A.B.I.torial 14-A: DARKSEID - Hands Where I Can See Them 

Darkseid “Then I will grind your bones to dust..... as soon as the police officer uncuffs me!”

One of the things that make Darkseid's animation *extra* bad is NR's over-reliance on mocap. Since a real human has to do the motions for Darkseid's moves, the actor had to twist himself uncomfortably to prevent himself from falling over due to bad balance, which just added to the feeling of Darkseid struggling to move his body around.

It doesn't give the impression of "you're beneath me" at all. Because we know he's actively making an effort to KEEP HIS HANDS BEHIND HIS BACK when attacking. It's harder to move around with your hands behind your back than to just do what's natural... Which basically means he's that one anime kid in highschool who thought the fighting poses were cool so he tried to copy them not realising they don't work. He's the biggest edgelord ever lmao

Darkseid jumping just looks goddam hilarious.

Beerus is actually a great point of comparison for Darkseid.

Wow.... but yeah, they really overdid it. I know the arms behind his back is Darkseid's trademark pose, but like Beerus, that should just be his idle animation. Actually throw those hands when you're fighting. That stomp just looks beyond stupid and very disrespectful for Darkseid's character.

Slayer, Rachel, Beerus, Bison. . . so many characters who convey their superiority. I just think Darkseid looks like he's an old man with a really bad back.

He actually took the phrase, "I can beat you with both hands tied behind my back," a bit too seriously.

When the 'expressing personality through animation' part came and you showed Beowulf's backwards walk, I was so happy.

Agreed his posture looks less dismissive and more like his hands are tied behind his back and he is drunk stumbling around.

I'm so glad you're making videos like these. It's nice to see educated analysis of ANIMATION in games instead of just gameplay elements. Keep up the good work!

I can take or leave the anime and game reviews, but god I love your animation and design breakdowns. I don't know how much effort they take vs the other content on the channel, but I'd love to see more of them.

Injustice is a fucking case study in poor character design and animation

Wow. I had not seen Darkseid's moveset before aside from the eye lasers, that's pretty disgusting looking.

The interesting lil tidbit about Oro, since you mentioned him, is that in his turning animation, you actually see him switch hands, tucking one away as he brings the other one out.

I... I understand him holding them behind his back in his IDLE pose, but EVERY OTHER ANIMATION LOOKS HORRIBLE WITH THEM THERE.

Not only that but Darksied looks so... disproportionate. His fore arms are so tiny. Darkseid is BIG. But his forearm really don't do him justice.

3:41 I can't believe this is real

Yeah, how they made Darkseid have his hands behind his back at times looks so stupid in Injustice 2. I get that the hands behind the back pose is his thing, but he doesn't have to stay like that all the fucking time!

This channel is really underrated , hope you get more attention !

Yeah, it looks like he's _handicapped_ by his hands being behind his back, not dominant.

I can't get over how Darkseid looks like he's wearing an invisible straight jacket.

Can you please talk about Dragon Ball FighterZ characters?

I'm amazed that multiple people, possibly dozens, looked at that pose, walk cycle, kicking motions, etc, and decided "yeah, this works".

This animation is unacceptable because netherrealm also had General Zodd have the exact same stance in Injustice 1, hand behind his back, but he actually fucking used his hands and animates pretty decently. How do you fuck up one character with a certain stance but do another one with the same stance way better in a previous game?

Darksied should T pose instead to assert dominance

Has no one in neatherrealm studio thought that the posses are bit riddiculas

Funny how Black Adam also seem to have that "Arms Crossed" stance in Injustice 2. Though, considering his overall role in the story the only authority he seems to have, is over Khandaq.

Darkseid is a intimidating figure but he looks kind of goofy the way fights in Injustice 2. Beerus may think little of his opponent but when necessary he actually goes all out. So yeah Beerus looks more interesting in game than Darkseid.

His behind the back pose looks great and is very Darkseid when stationary, but damn is it obviously stupid to look at the moment he does anything and I have no clue how anybody thought it was a good idea for him to keep them there past a neutral pose.

Given that this game is mocapped, how the heck did this happen!?

Wow, animation analysis of fighting games?! Where has this channel been all my life? I really dig what you are doing here, man. Actually, I was wondering what you thought about Zafina and Voldo as far as animation goes? Those are two characters with extremely unorthodox body languages and I wonder if you think they are more or less considered "successful" in their presentation?

Looking at this video again because of Isla in KoF XV, a lot of her attacks have her hands in her pockets while her stand powers do the punching. Though it seems that her animations are used to convey confidence rather than authority

I was immediately reminded of General Zod from Injustice 1 when I see Darkseid's "hands behind back" pose. Which one is better in your opinion, Zod's or Darkseid's ?

=_= My first impression when I see Darkseid in Injustice2 is... Is he handcuffing? Super weird...

For fuck's sakes, it actually looks like he's exerting MORE effort to keep his hands behind his back, like he's some college dude-bro that got dared to finish a bar fight without removing his hands behind his back, as part of his pledge. I've seen him fight plenty in the Superman and Justice League cartoons, and he only keeps his arms crossed behind the back when he's zapping someone with laser beams with the utmost impunity. Otherwise, if he's gonna bash Superman's dental work in, he moves like you'd expect a lummox of his size to! And doesn't put his arms back until he's confident the freaking fight is OVER. He doesn't like lunge in for a kick and in mid-motion go like 'Oh that's right, better put my arms behind my back like a fucking spaz and do a really awkward and graceless dropkick!' You have Beerus, Bison, Onslaught, Apocalypse, and tons of other bosses that you know are a serious threat just at a glance. What this guy needs is a kick-me sign, or a dunce cap. Maybe even a straitjacket. Hell, wasn't he the boss in Justice League Task Force for the SNES and Sega? He actually had a NORMAL posture in that game! What the hell is going on here?

thanks for the video. It's over-doing a gimmick of the character to absurdity.

Sorry, can't like. Hands behind my back.

That moment when inferno cop feels more active that Darkseid

People who say DC characters have no personality don't read comics.

Great video, Rivers in the Desert makes it even better

This is going to be the best 4 minutes of today! And i LITTERALLY thought of you like 15 minutes ago.

I love your animation videos! Insightful and most importantly very honest. NRS games are what originally got me into the fgc and ultimately fighting games as a whole. I enjoy all of their games thus and because i want them to be so much better than they are, and videos such as these are too hard to say no to. I hope more people learn from this, and something is done about the elephant in the room at NRS studios. Keep em coming good sir!

My God, it's nkt just the animation that's terrible, the designs are horrible too. Darkseid's face looks so bland, like he's someone's uncle. Kirby is so much better than this.

Beerus stands with his hands behind his back because he is superior to you. Darkseid fights with his hands behind his back because he bet a parademon $100 that he could beat you with his arms behind his back and he really needs that money to pay his rent.

I want to watch something about Dragonball Fighterz and I'm like "jeez this guy has cool video's but since I can't find a Fighterz I'll guess I'll see the DARKSIEID one and OMFG IT'S BEERUS WOAH NOICE.

DC character have no personality? Who the fuck would think that?

lol his jumping

I'm honestly so glad you use jojo heritage for the future as example. As most Capcom games, hftf has some jaw dropping animations

Darkseid IS.... a huge potato with legs.

As a guy who is starting to learn animation. This was very informative, I never thought about the animation of this game until you brought it up. In comparison, it doesn't look as dynamic as the others. It's a shame because Darkseid really is an interesting character.

This channel deserves more attention

When i saw DS's announcement trailer... I hoped against hope that he wasn't going to move like that. he was the reason why i was hyped for IJ2 and he is the biggest reason i didn't buy it. that pose isn't intimidating, its foolish. something that DC's biggest bad should NEVER look like.

Your putting ideas in my head and ruining the game for me ignorant was bliss before this channel.

It's funny what ABI says about moving your hands to kick, as there's another character in Dragonball FighterZ that breaks this principle, and yet makes it work. Vegito, who was added to the game as DLC, has a special move that is a flurry of rapid kicks, during which he keeps his arms folded across his chest the entire time. It's great for conveying his lackadaisical attitude to fighting as well as his cocky, overconfident personality. Actually, I'd love for ABI to take a look at Fused Zamasu from Dragonball FighterZ to show how a powerful and regal character uses good posture and key poses

Nice pun at the end. If you got some hands free

It looks like they accidentally took the reference of Darkseid for Dive Kick instead of this game lol

I honestly cannot see how could they fuck this up, i mean, did they forget Zood from Injustice 1? He has the same concept but at least looked a little better.

I... That's really what he looks like in game? That's... I just... It looks like a joke. Especially the jump animation. It's pretty bad when Justice League Task Force does the character better

DC characters don't lack personality, it's just that they are always/ mostly handled poorly. Suicide Squad 2021, Shazam and Dark Knight trilogy are the stand-outs here as their directors/ people handling them in general actually know a lot abt the characters and how they should be expressed. In the comics Superman has a lot of personality, but in the recent movies (more in the public eye) he is just shown as an emotionless god above everyone else, when he is meant to be a kind man with superpowers

At least Thanos use his fucking arms in Marvel vs Capcom Infinite and when you doing multiple combos he shows his true anger and combat skills with his infinity gauntlet.

Darkseid moves around quite similarly to how I did when I was rehabbing 3 herniated discs.

The music ❤️❤️

LMAO I am never buying an NRS game

It's as if Darkseid contracted Lumbago and had to hold his lower back constantly due to the pain it causes during the fight.

Actually speaking of Dragon Ball FighterZ I have been meaning to get into a good arc system fighters, which one would be the best one to try first(also with what control since I am on PC).

I often come to watch the old videos of A.B.I. because they are quite good and informative, however, after watching this for the first time, i remembered that NRS did make a character with the same "style" as Darkseid and Beerus , and that was General Zod. Zod in the first Injustice does have the same attitude and has his hands behind his back in his idle pose, however, when it comes to fight he does moves his arms (he animates far better but still has some issues like with his eye laser attack , he just leans forwards with his arms glued to his back). Comparing him to Darkseid, this is clearly a downgrade in animation quality , like , they seem to have forgotten about they had Zod in the previous game having the same "style" of fight and animation.

I want to see a boxer fight like Darksied

Only Netherealms can take one of the Top Tier power house Villains of Comics and turn him into a flailing clown show. I'd like to slap whoever was responsible for deciding to making DarkSeid's iconic pose the foundation for his entire animation set. Any normal human being would just pay tribute to his iconic pose in intro/outro screens and maybe idle animation/taunts/cinematics/win round poses. Not design his entire moveset with his hands behind his back. This taking an iconic pose too far. Who green lighted this shit ?!??! Was anyone on the team even a fan of / familiar with DarkSeid ? If they knew his character , they should have known this would make him look very stupid. It's not even in character. In comics and animation he does use his fists to fight. He does fight normally. Only if you're not worth fighting he omega beams you while maintaining that pose with his hands behind his back. If he wants to fight you properly he does move his body like a normal person. He doesn't put his hands behind his back and try to river dance you to death. Show me a comic or animated show/movie where he did that .... I have limited knowledge of comics , yet I am still confident you can't show me a comic panel with him kicking while his hands are behind his back. You know why ? Because most comic artists know how dumb it would look. Actually I don't think I ever recall Darkseid kicking, in any media I have seen either. (Except his in his previous Midway/NetherRealms appearance in MK vs DCU. But that's NetheRealms fault too. Well he kicks in that game because there are punch and kick buttons. But he ... *gasps* .... punches like a normal person in that game too , which is what he would do in a real fight in the comics/cartoons .... so it's a hard thing to say that they might have done a better job representing DarkSeid in that game , even though overall the animation in that game is alot worse) It doesn't even suit his character to be mainly a kicker . Him and superman are both mainly punchers and grabbers. (When not using energy or elemental based attacks) You almost never see superman kick in any media too for some reason (Except MK vs DCU , yet again because of punch and kick buttons) . They stayed faithful to this in Injustice , but for Darkseid they decided to do something different and the result looks silly and unfitting for such a figure. (Further more exaggerated with NetherRealms flawed animation in general) It just sounds like someone on the design team really liked his trademark pose and incorporated it into everything. I can't believe they were willing to run so far with a bad idea and now that is the final product. It might have worked if they made Darkseid into a floaty/hovering character like Alpha M.Bison or MvsC Magneto. But even then I'm sure Netherealms wouldn't be able to pull it off too well either. Seriously , a tap dancing dark god .... disgusting Netherealms ..... such fraudulence ... surely Jack Kirby is rolling in his grave right now ....

Fight of Animals pulled off Darkseid's gimmick better with the Mighty Fox, and it's a stupid meme indie.

I think darkseid with his hands behind his back while standing still and moving looks pretty cool. But when he fights(especially kicks) with his hands STILL behind his back it looks CORNY as f*ck tho.

This especially hurts me as Darkseid is one of my mains in Injustice 2.

Can't wait for the flash

this channel is so goddam fucking great, someone send Ed Boon these videos

One of my mains in a semi-abscure fighting game has both hands hidden almost always. Olof, from the game Matrimelee, entered a fighting tournament despite having just broken both his arms. He has only One move where he takes his hands out of his pockets, a super move of a single punch, that does Absurd damage, but also harms himself, leaving him clutching his wrist in agony after doing it. I didn't pick him for how good he was, I picked him for his Style. The way he stands there, leaning back just slightly, hands in his jacket pockets, it Exudes confidence, while having a legitimate reason for him doing it. While Darkside looks like a tryhard pillock, especially when he Does use his hands. He's not refusing to use them for a reason, he's just trying to look cool, and every time he throws a punch, he shows himself to not live up to his own hype. It makes what should be one of the biggest badasses in DC into a poser.

lol ive never seen this animation before. It's so deliciously bad.

Darkseid in other types of animations barely moved, he instead would just spam omega beams. This was done to accentuate the fact that he doesn’t waste energy on lessers. Forcing him to move just doesn’t work.

I just laughed my ass off just by looking at the idiotic animation!!! Good day, sir!

It's annoying because in the comics he only hides his hands when he's standing idle

First time seeing this - how about having the stance as just a taunt? Jumping with the hands behind his back looks incredibly awkward

Thank you for the direct comparison to Beerus. I did not realize just how well animated he was until you juxtaposed these two. Look at that Flash Kick he does on Frieza! Why isn't Darkseid doing any Flash Kicks? They could have salvaged his animation then and there.

i forgot everything you were talking in the moment, persona music started playing. Joking aside, great video though

0:47 through 0:52 is just perfect with the music. Rivers in the desert is such a good song

It would be awsome if you make a video about the animation in MORTAL KOMBAT SHAOLIN MONKS

honestly the idea of a fighting game character who is literally hand cuffed sounds kinda fun his grapple could be using the cuffs for a choke he'd need some good leg game though

omg, i never noticed this before, now looking at it makes me feel really uncomfortable haha

darkseid is not sitting in a chair -1/10

I really love your videos, but I hadn't subscribe yet. But at the moment you said "if you got any hands free" after this video, I smashed that button 😂 great job!

Maybe Darkseid is a big fan of Sanji from One Piece

Seems like he wants to start a war in the comments concerning DC characters’ personality. Nice bait ggwp.

I'm pretty sure Darkseid's kicks are copying Pai Mei from Kill Bill vol. 2, badly. Pai Mei was a slim, agile guy in robes to emphasize how floaty his movement was, and he still broke his stance more. Making a top-heavy rock of a character do all those things more stiffly is basically the opposite of how it works.

What do you think about Jedah (Vampire Savior) who has his hands in his pockets for anytime he doesn't attack? When he does attack with his hands, he doesn't just hit you with his hand (except for his LP), he explodes his bloody arm to reach you, uses a scythe, extends his nails, throws his blood, and all that stuff. He doesn't really fight with fists or kicks but with more blood and his gimmicks. When those hands come out of those pockets, he doesn't fight like a normal human.

They should've given him some moves to show an arrogant nonchalance, like a mere flick similar to Beerus's move for his back 3 to launch opponents or a forward walk which shows a sense of "oh fuck, he's coming"

i feel like some of his animations COULD work if it had an actual reason as to why the hands are glued behind his back, like heres an idea a heavily dangerous criminal that has his hands cuffed and a ball and chain attached to his leg, that kicking animation at 1:29 now would make alot more sense

just have him fold his arms across his chest, keeps him in a relaxed pose and his arms aren't getting in the way when he kicks and it would be quick for him to begin to use his arms when he gets serious in a fight, might be a more cliché im the big bad pose but its cliché for a reason, it works

Dc characters don’t have consistent personalities, it all depends on what the writer is doing with the character.

Darkseid jumping looks as if he was old fashioned puppet being pulled away from the curtains.

Is there a list of music used in the video? Or at least the one playing around 2:00 please?

Yoooo, shout out to Sai from Akatsuki Blitzkampf making it on the video!

You know one day if you cover Slayer's animation from GGXrd i'll jizz all over my screen.