# Do you have this pet peeve?



## Crystal_the_Vixen (Mar 4, 2014)

I've always had this pet peeve that I CAN'T stand fursuit digi legs that look like tumors or fat legs.
Popular fursuit makers seem to always have the tumor legs look, where it doesn't look like digi legs.
It just looks like tumors on the legs.

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7828209/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7715538/

Am I the only one with this pet peeve?
Furries on FA seem to think "Oh, those digi legs look great."
But for me it's just repulsive.


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## Taralack (Mar 4, 2014)

Yeah, I think they look horrid. But short of having the suiter wear stilts, I don't see any other way to portray a digitigrade character in the form of a fursuit.


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## Nataku (Mar 4, 2014)

I share in this peeve. Namely because I like the idea of digitigrade so much in art, and really like to see this feature on fursuits - if done properly. 
There are a few out there that I like that seem to have avoided 'tumor leg' problems, but they don't appear to be the norm sadly.

 COuld use some better joining at the feet but this one's not bad 
 This 'slim' digitigrade effect is pretty nice 
 I like how this one flows 
 I think the dropped crotch goes nicely with the digitigrade effect on this suit


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## DeCatt (Mar 4, 2014)

Digitigrade just annoys me in general. Anatomically a creature that would have to walk upright like that would have crippling muscle pains. Never really understood the appeal either, I mean, the arms/hands are still plantigrade style.

But what really REALLY irks me is quadsuits. They all seem so cringey, fake and awkward.


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## Terror-Run (Mar 4, 2014)

Mostly I just think it's "Meh". I prefer making plantigrade because they are easier, but I'll take a slim fitting digigrade over a loose plantigrade anyday. Nothing is uglier than those baggy straight down legs :/ With exception of those massive massive unbalanced tumor legs.


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## sniperfreak223 (Mar 4, 2014)

DeCatt said:


> But what really REALLY irks me is quadsuits. They all seem so cringey, fake and awkward.



quadsuits freak me right the fuck out!!! They're just so damn creepy!


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## SierraCanine (Mar 4, 2014)

I honestly like the digit-grade... if they are done right.  I've seen both terribly done and some most wonderfully done legs.  The biggest thing I think that makes them look like tumors is if they don't have adequate padding or stuffing.  The legs should be filled out and overall smooth in appearance, not the bagging at the knees and hocks that is so common.  Still I prefer digi over planti because to me at least, planti seems to shout out "look at me! I'm a person in an animal suit".  Not that that's a bad thing but I just think it helps add to the magic ^^


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## Zenia (Mar 4, 2014)

I don't pay much attention to fursuits... but a lot of the ones I have seen look really big and clunky. What gets me is in drawings when people don't quite understand the physiology of digitigrade legs and so the character wouldn't be able to stand or move. I was guilty of this as a new artist, but I made efforts to learn how they worked even if I prefer not to draw them. Also, when people give anthros digitigrade legs when the animal doesn't have them IRL. ... Like rabbits, raccoons and bears.


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## Misomie (Mar 4, 2014)

I love digi legs. Especially on fursuits. I know anatomy doesn't work that way on Earth but I'd imagine it can elsewhere. Also, furries are very fantasy based and highly artistic. Therefore artistic liberty and imagination are the dominant factors.


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## Tica (Mar 4, 2014)

Zenia said:


> I don't pay much attention to fursuits... but a lot of the ones I have seen look really big and clunky. What gets me is in drawings when people don't quite understand the physiology of digitigrade legs and so the character wouldn't be able to stand or move. I was guilty of this as a new artist, but I made efforts to learn how they worked even if I prefer not to draw them. Also, when people give anthros digitigrade legs when the animal doesn't have them IRL. ... Like rabbits, raccoons and bears.



Yep.

I default to plantigrade legs when drawing anthros unless I'm specifically drawing someone else's character who has digitigrade legs. I drew some really weird-lookin' stuff in the past but now I think I get it. Basically I draw a normal human leg with a really long foot and the heel in the air. Makes sense to me anyway.

And yeah raccoons and bears with digi legs lol why


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## Batty Krueger (Mar 4, 2014)

Not a fan of digi legs either way, an anthro wouldnt need them.


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## Zenia (Mar 4, 2014)

d.batty said:


> Not a fan of digi legs either way, an anthro wouldnt need them.


Indeed. They only really come in handy for the non-anthro animal so that their body is pretty much parallel to the ground when on all fours. And to aid in faster running and better jumping I'd think.


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## Gazia (Mar 8, 2014)

I love digi legs! I don't think that the fact irl the anatomy wouldn't work out, because that's the magic of fursuiting


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## Kitte (Mar 9, 2014)

I don't see why an anthro wouldn't be able to use digitigrade, plenty of four-legged animals can stand on their hind legs, some can even walk on them. And plenty of apes and monkeys have plantigrade and still walk and run on all fours, so I think it's whatever makes you more comfortable for your character. Personally I think it totally ruins a good suit to see that it has completely straight legs when it's trying to be at least semi realistic. Unless you're going to just put an animal head on a human body like an egyptian god of some sort, some suits just don't look right with plantigrade.


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## Roadkvlted (Mar 10, 2014)

I dunno about this. The whole thing about digitgrade is that the legs are animalistic because a suiter is representing an animal above anything else. Funny enough, I don't think the plantigrade looks good on a fursuit (At least with animals that have a digitgrade structure). Something about it going straight down without any sort of curve looks a little weird to me (It reminds me too much of those mascot costumes or like those costumers you would hire at children parties and stuff). I'unno. But I also don't want like big tumorized thighs and like stick shins and stuff. The one example that Nataku gives (the slim digitgrade effect one) would be something I would be looking for. Again, I think it's very subjective as far as what appeals to who.

Edit: It reminds me of the Werewolf Anatomy. Where you have an anthro that is bipedal but has anatomically correct back legs to match the original animal but still have a humanistic upper body, excluding the animal head.


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## sniperfreak223 (Mar 11, 2014)

most of the sketches of my 'sona are digitgrade, but due to my build, my suit will have to be plantigrade. I have large-ish feet (size 11 x-wide) and due to my line of work my legs are pretty big too, so I honestly have no way to pull of digitgrade with my body type, but I will try to go fitted in the legs, as straight legs just look too fake.


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## Rhee (Mar 12, 2014)

when done wrong they look like strange fat pads, but I've seen some done really nicely.


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## Folfelit (Apr 15, 2014)

That's because they are trying to look animalistic, but are failing. If the real reason you didn't like it was because it makes no anatomical sense, then you wouldn't like tails, either. Tails are for balance and, in some animals, a bit of a rudder (think cheetah). For a bipedal creature, it's unnecessary and stressing on the spinal cord by being at a sharp angle to the rest of the spine.

No, the real reason is that it's rarely done well. Just like "use-your-own-eyes", people hate them not for what they can be, but what they usually see. A good example of well-done digitigrade is Dorito, by Arito. 

http://www.furaffinity.net/full/4083154/ 
Here's another suit they did, with gorgeous padding;
http://www.furaffinity.net/full/7923728/

Notice that the digitigrade is blended into the hips, the knee to ankle angles are relaxed and believable, and the ankle to foot transition is smooth. That's important. By not padding the hip into the digitigrade, it looks thin and tumor-like. They also forget that digitigrade animals are just like people in that they stand in the most relaxed way possible. The knee-to-ankle angle should not be level to floor. If you can't stand that way as a person (on the balls of your feet) then an animal probably won't want to either. Instead the back of the padded knee should be roughly the same angle as the front of the padded ankle. Keeping it loose makes it look better.

Sorry for the tl;dr.


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