#characterinterpretation

Hope yall enjoy!

My redesign of Nigel Uno is meant to visually reflect the heavy psychological pressure he carries as Sector V’s leader. I kept his silhouette instantly recognizable, but added small, intentional details that hint at what’s going on underneath. His iconic sunglasses aren’t just a style choice anymore; I headcanon him as having light-sensitive, light blue eyes, so the shades are actually functional, helping him avoid sensory overload. That specific idea was partly inspired by I also added a subtle black fidget ring on his hand, which he absentmindedly plays with when his anxiety or OCPD kicks in during high-stress planning moments. (Inspired by @theamericanwoodcock) a small grounding habit that makes him feel more in control. His wrist communicator, custom-built by Hoagie, reinforces his close tactical partnership with him while also leaning into that “2x4 technology” handmade feel.

I wanted my version of Nigel to stay close to his canon personality, but feel a lot more intense and grounded in real consequences. He still has that genius-level intelligence, leadership skills, and “always the responsible one” energy, but now there’s a reason he operates like that all the time. In my interpretation, he has a constant need for control because when things feel unpredictable, he spirals into intense anxiety and paranoia-like thinking. It’s less about him being “crazy” and more about his brain always trying to anticipate every possible worst-case scenario so nothing can go wrong. That makes him extremely strategic, but also mentally exhausting to be inside of. He basically feels like an adult stuck in a kid’s body, which is part of why he comes off so isolated. He doesn’t really know how to relax or “turn off” his leadership mindset, even when he’s supposed to. Once he fully understands how advanced he is academically compared to others, that pressure only gets worse, he pushes himself harder, sleeps less, and slowly slips into insomnia because his brain refuses to stop working.

Quick headcanons

He compulsively organizes everything, even things that do not need organizing.

He talks to himself when planning, but gets embarrassed if anyone notices.

He’s secretly awful at sleeping and stays awake overthinking worst-case scenarios.

He acts emotionally distant, but remembers tiny personal details about everyone on the team.

He speaks multiple languages fluently; English, Spanish, German, Polish, and French, mostly because his parents pushed academics heavily.

With Hoagie, I wanted to completely rework their design into something that feels like a gritty, hands-on aviation mechanic while still keeping their canon personality as Sector V’s brilliant builder. I leaned into their love of flight by swapping their usual shirt for a heavy, fur-lined brown aviator bomber jacket, pushing their overall vibe closer to pilot culture and airborne engineering, a direction partly (inspired by @treehouse-of-chaos ). To make their role as a 2x4 tech creator feel more realistic, I added heavy-duty electrical gloves to show the real risks of working with unstable machinery, along with a relaxed, untucked blue undershirt that keeps the design practical and constantly in motion, (also inspired by @theamericanwoodcock )Their pants feature worn knee patches from constantly crawling around Treehouse workshops, and I updated their helmet emblem into a sleek, stylized blue number “2” to better fit their identity in Sector V. Their most important accessory is a weathered silver wrench that belonged to their father, which they always carry as both a sentimental keepsake and a quiet lucky charm, making it one of the last physical connections they have to him.

With Hoagie, I kept his core personality mostly the same, but I added some real-world grounding to explain why he acts the way he does. A lot of his goofy, attention-grabbing behavior comes from him trying to feel like he belongs somewhere, he equates making people laugh or keeping things fun with being accepted. On a deeper level, that need for validation comes from an unstable, abusive household, where his mom often lashes out at him because he reminds her of his father, and from the abandonment issues caused by his dad leaving when he was born. Because of that, Helgi grows up with this quiet belief that he has to “earn” his place in people’s lives. He’s not actually flirtatious in the way people might assume; instead, a lot of his mannerisms are him copying exaggerated masculine traits he picks up from old detective noir films, because he thinks that’s what being “confident” or “masculine” is supposed to look like. At the same time, he struggles with feeling like he isn’t masculine enough in general, since he’s softer and more emotionally open than the boys he compares himself to. Even though he’s genuinely a genius and very intelligent, he constantly doubts himself and feels like his worth is conditional or easy to lose.

Quick headcanons

He carries his father’s lucky wrench everywhere, using its weight as a physical grounding tool when his anxiety spikes.

​He struggles with prosopagnosia (face blindness), to the point where he won’t recognize his own reflection and will panic if he isn't wearing his signature goggles.

​​He deliberately over-teases his closest teammates as a defense mechanism, using humor to test if they will reject him or stay by his side.

​He communicates almost entirely in movie quotes and popular internet memes, using media references as a social crutch because processing real-world facial expressions is too overwhelming.

He loves to dramatically voice-act movie trailer monologues while piloting the C.O.O.L.-B.U.S., making the whole team laugh when missions get too stressful.

My redesign of Kuki Sanban keeps her bubbly, colorful personality but puts it into a more modest, schoolgirl-inspired style. I wanted her to feel sweet and feminine without being sexualized, so I gave her a crisp white undershirt under an oversized green sweater, paired with a pink pleated skirt. The pink accents were (inspired by @honey-lemon3 )interpretation of her, especially the way pink contrasts with her signature green. I also slightly adjusted her proportions and added dark brown-black tights to help balance the more exaggerated cartoon style of KND. On her wrists, she wears layered friendship bracelets arranged by emotional closeness,Wally closest to her hand, then Abby, Hoagie, and Nigel. To finish it off, she carries a bulky Rainbow Monkey backpack, which is a sentimental gift from Abby for her eighth birthday when Kuki first moved from Kyoto to the US, a detail (inspired by @paniniwrap.)

My version of Kuki Sanban stays very close to her canon personality, but adds more emotional depth and real-world grounding. She still has her bubbly, upbeat energy and naturally kind heart, but a lot of it also comes from masking and people-pleasing. With ADHD and constant pressure to be the “perfect daughter” at home, especially under strict expectations of always being well-behaved and successful, she copes by leaning into an “airhead” persona. It gives her a sense of control and helps her breathe a little outside of that pressure, instead of constantly feeling like she has to perform perfection. She’s very empathetic and always tries to see the good in people, often wearing her heart on her sleeve, but she hides anything heavier behind a constant smile because she believes people won’t like her if she isn’t always cheerful and easy to be around. That also feeds into her people-pleasing habits, where she prioritizes making others happy and feels deeply uncomfortable when she thinks someone else is sad. Even so, she isn’t overly emotional on the surface,most of what she feels stays carefully contained under her upbeat personality.

Quick headcanons

She doodles flowers, hearts, and Rainbow Monkey characters all over her notebooks when she zones out.

When overwhelmed or emotional, she unconsciously switches between English, Japanese, and Korean mid-sentence.

She intentionally acts more airheaded and silly than she really is because lowering people’s expectations gives her a break from pressure.

She hides most negative emotions behind a smile because she wants everyone to like her and hates disappointing people.

Because of her ADHD, she struggles badly with rejection sensitivity, so even small criticism can stick with her for days despite how cheerful she acts outwardly.

For Wally’s redesign, I wanted to lean into a more raw, textured look that shows how he physically interacts with the world,intensely and a bit impulsively. I kept his classic orange hoodie and baggy jeans, but added small, practical details that tell a story, like a heavily freckled body and tiny cuts and scrapes across his knuckles and hands to reflect his rough-and-tumble, always-moving nature as the team’s main brawler.I also gave him an asymmetrical earring and some ripped denim details to add a bit of early-2010s punk influence to his silhouette, (inspired by @kommandonuovidiavoli adult version of him) . Tucked under his hoodie is a green half-heart necklace, the matching piece to Kuki’s, which represents their deep but unspoken emotional connection. Its placement and meaning.

Wally’s personality stays very close to canon, but I leaned into more depth and real-life consequences behind the way he acts. People often see him as a delinquent or troublemaker, and because of that, he’s rarely given second chances. A lot of his “bully” behavior actually comes from being bullied himself when he was younger, which shaped the way he interacts with others. He also carries a toxic masculinity mindset that comes from how he was raised in a very traditional nuclear family, where he was taught that boys are supposed to act tough, unemotional, and in control. On top of that, he deals with trust and abandonment issues because his parents frequently sent him away to boarding school, making him feel unwanted or easily disposable. Wally has ADHD, autism, and dyslexia, which means he doesn’t always pick up on social cues and learns in a different way than others. He’s not unintelligent at all, he just processes things differently, but because people don’t understand that, he’s often misjudged and labeled unfairly. He also struggles a lot with expressing emotions, so he comes off as “emotionally closed off,” even when he’s actually feeling things very deeply.

Quick headcanons

He angry-cries when he gets overwhelmed and gets embarrassed every single time.

He has trust and abandonment issues from being sent away to boarding school whenever his parents thought he was “too much.”

Due to his autism and poor sense of danger, he often rushes into reckless situations without thinking about the consequences.

He’s 1000% a Newgrounds kids, and has no shame of being one

He talks way too fast when angry or excited, and his Australian slang gets stronger the more worked up he is.

My redesign of Abigail Lincoln keeps her iconic cool, confident presence while adding more cultural detail and practical updates for her role as Sector V’s second-in-command. I kept her classic blue-and-red look, but adjusted it for her active lifestyle, her blue dress is slightly longer and paired with dark, low-profile undershorts so she can move comfortably and safely during missions. For her accessories, I leaned into a bold, metallic style inspired by her FusionFall design, adding gold hoop earrings, a simple gold chain, and stacked bangles to enhance her street-smart, composed energy. Her hair has been redesigned into dense, protective 3A/4A-style box braids, giving her a more realistic Black hair texture while still keeping her signature long ponytail silhouette. I also added a subtle detail of lighter inner palm tones as a small touch of more thoughtful representation inspired by a community artist. Her most meaningful item is a worn, torn Polaroid photo of her family that she keeps hidden in her gear, a reminder of life before her parents’ divorce, and something she holds onto emotionally even if she doesn’t show it often.

For Abby, I kept her canon personality at the core, calm, capable, supportive, and naturally mature but added more depth to explain why she carries herself that way so consistently. She comes off as the “glue” of Sector V, but in this version, that role isn’t just natural leadership, it’s something she’s learned to rely on as a form of control in her life. Because of her parents’ divorce, she grew up with a sense that important things can fall apart without warning, which makes her more cautious and a bit of a control-oriented thinker when it comes to stability and relationships. She also has trust issues rooted in her past involvement with Cree, which makes her slower to fully open up to new people. Even when she does form friendships, she tends to keep emotional distance unless someone has proven they’re truly safe to her. That’s why her inner circle is so small and specific, Kuki and Hoagie are the people she’s most openly comfortable with, and Nigel is included to a lesser extent as someone she deeply respects and trusts in a more structured way. On top of that, a big part of her personality comes from being forced into the “responsible one” role at a very young age. She’s often treated like the older sister, mediator, and emotional anchor for everyone around her, which has made her incredibly reliable but also quietly exhausting for her. Because she’s spent so long taking care of other people’s emotions, she struggles with her own sense of identity and self-worth. Outside of being the dependable one, she isn’t always sure who she is supposed to be, or what she wants for herself.

Quick headcanons

​She allows Kuki to help her take down and redo her braids, which is the only time she truly lowers her guard.

Her need for control comes from her parents’ divorce, where unpredictability made her rely on structure and planning to feel safe.

She tends to take on too much alone instead of asking for help. Which leads her to have frequent silent mental breakdowns and panic attacks (as someone who has this issue)

She shows up for people without being asked, often noticing when someone is off before they say anything.