#strikeone

I've always wanted to do redesigns of the characters for a crossover event to make them more distinct from both canon and other fanworks. Initially it started with just wardrobe changes, but felt like experimenting with body types and other somewhat unique changes both for more distinct interpretations and for better cast variety.

Now canonically the Batter looks like his Bad Batter form to others, but to keep it more digestible for anyone mildly or not familiar with OFF I wanted to keep him in human form but make that more intimidating in itself. The change was initially just from baseball jersey to varsity jacket because I thought it looked cool and darker, but later gave him a more muscular figure and a five o' clock shadow both to make him more imposing and to give him more "dad" vibes for story reasons. I was gonna give him Greek letters on his jacket because later on I thought maybe instead of a professional player he could look like a frat guy. This reasoning definitely came in hindsight but a lot of fraternities have bad rep for their violence and hazings despite claims of their mission being honorable and for betterment of others. Does that sound familiar?. Although when I redesigned the Add-Ons to look more like the Greek letters they were named after, I figured that would be enough for the symbolism.

When I was redesigning Maize to be more distinct from Silver, I figured I should also redesign the Add-Ons to be identifiable from each other. Which was odd how it nearly slipped past haha, I mean my mindset was in better distinction yet I forgot the 3 plain rings.

Another addition exclusive for this version was the Samson Asms. Devil May Cry has brainrotted me and now I crave characters having the option to throw hands even when they already have a weapon.

Cedric I felt like had the best potential to be the lead of OneShot if you disregard Niko so I wanted to put a lot of thought into him now that he's in that role. Initially he was going to wear a jacket similar to or exactly like his father's but I decided to have him in a more firefighter/rescue-esque outfit to make the OneShot character's roles as active frontliners to the story's crisis more apparent and so to visually make him more than just his father's son. And it's a little strange for him to have a blaster since he's not a soldier, but it's a fairly basic pistol that could look like a water gun or toy (plus since there was a bit of that Tokusatsu inflience where they had blasters even with a rescue theme).

Since OneShot is a non-combat game, I interpreted his theoretical battle kit to be more gadget-based making new tools on the fly based on his mechanical prowess from the original game. Granted I had hesitation because's green and didn't just want him to become Green Lantern, so I've taken effort to show it's not as instant and less of a hard light construct. I thought maybe he could also get Niko's crowbar, but didn't in the end since Silver has the melee weapons. Additionally, he was also planned to have a rifle or shotgun as an alternate weapon. It was scrapped since I wanted to limit the OneShot cast to basic self-defense tools (an axe and a peashooter) both to reinforce the game's less violent nature and for the rescuer design theme, and larger weapons made them look like soldiers and I didn't want that. For Cedric specifically, I think it would be better to show off his intelligence through weak but highly useful gadgets and gizmos used in clever ways since switching to a more powerful weapon isn't all that creative.

I'd say Cedric's hair was another thing I wanted to put effort into because I've been really interested in learning how to draw and animate Black hair so I figured that this was a good chance to get a feel of it. Here you can see some of the designs I explored.

Now initially, when this was meant to be an ISAT crossover Cedric had to change hairstyle to be more distinct from Siffrin because they both have fluffy white hair. Siffrin's hair remained unchanged due to being the main character and taking priority.

Nero from Devil May Cry was a big inspiration for that because I dunno I just really liked how he got a haircut between 4 and 5 lol.

The option that stuck for the longest was a frohawk. Compromises were necessary in order to keep its texture but also simplified enough to be feasible to animate. I liekd it a lot because it really made Cedric stand out a lot from Siffrin that it ended up carrying over when I scrapped the old project for this one.

In the end I went with a style that had some texture but still closer to his canon hair because I felt like he started to look a little bit like a different character (which speaks volumes about the power of hair in character design). I'd say what influenced this change was seeing Black edits of Gojo and Bakugo, because they were able to capture the original shape of their canon hairstyle while still having a noticeable texture to it. The experience will definitely come in handy when designing completely original characters where I don't have to worry about trying to match an existing design.

Honestly not much changes for Pablo aside from now having a cat bell but I did want to have fun with how I depict his competences. I streamlined his "Aneurysm" competences into a singular claw based "Rupture" attack since they're only different for gameplay reasons and you won't really feel the difference for this story. Then gave him an exclusive "Sclerosis" competence which lets him spread a status effect unique to him for this story and to distinguish him once attacks start flying over the screen.

Silver I never understood why she was a knight until I had the headcanon that she's basically Kip's self-insert OC and everything made sense. Still, in line with the rescue-theme she has a more casual attire but still pays homage to her old knight theme with the arm braces and the axe and shield. Those aren't meant to be weapons but emergency tools to assist with her industrial work in the Barrens. Definitely wanted her role to be someone dependable and on the forefront of the action, especially she's one of the earliest characters you meet. She also gets her amber pendant back, which is an important reminder for later...

Hugo's design was lacking in anything other than swapping out his onesie for pajamas. But for story reasons, I figured I could get him to hold on to a red sun to mimic Niko and to substitute the red meat he holds onto during the game.

Zacharie I decided to depict with dark skin because I noticed in the remake UI his skin was a darker shade of grey compared to his mask, that and it seemed to be a fairly popular fan depiction. I think it suits him on top of making the OFF cast more distinctive despite everything being greyscale. And he gets Cedric's previous hairstyle too!

Maize was an interesting redesign because I changed her to have a large figure. I noticed during Wishward Bound none of my characters had a different body type aside from Artificer who is an animal, so for this time I wanted to have a character who was chubby and another muscular. Maize just happened to be the major character who I thought it looked cute for and because Silver was designed first and later I changed Batter to be top heavy. Another reason I felt this change could work is because she shares a lot of physical similarities with Kip, being tall women with long hair and wanted to push for better distinction between characters with similar features. I also didn't give her a dress since I wanted something easier to animate for Maize to show off the prowess of the Glen's guardian deity at her full strength.

Elsen honestly he's kinda perfect for just being a silly guy. Still, rolled up his sleeves because he had to be different from canon somehow.

Sucre (Instead of calling her Sugar for this adaptation since Sucre feels more like a proper name) I kinda had to take a while to figure out if she was going to be present at all in the story. Canonically she could've already been dead at this point but also not. Still I think it feels right for all the possible survivors to be present.

I had a little trouble figuring out what I wanted for her design. Firstly I wanted her to be a little toned as to differentiate her body type from the other female characters, but I couldn't give her an exposed midriff or arms as to not overlap with Maize's established design for this work. In the end I found a compromise I was pretty satisfied with by having a fairly sheer top layered under a shirt. Looks like a somewhat workout fit since her name is literally Sugar, which is energy food.

Proto more or less has a more relaxed outfit, being a regular jacket. Unlike Prophetbot, he doesn't wear a kind of rescue jacket because he's not exactly active on the field.

Rue I've added some face markings since I've seen it used on fox masks although she's a normal one and not a magic one.

Prophetbot is a character who's been there from the beginning. Yet he's kind of neglected by the fandom from what I see (to be fair, everyone who isn't Niko is). I'll be honest he wasn't initially even part of the story because I wanted Cedric to be the lead of the OneShot cast, but I changed it to have him to be more involved throughout the story. It was too late for him to be a main character, but definitely want him to shine in his own ways and be constantly present contributor. So he's one of the other characters wearing the rescue jacket uniform, except his was designed to be a medic's.