What if my character looks similar to someone else?

[Chocolate]

I don’t want to change the design of my character since I like their design. But there are some similar characters out there that looks very similar to mine. Any tips on this?

[Legendofgenii]

I'm sure this happens a lot.

I suppose it depends on how similar they are.

[Lensing]

I think it is impossible to judge this without seeing the art

[BlairFujin]

Well, if you don't want to change their looks, you'll just have to get used to comments like "hey, they look like/were they inspired by x from y?"

[GingerLoge]

Some level of similarity is inevitable, in my opinion. Especially if those other characters are in the same "character category" as yours.
My tips for character design are: look for inspiration in places where you usually don't look. Play with shapes and colors. Work hard on your character's silhouette: are they easily recognizable?
Draw your character dozen of times, then even more. You don't have to change their design, but you can enforce it, make it more personal.

Also I agree with the others in the thread: without seeing the art, is hard to give a good advice. I can only give general ones.

[Aeneas1]

I am sure that it’s sheer coincidence.

[NickRowler]

I think it depends who the popular character is and how similar your character looks. You did not provide an example so I can’t really give advice on that.

I feel like there are style tropes a lot of people use. There are several animes which have guys with spikey white hair. I was in a situation where I noticed my guy with spikey white hair had an outfit somewhat similar to Killua so I am going to do some minor tweaks.

You can also have characters try new outfits or they get a haircut or dye their hair. That is what people do IRL.

[powerplantanimations]

I dunno. I'd play off of it I guess? Maybe put him through a situation that causes him to look different? Change would probably need to be drastic or something.

[Chocolate]

I’ve never watched Angels of Death before. Just recently, a friend pointed out that Hei, the character on the first image middle; looks like Death. The reason Hei is covered in bandages because he is allergic to sunlight. I really love Hei design and I do not want to change him in any other ways. Help?

[Quinvert]

I wouldn't worry about that. Clothes, bandage placement, eyes and hair all looks different, and thats no even to mention they might have major personality differences. You will always risk having people say your character remind them of someone else, and honestly, I don't think they look that much alike. But yea, I'd just roll with it if I were you, don't mind it too much and keep the design ^^

[NickRowler]

They just look like a mummy or the invisible man to me.

Also do most people know what Angel of Death is? I only vaguely know what it is because there is a character named Abraham Gray.

[redfish]

there are looots of bandaged up dudes in the anime/manga world
Your boy Hei looks like he's wearing an entirely different outfit and the hair and eyes are different. I personally don't think it's that similar.

[Chocolate]

Yeah, the anime industry is especially stricter these days and their copyright strikes are crazy. I wouldn’t want to have to deal with a large company who wants to fight me in court.

[Chocolate]

Yep, my inspirations was from Egyptian zombies actually. Hei also carried an umbrella to cover himself away from the sun. Again, I wouldn’t want to risk having anything to do with a licensed company and their works though.

[TheLemmaLlama]

“This is a work of ... uh, fiction. Any similarity to existing persons, real or fictional, is purely coincidental.”

Not a tip, but this is why I lowkey hate copyright. Yeah, I know it's necessary because capitalism etc etc. But I at least want a culture where, if we see artists with similar characters to each other, we assume good faith and proceed as if they came up with them independently, instead of immediately accusing one of ripping off the other >.<

[Aleksei]

As other has stated, covered in bandages is not a new thing. Not everyone in bandages will end up been compared with Shishio, for example. Nobody can claim that that trait is unique and nobody else can't use it, so in my opinion, you are safe. -even when everything depends on personality of the characters at the end.

Anyway, you can always modify a bits here and there of your character. Focus on what are his traits, what can be useful for his condition, and go over that motif. For example here I just added a mask with little adornment to make it a bit unique, and the character already is different from the Death. There is a lot of ways to cover people, and make it stylish for your character, and without abandon the bandages ideas either.

[NickRowler]

That mask is looking a bit too much like a harem mask which might cause a strange interpretation.

The reason Hei is covered in bandages because he is allergic to sunlight.

If the character can't deal with sunlight, you could be a bit practical about it.

I have a character with albinism and for his beach attire, I imaged him wearing a jumpsuit and a bucket hat.

It would also make sense if your character always had an umbrella on him. Being allergic to sunlight is an actual medical condition and people who have it tend to wear long sleeves and pants and have an umbrella with them.

[Chocolate]

Ohhh thanks for the advice, and to fix my character l. Actually I did a bunch of promotional arts for my comic using Hei, alongside with collaborations from other artists. I didn’t want to change Hei’s design because I intentionally made him covered in bandages and wouldn’t changed him in any other ways.

[system]

This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.