#tangle fanartists if you want me to do a post like this and examine your art let me know..!

[lemurballing]

okay so i really wanted to do this in Prim and Proper Essay Form with demonstration drawings and stuff but if i wait for that its never going out so screw it.

tangle design evolution/changes post with whatever tangle pics i can grab and edit on my phone

i am aware many of these changes can be attributed to art style; i’m not questioning that these are all tangle, but i find joy in dissecting the little things and how many parts of tangle’s design are drawn with so much variance

What’s the difference anyway? That’s just five normal pictures of Tangle in that above edit, right?

That’s rhetorical - they are, and they’re subtly (or not-so-subtly) different in interesting ways. So I’m going to note the five features I find vary the most, and are most critical to Tangle’s design (in order of significance):

Eye shape - Hair style - Face mask & muzzle - Ear shape - Tail

I would also maintain the stance that while every character differs somewhat between art styles, Tangle varies most often across IDW, and with larger changes between one depiction and another. Additionally, I didn’t notice many (if any) other examples of characters whose base eye shape changes between depictions like Tangle’s does!

(this got long, see under the cut)

So… what’s with Tangle’s eyes? Contrast these 3 images:

Tangle’s model sheet, on which her eyes have only one corner (the inner corner) and the outside of the eye is an oval/rounded shape - a panel from issue 71, in which Tangle’s eye has 2 prominent corners (inner corner and upper outer corner; plus the harsher join between her lower outer corner and muzzle) - and a panel from issue 37, in which we have the inner corner and rounded eyes again, but the lower outer corner joins the muzzle also.

Each of these are enough to change the expressions you can make with that same eye shape - the eye type depicted in the #37 panel is most versatile for squinting/wide eyes/smushing around the eyebrows for expressions, while the other two are distinctly more ‘pretty’ eye shapes, similar to the eye shapes used for characters like Blaze or Rouge. They also give you a pretty strong impression of Tangle’s demeanor and character; the ‘pretty’ eye shapes can make her look more focused, while the rounded ‘corner-anchored’ eye type makes her look more open and friendly.

(I personally appreciate Tangle’s design as a juxtaposition between ‘pretty face’ and ‘gremlin energy’ - and intentionally drawing her eyes off-model for funny expressions such as the ones below, even if her eye shape is by default the ‘pretty’ one, is a tactic I’m a fan of.)

Next on the discussion block: hair style!

There are two main categories I find art of Tangle to fall into: ‘mohawk’ and ‘poff’.

Three examples (one of which is my own art) of the ‘mohawk’ category:

You can see the general hairstyle starts between her ears or behind them and flows forwards in more or less individual tufts; this is based on her model sheet, which I’ve embedded enough in this post already.

Examples of the ‘poff’ hairstyle:

Her hair is either all rooted ahead of the ears, or has a distinctly larger mass of hair in front of them that overshadows the smaller tufts behind it.

Sometimes she’s drawn in a way that toes the line between either hairstyle, which builds more uncertainty as to which hairstyle she’s supposed to have. I’m not even sure if this ‘poff’ hairstyle is a change one artist did for their own style that others jumped on, or a misunderstanding that got carried on and kept up?

While not quite as expressive or important to characterization, the hairstyle does somewhat indicate Tangle’s personality; the ‘mohawk’ does a similar thing as the ‘pretty eyes’, adding sharp angles and a ‘focused’ impression, while the poff is fluffier and friendlier.

And now we’re onto: face mask and muzzle! I’ve grouped them together since they’re in a similar spot on her face, but each one can change independently of the other.

In most of her official depictions, Tangle has a very short and almost flat muzzle shape:

Whereas other depictions (and a good few of my own) lengthen her muzzle and give it a point:

I’ll touch on this a little more in the segment for ears, but as far as real animal accuracy, the longer and pointier muzzle reflects ringtailed lemurs better. They actually have a prominent snout more similar to a canine, rather than flat faces like other primates people commonly know about; chimpanzees, gorillas, the monkey from night at the museum, etc.

While accuracy to real life animals is already vague at best in the Sonic series, Tangle’s muzzle being depicted as extra short implies to me a misunderstanding between ringtailed lemurs as ‘sort of a monkey, right?’ versus what they actually look like. A flatter muzzle can make humanlike expressions easier, and similarly to the ‘poff’ hairstyle makes her more friendly and harmless-looking - but it does lose something compared to the more lemurlike pointed muzzle. And plenty of neat expressions are possible with a more pointed muzzle, so it’s not like it sacrifices Tangle’s expressiveness to use it, even ignoring going off-model for an expression.

The other detail to note is her facial marking; while it is always a 'bump' shape between her eyes, the height of the marking can differ, sometimes higher than halfway up between her eyes, and occasionally only a third of the way up. I do want to point out a neat thing about some panels her facial marking is drawn in, and how it lines up with her muzzle shape - when I sketch Tangle, I often place her facial features by drawing this kinda triangular shape first, and then her nose and other features.

Next is ear shape! There’s only two distinct shapes used in canon art, but I’ll also showcase a third style I draw:

First is the rounded ear type, a panel from issue 47 - a pointed ear type from issue 71 - and a fuzzy ear type (pointed backwards) in my fanart. While the lack of fuzz in official art I understand (since no other characters such as Tails or Blaze have fuzzy ears either), I don’t understand the roundness! Every picture I’ve seen of ringtailed lemur ears look pretty pointy, so I vastly prefer the issue 71 take on her ears - they’re also easier to point around for expressions. The rounder ears simply play into the (imo) excessively rounded shapes used for Tangle across some issues.

Last topic - Tangle's tail! While this is the most consistent feature, certain artists' styles will depict it at different thicknesses, which I find an interesting change, as it does create a different impression of what Tangle's tail is capable of.

The thicker tail shapes place emphasis on the strength of Tangle's tail, as well as being more striking on the page since it takes up more room, like writing with sharpie vs ballpoint pen. The thinner tail shapes imply some normality - that the only weird thing about Tangle's tail is its ability to stretch and extend. (I do consider these separate aspects of Tangle's powers - I could even do a whole second essay on Tangle's tail's abilities, after the first one!)

Additionally, the thicker tail is more plausible for special poses, such as Tangle propping herself up with just her tail, compared to an average-length tail that would have to coil an extra 2x or 3x to get the same height, which just seems inconvenient…

If you read this whole thing, thank you! :D

I definitely haven’t exhausted my reserve of items to talk about, about character design and Tangle both, so feel free to add on if you have something new or a question <3