Dresden Codak Redesigns Comics!

[ThinkMinty]

Dresden Codak did something similar a while back, it's worth a look! It's a really cool thing that you're doing, too. Though I imagine you mean that your edit for Noel is the one on the left?

So, the guy who does Dresden Codak redesigned a lot of clasic superhero comic characters; they look amazing. I'm dorking out over these.

I personally really dug the Superman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Martian Manhunter, Lex Luthor (turtleneck of EVIL!), and all of the X-Men stuff, especially Jean Grey, who he managed to make not obnoxious.

What're your thoughts on the designs?

[Comissar]

While I remember, he also did a Legend of Zelda concept. Again, this is from a few years back. But as they have their own thread now, might as well add it in

Edit - If I'm remembering right, it was this batman redesign that sparked everything else. You can see he draws on elements of it in the later, more complete, batman redesign in the OP.

[Prime32]

I've seen most of these before, and there's definitely some interesting ideas there.

Spoiler: DC Comics

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Superman having an inhuman true appearance is an interesting take on the character - it makes it feel like he has a harder time fitting in, makes the secret identity easier to swallow, and provides good fodder for Luthor to scare people with. Ultimate Captain Marvel did something like that.

I'm iffy on taking away Green Lantern's ring, since it's such an iconic part of the character. If you want to allow for nonhumanoid wearers, just say it takes different forms for them (like how the sentient planet Green Lantern had a ring of grass around its equator).

Likewise, is it silly that if we're going with "no way Oracle couldn't afford something better than a wheelchair", I'd prefer some kind of ultra-high-tech wheelchair with a secret function that turns it into bat-themed powered armor with missile launchers?

Spoiler: X-Men

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His take on X-Men feels like a weird cross between Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor and Ben 10 - some of it seems kind of silly, but the way he tied Wolverine to the origin of mutants makes a lot more sense than how Ultimate Comics did it (and also gives a nice reason for Apocalypse's obsession with the Four Horsemen concept).

Since there's a focus on secondary and tertiary mutations then rather than making Cyclops a literal cyclops, I figure he could have gained that name because his power manifested in only one eye at first (which would also give the school time to figure out what materials can block his blasts before it spreads to both and he loses control of it). For bonus points it gives you an excuse to put Cyclops in an eyepatch, letting you make sneaky references to his space pirate father.

Spoiler: Zelda

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That "Zelda as the protagonist" concept just seems like a female Link and a male Zelda, even down to the hair colours they tend to have nowadays (yeah she has more focus on spells than items, but so did AoL Link). It also seems kind of odd that female Link is described as just as competent (if not moreso) than the male version, while male Zelda sounds less competent than the original.

I figure if you want to play to Zelda's strengths and her typical (adult) personality, it should place more emphasis on puzzles rather than action; I think you can still make it feel like a Legend of Zelda game while keeping the characters distinct. Most of Zelda's abilities would be things like "flip things over" or "hold certain doors open as long as you focus on them" - when enemies show up, most of them die in one hit to the right spell or tactic, but cannot be defeated in any other way. In addition, the story would have an emphasis on diplomacy and forging allies, maybe even investigation - Zelda would have to convince the Gorons, Zora, etc. to join her cause while cutting through the BBEG's attempts to manipulate them and drive them apart. Once you've allied with a tribe you can summon its leader for assistance, allowing you to control both them and Zelda at once - Darunia can break down stone walls, Rutela can travel underwater, Impa can turn invisible, etc. Somewhere near the end of the game there's a boss battle where the player gets to command a massive united army, with Zelda's spells and summoning abilities becoming signal flares for different tactics and formations. The final battle would be similar to that in Wind Waker, but with the player controlling both Link and Zelda at once, and Zelda dealing the final blow.

Recent games have hinted that Zelda is extremely good at manipulating people and forming long-term plans, and that there's a whole other side to the story of most games that Link is unaware of. I'd like to see this side for once, rather than just having her do the same thing as Link.

tl;dr - Legend of Zelda meets Portal meets Maoyuu Maou Yuusha, with heavy use of mechanics similar to Wind Waker's Command Melody.

[Fralex]

Oh yes, I've always been a fan of his redesigns. I thought the Legend of Zelda and the Clockwork Empire was especially fun. I love Ganondorf as a duke.

EDIT: Wait, you left out his Spiderman Reboot!

Spoiler: SPIDERSMAN

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[Lissou]

I agree, the Zelda game looks mostly like it's Female Link, not Zelda. I don't think she needs to be redesigned to look (and mostly act) like him to be a competent hero. I liked the idea of the gauntlet that channels wisdom, since Zelda's thing is wisdom, but I agree that a game with Zelda as a protagonist should be a bit more different and feel less like a genderswapped version.

I support the redesign and ideas for a game that would still have Link as a main character, but as a female, and Zelda as a (male) prince. But otherwise I think Zelda as a playable main character should rely more on her wisdom, and I agree that there should be more puzzles and less fighting. After all, she's wise enough she should be able to avoid most fights. I imagine there would still be some "regular" fights but on top of that I think there should be fights where you can't actually lose from getting killed and running out of hearts, instead you're stuck until you figure out what you're supposed to do (like in adventure games). To that end, I think Zelda as a protagonist should have speech options, where you pick what you tell the other characters, and their behaviour is influenced by that. At higher wisdom (through gathering items, etc) you'd get more speech options or something.

[Prime32]

I support the redesign and ideas for a game that would still have Link as a main character, but as a female, and Zelda as a (male) prince.

Eh, if you're making Link female, I'd rather keep Zelda female as well.

Link is a Hero and his gender doesn't play a big part in that, but Zelda is a princess, a miko (one who calls to mind Queen Himiko), and the physical incarnation of the goddess Hylia, all of which require her to be female. If you're making a character who isn't a princess, isn't a miko, doesn't look like Hylia, and presumably doesn't have a female name like Zelda, is it even the same character? It would probably just come across as a younger version of the King of Hyrule.

To put it another way, Link can be born with any background* and assumes the role of Hero only when needed, then gives it up again. Zelda, on the other hand, is born to her role and holds it all her life; i.e. the circumstances of her birth are more important than Link's. And while Zelda is always a reincarnation of the same person, it's unclear if the same applies to Link or if anyone sufficiently qualified can take over the role (particularly in the Wind Waker timeline, which seems to "break the cycle" by having a Link who is not the Hero of Time).
*As well as any name. Link is just the default, and the names of past Heroes are never mentioned.

[Lissou]

Well, I don't know about the Miko thing, but personally I don't see why a prince would be so drastically different from a princess, I don't think why she couldn't look about the same (Link looks female in pretty much all of his incarnations so it's not like her face would need to be completely different. Heck, that "Zelda as link" thing still looks like male link does most of the time) or couldn't be called Zelda anymore. Just Prince Zelda instead of Princess Zelda, and pants instead of a dress. There is no reason, in my mind, why the reincarnation of a goddess would have to be female.

This being said, I see nothing wrong with having both of them female, either. I was sticking with the swap idea.

[ThinkMinty]

Well, I don't know about the Miko thing, but personally I don't see why a prince would be so drastically different from a princess, I don't think why she couldn't look about the same (Link looks female in pretty much all of his incarnations so it's not like her face would need to be completely different. Heck, that "Zelda as link" thing still looks like male link does most of the time) or couldn't be called Zelda anymore. Just Prince Zelda instead of Princess Zelda, and pants instead of a dress. There is no reason, in my mind, why the reincarnation of a goddess would have to be female.

The Zelda-franchise adventurer doesn't necessarily need to be the one bearing or earning the Triforce of Courage. Or a guy. Or a Hylian.

Spoiler: Alt-Zelda?

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It could be pretty fun (for example) to play a Gerudo girl going on a platforming-heavy dungeon crawling spree, for example. She has a scimitar as her main weapon, and eschews shields in favor of being able to block with the flat of her blade...and yes, partway through she gets an upgraded scimitar with extra damage and the ability to reflect things like the mirror shield normally would. Every dungeon-tool would also be useful in a fight, even that cane that makes the blocks.

She might be gathering the scattered pieces of the Triforce of Power, and with good reasons. She'd be doing it to help the whole realm survive an invasion from the Zora, whose leadership wants to flood Hyrule so they have more room to swim around. Most of the Zora are being bullied into it, but go along out of fear of letting their peeps down. It isn't a grand, foretold adventure, but an adventure of necessity. Plus once you get the Triforce of Power, the final dungeon and boss would be enough of a meatgrinder that the power boost doesn't make it so much easier as it makes it doable.

Her pet would be a cartoonish and brave pig that she rides. The pig can make jumps, swim above water, and fight with or without you on its back.

And the various quest-aid PCs would all have a thing for her. Even the girls. 'cuz Gerudo, or 'cuz writer fiat.

This being said, I see nothing wrong with having both of them female, either. I was sticking with the swap idea.

Knowing me, I'd ship it.

[Lissou]

Playing a Gerudo would be really interesting. It would give the whole thing with Ganondorf a new spin too since he's Gerudo as well. However so far all heroes have been the same character, pretty much (while Zelda, the title character, hasn't even been in all games) so changing it up that much, while really interesting and exciting, might be a bit too much for the developers.

Still, I love your idea!

[Eldan]

The Triforce of power would be pretty interesting. I mean, the triforce powers are pretty damn vague anyway.

[Lissou]

Yeah, the only thing that seems to remain the same about the Triforce is the 3 people who embody it: Link with Courage, Zelda with Wisdom and Ganondorf with Strength. But there is no reason with the PC must be one of those 3, is there?