After posting a more naughty image of Benkei on my Y!Gallery page, I received a comment how he resembled a already preexisting video game character. The character mentioned was Gaira from Samurai Shodown. I am somewhat familiar with the game series from when I played it as a kid on my Sega Genesis. I pulled up some images of Gaira and noticed immediately the resemblance to Benkei. Even though they are not exact carbon copies of each other, they do share certain similarities such as a tan skin color, black hair, a bandana, a monk costume and of course a lot of yellow in the costume's color scheme. Not to also mention that both men are very large and muscular. I have not played Samurai Showdown for decades but perhaps some where in the back of my mind I was remembering Gaira's sexy design. I wanted to use yellow on Benkei's costume since it's not a common color used. I guess that idea backfired a bit.
I am actually happy with Benkei's new design. I kept a somewhat traditional monk look to this cloths with a bit more flair and of course some more skin showing. When you have a body like Benkei why not show it off? Not all of it of course! It is always good to keep things covered for a nice surprise later.
Benkei's actual physical appearance stayed 100% the same. I decided to use red and black for the main colors rather than yellow. I kept his bandana but made it tied to the side rather than the back without the longer straps. Benkei is very tall so the idea of making him even taller with the platformed sandals seemed like too much. He is self-conscious about his size so wearing shoes that would make him even taller would not be very fitting for his personality.
What so you all think of the new costume. Feedback and comments are always awesome. I prefer the new costume more!
Here is a close up of Gaira. Hmmm a bit of resemblance.
Side by side of Gaira and Benkei's old design. I must admit they could be brothers!
