not a gymnast or athlete of any kind but i do make a comic with a lot of action in it and one thing ive been working on (key phrase: working on) is incorporating character into movement/poses; no two people walk or stand in the same way (the same person could even walk or stand in a hundred different ways in different contexts) so logically no two people would carry themselves the same way in any complicated movement
which brings me to my question: how would you say your characters carry themselves in action scenes? alinua in particular intrigues me as shes the only gang member who i imagine is in no way accustomed to getting in fights
Good call! Alinua does not have the muscle memory for combat. She mostly stands like she's poised to run.
She usually curls up, shrinks away from things, tucks in her arms - she's almost never expecting a fight. And when she commits to combat she doesn't usually enter any kind of fighting stance, she just plants herself in one place, opens up her arms more and focuses entirely on offense instead of defense.
Erin is the other token non-combat combatant, and his body language is rather different. At his most extreme, he's almost like a dancer or a conductor for an orchestra, engaging his whole body in big sweeping motions as he reshapes the battlefield around him.
Similar to Alinua, he's rarely expecting a full-on fight, and will sometimes carry himself like he isn't in combat - but where Alinua becomes more physically confident when she commits to the fight, Erin is more confident when he's controlling the situation and doesn't feel mired in the combat. If he has to actually fight, something's wrong. In the above example he's purposefully drawing attention to himself to buy Alinua time. In more standard situations, he distinguishes himself by not showing any effort or perturbation.
To him it's like a game, and he's making the right moves to win.
When things go south, however, that attitude tends to crumble. He doesn't really know how to handle close-range threats in any practiced or calculated way, and has a tendency to respond to them with borderline self-destructive panic-moves just to get them away from him.
And he tends to lightly toast Falst in the process. Speaking of whom, Falst is the physical opposite. He is pretty much always ready for a fight. He's a big ball of tension 24/7. Even when he's not actively in a fight he's coiled like a spring, shoulders tense, knees bent. He's always ready to jump, run or throw a punch.
Falst is almost always hunched over, and if he's expecting any sort of fight he keeps his arms up to protect his face and chest.
It's pretty rare to see him standing in any sort of straight-limbed pose, and he shifts into defensive positions pretty readily.
He keeps his limbs free and open and is pretty much always ready to lash out or run in any given direction. The worse he’s feeling about a situation, the more he hunches his shoulders and torso, approaching an almost animalistic crouch.
Kendal’s another point of contrast. Unlike Falst, who is a grab bag of combat skills, Kendal’s one thing is Use Sword On Problem. If he’s willingly not using the sword, he doesn’t consider the situation to be a fight.
He uses clear, precise motions to accomplish his goals - no wasted energy if he can help it. He becomes more focused when upset, but will always default to talking first - if there’s ever an opportunity to defuse the combat with words, he’ll try taking it. It takes a lot to convince him that fully won’t work, and when it does happen he tends to get a little scary.
Most of Kendal’s proper combat is, unsurprisingly, centered on the sword. He’ll follow the line or curve of its movement with his whole body.
Behind it all, there’s a certain easy elegance to the way Kendal typically moves. Even if he’s kind of on the ropes there’s a grace and confidence to how he carries himself.
Tess’s defining posing is centered on her shoulders, like Falst, but hers is almost the exact opposite to him. Tess’s shoulders are always back and open, like she just finished a really good stretch.
She’s just having a good time. It’s a combat stance - she’s ready to fight - but there’s no fear in it. She plants into a solid stance and waits for things to try and hit her.
Dainix is unique among the posse because he is physically a basically normal person like Alinua and Erin, but he’s also got actual combat training. He can’t tank the kinds of hits that Falst, Kendal and Tess are prepared for, so his combat posing tends to highlight mobility and speed. He also can’t jump crazy high, so he has to dodge attacks by going low or sideways - he can’t pull a Falst and just fully flip over the bad guy.
He uses weapons and armor for their actual intended purpose - blocking attacks and dealing damage. He can’t afford to showboat or approach combat in a casual, chill way - he’s fragile in a way the other heavy hitters aren’t.
Staff and spear combat is pretty close to second nature to him at this point. Even while deteriorating, the muscle memory still carries him through a lot of the fight.
Of course when he’s not in the throes of indescribable soul-burning fury he’s a pretty tactical guy. He’s got a lot of training and he knows how to use it, including how to deal with people during a crisis.
And he thinks about his surroundings and allies more than the rest of the gang does. He’s not a lone warrior by nature - he’s accustomed to fighting alongside other similarly-trained people. So he worries about tactical considerations the rest of the gang might not think about right off the bat, like “I’m going to try to stop that guy from getting more injured when he hits the ground.”
Anyway you’re absolutely right, every character is unique in how they carry themselves in combat and it’s a lot of fun to get to explore what that looks like.
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