Ditch the pallette, you don't need it right now. Building ramps is okay, I guess, but this is like a hundred more colours than you really need :]
In pixel art, you can conserve a lot of colors by just being a little smart; If you have a brown tone AND a skin tone, AND a golden tone, use the same dark colours for them all, the eye doesn't really recognize the exact color until it reaches the mid-range.
So right now, try to take away a little of the shading and use one color for outlines, on main color and then one main shadow color and, eh, one main highlight color for each element, and try to share colors with little saturation. Not only will it look more crisp, you'll learn lots by setting this kind of rules!
Is he defending himself? I'm not totally getting the pose. This is not very good, since at this small scale, you want all poses and motions to be very clear.
Explain what you're trying to achieve and we'll help you get it right :]
And don't be afraid to revamp whole pieces of your art, just erase everything in a certain area and start anew; It'll give you precious experience and if you recreate pieces, but only better, you'll learn lots in the process.
Looking good, good luck! :]