So I just watched Adam’s demo of Tusk’s gameplay, which looks very fun and brutal, so no complaints there.
I was very put off by his taunt animation, however; I like the basic idea of him brandishing his weapon and holding a pose at the end (very barbarian imo) but the way he holds his sword during the wind up looks extremely rigid and toy-like.
He doesn’t move his wrist at all, so the sword just sticks up like he’s an action figure and it appears glued to him. The expectation of this kind of animation would be Tusk moving his wrist in time with the rest of his arm movement, and perhaps even include a small, somewhat slow twirl as he brings it back to his resting position in front of him. It’s a very small ask that would go a long way in selling this animation. As it stands right now I don’t see myself ever wanting to use the taunt because it conflicts with the character fantasy.
I really hope this can be considered, as I believe it to be quite glaring.
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Maybe Tusk is so Strong, he swings the sword, as it were like a toy, and does not require wrist action?
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I actually didn’t catch his taunt, mind posting it?
I get that you sort of what more animation to the taunt, at the same time though twisting you wrists and all that isn’t a good thing to do with a sword…especially one as big as Tusk’s…realistically speaking that is. When dueling you need stiff wrists in many instances as if you don’t you could loose your sword, or have the blade deflected back at you causing self damage.
Anyway, Tusk’s taunt…
…is pretty clearly designed directly after Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Conan, from Conan the Barbarian…
So there’s that.
Taking into consideration the source of Tusk’s inspiration, IMO Tusk’s taunt is perfect. There is a level of control and strength shown when holding that huge of a sword in that way.
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He was always modeled after Conan so i’m not surprised. It makes sense but even then he does need some slight editing to show how heavy the sword it.
So even then I can see how the OP meant with it looking like a toy, I wouldn’t suggest wrist movements as much as I would suggest the sword not rotate, it seems like it rotates oddly during the taunt.
IDK. I think it is more the lighting than anything else that makes the sword look “funny” in that instance. The sword rotates with his arm / shoulder as he goes around. When he brings the sword down you (I) can somewhat sense the weight as he brings it to a stop.
At the same time though, Tusk is obviously strong, so just as “Conan” makes his sword look lite, so to does Tusk.
FYI: Conan’s sword is like a 13-14 lb sword. That is not lite all things considered. Tusk’s sword is obviously much heavier than that.
Well said, I agree with you here.
I actually didn’t know about the Conan thing, so that makes a lot more sense now. Still, the sword looks awkward the way it is held in Tusk’s hand during this animation and I think it could use some tweaks.
I like the taunt, what makes it a bit awkward is the return to neutral. That phase of the animation looks like “LOOK AT MY MUSCLES… okay back to normal kthxbye”
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Couldn’t agree more. The return to normal is too sudden.
The weapons may seem kinda glued to the characters hands in certain animations -orchid and Maya have this same look with their weapons, the model of orchid sometimes has a ‘peace sign’ hand with the weapon kinda loosely inserted- her story mode photos display this, the slide photo and her thunder ending photo- kinda odd but subtle- maybe so she can cartwheel in a believable fashion with the batons in hand- but hard to see in her fidget, I think she actually does twirl them like motley crue drumsticks!
And Maya we know always has the grip hand stance even when her blades are stuck in ground. It’s easy to see when she does her fidget animation without her blades- again not a hugely bad thing but looks the same engine tusk uses for his animation-
Can also see when thunder has victory animation
Jago and GLACIUS both have fluid hand animation to me, as should be- I love when JAGO walks and his hands are flexing
I love Kim’s animated hand in her signature ki2 open hand to martial hand pose
And Kan ras and Sadiras magical hand/ finger spread animations
Tusk is wielding such a huge sword it’s hard to tell if anythings wrong, looks ok to me his hand grips the sword in the taunt & especially in the tease his fingers collect on the base nicely…
WIP- all in all they are awesome I wish we could have a character viewer like mkx
I like his shoulder shrug 
My dad actually LOVES Tusk’s taunt because it’s the Conan thing. He recognized it immediately and I never knew what it really was.
FUN FACT: Siegfried and Nightmare use to do this pose too in older Soul Calibur games. I remembered that at least. lol
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OMG I just realized
Siegfried cosplay tusk alternate premium costume
Okay, after looking at these gifs for a while I’ve realized what it is that the animation needs:
The face of Conan’s blade remains parallel with his arm, whereas Tusk turns his to be perpendicular with his arm (and faces the screen) during his taunt. This makes it look really strange and I think simply aligning this would go a long way.
Me: Tusk, what is the meaning of life?
Tusk: To crush your enemies. See them driven before you. Hear the Lamentations of their women.
Me: You’ve been drinking and watching Schwarzenegger films again haven’t you…
Tusk: MARIAAA!! (said in drunkenese)
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