Game Boy Pixel Art · Reference
Character Proportions — Three-Quarter View
The measured proportion bands for three-quarter-view Game Boy characters, and the six-step block-in, on one page.
Measured off five CC0 characters by
build-examples.py (section
character_proportions, 2026-09-11). Full working in
Lesson 05.
The bands
| Measure | 16×24 humanoid | 16×16 figure | Whole sample |
|---|---|---|---|
| Head share of height | 32–39% | 50–56% | 32–56% |
| Heads tall | 2.6–3.1 | 1.8–2.0 | 1.8–3.1 |
| Head width ÷ body width | 0.43–0.83 | 0.88–1.08 | 0.43–1.08 |
| Fill of own box, front view | 61–75% | 70–73% | 61–75% |
| Front-view mirror match | 100% | 77–100% | 77–100% |
| Front / back silhouette shared | 87–96% | 77% | 77–96% |
| Side width ÷ front width | 0.50–0.75 | 1.00 (hat) | 0.50–1.00 |
| Head rows, down / up / side | equal (one off by 1) | equal | — |
Sample: Chasersgaming’s Knight, Ranger and Kung Fu Man (16×24); pebonius’s mini hero and mini villager (16×16). Hats and hoods count as head.
The block-in
- Box — 16×24 (hero taller than a tile) or 16×16 (Pokémon-era). Decide once.
- Head — a third of the rows at 16×24; half at 16×16. Hat inside the band.
- Shoulders — wider than the head at 16×24; narrower at 16×16.
- Feet — legs to the bottom row; last 1–2 rows are feet.
- Mirror — draw half the front, flip. Copy for the back; change the inside.
- Side — same rows, half to three-quarters the width. Draw once, flip.
Ink only until the silhouette reads as a person.
Three-quarter view, in one breath
Camera tilted, not overhead. You see the front and the top. Face and full head visible; feet tucked under the body; lower on screen is nearer. Front and back share one outline. The head never changes height when the character turns.
Source
Raymond Schlitter, Pixelblog 22 — Top Down Character Sprites: “When working with limited size the head usually takes up a third to half of the total sprite.” The sample above is that sentence, measured.