Seeing the original game was more or less a giant mishmash of all sorts of monsters, freaks and ghoul alike, thought it be a fun idea to mock up a couple of “Halloween” costumes for the original cast of characters. (Spirit of the season, and all that)
First, we have Jago, dawning traditional samurai armor to honor the fallen warriors of the past, while his sister Orchid goes for the titular “sexy witch” attire, with two magic wands to substitute her standard batons.
Next we have Cinder, looking classy as hell wearing a suit simmilar to the kind James Bond would usually wear. Seeing his connection with espionage, I felt it was a fitting match. Plus less we forget Rareware’s Goldeneye. (Also the suit is fire retardant, in case you were wondering.)
Then we have Glacius looking more like a bizzare Fishman simmilar to The Black Lagoon. Yeah this one might be stretching it a bit, but I wanted to go for something different. Plus with his usage of puddles and freakish voice, something about it just works.
Sabrewulf looking like he just got off the set of the movie Dog Soldiers (Love that movie.) Taking literal meaning of the phrase “War Dog”.
Then we have Riptor, dressed in the fashion of an old Egyptian Pharoah Apopis, the Snake God. Vertigo from Primal Rage also played a small role in the design for inspiration.
Thunder this time, sporting a cotton shirt, leather vest and boots, with a cowboy hat hanging off his back. Thought giving him some civilian cloths would do nicely, seeing most the time he’s always wearing warpaint and head-dresses. Plus the notion of “Cowboys vs Indians” played a big role in this decision.
Funny how KI never did make an official Cowboy Gunslinger ala Erron Black. Very strange, but anywho…
Next we have TJ rocking an afro and a basketball uniform. Homaging the likes of The Harlem Globetrotters. Frankly I could see this as a possible secondary hobby of his, because it doesn’t have to be all about Boxing all the time. The guy can have other interests. Plus in regards to his theme from Killer Instinct 2, this costume fits perfectly when scoring a few rounds with that song playing. Has a very urban vibe to it, which is what I was going for here.
A traditional pirate costume for ye old Spinal, more so of One Eyed Willy from The Goonies. Plus his shield is now replaced by the lid of a broken treasure chest, just to add a little pizzazz to it all.
Fulgore, seeing how supposedly his armor is based on a Templar knight, only more futuristic. Here I decided to go the opposite direction in having it be actual knights armor this time. Painted jet black to mimic the legends of The Black Knight himself. Plus with a revamped visor, which along with his blades would glow blood red instead of the light blue we see on his default design.
For Kim Wu, figured to go with none other than Bruce Lee’s iconic yellow jumpsuit ala Game of Death, or more appropriately The Bride from Kill Bill. (No shoe shots for you Tarantino.)
Next we have Tusk dawning what looks like something out of an Iron Maiden or Manowar album cover, with his theme of course mirroring Death Metal. Would be pretty wicked seeing the guy in a sick suit of armor and gear, considering his default design is just a basic Conan homage.
Lastly we have Maya, who I thought it’d be neat to give her a dress from the Victorian era, one thats pitch black to jive with the theme of the season. Plus guess you could say I gave it a little “Tarzan/Jane” influence, seeing that her default design being a simple jungle bikini, but here she’s more refined and “lady-like” for lack of a better term. With two large kitchen knives to replace her twin daggers.
Guess you could also consider Maya’s as a “Bloody Mary” influence, of course if I decided to add more splotches of red on her gown.
But with all that said, thats basically about it. Again I only wanted to cover the classic characters, as I didn’t want to over-complicate things too much, but just felt like sharing these sketches for those who are interested.
