When we decided to reunite the full Sex Bob-omb lineup for Scott Pilgrim EX – Back in the Band, available now, we knew that simply adding three new playable characters wasn’t enough. Stephen Stills, Kim Pine, and Knives Chau each needed to feel like they had always belonged in the game, both mechanically and visually.
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At Tribute Games, animation is never just about making a character move. Every pose, transition, and tiny reaction is an opportunity to communicate personality. Those subtle details are often invisible at first glance, but they’re what make a character feel alive.
With contributions from Samantha Lhoir and Artem Samoilov, 2D Animators at Tribute Games.
Building a Character Select Screen With Personality
The first challenge was updating the Character Select screen to welcome the three newcomers.
Our artist, Artem Samoilov, began by considering the overall composition, ensuring the expanded cast still felt balanced while naturally drawing players’ eyes toward the new additions. Since these are beloved characters, simply standing in place wasn’t enough. Every idle animation had to communicate who they are before players even pressed a button.
“Each selection animation was designed as a tiny performance.” – Artem Samoilov
Kim Pine carries herself with quiet confidence and just enough attitude. Knives Chau radiates restless energy, always looking ready to spring into action. Stephen Stills appears relaxed on the surface, but careful observers might notice a subtle moment of surprise… a tiny expression that lasts only a fraction of a second.
It’s a detail many players may never consciously notice, but that’s exactly the point, explains Artem.
Those fleeting moments are part of our animation philosophy at Tribute Games. Rather than simply moving a sprite from point A to point B, we look for opportunities to inject emotion, personality, and humanity into every action. Sometimes it’s a quick facial expression.
Sometimes it’s a tiny secondary motion or a subtle visual effect that gives an animation a little extra sparkle. Individually, they’re almost imperceptible, but together they give our characters far more heart.
Early concept sketches helped establish each character’s silhouette, posture, and personality before our art team refined them into the pixel art seen in the final game. Even small adjustments like changing a stance, exaggerating a pose, or tweaking an expression can dramatically improve readability while staying faithful to Bryan Lee O’Malley’s iconic characters.
Seeing the concept work alongside the finished sprites highlights just how much iteration goes into making every animation feel natural.
Designing Knives Chau’s unique fighting style
Knives Chau was one of the most exciting characters to develop because she brings a completely different rhythm to combat.
Designed as a fast hit-and-run fighter, Knives thrives on speed, mobility, and relentless pressure. Her scarf becomes both a stylish visual element and a weapon, extending the reach of her attacks while emphasizing her acrobatic movement. Combined with rapid knife strikes, she can quickly weave through enemies before darting away.
As with every character added in the Scott Pilgrim EX – Back in the Band DLC, our goal wasn’t simply to recreate an existing personality; it was to translate that personality directly into gameplay, animation, and every frame players see on screen.
Scott Pilgrim EX and the DLC Scott Pilgrim EX – Back in Band are available now on PlayStation.