Establishing Personality in Two Dimensional Video Game Characters

Through Character Design

by

Nomidi Daphne

Honors Thesis

Presented to the DEREE—ACG International Honors Program

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

Graduation with Honors

January 2023
 The Honors Thesis Committee for Nomidi Daphne

Certifies that this is the approved version of the following thesis:

Establishing Personality in Two Dimensional Video Game Characters

Through Character Design

APPROVED BY:

Advisor:
Mr. Koltsidopoulos Stefanos
Digitally signed by
Stefanos Koltsidopoulos
DN: cn=Stefanos
Koltsidopoulos, o=ACG,
ou=Deree,
email=skoltsidopoulos@ac
g.edu, c=GR
Date: 2023.01.29 21:23:17
+02'00'

Second Reader:
Miss Constantinides Melina

Associate Lecturer
Graphic Design Department
 Copyright

By

Nomidi Daphne

January 2023
 ABSTRACT

Establishing Personality in Two Dimensional Video Game Characters

Through Character Design

by Nomidi Daphne
International Honors Program, DEREE—ACG, 2023

This thesis demonstrates how character design plays the most crucial role in

video game creation by being the most immediate way of providing the user with

essential information regarding the personality of the character. Additional support

will be provided to this argument by the creation of three different characters,

demonstrating how personality attributes can be conveyed effectively through design.

The importance of character design in the industry of video games will be studied

along with its pillar principles according to professionals. Each character that was

designed for this thesis will be individually analyzed in order to show how the

personality of the character is communicated visually and why it plays the most

crucial role. This project’s end goal is to communicate the importance of character

design and work as a helpful guide to other designers and artists who create characters

for video games. Although designers worldwide have great technical skill, theory

behind character design is often dismissed and especially in the academic world not

many recent resources exist since most designers write articles online on blogs or

digital magazines.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract........................................................................................................................v

List of Figures..............................................................................................................vi

Chapter 1: The Importance of Character Design in the Video Game Industry............1

Chapter 2: The Pillar Principles of Character Design..................................................4

Chapter 3: Analyzing Character 1: Joji The Robot......................................................9

Chapter 4: Analyzing Character 2 Alea The Elf...........................................................14

Chapter 5: Analyzing Character 3 Momo The Koala...................................................20

Chapter 6: Conclusion & Outcomes.............................................................................25

WORKS CITED...........................................................................................................26
 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. Primary Shapes………………………………………..……………….……4

Figure 2. Silhouettes…………………………………………………………………...5

Figure 3. Colors………………………………………………………………………..6

Figure 4. Joji the Robot………………………………………………………………10

Figure 5. Joji’s Silhouette……………………………………………………..……...11

Figure 6. Joji’s Action Poses…………………………………………………………12

Figure 7. Alea the Elf………………………………………………………………...15

Figure 8. Shapes of Alea……………………………………………………………...16

Figure 9. Alea’s Silhouette…………………………………………………………...17

Figure 10. Alea in Action Poses……………………………………………………...19

Figure 11. Momo the Koala…………………………………………………………..21

Figure 12. Momo’s Silhouette………………………………………………………..22

Figure 13. Momo’s Action Poses………………………………………………..…...23

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 CHAPTER 1

The Importance of Character Design in the Video Game Industry

Along with programming, game mechanics, sound design, dialogue and

storytelling, character design is one of the many processes that take place in the

creation of video games. In order to prove that character design has the most crucial

role in video game creation, the overall importance of it within the industry needs to

be defined. First, design visually communicates the personality of the character and

therefore the basic storyline of the game. According to research, video game players

have been shown to emotionally connect with the character they play and even feel

responsible for the character’s actions, they see the characters as “...human-like social

others for whom one is responsible.” (Banks & Bowman, 2014). Players feel an

emotional connection with the main characters and empathize with their feelings,

making the playing experience immersive. Design is also tightly connected with the

emotions players feel just by looking at the character. For example, if a character has

torn clothes, a mean grin, and is waving a chainsaw “...a resulting identification will

likely stimulate players’ aggressiveness.”, thus character design is one of the most

relevant tools in creating emotional experiences for the player (Dillon, 2018). Another

important role of character design in video games is that humans want to derive as

much information as possible from seeing a character, this is why details in design are

important (Tillman, 2019). When viewers see a character, for example before even

playing the game, on a poster or a banner, they ask themselves questions regarding the

characters personality, morals, and background story. Viewers have the natural need

of knowing as much as possible just by looking at the character (Vaughan, 2012;

1
Lyons, 2020). Moreover, the character of a video game becomes the vessel in which

the player experiences the world and story of the game (Isbister, 2006). It is important

to design characters who come alive for the players (Perry & DeMaria, 2009) and

therefore create an immersive experience. This can be achieved by telling the story of

the character through design. “[A]Character as a fictional being usually gets features

ascribed to it that correspond to certain ludic abilities or characteristics, and vice

versa.” (Schröter & Thon, 2014), for example, a fighter will have some sort of

weapon, or an ogre will have big tusks. All these design elements give the character

life, a story and a personality, they indicate to the player what the character, and its

world, is about. Then again, not everyone has the same experiences, like every art

form, character designers create for a certain demographic. Character design is crucial

since it adapts to each audience and portrays the values of different cultures. When

designing a character for a foreign market the designer needs to be careful since it is

very likely that the same perceptions of concepts will not exist (Adams, 2014). For

example, a character with a red costume or hair could be considered the villain in the

West since red has a negative connotation. However, in the East, for example, in

China, red is considered a lucky color, and, therefore, has good connotation. If the

designer wants to reach a worldwide audience such cultural characteristics are

avoided. Pac-Man (Bandai Namco Entertainment) and Kirby (Nintendo) are two

characters that avoid any cultural references and have become iconic worldwide

(Isbister, 2006). That is to say, the design of a character is the first thing people notice

before purchasing or downloading a game, and just by looking at the game character,

viewers can tell the genre and type of the game (Kuntjara & Almanfaluthi, 2021).

2
How character design achieves the above will be analyzed in the next chapter and

proven by the creative part of this thesis.

3
 CHAPTER 2

The Pillar Principles of Character Design

Another key element to examine in order to define this creative project thesis

is the pillar principles of character creation according to professional character

designers. These principles consist of the use of shapes, silhouettes, colors,

archetypes, and detail elements. Character shapes are an important element of every

character design. They are an objective component that any viewer can visually

translate, while other details can be subjective and interpreted differently by various

cultures or people (Solarski, 2017). Primary shapes are usually divided into three

categories in character design, circle, square, and triangle (Figure 1).

Figure 1
Primary Shapes

Image from Carman’s book “Visual Development for Web and Mobile Games”

Shapes are the main visual communicator for every character. Each shape evokes

something different. Circles imply appealing, goodhearted characters and they usually

4
indicate cuteness and friendly personalities. Squares evoke characters who are sturdy

and heavy, someone the viewer can turn to for support while triangles tend to evoke a

suspicious or evil character (Bancroft, 2006; Solarski, 2017; Carman 2017).

Likewise, a strong silhouette is another element of strong character design,

“...it’s important to exaggerate elements of the silhouette for the purposes of visual

interest and clarity.” (Solarski & Donovan 2012).

Figure 2
Silhouettes

Image from Solarski & Donovan’s book “Drawing basics and video game Art classic to cutting-edge
art techniques for winning video game design”.

Silhouettes are the first impression of the character. They need to be clear and give the

character’s information at first glance. For example, in this image (Figure 2) the

primary shapes of the characters are clearly visible, readable, and well-defined. In the

5
top left figure, the circles, arms, and legs clearly indicate that the character is human.

All the important basic elements are visible, without any additional details or color

being present (Rogers, 2014).

Another influential element in character design is color. For example, skin

color can indicate health, if a character is pale, they can be considered sick (Sloan,

2017).

Figure 3
Colors

Image from Geslin, Jégou & Beaudoin’s research article on color and video games.

Color can be used to evoke emotions and give the viewer the feeling of the character

and therefore the game, for example (Figure 3) colors on high saturation evoke

6
feelings of joy and excitement while colors on low saturation indicate something

gloomy and dark like sadness or fear. Therefore joyful and funny characters like

Mario (the main hero of the Nintendo Super Mario franchise) have high saturation

colors on their palette, contrary to Waluigi, an evil character from the same game

universe, who has low saturation colors. Again, there are other connections viewers

can make with different colors such as red being passionate or dangerous, green being

the color of nature, indicating harmony and freshness, while blue is cold and can

indicate depth and stability (Carman, 2017). As these rules and indications are only a

general basis for every character designer, sometimes both shapes and color

combinations can be made, and the results may vary. Another tool character designers

use is archetypes (Draw 21. 2019). Archetypes could be described as cliches that help

create the basis of a character. The hero, the mentor, the villain, and the fool are some

of them (Tillman, 2019), but even though all characters fall into some archetype it is

important to be creative and not keep it a cliche (Rogers, 2014). Continuing, specific

features and details are used and applied by character designers to give particular

traits to their characters. For instance, baby-like features like big eyes and a head with

small arms and legs are used to make a character look cute and harmless (Isbister,

2006; Sloan, 2017). Similarly, attention to detail matters, like costumes and props

(Lyons, 2020; Rogers, 2014).

Another key is having a meaningful pose. According to their personality, each

character would pose their hands in a different way (Draw 21, 2016). Character poses

give that “right” feeling to a character (Bancroft, 2006) rather than them being in an

7
idle posture, fighter characters take a ready-for-battle position, while Mario has his

characteristic jump.

Finally, the medium which the character will be designed with, also matters.

More specifically, a character can be depicted by using vector or bitmap graphics

(Wright,2006) and character designers can use a realistic or pixel art style depending

on the style they want to achieve. Of course, sometimes despite all the above,

exceptions can be made. For example, “It's a well-established comedic technique to

take one type of character and dress her in the opposite type of costume for her

personality.” (Hart, 2014), like creating a little cute girl who is evil and mean.

8
 CHAPTER 3

Analyzing Character 1: Joji the Robot

This chapter is on one of the three characters designed to demonstrate why

character design plays the most crucial role in video games by providing the user with

vital information regarding the personality of the character. To describe all characters

a logline will be used, “A logline is a device used by writers and designers to explain

the entire project, boiled down to a sentence.” (Mitchell, 2012). This character named

Joji (Figure 4), is a little robot that solves puzzles and tries to reach his destination in

order to save the extinct animal population on the island he was abandoned on by

humans decades ago. In this chapter, the personality traits of Joji and how these are

visually interpreted will be analyzed along with how his appearance communicates

his story. First, the primary shapes of the character are mostly circular with his round

shape evoking a friendly personality (Bancroft, 2006). Second, the character's

silhouette communicates his nature since it is being made clear just from the

silhouette (Figure 5) that he is some type of rounded robot. The key elements are

distinguishable, and the character’s attributes are communicated to the viewer

(Solarski & Donovan, 2012).

9
Figure 4
Joji the Robot

Idle pose of Joji.

10
Figure 5
Joji’s Silhouette

Blacked out silhouette of character.

In terms of color, Joji has low saturation grays due to the metallic parts he is

made of and in contrast, his face and other light sources shine in high saturation bright

cyan colors, reminders of his positive nature (Geslin, Jégou & Beaudoin, 2016).

There are many prominent details in Joji since it is visible how his metal parts are

connected. Wear marks and moss are also visible indicating that the character either

exists a long time or has been through harsh conditions. Other parts such as antenna,

cooling fans, and tubes are clearly visible and show directly how this character

functions. All these details fulfill the viewer's need for visual information and

knowing as much as possible just by looking at the design (Tillman, 2019).

11
 Furthermore, one of the most giving features of Joji is his face and expression.

Baby-like features like his big head and eyes, coupled with his tiny smile and blushed

cheeks give out a strong non-threatening message to the viewer along with the feeling

of this character being cute (Isbister, 2006; Sloan, 2017). Joji, although a robot, is still

grounded in reality with his human-like anatomy so the viewer can understand and

relate to him (Vaughan, 2012). His pose (idle and action, alike) also expresses his

robotic nature (Figure 6).

Figure 6
Joji’s Action Poses

Character in two different poses.

12
 Joji is a small and gentle robot, his movements are limited due to his robotic

parts. Therefore, all of the poses, idle and active, showcase his robotic movements

along with his kind personality (Draw 21, 2016). Above all, this character's design

clearly communicates his personality, intentions and even some of its backstory due to

all the detail elements. These are essential for providing the viewer with adequate

visual information regarding the overall concept and story of a potential video game

featuring Joji as the main character.

13
 CHAPTER 4

Analyzing Character 2: Alea the Elf

This chapter focuses on the second character created to defend this thesis. This

character is named Alea (Figure 7) and she is a forest elf. Her home village was

occupied by a tribe of orcs, and she seeks to free her people from tyranny. She is a

noble fighter, always trying to do good. In this chapter, the personality traits of Alea

will be analyzed along with how these are visually interpreted and how her

appearance communicates her story.

First, in terms of shapes, Alea has a complex figure, her design has both round

and triangle sharp shapes. The round objects in her silhouette (Figure 8), like the

curves of her hair, her body and equipment (helmet, pauldrons, and boots) are in blue

indicating a loving personality. In contrast, the red triangular shapes (Figure 8) like

certain parts of her armor and diamond star emblem imply aggressiveness in her

overall shape (Bancroft, 2006).

14
Figure 7
Alea the Elf

The character in an idle pose.

15
Figure 8
Shapes of Alea

Alea in her idle position with shapes outlined.

This complex shape combination serves the purpose of showcasing Alea’s dual

personality traits. The curved shapes imply that she is a noble knight with a friendly

character. On the other hand, the subtle sharp shapes are a reminder of her role as a

warrior knight. Furthermore, her silhouette also plays a vital role in communicating

first-glance information (Figure 9).

16
Figure 9
Alea’s Silhouette

Blacked out silhouette of character.

Looking at her silhouette, we can recognize her species: her pointed ears make it clear

that she is an elf. Her sword, armor, boots, and general knight’s outfit provide us with

information regarding her profession, and society status, as well as evoke a sense of

heroism, at first glance (Carman, 2017).

17
 Alea’s colors are also unique. Even though pale or green skin color can

visually communicate sickness (Sloan, 2017) in this case her purple skin indicates a

species of the fantasy world, an elf. Her armor shades are green, which is a color

connected with nature (Carman, 2017) since her background story includes the forest.

Another key point to consider are specific details of the character. Alea’s sword,

armor, and helmet give her the archetype of the knight, “Costume is a very important

part of character design – clothing helps define and identify your character and tell its

story.” (Cohen, 2011). Smaller details make the viewer wonder and draw additional

information from the design. Wear marks on her armor, the repetitive diamond star

displayed on her cheek, sword, and other elements along with the pattern on her armor

and more, are detail elements that make the character instantly unique, and

memorable and distinguish them from others (Salmond, M. 2019).

Finally, Alea’s strong and elegant character and personality are implied by

both idle (Figure 7) and dynamic poses (Figure 10) (Mattesi, 2008). In her dynamic

poses she looks determined, fighting against someone or something, while in static

poses she is standing confidently, displaying her heroic character. Ultimately, Alea’s

design communicates her personality and story, and it provides the viewer with

adequate information about her role in a potential video game.

18
Figure 10
Alea in Action Poses

Character in three different poses.

19
 CHAPTER 5

Analyzing Character 3: Momo the Koala

The last character will be analyzed in this chapter. Momo is a quiet koala

(Figure 11) who has moved from Australia to Canada and tries to survive the cold

winter. Unfamiliar with cold weather conditions, he tries to build his cozy home so he

can spend the winter season. Momo is an example of an animal with anthropomorphic

characteristics. “Anthropomorphic means the attribution of human traits, emotions,

and behavior to non-humans.” (Leeuwe, 2021). Momo has human characteristics

instead of being designed in realistic koala anatomy, which makes it easier for the

viewer to relate to him (Vaughan, 2012). In terms of shapes and silhouette, his

rounded head and body show he is a friendly type (Bancroft, 2006). His silhouette

(Figure 12) featuring big koala ears, as well as his winter attire, especially his beanie,

is easily readable, and provides the viewer with a solid amount of information

(Carman, 2017).

20
Figure 11
Momo the Koala

Idle pose of Momo.

21
Figure 12
Momo’s Silhouette.

Blacked out silhouette of character.

Regarding his color palette, there are neutral shades of gray with brown, green,

and pink being most prominent. As seen in (Figure 3) the green and brown tones

evoke a positive and quiet feeling, with pink also giving a joyful characteristic to his

face (Geslin, Jégou & Beaudoin, 2016). Furthermore, “The design of the eyes can

suggest a character’s personality, traits, expression, and mood, as well as their style.”

(Draw 21, 2016). In this case Momo has a big smile on his face that pushes his cheeks

upwards and closes his eyes, giving a friendly and relaxed face. This is an important

22
element of this character since cute cartoon faces convey a character’s personality

(Cohen, 2011). Also, his large head and eyes along with his blushed cheeks evoke a

baby-like innocence, making him look trustworthy (Isbister, 2006).

Figure 13
Momo’s Action Poses.

Momo in different poses.

Moreover, his idle (Figure 11) as well as action poses (Figure 13) support the concept

of his personality and showcase his story since we see him engaged in some activity –

smiling, gathering wood, and building a snow man. All information taken from his

backstory, communicated visually through his design.

23
 In a nutshell, Momo is a charming and kind koala who tries to endure the

winter and his design gives the viewer a lot of information about his personality as

well as backstory.

24
 CHAPTER 6

Conclusion & Outcomes

In conclusion, character design has the most crucial role in video game

creation, due to visually communicating the personality of the character and therefore

the basic storytelling of the game. All three characters created in this creative project

thesis demonstrate the statement by giving out information about their personality and

backstories just by their design. Although the three characters all had different

characteristics and concepts, the character design principles that were applied in order

to create them succeeded in communicating their personalities. It also showcased that

the effectiveness of character design stayed the same regardless of the nature of the

character (machine, human, or animal). Finally, not only their personality was

communicated visually without any words, but also elements of the characters’

backstory that set the concept of their potential video games were seen, making

character design one of the most crucial elements in the process of creating a video

game. Overall, this project demonstrates the importance of character design in video

game creation and works as a straightforward guide for other designers on how to

create dynamic characters that communicate personality. This way, it can fill a gap in

academic sources on this matter since most, if not all, sources on this technical topic

are books on video game creation in general.

25
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