character, using different elements such as color and shape. When creating the appearance of a character, a character design has to be made. Hue – A color or shade. Saturated – Used in relation to color when it is a very bright and full color, free from a mixture of white. Stylized art – Art not following the strict structures of realism, using a particular style. It is common to exaggerate body proportions or other elements. Guidelines – Common practice and shared knowledge among experienced practitioners that one could follow, but is not necessarily definite rules. Play of proportions – Changing the natural proportions between body parts, to give the character a more cartoony or dynamic look.
List of Figures Figure 1. Monochromatic, complementary, split-complementary, double complementary, analogous and triad relationship (Ford Shallbetter, 1998). Figure 2. Illustration from Stefano Camelli, showing characters built on shapes (Stefano Camelli n.d.). Figure 3. From left to right: Mario, Luigi and Waluigi created by Nintendo (Fredriksson 2017). Figure 4. Katsuki Bakugou and Izuku Midoriya from My Hero Academia (Fredriksson, 2017). Figure 5. Matt Engarde from Ace Attorney: Justice For All (Fredriksson 2017). Figure 6. Example of the protagonist character and the alteration of color (Fredriksson 2017). Figure 7. Example question from the first questionnaire (Fredriksson 2017). Figure 8. Example question from the second questionnaire (Fredriksson 2017). Figure 9. Comic book heroes and their color schemes (MacLachlan & Hanson 2016). Figure 10. Clank and Ratchet from Ratchet and Clank (Insomniac Games 2013). Figure 11. From left to right: Clank, Link and Yooka (Fredriksson 2017). Figure 12. Shinji Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion (Fredriksson 2017). Figure 13. Superman showcasing a notorious pose (Fredriksson 2017). Figure 14. Capital Bee, the main antagonist in Yooka-Laylee (Playtonic Games 2016). Figure 15. The antagonists Dr. Nefarious, Gangrel and Diablo (Fredriksson 2017). Figure 16. Damon Gant, the true main antagonist in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Fredriksson 2017). Figure 17. Ganondorf and Bowser looking down on the viewer (Fredriksson 2017). Figure 18. Color schemes provided in the first questionnaire (Fredriksson 2017). Figure 19. Shapes provided in the first questionnaire (Fredriksson 2017). Figure 20. Three poses provided in the first questionnaire (Fredriksson 2017). Figure 21. Sketches of heroic poses (Fredriksson 2017). Figure 22. Left: Final version of Character A. Right: Character A’s circular base (Fredriksson 2017).
List of Tables Table 1. Usage of design elements in the different versions Table 2. Geographic distribution of respondents – first survey Table 3. Number of participants in each age group – first survey Table 4. Number of participants in each experience group – first survey Table 5. Results of the color scheme of antagonists Table 6. Results of the color schemes of protagonists Table 7. Results of the shape of antagonists Table 8. Results of the shape of protagonists Table 9. Results of the pose of antagonists Table 10. Results of the pose of protagonists Table 11. Geographic distribution of respondents – second survey Table 12. Number of participants in each age group – second survey Table 13. Number of participants in each experience group – second survey Table 14. Answers to the original version of protagonist Table 15. Answers to the second version of protagonist – changing color Table 16. Answers to the third version of protagonist – changing pose Table 17. Answers to the fourth version of protagonist – changing shape Table 18. Answers to the fifth version of protagonist – changing color and shape Table 19. Answers to the original version of antagonist Table 20. Answers to the third version of antagonist – changing color Table 21. Answers to the third version of antagonist – changing pose Table 22. Answers to the third version of antagonist – changing shape Table 23. Answers to the third version of antagonist – changing color and shape Table 24. Accurate answers for each question in the age groups – first survey Table 25. Accurate answers for each question in the experience groups Table 26. Difference in percent regarding the protagonist – second survey Table 27. Difference in percent regarding the antagonist – second survey
1. Introduction Nowadays, creating stylized protagonists and antagonists for games is a common occurrence for a character designer. However, behind these characters designs lie rules concerning their shape, color, as well as posture and facial expressions. Some of these rules are so ingrained in the character designers' working process that they do not give much thought to them when illustrating characters’ role. That a protagonist should look friendly, with soft or reliable shapes and active colors is common practice; as well as, that a villain should be dark, sharp and usually dangerous. This influence the character design to the point that these elements can be found when looking at most characters, even with games as far back as the 80’s and 90’s. One aspect that is not as defined, however, is how to create ambiguous protagonists or antagonists, which are not supposed to fully embody each trait. An example of such a character would be an antagonist, soon to be switching sides; or a seemingly good character hiding their evil intentions. When creating such a character, a good addition of the design could be to include design aspects of both roles. This might make the audience question their role, reflect upon their original purpose or used to simply hide their intentions from the players. To use this fully, one needs to be aware of how much one can change their design before the protagonist or antagonist loses its original statement; this provides a basis of how far you can stretch the design depending on how obvious the change of character is supposed to be. This report aims to outline the specific guidelines of color, shape and posture through a literature review, and to connect them to specific examples in a content analysis; to finally investigate how these aspects creates or breaks the character. This was done by creating two different characters; one protagonist and one antagonist. Both were set up in several different versions; for example, by changing an antagonist’s shape to match the protagonist’s shape. The artifacts of all versions were presented in a qualitative online survey, with the purpose to investigate how the audience interprets each character and their versions of them.
2. Background 2.1 Character Design There are several different elements making up character design; this report will only focus on a handful of these, judged to be the most important when viewing an appearance. Color is one important aspect; as the color scheme plays a huge part of how the character is perceived. The second element is the use of shape and silhouette, as it is what creates the basis of the character appearance. The last is pose, which is related to body language and facial expression. Just by changing facial expressions or poses, a single character can convey several different personalities. 2.1.1 Color Color theory is a big part of character design, deriving from the color wheel. According to Feisner: “Our eyes are attracted to color to such an extent that the color of an object is perceived before the details imparted by its shapes and lines,” (Feisner 2000, p. 2). There are three primary colors: red, yellow and blue. These colors cannot be created by any other color, as all other colors are created from the three hues. Secondary colors consist of green, orange and purple, which are all created by mixing the colors from the primary hues. Mixing together a primary and a secondary color, to create the colors such as blue-green, yellow-orange and blue-purple, forms tertiary colors. There are a total of six relationships of creating harmonious color schemes acknowledged by most artist; monochromatic, complementary, split-complementary, double- complementary, analogous and triad relationship. Two examples of these are the analogous relationship and the complementary relationship; most artists know how to at least work with these two methods. Analogous colors use colors that are next to each other in the color wheel, while complementary colors are colors located opposite of the other on the color wheel. The relationship between these colors can visually be seen in Figure 1 below. Figure 1. Monochromatic, complementary, split-complementary, double complementary, analogous and triad relationship (Shallbetter n.d.). It also is also interpreted that desaturated, dark colors are perceived as serious and professional, while saturated colors are leaning toward exciting and dynamic (Lidwell 2010). This is also
Figure 3. From left to right: Mario, Luigi and Waluigi created by Nintendo (Fredriksson 2017). 2.1.3 Posture Our body language affects how others perceive us; this includes game characters as well. When humans feel powerless, they have the need to make them small; they hunch, they hide. When they feel powerful, it is the opposite; they take up space and make themselves big (Cuddy 2013). This is one of the reasons why posing is a part of showing these characters, as their body language can change the way people feel and think about them in separate ways. When displaying a character, pose plays a big part in how it is received by the audience. The pose and facial expression can be used to display specific personality traits; for example, if it’s a cocky and confident protagonist or a calm, trustworthy protagonist. These two poses and facial expressions differ immensely, while still aiming for the same role of a good character. Examples of this can be seen below with the two protagonist characters Katsuki Bakugou and Izuku Midoriya from My Hero Academia (Horikoshi 2014) in Figure 4 below. Bakugou is an incredibly cocky character, almost bordering on villainous; his wide smile and confident walk shows this. Izuku, on the other hand, is a modest and calm protagonist, not entirely sure of his power; his pose is showing strength, while his facial expression shows the self-doubting side of him. This means that the posing, body language and facial expression is important when displaying both the antagonists and the protagonist, as it is what is most easily used for displaying the state of mind of the character.
Figure 4. Katsuki Bakugou and Izuku Midoriya from My Hero Academia (Fredriksson, 2017). 2.2 Protagonists and antagonists Heroes have been a part of our culture ever since the first stories about mythological and historical figures, such as Achilles, Joan of Arc and Mahatma Gandhi. This hero culture has also evolved to include characters created in games and comic books; such as Batman or Iron man – fictional characters in popular media. As they define it in the Oxford Dictionary: “A man (or occas. a woman) distinguished by the performance of courageous or noble actions, esp. in battle; a brave or illustrious warrior, soldier, etc.” (Oxford Dictionary n.d.). To be able to perform courageous or noble actions, an opposing force must exist. There must be evil to be defeated, or people to save. This means that a hero needs some sort of villain, or cause, to be defined. In the game culture, these heroes and villains are often referred to as protagonists and antagonists instead. When the word hero is used, most people would turn to the image of Superman or another physically powerful figure. Protagonists do not necessarily have to be powerful in their body, but rather in their mind. The protagonists represent the good and they lead the story forward. Antagonists are the characters, which oppose this, which disrupt the path of the protagonists. According to Oxford Dictionary (n.d.) an antagonist is “A person who actively opposes or is hostile to someone or something; an adversary”. To conclude, it is easier to divide game characters into the two labels of good and evil; rather than heroes and villains – even if they have the same purpose. A smaller part of the protagonists and antagonists is the characters that are supposed to be both or to be neutral. This is the actual focus of the report, as it will strive to give a better guideline when creating hard-to-read characters that roles are supposed to be hidden but still visible. An example of such a character is Matt Engarde from Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice For All (Capcom, 2002); which is the main antagonist of the game. His role is the defendant for the protagonist of the game, whose defendants are usually innocent. The innocent look of Matt Engarde can clearly be seen to the left in Figure 5 below; where the pose to the right is when his true nature is revealed. His triangular shapes in the design can be read as subtle hints of his turn in character. When revealing his evil nature, nothing is changed about his design other than revealing the scratched part of his face, changing his pose and his facial expression. The
3. Previous works within the subject area There is previous research concerning how a human’s appearance is relevant to how humans perceive others, where Ellen Bersheid, Karen K. Dion and Elaine Walster (1972); did an investigation of how attractiveness affect how people perceive others in their text “What is beautiful is good” where it was clearly apparent that people have higher thoughts about attractive people than less attractive people. This also affects the relationship between protagonists and antagonists, as good characters are much more likely to be represented by attractive people than evil characters are. This means that depending on the attractiveness of the characters, the perception can vary. In Hanna Ekstöm’s (2013) report “How Can a Character’s Personality be Conveyed Visually, through Shape”, a study is done regarding the elements of shape in characters. Her study investigated the relationship between shape and personality with the use of good and evil characters, where she created two of each; using a cartoony style and a realistic style. The investigation was concluded with a survey, where the respondents gave feedback about the character’s style and which personality traits were perceived through the designs. This is purely focused on creating a specific personality and then showing that through shape and silhouette. She found that the most common reasons the participants associated the characters with their specific trait was because of facial expressions and the body language. Shape was a part of it as well, but she concluded that it was more of a subtle addition to the character design. This supports the decision of having posture and facial expressions as a part of this study, along with the more common design elements of shape and color.
4. Purpose This report investigates how players perceive game characters depending on their shape, color and posture and will serve as a basic guideline for character artists creating their own protagonists and antagonists for games. An investigation of the guidelines of creating the specific characters and how much it is possible to change these guidelines before distorting the message, will prove a helpful ground for creating characters that are not supposed to fully embody the good or evil trait; if they are used for a plot twist or as characters with a change of heart. This study aims to provide a basis of how people interpret different characters depending on only their appearance; no background information about narrative or abilities included to create bias, as well as self-created characters to remove any notions an audience might have about already existing ones. The specific question of this report is: What are the established guidelines of designing an evil or good character and how much can one change these tropes without losing their clarity?
Table 1. Usage of design elements in the different versions Circular shapes Triangular shapes Bright colors Dark colors Good pose Evil pose Protagonist ver. 1 Using^ Using^ Using Protagonist ver. 2 Using^ Using^ Using Protagonist ver. 3 Using^ Using^ Using Protagonist ver. 4 Using^ Using^ Using Protagonist ver. 5 Using^ Using^ Using Antagonist ver. 1 Using^ Using^ Using Antagonist ver. 2 Using^ Using^ Using Antagonist ver. 3 Using^ Using^ Using Antagonist ver. 4 Using^ Using^ Using Antagonist ver. 5 Using^ Using^ Using 5.2 Creating the characters There are two character designs created for this test, one for a protagonist and one for an antagonist. Both are strictly following the guidelines established with the literature and content analysis. Four different versions of these two was created, all breaking certain guidelines of color, shape and posture. Only a simple background is included, only simple shapes for presentation; to not draw the attention away from the character on display. The first version of each intends to change the color scheme of the character, which is shown as an example in Figure 6 below. The color schemes are decided with the use of the literature and content review, and then reversed for this version. The second version aims to change both characters’ poses; which provide the evil character with a protagonist’s pose and the other way around. The poses and facial expressions are chosen based on poses found common in the content analysis between both good and evil characters, then reversed in this test. Changing the overall shape and details to match the other’s shape creates the third version, in which the antagonist is portrayed with circular shapes and the protagonist with triangular shapes. The original assignment of the shapes is based on the literature and content review about good and evil characters’ shape, where the circular and square shapes are reserved for the protagonist and the triangular shapes for the antagonist. Lastly, the final version aims to change two of these design aspects; the two aspects that are chosen are the most easy-to-read changes in the design, which are judged through the first questionnaire. If this research were to use well-established characters, it might change the results of the actual survey as the audience would have previous knowledge about the characters. Therefore, original characters made solely for this investigation are used during the questionnaires. This removes any preconceived notions the audience might have.
Figure 6. Example of the protagonist character and the alteration of color (Fredriksson 2017). 5.3 The questionnaires 5.3.1 The first questionnaire Two questionnaires are created for this study. The first questionnaire contains questions that are based on findings collected and conclusions drawn from the literature studies about the connection between aspects of color, shape and posture and the narrative characteristics of protagonists and antagonists. The first questionnaire’s aim is to examine if the guidelines found in the previous research agreed with the opinion of an audience; preferably also showing if age or experience in character design affected these results. The result of this approach is evaluated in a second online questionnaire that is in depth described in the next subchapter. The first questionnaire includes six questions excluding the background questions, which are described in an upcoming subchapter. With every question, a visual example is attached that the respondent needs to reflect over; for example, three poses are available and they will need to pick one to represent the protagonist role. This is done with specific color schemes, the three shapes of circle, triangle and square, as well as poses. Each picture creates two questions each, one to ask for the good character aspect and one to ask for the evil character aspect. There are three options available for each question, as can be seen in Figure 7 below; one strictly aiming for the protagonist aspect, one for the antagonist aspect and one that does not match either. This is to make it easy to divide the data collected and to make the questionnaire easy to answer. It is not supposed to pose as a test for the audience; they should not feel like they need to much thought into each element of the survey. This results in fewer choices for the audience, but also results in a more straightforward study.
