How to handle your character looking like a popular character?

[60Six]

Alright, so I'm officially getting tired of the comments on it. One of my main characters has the unfortunate coincidence of having the same hair style as a popular anime character.
I know everyone hates the "Your character looks like ___" comments, and a lot of times they're different enough that you can shrug it off. But unfortunately in this case, it really is the same hair style, so I honestly can't blame anyone for thinking of the anime character.
It's just a really annoying coincidence (I actually didn't even design her hair, my friend who never even saw said anime did), but at what point do you cave and just change the character's design?
I unfortunately already finished the whole first chapter with her current hair style but I'm highly considering changing the hair style in the next chapter just to stop getting those damn comments.
What do you guys think? Do I put up with comments and accusations of me ripping off this character from an anime I don't even like? Or do I cave and just change her design. I'm really conflicted because she's had this hair style for almost 10 years but this anime's only getting more popular so the comments are only gonna increase and with it my frustration with each one.
Advice?

[WintreKitty]

I think that it shouldn't really be a big deal. It's a hairstyle. It isn't like you recreated the entire look of the character. But if you prefer not to receive those comments, then go ahead and change it. It's just hair. People change the way they wear their hair all the time.

Maybe to make it more reasonable, if you have other characters that can change their hair, throw that in now and then. For example, a character with long hair can wear it down or wear it up in a ponytail depending on the type of scenario or a different day.

If you just change the one character's hair and nothing else, it might be a bit odd and noticeable to those people that pay attention to those details. Just keep that in mind if you do decide to change the hairstyle.

[AnnaLandin]

It is, unfortunately, something a lot of us have to live with, and I'm not sure what to do about it.

I designed a character a couple of years back that wore a white coat and had a red belt - 99% of the responses were along the lines of "Oh that looks like Assassin's Creed!" - which I hadn't played, and certainly hadn't thought about when creating the character. No one believed me - and I suppose it might be a good thing the story never went anywhere and I didn't have to post more drawings of the character.

If you are really bothered by it, perhaps make a post/add an image somewhere explaining that no, the similarity isn't intentional, and yes, people can please stop pointing it out. Just... be polite about it, and realise that you will still probably get the comments.

There is, after all, a limited number of possible hairstyles in the world - the fact that your character shares a hairstyle with a popular character can't be THAT unlikely. Unless it's, like literally Yu-Gi-Oh.

[VermillionWorks]

I have to deal with the fact that my main character looks like Levi from Attack On Titan. The similarities are a coincidence of course, nonetheless I still get the comparison ALL THE TIME.

Not much I can do but take it into stride anymore. XP Though luckily I haven't been accused of outright ripping off the character...hopefully that never happens. >.> I do NOT regret my design choices with Daniel though, it's how I wanted him to look, it's how he should look. If you really like the way your character looks, then I say just leave it be and just try to ignore the comments.

[joannekwan]

As long as the hair doesn't look like Yu-gi-oh's or something really iconic I think you're fine. I would just ignore it and move on. But if you're still bugged by it, just give her a haircut.

[eschaefges]

Maybe make a joke about the 'elephant in the room', then move on! Don't let it stress you! Does it stress Angel? Nope:

[heterodont]

I've gotten constant comparisons (rather questions if they were based off of...) of my character designs to those of Homestuck lol. It's unfortunately something that you have to deal with, both in the comic world and out because even if you did only adoptables - for example - there are bound to be those people who say that the design looks like x and/or y when it's a complete coincidence.

I usually kindly tell people that its just that, coincidence! You don't have to change your character's design just because of repeated comments, it's more effort to change a design than ignore a comment imo : p

[Kura]

I wouldn't worry about it, even official anime characters look like anime characters from other series.

I think the most common one I get is that Andrew looks like Sasuke.

And you know, ok, I guess I can see it, but then I'll get another comment from someone who says that Era also apparently looks like Sasuke.

I have also had a few people tell me Osiris looks like Riley

And, this one is my personal favourite. But apparently, if Andrew is standing next to Osiris. I get told that they look like Sonic and Knuckles.

[mariusthered]

First of all just be thankful for the comments. me I would just make a joke out of in in the script some how ( such as a kid asking if the character is dressed for a comic con) changing the hair could be a theme to a story line with a visit to the stylist ( that way you can try out lots of styles purposely making fun of known characters )

my story line here on Tapastic is just getting going but i do have a character that dose resemble a known character , but their is good reason for it . I did this as my way of paying tribute to a character I have love since I was a kid.

[shazzbaa]

Okay.

So normally I'd be like "even if you literally stole Naruto's hair and put it on your character, that would not be a reason that you need to change it."

But reading through your post I'm seeing no reasons why you want to keep the character's hair the same? Like, she's had it for 10 years -- okay, is that establishing "no I shouldn't have to change it because I did it first," or is that "I'm really attached to it and can't imagine her in any other hairstyle?"

If it's
Reasons to Change Hair:
- it is distracting to readers who are familiar with this anime
- I am sick of getting these freaking comments

Reasons Not to Change Hair:
- I shouldn't have to because I DIDN'T steal it from an anime
- ????

then, like, trying out some new hairstyles on her to see how they look and possibly tweaking her design isn't caving to accusations of copying; it's just saying, "huh, she looks a little too close to this other character for my comfort, I'm gonna tweak her design a bit." Why not try it out? And it's really nice that it's hair, which is something that people IRL change all the time. You could even just shift the way you draw it to look a little different from the anime in question!

THAT SAID, if you decide you really like her hair as it is and can't imagine her in anything else, having a casual/joke answer for people who compare her to that character might help your blood pressure, at least. For me, having a stock answer ready helps those sorts of comments feel less stressful. Feeling as though you have to convince these people that UGH NO I DON'T EVEN WATCH THIS ANIME I WASN'T COPYING is going to make it ten times more irritating, and is going to make some people just naturally doubt you since you've been put on the defensive.
If you have some kind of stock answer like "lol yeah she gets that a lot" or "haha yeah she could totally be [anime character] for halloween" or even "nah, I didn't get her hair from [anime character] but LOL YOU'RE RIGHT THEY COULD BE HAIR TWINS" then you're not having to prove anything to anyone, and kind of pointing out that it's not that weird for two characters to have the same hair. Anybody who responds to that kind of casual shrug with accusations is just someone who really should calm down and can be ignored, but I'd be willing to bet you won't have quite as many of those!

[Aetherwing]

Honestly if it's just the hair, I wouldn't worry too much about it whether you keep it the same or don't. People change their hair all the time and can even wear it in different styles depending on the length. The main character of my story wears her hair differently all the time based on circumstance/convenience. I doubt it'll throw anyone too much if you do decide to change it, but again, if you don't, it's just hair, and like a previous comment stated, doesn't super matter unless it's a particularly iconic hairstyle. (Sailor Moon or what have you.)

I do understand where you're coming from though. I have a character that I designed around seven years ago, and fairly recently a character in a popular video game came out that bore too much of a resemblance to her for my liking. I wound up changing the design because I fortunately haven't done much with her story yet. I actually like her design a lot more than the previous one, so it wound up working out. So even if you do change the design, you might like what you come up with now better than what you had.

[60Six]

What a great suggestion! It seems so obvious now that you've suggested it, but man I wish I had responded to things like this more in that manner. I never really thought about it before now, but my responses probably do really come off as defensive and only raise suspicion.
That said, after reading responses on here, I think I still might change up her hair up from time to time. Because this is a look I've had for her for so long and have grown attached to, I don't want to completely eliminate it and never draw her in it again so I think what you've suggested is the best way for me to handle such comments.
Thank you so much for the advice!

[zelkats]

I had commenters saying that my main character reminds them of Attack on Titan or Tokyo Ghoul (this, I haven't read or watched, but I get that it was super popular at the time) for simply being literally skinless (but still human-sized), lol. And I drew the character waaaay before I knew the existence of said anime/manga. But those comments stopped after a while, like everyone moved on and probably became more interested other media.

And years ago I had comments about how one of my OC's remind them of Roy Mustang because of a very, very simple short black hairstyle with a centre parting. Full Metal Alchemist was very popular at that time.

All I can say is, you can't escape these comments but they aren't forever, lol. You can wait it out and try not to let them get to you if you're still fond of your character's hairstyle and appearance.

[60Six]

I wish there were a way to respond to everyone individually without spamming the forum... Maybe there is? Sorry, I'm still pretty new to these forums.

But yes, thank you to everyone for the advice! I feel a lot more confident in this now as well as have ideas to explore. It's also always relieving to hear other people's similar woes, as unfortunate as it is that we all share the problem.
Sadly, as far as popularity goes, the anime character is from one of the mega shonen series that has hundreds of chapters (To clarify, I've been talking about Lucy from Fairy Tail) so while not as mega popular as things like Attack on Titan and FMA were during their prime, it's still a pretty steady popularity that isn't gonna go away for a long time ahaha.
BUT! I think I have a much better understanding on how to handle it better now, so thank you all!

[Thesleepypencil]

This is going to happen alot. The world is too large and to full of characters that something won't remind someone of something else.

Example. Almost five years ago i made a girl named lock. She has blond hair worn down, wears alot of green pastels and has a energetic personaality. Last year disney piloted Star vs the forces of evil. Star looks exactly like lock. It makes me terrified of ever actually releasing this story because i don't want to hear the comparisons.

And on Lalita at the end of the universe. I have a yellow alien that only has one eye open. The only comments i get on strips he is in is minion jokes (and i hate the minions). It's tiring and unless it wason purpose sometimes it's rude. I know people don't realize it but boy does it hurt your pride as a character designer.

my advice is what i do. For the minion i joke it off, I'm never going to appreciate peoples minion joke, i wish out of all comments they just didn't make it. But I reply with a joke ob how he isn't a minion. And for lock i just really like her design and won't ever change it. I'll deal with the comments when they come.

If you really like how she looks just keep going with her. Yiu may still get the comments. But the people who that are long time followers. Eventually they won't see it anymore. She will have melded into her own being and they will see her when looking at other people's designs. If you don't want to wait till then then change her hair like yiu said. ((Though you might end up making her look like someone else))

Ps. Personally i didn't see it till you commented. I mean i saw she had female anime hair but i never put that to one character because it's fairly generic. Maybe i just never watched what they are watching. I had her as her own character

[winglesscomic]

every anime character looks exactly the same as the next one anyway, i don't know why the hair is such a big deal.

there are 50 other anime characters who look exactly like these people. there's always going to be someone who looks like someone else. if it really bothers you then just change the way the character styles their hair.

[Doubtcent]

If someone says that "so and so" looks like "so and so from something popular", you can also relish in it, say that "Wow, I never knew that. That's pretty cool. I wonder who ripped off who?"
At most, just laugh it off. Don't let it bother you.
I've drawn characters that drew their inspiration from others, and automatically I've gotten a comment saying stuff. But because that is where I got the inspiration, I don't have to hold up to it unless I ripped everything off.

[Luie]

Wut? No dude, c'mere.
Look, fuck those people. What you have here is a bunch of butt hurt munchchumps incessantly offended by something that resembles their idol. I know that seems harsh, but there is absolutely no reason to point out something both obvious and mundane other than in attempt to call you out on it. What they mean to say is "I think you took this idea from something cooler." because they weren't born with enough brain cells to comprehend how a series of uncanny coincidences could have no connection whatsoever. These are the same kinds of people who see the numbers 911 and immediately correlate it with 9/11. But we can't cater to stupid, and we shouldn't change for stupid, no matter how much we're pestered. We have to disable them the moment they speak.

A good way to do this is to correlate every other aspect of your comic with things from Scooby-doo. Your comic has a dog. Just like Scooby-doo. Oh my god, did you know that. They have the same color scheme. You got your dog idea from scooby doo, didn't you. Dat 1 mask looks like the 1 from the bad guy in scooby doo. Is that a squirt gun? Scooby doo had 1. Is that a city? Looks like the city they were in once. Is that ice cream? Scooby loves ice cream. Dat girl's dress is the same shape as Daphne's. Did u kno dat? Rex has da same hair color and style as FRED. Now they're probably going to go solve a mystery like SCOOBSY DOOS. DID YOU KNOW THAT!? UNCANNY!

[kazukitakamura126]

I have had people say my OC Sanoir looks like Dante from Devil May Cry, this was his first design so it looked very similar especially with the plain jacket. They also say his hair looks like Sasuke's hair, I can admit I based the hair off that but, added more own spin on it. I believe this phenomenon to be annoying, but if they compliment something other than the similar as well I shrug it off.

Sanoir's First Design:

Sanoir's Latest Design:

[60Six]

I literally laughed, thank you so much.
Though most of the time I can laugh things off in this manner. Like I was told the main character looked like Allen Walker from D.Gray-Man once. And I...literally can't figure out why other than their hair is SORT OF similar. This particular case was only getting to me because it was pretty much the same hair style so the fear of people thinking I really did rip it off worried me.
I've been told before I need to stop caring so much what other people think... And I think this is a good way to start!