Original Character Design - Zato Hashiba 羽柴ザト

 

This is Zato Hashiba. An original character of mine. He's a techno-style, modern shinobi still in development. I intend to add a sword which he will carry in his back, around the waist area in that belt. 

I wanted to keep a few classic ninja tropes such as the "fish net armor", which is actually how many artists draw the "kusarikatabira" 鎖帷子, aka chain mail armor and the "tabi" 足袋, that traditional footwear split at the toe similar to a pair of socks. Although it's too dark to see Zato is whearing tabi. ;-)

His torso piece is a protective garment, like an armor which I decided to style in a way that would look similar to a sports shirt or a compression t-shirt to evoke an athletic feel. After all, ninja are supposed to be extremely athletic, even supernaturally athletic when we consider their ninja arts. 

As for my inspirations, I could point out Hotsuma from the 2001 game by Sega, Shinobi and Ryu Hayabusa of the Ninja Gaiden series. But overall I was inspired not just by them but also other modern and feudal ninja characters. 

for reference: tabi 足袋

for reference: CGI art of a character wearing chain mail armor, or kusarikatabira 鎖帷子 in Japanese