New character idea

I think it would be really cool if Kage's mom appeared as a character in Virtua Fighter; if not VF 6, then maybe some other spin off or version, such as VF5's Evolution.

The biggest reason I think they should include her is because she's been a pivotal character in the plot for some time, as she was transformed into Dural, and eventually became the model for future Durals. If anything, it means that she's one tough lady, especially if she managed to escape J6 (not that this has been confirmed as of yet). It would kinda make sense if she did, though, considering that they abandoned her in favor of Vanessa, so it may have given her time to recoupe and prepare herself to get her revenge.

The plot for VF leaves much to be desired, and I think this could be a good step for the series. Not to mention that you'd be adding another ninja, which could be great for fans, and a kick ass woman, which would bolster female fandom for the game.

She could have moves like Kage, but probably have a focus on mobility, including possibly moves like El Blaze's Rocket Discharge. More dodging moves and faster moves compared to Kage, and maybe one or two moves that when you Just Frame them give you Dural-esque moves (but obviously, an effort would have to be made to keep her balanced regardless).

Personally, I'd love to have a female ninja in the roster, and Kage's mom just has so much history and coolness waiting to be tapped into. I could even start writing up a mock command list, I like the idea so much /versus/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

I won't get my hopes up... but it sure would be nice if it happened!

Edit-- As for a name, I'm going to go with Toshio. According to the translation I found, "Toshi" means Mirror Image, which I think not only works when you consider that she's a ninja, but also when you take into consideration that she's two people in a way. "O" at the end of a name is an honorable title, usually for rulers of some kind, but it might have other meanings. And it sounds good, which helps /versus/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

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Ladon said:
She could have moves like Kage, but probably have a focus on mobility, including possibly moves like El Blaze's Rocket Discharge.

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LOL /versus/images/graemlins/lol.gif
if kage isnt the most mobile character in the game already.

 

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PhoenixDth said:

LOL /versus/images/graemlins/lol.gif
if kage isnt the most mobile character in the game already.

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True enough, but I was thinking a different kind of mobility than Kage. Like cutting down on all the rolling around, for example /versus/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

Hmm......Would make perfect sense to have her in the game. The idea of few trace elements of Dural left behind from her recovery sounds pretty cool.

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Ladon said:

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PhoenixDth said:

LOL /versus/images/graemlins/lol.gif
if kage isnt the most mobile character in the game already.

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True enough, but I was thinking a different kind of mobility than Kage. Like cutting down on all the rolling around, for example /versus/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

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Maybe more leaping/flips/cartwheels and stuff instead of rolling.

 

I'm more interested in character design actually.

Does she keep her face hidden to hide the truth from Kage? Did she lose an arm or an eye escaping J6 and replaced it with a synthetic? Do Dural parts still linger on her body (a half dural leg)?

Lots of interesting possibilities.

 

Anorexic Taka

 

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GarciaINCIDENT said:

Hmm......Would make perfect sense to have her in the game. The idea of few trace elements of Dural left behind from her recovery sounds pretty cool.

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Ladon said:

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PhoenixDth said:

LOL /versus/images/graemlins/lol.gif
if kage isnt the most mobile character in the game already.

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True enough, but I was thinking a different kind of mobility than Kage. Like cutting down on all the rolling around, for example /versus/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

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Maybe more leaping/flips/cartwheels and stuff instead of rolling.

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I see what you mean Garcia, kind of like Taki but without her weapons, cool.

 

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Poppa said:

I'm more interested in character design actually.

Does she keep her face hidden to hide the truth from Kage? Did she lose an arm or an eye escaping J6 and replaced it with a synthetic? Do Dural parts still linger on her body (a half dural leg)?

Lots of interesting possibilities.

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I think I'll be working on some design sketches over the weekend... those are some great ideas /versus/images/graemlins/grin.gif She would definitely need something like that, thanks Poppa

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tonyfamilia said:

I see what you mean Garcia, kind of like Taki but without her weapons, cool.

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I hadn't thought of that, sounds really good! It's a big difference between that and the bulky but lightning-fast Dural, which makes things pretty interesting. And unlike Taki, Eileen or Dural I think Toshio's really going to need a hit-throw!

And is it just me, or does the idea of OM really seem to work with this character?

 

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Ladon said:

thanks Poppa

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You're very welcome! /versus/images/graemlins/blush.gif

I'll try to get some sketches done from somebody (I'd do them myself if it wasn't for my complete lack of talent in drawing).

 

Hey, Ladon, I like your idea, Kage's mom would be a great addittion to the VF family affair (brother and sister:Jacky/Sarah; father and daughterai/Lau; mother and son: Kage/Toshio) /versus/images/graemlins/cool.gif I got another one: a VF character based off of the classic kung-fu flick 'Five Deadly Venoms'. He would have all five styles and could switch between them at any time. Lizard, Snake, Toad, Scorpion, Centipede? (I think... I cant remember the last style /versus/images/graemlins/tongue.gif) It's still a good idea though, right?

 

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tonyfamilia said:

Hey, Ladon, I like your idea, Kage's mom would be a great addittion to the VF family affair (brother and sister:Jacky/Sarah; father and daughterai/Lau; mother and son: Kage/Toshio) /versus/images/graemlins/cool.gif I got another one: a VF character based off of the classic kung-fu flick 'Five Deadly Venoms'. He would have all five styles and could switch between them at any time. Lizard, Snake, Toad, Scorpion, Centipede? (I think... I cant remember the last style /versus/images/graemlins/tongue.gif) It's still a good idea though, right?

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I believe Hung-Gar Kung Fu is something along those lines.

I was thinking of a traditional Karate style fighter. Maybe toward Shotokan or Kenpo, perhaps?

 

What about Ninjitsu?

 

I got one sketch done, I'll post a link to it over the weekend. But I thought about the Taki/Rocket Discharge thing and about the Ninjutsu (which I think Toshio could use). I was thinking that using ///++ what she could do is a dash. This dash would take about as long to execute from Neutral as Rocket Discharge does. The movement itself is faster, but it only goes a distance of about 4-5 backdashes (as opposed to "until you cancel", like the Rocket Discharge).

The dash is like a stance in such that it has its own set of attacks (, , +, +, etc), it can be cancelled so she can stop the dash early (which would leave her at a moderate disadvantage, -5 to -8 i'm thinking). On top of having moves out of dash, if she hits a wall during dash then a brief animation will play and she'll have another, albeit shorter, list of moves available to her in which she makes use of the wall with her attack. She definitely would not have access to a full circular guard-stun attack from this stance, if she got one at all.

One thing I was thinking was that her + throw could be a backflip off the opponents chest that doesn't do much damage but instead causes a stagger (like akira's +), and as soon as she lands off the backflip she can go immediately into dash (any direction). It would be great for pressuring oppenents or making distance.

Thanks tony, I'm glad you like it. I haven't seen that movie, so I can't really picture it well, but the first thing that comes to mind is Lei-Fei's multiple stances. But I'm guessing I'm a little off... is it a good movie? What do you guys think of these ideas?

 

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Ladon said:

The dash is like a stance in such that it has its own set of attacks (, , +, +, etc), it can be cancelled so she can stop the dash early (which would leave her at a moderate disadvantage, -5 to -8 i'm thinking). On top of having moves out of dash, if she hits a wall during dash then a brief animation will play and she'll have another, albeit shorter, list of moves available to her in which she makes use of the wall with her attack. She definitely would not have access to a full circular guard-stun attack from this stance, if she got one at all.

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I really like that dash idea. Also, in the part I bolded, you gave me another idea. Most characters (if not all, I really can't remember) have a wall attack. What if this character specializes in wall attacks? Of course, she would need low wall attacks so that she doesn't ring herself out in some stages. Also, they couldn't be a huge part of her game since she would be at a significant disadvantage in stages with no wall.

 

Not every character has a wall attack, but the vast majority of them do. Their properties are great, causing a guard stun if blocked usually, dealing a nice chunk of damage on a hit and knocking down. The thing is that it's tricky for most characters to be backturned and facing the wall in such a way to use those attacks, which is why I think it wouldn't be right if someone who can get to walls so easily gets access to such an awesome move.

Like you said, with a great wall game she'd be at a large disadvantage in unwalled stages. Definitely not condusive to the epitomy of balance that is Virtua Fighter. I think her wall attacks would only work with fenced in stages, so she wouldn't be in any danger of getting ringed out there. I think if she had any moves that took advantage of low walls they'd have to be different that those taking advantage of high walls, and the low-wall moves would probably leave her very susceptible to ring outs during their execution. Basically, this stance would allow you to do moves using a wall and they would only be more accessible than normal wall moves, with the trade off being that these moves are not as powerful as the other wall moves.

 

Over at www.gamefaqs.com, I asked a poster by the name of OnslaughtX to do a sketch of this character.

Here's what he has so far:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/OnslaughtNEM/Dural0001.jpg

I'm hoping to get some responses from here to help him with the drawing. Do you think he's gone in the right direction?

 

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OnslaughtX over at Gamefaqs wrote:

More conventional design. I'd go with silver hair, but she is blind, no new eyes yet. Bandages around her upper legs, with shin guards that are also silver. I wanted to keep at least one of her arms metallica, I still like the flaking idea, but now she is more human. I'd also go with the J6 brand on her lright shoulder. Thoughts? This the right direction or you still thinking something different?

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I gave him some ideas like the tattoo on the right shoulder and how she might be blind and needed bionic eyes or something. I even gave him the idea for the flaking of the Dural metal.

She'll have silver/grey hair because, well, she's old. Kage is 36 which makes her at the very least 48. But maybe being Dural helped her keep young?

I think it would be pretty cool to have an old woman in the roster. We have Lau and Shun, maybe Toshio could balance out that demographic a bit?

 

that's amazing! Far better than what I was working on! I definitely think being Dural kept her young(ish), just look at the VF4 model after all... so instead of looking like she's in her mid 50s to early 60s, she looks like she's in her early to mid 40s. One could even go so far as to say she didn't really age physically while she was Dural. You had some really great ideas Poppa, and the guy you were working with did a great job transfering them to paper.

Seeing this had a few ideas run through my head, like one of her opening poses being a sort of moan while getting into stance that has a hint of that Dural sound, but is definitely human, and like customizing out her blindfold to be replaced with glowing Dural eyes, normal eyes, or other things. Using the VF5 point-per-piece system, I'm thinking the Dural eyes would be quite up there in points required /versus/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Thanks so much, it's definitely back to the drawing board for me!

 

I'm glad you liked it, but this sketch is far from finished. He's looking for some recommendations as to how he can improve the sketch.

Kage had gone out to win parts to help save his mother right? So, maybe he did it and got those parts. What kind of parts are they? A Darth Vader style breathing system?

So, maybe she's got all kinds of parts all over her body. Now J6 is looking for a new Dural model (which will most likely be Sarah or Vanessa). She obviously wants to protect them and stop J6 from ever doing anything like this again. J6 probably wants to get rid of her (since she might be evidence for the U.N. to shut them down...I guess /versus/images/graemlins/laugh.gif), so she needs to keep hidden.

So I was thinking V for Vendetta while I was writing this post. Not really character design, but just their goals are very alike. I'm not sure how this might help the sketch, but knowing a characters motivations and history can really help sometimes.

 

I need some criticism. OnlsaughtX wants to finish the drawing up. He wants to get started on another little project for MGS.

So please, anything, anything at all.