The short version: I wanted a Super Smash Bros-style roster of fighters — but original, so nobody's IP gets stepped on — rendered in a clean, cel-shaded 3D "character-select" look. I built all eight with free, local AI (no subscriptions, no cloud bills). Here's exactly how, the design rules that made them feel like one cast, and the finished roster.
Why "original" beats "fan art" if you actually want to use it
Fan art of Nintendo characters is fun, but you can't sell it, print it, or build a brand on it — it's someone else's IP. The moment you want posters, a game concept, or a product, you need original characters. The trick is capturing the feeling of a Smash roster (bold, readable, iconic) without copying any actual character.
The design rules that made 8 characters feel like one roster
A roster only works if the cast reads as a set. Four rules did the heavy lifting:
- One art style, locked. A slightly cel-shaded, semi-realistic 3D "character-select trophy" render on a clean gradient background. Same lighting, same framing, every fighter.
- A strict palette per character — two base colors plus one glowing elemental accent (fire = orange, water = cyan, shadow = magenta…). Instantly distinct, never muddy.
- One bold signature motif each — usually energy flowing from the head: flame-hair, a water-arc, shadow-smoke, a lightning bolt. You can ID every fighter by silhouette alone.
- Simple beats busy. Minimal outfits, no glowing trim everywhere. Iconic > detailed.
Meet the AURACLASH roster
- Cinder 🔥 — the ember brawler. Flame-shaped hair, molten chest-mark. The rushdown starter.
- Nereo 💧 — the tide sage. A single arc of glowing water for hair. Calm zoner.
- Nyx 🌑 — the shadow trickster. Hood dissolving into magenta smoke. Mixups and mind-games.
- Magnus 🪨 — the stone bulwark. A living rock-golem heavyweight. Slow, scary, immovable.
- Volt ⚡ — the speedster. Hair like a crackling lightning bolt. High risk, high reward.
- Thorne 🌿 — the grappler. A crown of living vines. Grounded and relentless.
- Lumen ☀️ — the all-rounder. A radiant halo of golden light. The balanced pick.
- Zahir 🏜️ — the trap artist. A scarf of streaming desert sand. Stage control and setplay.
How it was made (free + local)
The whole roster was rendered locally with an open-weights image model, prompted toward that cel-3D "character-select render" look — no LoRA, no paid tools. Each fighter is one prompt: the character description plus a fixed style suffix that locks the render, framing, and lighting. If you want to run models like this yourself without a beefy GPU, a cloud GPU host does the job for cents — RunPod is what I use.
Want the roster on your wall?
The four flagship fighters — Cinder, Nereo, Nyx, and Magnus — are available as posters, print-ready at every size. → Get the AURACLASH poster collection.
And if you caught the design bug and want to build your own fighter roster — or a whole platform fighter — the design guide walks you through rosters, archetypes, and balance: → RING-OUT: the platform-fighter design guide.
Everything here was made with free, local AI tools. No characters are affiliated with any existing game — AURACLASH is an original creation.