Sunday, August 26, 2007

RC's Guide to the Common FanMew
Because clearly no one here understands the basics to making a fancharacter for this series.

I was going to make this into an illustrated guide, and I still intend to do so 'cause no one will read this, but certain events have caused me to post the text version prematurely.

~('3')~


1) Stick with the manga's established food-based (given) and color-based (family) naming scheme. No "Mew Amy" or "Mew Dark" or anything like that. No English names. The Japanese/Chinese/etc. version of an English food name (i.e. Lemon is Remon, Licorice is Rikorisuu—use that one and I’ll hunt you down and eat your spleen, Cherry/i is Cherii, etc.) would be best, but you don’t have to go that far. So far as family names are concerned, be sure to include your character's main color in it somehow. Flowers may be used if an appropriate hue of whatever color you've chosen is not available. [url=http://www.color-guide.com/e_index.htm]This[/url] site is very useful when it comes to picking her last name.

2) Your character’s color scheme MUST reflect her food-name. A Mew Peach whose colors are black and blue just doesn’t work, capish?
~~ Only TWO colors per Mew! Blatantly ignoring Mew Mint's white accents, all of the Mews only have TWO colors, a main one and one for their trim. The addition of extra colors makes the character too cluttered-looking.

3) The character must have endangered animal DNA. Remember that the Mew draws her power from this animal's will to survive and protect its species. The more endangered the animal is, the more powerful the Mew will be. Likewise, the less endangered the animal is, the weaker she'll be (e.g. My Mew Licorice is one of the weakest Mews due to her animal merely being "vulnerable"). Injecting the DNA of a house cat into your character will not make her a Mew.
~~ No "mythical" creatures allowed! This means no unicorns or dragons or anything of that sort! However, your Mew may appear to be a mythical creature (e.g. a lion and a golden eagle may make a “sphinx,” a Komodo dragon and a Rodrigue’s flying fox may make a “dragon”, etcetera... ).
++++ No. Angels. Period.

4) The outfit. There are, of course, the collar, arm garters, and thigh garter to remember, but have you ever really looked at what makes up the Mew's uniform?
Let us take a closer look:

Tops: All of the bodices/tops for Mews ages ten and up are strapless. While the design varies, all of the tops also have eight seams running lengthwise (a double seam in the front/middle, one over each breast, one under each arm, one under each shoulder blade, and one in the back/middle). There are no sleeves to this part of the outfit at all (this is why Mew Licorice got another makeover).

Bottoms: Shorts, skirts, leotards... As long as it's short enough to show the Mew's thigh garter, anything goes with this. Ball gowns and pants are a no-no.

Collar/Garters: While these may be present, I've noticed an odd trend in which people color their character's collar and garters reversed to how they've colored the rest of the character (e.g. Mew Grapefruit is pink with yellow trim. Her collar and garters are yellow with pink trim, though.). This sort of coloration clashes with the rest of the Mew's outfit, making her look stupid.

Another thing I've seen is the addition of thigh garters where there shouldn't be one (i.e. on the ankle, over knees, etc.). The thigh garter belongs on the Mew's left thigh (or the right if she's the leader of the group).

Materials: The costumes seem to be made out of a rubbery or satin-like material, with trim made of fur or, in the case of Mew Berry (and my Licorice), lace. While one may feel like using fishnets and spikes for their "goth" Mew or tulle and other sheer fabrics for their "princess" Mew, these materials are not standard.

SYMMETRY: This I can't seem to stress enough. All of the Mews' uniforms have bilateral symmetry. What does that mean? Think about a butterfly's wings. Generally, they are mirror images of each other. The outfits the Mews wear are like that. A lot of the "Winx Club" fangirls who have wandered into the "Mew Mew Power" fandom like to use slanted skirts and single-strap tops for their characters, mimicking the clothing worn by the fairy girls. However, if you look at the seven canon Mews, you'll see that all of them have bilateral symmetry, so such designs look clumsy.

Mew Mark: Something that is frequently forgotten, or horribly misplaced if remembered. The Mews all have marks (with the exceptions of Ringo and Berry, the former because she was never injected, and the latter because Mia Ikumi was on her own by that point and is really nothing more than a Mew Mew fangirl herself, just with more power than one of us) where they were injected with whatever DNA they take their power from. The mark itself is a bilaterally symmetrical representation of the animal the Mew was fused with and is positioned over the midline of the body (forehead, middle of the chest, between the shoulder blades, over the navel). One might argue that Ichigo's mark isn't on the midline, but when she is standing in the anatomical position (facing forward, feet together, palms forward), one can see that it IS on her midline, thus following this pattern.

The positioning problem may be averted by adding in the Mew's profile that she was injected by hand, meaning that her mark would be wherever the needle/injection gun went.

5) Weaponry. So far as character designs are concerned, a lot of the names are meant to be puns and stuff; this especially includes the weaponry. I've seen some very cutesy fan Mews carrying some very dangerous implements of doom-ness, mostly swords and scythes. With the exception of Mew Berry (because, again, she breaks all of the rules 'cause she's little more than a fan character herself, albeit one created by Ikumi), all of the Mews' weapons are based on musical instruments. Furthermore, the name of the weapon can blend into the food name of the Mew, adding to the general corny feeling of the series. For example:

Ichigo has a bell, the Strawberry Bell (Strawberuberu).
Minto has (technically) a harp, the Mint Tone Arrow (Mintoonaro).
Retasu has her castanets, the Lettuce Castanets (Retasunetto).
Purin has the her tambourines, the Pudding Rings (Puringu).
Zakuro has (technically) a flute, Zakuro Cross Whip/Zakuro's Whip (Zakurosuwipu).

My Licorice has a lyre, the Licorice Lyre (Rikorieru). It's a bit of a stretch, but if you can make it work, do it. Add an adjective if you must, like in the case of Minto and Zakuro's weapons.


~TBC~
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