Tetsuya Nomura's Character Designs - We already know the bad, let's talk about the good.

[Kalmakov]

Tetsuya Nomura's Character Design can definitely be...something

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Oof

But because negativity is so rampant, let's instead focus on the good character designs he has done over the years. As you already may know, the man designed the Final Fantasy VII cast, which should speak volumes about what the man is capable of.

The cloaks worn by the members of Organization XIII in the Kindgom Hearts series are pretty iconic and the basic, stark black designs of the coats help give the characters a strong visual identity while also contrasting and emphasizing the wild looks of the character's hair.

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The school uniform inspired designs of the main cast of Type-0 also serve a similar purpose and still have a strong visual identity

So, Era, what other character designs of Nomura's are you also fond of?

 

[The Unsent]

Final Fantasy VIII, the clothes look great like Seifer's silver coat. Also Sephiroth and Vincent are great takes on the 'emo' archetype.

Also of course, Auron, the red robe, bracer and broken arm are so intriguing. Yuna's dress is also beautful.

 

[Deleted member 54073]

 

[Zalman]

The World Ends With You has amazing character designs. Probably my favorite.

 

[Fj0823]

Perfection

edit: Beaten...

 

[Alastor3]

I wouldn't consider organization XIII good design

 

[Morrigan]

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I will continue to give endless shit to Nomura for all his awful designs but... the 15 year old girl in me still loves this, not gonna lie.

 

[Fosko]

Torna

 

[Greaf]

They aren't characters but...

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If I have to choose playable characters, it would be Edea Kramer or Setzer

 

[Acquiesc3]

He peaked at FF8 tbh.

 

[The Last One]

 

[Dale Copper]

I wouldn't consider organization XIII good design

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They need to ditch the cloaks already.

 

[PhoenixAKG]

The Armors of Terra:

Aqua:

Ven:

I also like his Noctis Design:

As well as this:

 

[Garlador]

Simple and effective.

 

[Tornak]

I adore 90s Nomura. From his very stylized, cartoony VII designs to his more realistic, but still very anime VIII or PE ones.

Since most people already (rightfully) praise VII's designs, I'll bring Squall and Rinoa up. Like most of the cast, I feel they hit the right spot between "weird and anime" and "simple", all while making them look pretty fashionable in a relatively coherent way for their world.

I hate what has been made of Squall in Dissidia and I'll never be tired of saying so.

Edea has an amazing design. Fun fact, it was apparently first made for VII, but was ultimately used in VIII instead.

 

[skeezx]

the designs are/were pretty good they just got "McDonald's-ed" over the years. became more of a brand stamp than a creative embellishment

 

[PhoenixAKG]

I wouldn't consider organization XIII good design

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Lies. Nothing but lies.

 

[Deleted member 7883]

TWEWY is his peak as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Deleted member 721]

crazy and awesome

 

[Dark Cloud]

He has good ones in Xenoblade Chronicles 2

 

[Brainfreeze]

Y'know, I really like the FF7 character designs, but the picture in the OP really highlights how samey the woman are compared to the men. Aerith, Tifa, and Yufi are all the same height with the same body type and similar faces, while the men get a ton of great silhouettes and variety.

I'm curious how that facet of his design has evolved overtime, I'm not super familiar with his work outside of Kingdom Hearts.

 

[Chalphy]

For my taste, Jin and his companions from Xenoblade 2 are my favourite.

 

[Deleted member 54073]

I will continue to give endless shit to Nomura for all his awful designs but... the 15 year old girl in me still loves this, not gonna lie.

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One of the greats!

 

[WarpSpeedMolasses]

Ahh so many good ones. Is there a definitive or expansive Nomura artbook??

 

[Pygrus]

He did the design for Malos and all the other members of Torna in Xenoblade 2.


It's not letting me link the image for some reason. But those designs are really good.

 

[Deleted member 54073]

I also adore:

 

[4 Get!]

In an alternate universe, Shuyin would have been Tidus' actual design, instead of what we really received.

Shuyin for reference:

 

[Agni Kai]

Who designed Aqua's character?

 

[Deleted member 1102]

Everyone in FF8

 

[Rommaz]

The World Ends With You has amazing character designs. Probably my favorite.

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Probably his best character work. So damn good

 

[Deleted member 721]

daril is a good design too

 

[Opa-Opa]

It's funny. When it is good it is GOOD!
When it is bad it is BAD!

Someone posted THAT batman here. Wrong thread lol.

 

[Tornak]

In an alternate universe, Shuyin would have been Tidus' actual design, instead of what we really received

Shuyin for reference:

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I really dislike Tidus in-game, but I quite like his concept art:

But yeah, his outfit is still stupid (although I really like the colour palette and materials and I'm only ever bothered by the assymetry in his pants). I think the main difference is his hair and face not looking shitty and bloated.

Most Nomuraesque designs in X translated awfully in 3D, to the point where it really takes me out of the game, as only Yuna and Auron don't look like clowns.

I feel the only game to truly succed in making clearly Nomura-designed characters look great in a semi-realistic setting is VII-Remake; all the others are a mixed bag imo.

 

[Prof Bathtub]

Honestly, I don't really mind the designs of the Xenoblade 2 antagonists one way or the other, but from a story standpoint there isn't any reason for them to all share the Nomura design sensibility. Most of them have different origins, and despite her introduction as a member of Torna, Nia wasn't designed by Nomura either.

This isn't really his fault as a designer per se, since the developers knew what they were asking for when they hired him, but still.

 

[Hours Left]

I like Nooj. 😎

 

[ffdgh]

Yozora has a cool design.

 

[Valcrist]

I'd post my favorite Nomura art but it's NSFW and I don't wanna get banned!

 

[SunKing]

He peaked at FF8 tbh.

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That's kinda how I feel, too. 1998-1999 was his peak.

 

[MonadL]

No joke, I love FFX-2's batshit insane designs. Actually I've come around to Nomura's crazy ass designs over the years.

 

[ToTheMoon]

Lightning.

She's filled with Nomura stereotypes (asymmetrical outfit, excess belts), but it somehow just works for her.

 

[OmniStrife]

Spoiler: Noctis

 

[balgajo]

They aren't characters but...

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The face below looks like he is trying to emulate Amano.

 

[devSin]

People here get sensitive when you try to talk about FF13.

 

[sensui-tomo]

People here get sensitive when you try to talk about FF13.

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The only design I dislike in ff13 is Sarah's.... it's literally bible black (DO NOT SEARCH THIS AT WORK it's very nsfw/l)

 

[Lunar Wolf]

KH III Kairi is a great design....in his hands but not how it was rendered in the videogame.

The design team went too far in making her seem young and cutesy.

KH 3 Riku is also the best the character's ever looked even if he looks like a silver haired Sasuke/Noctis.

Aqua, Terra and Ventus are all iconic especially the armor. Aqua in particular.

 

[Fright Zone]

Playing FF8 now and Squall, Rinoa, Selphie, Quistis, Seifer, Edea, Fuujin and Raijin, Laguna etc... all excellent designs.

 

[Lunar Wolf]

TWEWY's cast and Sora (KH 2-3) are also great designs.

The videogame team fail Sora as he's never looked great as he should aside from in KH 2 and KH III's POTC.

 

[Strangelove_77]

I like what he did with Squall in the first KH. I don't think it's better or worse than OG Squall, but it's a very cool alternative.

But then he ruined it in the other games.

Shit, I don't even mind Cloud cosplaying as Vincent in the first KH. Better than his awful Advent Children costume.

Also, Fang is cool.

Overall I'd say FF8 has his best designs, not just of the main but all the characters in the game.

 

[RockmanBN]

KH 3 Riku is also the best the character's ever looked even if he looks like a silver haired Sasuke/Noctis.

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The art of KH3 Riku looks a ton better than how he does in game.

 

[Lunar Wolf]

Nomura's Noctis though is by far his best character design:

I wish he had colored Yozora's hair black and made both his eyes red rather than one.

Yozora already looks like a Noctis clone anyway.