What is it that makes the Skullgirls characters so likeable?

[Jake Was Here]

The sex appeal is preventing me from getting anyone into the game -- I keep running into people who tried the demo and won't get the game because playing it made them feel like massive perverts. One of them accused Alex Ahad of suffering from multiple personality disorder: there's the artist who comes up with original and genuinely disturbing ideas, and the creeper who ruins all these original ideas by drawing tits on them.

 

[MaverickHunterX]

I like their personality, which were made likable by the good voice acting. The only character I like the least is Cerebella as I deem her too stupid to side with the Medici, but that doesn't mean I hate the character.

 

[Tommy Elisabeth]

I like all characters because they are unique in their way, however I have my favorites and my main. Btw my main is Brassafrass aka giant tuba man. The idea to add male characters was the best in my opinion.

 

[Cheesedragon]

The sex appeal is preventing me from getting anyone into the game -- I keep running into people who tried the demo and won't get the game because playing it made them feel like massive perverts. One of them accused Alex Ahad of suffering from multiple personality disorder: there's the artist who comes up with original and genuinely disturbing ideas, and the creeper who ruins all these original ideas by drawing tits on them.

Spoiler

I wanna hit whoever said this. First of all, not even close to all of Alex's illustrations and designs have breasts/female shapes in them, he's great at male characters, machinery, environments and weapons too. Not saying he's perfect, but very well-rounded at least. Second of all, the strong interplay of horror and fanservice, when he does do it, is always very deliberate on his part. He loves using boobs to accentuate the disturbing aspects of his character designs, as well body-horror to accentuate the sexy aspects of the very same designs. You're supposed to be conflicted when you look at characters like Painwheel, Filia, Eliza, ex-etera. There's a busty schoolgirl.....but, you must pay the toll of a toothy maw on her head. A sensual, scantily clad lounge singer.....who's evil to the bone, literally. A pale girl in a revealing qipao.....roaring in agony as black spikes explode out of her fists. Without that delicate interplay, the character designs would be as forgettable as your average KoF/Tekken roster, and I probably would have forgotten about this game long ago. He always treads the razor's edge between attractions and revulsion because, in the end, horror is just another, very extreme form of beauty. Just look at Bosch, Beksinski, Dali, they were all purveyors of very extreme forms of beauty, they blurred the line between something you like to look at....and something you don't. Ahad is no different. He took the same principles they helped found and streamlined them into a more modernized form, which he combines with heavy anime and cartoon influences. On top of all that, he a damn good artist technically as well. His coloring is extremely deep and vibrant, his poses are almost always on point. He can draw anything from any angle, and his brush-settings/line-thicknesses (Or whatever you would call that) have a very heavy, deliberate feel. He's one of the most eminent digital artists of our time and one of my greatest inspirations. He's anything but insane, you're just an uncultered lug of a human being with no knack for aesthetics, or even basic knowledge of what art even is.(<-- To the person that said that, NOT Jake Was Here)

.......Ok, I'm sorry I went on a massive tizz there, It's just that if not for the work of Mike and Alex, I would not even be considering making my own video game right now, and my creative life as-it-stands would be greatly impoverished. They're the only people in the "industry" (really artform) that constantly blow my mind with each word they speak and concept they produce (respectively), They changed my life though their work, plain and simple. It sounds like an exaggeration, but I have a very.....sensitive way of thinking and feeling that made them affect me so greatly, I'm weird. I felt obligated to speak in Alex's defense. I can spoiler tag this if requested. Edit: Went ahead and spoiler tagged it.

 

[Restposten]

Eh, your reaction may be a bit strong, but you aren't wrong. I subscribe to almost everything you have to say about the duality between allure and repulsion, but if you don't mind I'd like to underscore the playfulness of the characterdesigns. many other pieces of media have toyed with the combination of the sexy with the creepy, but the cartoony artstyle gives Skullgirls levity and helps it distinguishing itself from other. It revels in that certain 50s B-Movie-Aesthetic from the art deco interface and the film roll menus to the schlocky posters. It is sexy without being raunchy. It is disturbing, but also a bit silly. And I adore it for that.

 

[Todpole]

Their personalities and their attacks. Sure most of the girls are sexy with revealing outfits, but if they were just something to look at, I'll probably move on to other things. But the characters are so engaging, memorable and just plain fun that has got me to care about them.

I think Nadia Fortune is the perfect example on my reasons for liking them. I'll be honest, I hate her outfit. It makes me think she should just fight in her underwear. But I love her fun, lighthearted attitude and her attacks are just cool and in some cases, even adorable. I love that throw where she turns her limbs into a ball of yarn and plays with it with her stubs. Plus her head is the cutest head in history.