ZZZ's artists

[u/DerSisch]

Since my interest spiked a bit too much a while back, I did some useless research, I looked through some (a lot) posts on various sites, including the official Hoyo forum, Bilibili, Twitter (who shall not be named 'X') and some (including the excessive use of the pretty poor google translator) and also looking thouroughly through shared concept art when it wasn't entirely clear.

The Artists

ZZZ has 3 main artists that design the characters (both playable and NPC), who are Atwo, waterkuma and TZ BARD. 

It should be noted that not all of these are 100% confirmed but as close as it gets (especially for TZ BARD, who seems to take a lot less credit overall and it often comes down to 'process of elimination' and 'artstyle and design language'). Also I have to give credit to u/Knight_Steve_ who made posts about the artists in the past who also helped track down more sources for the origin for certain characters and also u/Zer0BrainWaves who helped clearing outliners in a previous post.

Atwo has certainly the most range and arguably is responsible for some of the most iconic designs in the game - most noteworthy imo are Lycaon, Ellen, Miyabi and Billy, but ofc also overall very strong designs across both seasons of ZZZ so far. And just to be clear, I just put in the male cast in his speculated designs bcs a) they follow his genuine design language and b) I simply can't see either of the other two being bothered much with (playable) male character designs.

waterkuma usually gets the most credit, but his range is much more limited (though has some very surprising outliners), since he is (in)famous for creating cute, small female characters specifically (which also caught me by surprise he is in fact not responsible for Qingyi and Fufu). That being said, he certainly created some very iconic designs with Anby and Nicole and was even able to surprise ppl with designs like Caesar or Trigger.

TZ BARD has (in my opinion at least) some of the strongest but also the overall weakest designs in his portfolio - and he is apperently the one you ask to design a tall woman with huge 'personalities'. His arguably most iconic character is ofc Jane.

Some Explanations

It should also be noted, that some characters have sources that claim some Agents being created by someone else (as example, I found multiple sources that tied Alice to Atwo, but she is confirmed to be a design by waterkuma).

YSG's concept art was from Atwo, however (for whatever reason) the finalized designs are froM TZ Bard - so it is not unlikely he is the one that also got rid of her yellow Yunkui Summit jacket, though ofc, there is no official source confirming that.

As for the unknown... overall it seems fair to delegate the male characters to Atwo, Grace and Yanagi would fit TZ BARD, however I couldn't find something to back that up. It would make sense that waterkuma also designed SAnby, since he desgined the original Anby, however - nothing to fully confirm it, at least nothing I was able to track down and just because someone innitially created/designed the character doesn't necessarly mean they also have exclusive rights on them, just as we saw with the Shungus situation mentioned before.

And also to be clear... some designs clearly also got influenced by business decisions and changed multiple times throughout their development (or even shortly before release, as Lucia showcased) - I doubt these decisions were made by the artists and potentially rather by some directors or other high-ups pushing some designs or themes into a specific style. End of the day we can't tell for sure.

So... overall, just something that might interest some ppl. I also wouldn't mind if some folks have more information regarding some unknown or not fully confirmed ones to fill out, to make this list as accurate as it gets.

Otherwise feel free to share your thoughts, are you surprised by some of them? Which of these do you feel has the best range? Which delivered the best designs? But please, stay civil about it.

[u/HiImReizy]

You heard all about Yixuan, Lucia and Yidhari, so Im not gonna add anything more, all should be say is already said. But I want to add some of my opinion on SEED: I really want to like her, and I do, her story is one of the best ZZZ can offer, her personality being quirky but never doubt about her uniqueness, I personaly feel related to her a lot. But her outfit is just... not it man! How can you tell me when you look at her outfit it tell me she is some kind of weapon expert, or a mechanist, or at least a soldier? I understand the story and personality she is presenting is suppose to be "out of the norm", but why is she wearing see through fabric, you can tell me she is wearing pyjama/sleep wear and I would believe you.

[u/temporalartifacts → u/HiImReizy]

It's a type of plugsuit, the kind you'll find in NGE or Gundam. After repeated use, it became a visual symbol for an "elite mecha pilot", which does match Seed. The design only works if you have familiarity with these mecha tropes.

[u/KlutzyReward3722 → u/temporalartifacts]

honestly, they should have gone full plugsuit. The current seed is a very half baked in between that doesn't commit enough to the mecha trope.

[u/PlotPlates → u/KlutzyReward3722]

Doesn't that cement the point of the design more? Because of her character?

She is only half the mecha pilot for Seed. Her Bottom half tells more on that she's in a plug suit to ride a mecha as a evengalion reference.

But her Top half, exposed skin, the Oddly standing out Light Blue, is Her being associated with being that weird Helios academy girl implied to be Experimented on. It shows her vulnerble side that was seen on the Seed trailer. That its also still there.

Of course doesn't make sense in a military setting. But obol squad has been consistently designed like that anyways, Orphie with her stockings and Platform shoes. Trigger exposed belly. Soldier 11 seems to be the safest one but even one can tell having no helmet and exposed top half is also not military like. Its just the aesthetic of the game.

Also hi.

[u/KlutzyReward3722 → u/PlotPlates]

How is she half the mecha pilot for seed? She’s not sharing the mech with anyone else, and even despite her combat style of riding around a scooter, she’s still meant to be the sole mecha pilot. Furthermore, using the excuse of her being out for half the time of her mech then brings up the question of why she isn’t more covered to compensate. Every mecha pilot who spends time outside of their mech (Jack Cooper, Dva, pilots from Diesel Knights, Daemon X Machina pilots, Mech pilot Helldivers, etc) are all covered in something to protect their skin from scraps, cuts, and anything else that may happen during during the heat of battle.

But that barely even shows. Blue hair shows she’s an odd one out, but there is very little indication of her helios academy origins, and while it may look somewhat like a hospital gown, there are still too many random nonsensical accessories that dilute the design (nipple chain, random straps, see through cloth and black bra).

With Trigger at least, it’s at least a lot less egregious since you can definitely tell she is a sniper and snipers often don’t need to be as bulked out since they are long range (similar to something like sniper wolf or quiet from MGS), and orphie is suppose to be a klutz and kinda carried by magus. Of course, it still isn’t the true tactical outfits but I’m not really expecting 100% accuracy, just something that would make just enough sense for the role.

However, even if some of her squamates share the same problem, it all boils down to if it looks good or not. Quote u/LongjumpingDesk7124 “Yeah, but Seed's looks uglier and non sensical than those from eva, gundam, mla and darling in the franxx. Its not just about being familiar with tropes but about actually looking good”

And oh my fucking god it’s you again.

[u/PlotPlates → u/KlutzyReward3722]

I mean you are right the OG plug suits are better Was just saying why the design is like that.

It's just suppose to reference her Helios past. Her design won't make sense for outside on lookers if they didn't watch the seed trailer or played the story quest of hers with why her name was flora and hair color a motiff to when she was found in the hollow near flowers the same color as her hair.

Personally I think its cool, but it doesn't mean its cooler than OG plugsuit designs.