Promoted Hanzou sprite set suggestions

[Steve]

A Promoted Hanzou design has been on my to-do list for so long now; I'd love to see him given the Promoted look and feel that he deserves. I've been using the Resurrection of Dark Dragon GBA remake artwork as inspiration for designs for other characters, but I have to say that I'm not a big fan of his Promoted set in the remake. For reference:

So much of this design is... not to my interpretation of the character, let's say. And his Idle poses do not lend well to the original SF1 style, and I think it would require employing a little creative thinking to get this design to look good in any fashion. But I wanted to hear what you guys think. Would this be a suitable base-look for Promoted Hanzou, or should we try thinking a little more outside the box? I have done some minor research into ninja (plural) and their hierarchy and how an 'elite' ninja might adorn him or herself, but I think it's important to get as many people as possible involved in his design, as I don't really want to revisit this again (because I will probably end up putting if off for another two years!)

Also, stay tuned for the complete Promoted Musashi sprite set based on his GBA remake portrayal to be released very soon. I think Dan really outdid himself:

Spoiler

Edit: Completed forgot to reference my notes before posting this. I now recall considering utilising Joe Mushashi's outfit design from Revenge of Shinobi, Shinobi III, et al. I believe that I also later decided to give Joe Mushashi his own sprite set. But what do you think, would a Joe Musashi-style outfit for Hanzou be a fitting homage?​

 

[Lobo]

Well, both original Musashi and Hanzou seem promoted enough to me.

This new Musashi's sprite is really cool though!
Still, to me it looks more the unpromoted one than the other way around.

I wonder what his new animation will be like!

 

[Steve]

I feel that in some way, because neither Hanzor nor Musashi (or Domingo - he's on the list, too!) included a Promoted variant, that they aren't as fleshed out as other Force members.

Also, I realy enjoyed balancing out the stats for Musashi so that my Promotable variant will acquire the exact same stats as Sega's original Musashi:

Spoiler

Note: The reason that original Musashi's stats appear lower in the image is because I had mistakenly applied the 15% 'Promotion Penalty' to his stats before taking the screenshot. Their stats line up perfectly at 20/20.

 

[Lobo]

If you think of it, almost everyone got heavier armor after promotion.
Max, knights, warriors, archers, birdmen...
So, Musashi would be different?

 

[Lobo]

As for Hanzou, if Ninja would be the promoted class (once again, only my point of view on that), then, like Slade in SF2, Hanzou could be a Thief while unpromoted.
What do you think?

EDIT:
I'd keep his face hidden though. Even as a thief.

 

[MienshaoX]

As for Hanzou, if Ninja would be the promoted class (once again, only my point of view on that), then, like Slade in SF2, Hanzou could be a Thief while unpromoted.
What do you think?

EDIT:
I'd keep his face hidden though. Even as a thief.

I believe it could go Ninja to Grandmaster or Shinobi to Ninja (Like BR did)

 

[Lynx]

As for Hanzou, if Ninja would be the promoted class (once again, only my point of view on that), then, like Slade in SF2, Hanzou could be a Thief while unpromoted.
What do you think?

EDIT:
I'd keep his face hidden though. Even as a thief.

I think he must have gone from thief to murderer instead of ninja, even though a ninja is a murderer in a certain way

if you are very good with the sword, you do not need armor, proof of this in real life is Miyamoto Musashi (considered an invincible samurai) apart from what I imagine makes you faster and more agile not wearing armor

 

[Lobo]

Maybe...still it's a logic that only works for Musashi. hehe
I can imagine he scolding his companions:
'Why are you putting so much armor on, while I just sent mine off and can fight much better?'

Anyway, it could be fun to have him working in reverse.
I guess he should have huge agility and critical gains and very poor defense gains (if any) after promotion.

 

[Lobo]

Edit: Completed forgot to reference my notes before posting this. I now recall considering utilising Joe Mushashi's outfit design from Revenge of Shinobi, Shinobi III, et al. I believe that I also later to give Joe Mushashi his own sprite set. But what do you think, would a Joe Musashi outfit for Hanzou style be a fitting homage?​

I say Joe Musashi would be great as a new character. (New in SF that is.)
I'd like to see him done for sure!

Long ago (probably more than 5 years fron now) I came with an idea to replace every SF character with another Sega character.

Of course, Shinobi would fill in for Hanzou!
Toe Jam and Earl would replace Alef and Torasu.
Max should be Alex Kidd.
Gort would be Gilius.
Zylo and Bleu would come from Altered Beast.
Kokichi would be Opa Opa.
Lyle would be Space Harrier.
Sonic would fill in for Jogurt!

And there's still a lot left to go: Streets of Rage, Phantasy Star, the rest of Golden Axe...

So much fun if it ever comes to life!

 

[Xeno]

Joe Musashi! Have you been reading my mind!? A white outfit sure would be swell.

Then again, that's probably a bit too easy...

What references have you got at this point? I suppose you might want to look into the history of the actual Hattori Hanzō as a starting point (as I'm sure you already did).

How about Shadow Warrior as a theme for a promoted class? I agree with @Lobo that armor is usually a good thing to wear in combat!

Oh, and you may as well check this out.

 

[Steve]

Apologies for the late response, gang. Still catching up on odds and ends.

@Lobo I don't think that Hanzo necessarily needs to look bulkier or adorn more armour in his Promoted form, if anything I sort of see it as because he is so experienced now, perhaps he doesn't need quite as many tools or as much protection?

@Xeno I wish I could say that my research had been quite as extensive as I'd like, but as you can imagine different ninja clans practised different disciplines and being quite a stealthy bunch, not a great deal of concrete information exists. Hanzō served as a basis for a super katana weapon that I had designed, but admittedly I do not know a great deal about his history or effect on ninja culture.

Believe it or not after you posted your SFCD version of Hanzou, I almost immediately made up on my mind as to the direction to take Hanzou for his SF1 promotion. Well, I have a general idea: Somewhere in between his current ninja gi and the purple number he wears in SFCD. Do you guys feel this would be a suitable direction? Having his Promoted form serve as a stepping stone towards his appearance in SFC?

For reference, here is Xeno's SFCD version of Hanzou: http://sfmods.com/resources/sfcd-hanzou.80/

 

[MienshaoX]

Apologies for the late response, gang. Still catching up on odds and ends.

@Lobo I don't think that Hanzo necessarily needs to look bulkier or adorn more armour in his Promoted form, if anything I sort of see it as because he is so experienced now, perhaps he doesn't need quite as many tools or as much protection?

@Xeno I wish I could say that my research had been quite as extensive as I'd like, but as you can imagine different ninja clans practised different disciplines and being quite a stealthy bunch, not a great deal of concrete information exists. Hanzō served as a basis for a super katana weapon that I had designed, but admittedly I do not know a great deal about his history or effect on ninja culture.

Believe it or not after you posted your SFCD version of Hanzou, I almost immediately made up on my mind as to the direction to take Hanzou for his SF1 promotion. Well, I have a general idea: Somewhere in between his current ninja gi and the purple number he wears in SFCD. Do you guys feel this would be a suitable direction? Having his Promoted form serve as a stepping stone towards his appearance in SFC?

For reference, here is Xeno's SFCD version of Hanzou: http://sfmods.com/resources/sfcd-hanzou.80/

Hanzou adopting more of the purple is a good choice imo. Maybe his attack animation (or even crit) could have a genji dragon effect around it like here: http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/250/595/5fc.gif heh who knows maybe we will see a cyber like version of hanzou one day lmao

 

[Lobo]

@Lobo I don't think that Hanzo necessarily needs to look bulkier or adorn more armour in his Promoted form, if anything I sort of see it as because he is so experienced now, perhaps he doesn't need quite as many tools or as much protection?

I didn't say he should look bulkier.
In fact, I see him (and Musashi) as already promoted.

But if you feel like promoting him, I agree directing it to SFCD Hanzou.
That should be him 20 years older, right?

 

[Lobo]

Is there a way to create a shuriken weapon?

 

[Erikin84]

Here is an idea, he doesn't appear at all....and then he shows up only during attack and spells....

 

[Erikin84]

Shuiken weapon? sure, i'd just treat it like the spear

 

[MienshaoX]

Is there a way to create a shuriken weapon?

Like what Erikin said treat it like a spear as for the sprite? Easy find on spriters resource ill try and find some and try and set em up (havent worked with weapons before tho so might take a sec)