You know, what's the opposite of walking backwards?
Just swap the animation in reverse. 
D'oh! You're amazing. Can't believe I didn't think of that. The "play in reverse" button has been sitting there in Pro Motion all day long and I didn't think to try that. It looks perfect now.
I think that your are bringing his hand too far forward as well. There is a giant skip from mid-placement to full forward. Maybe his hands shouldnt fling so far forward?
You might be right about that, but I actually like the way it looks at the moment. I may experiment with making the movement less violent, but I think this is the template I want to use, at least for the main character. To me, it makes his stride look very strong and determined because of the exaggerated arm movement. Thank you for the critique
I've completed some running animations now. I'd love some feedback on these too.
It may seem a little counter-intuitive, but I've actually given the running animations fewer frames than the walking. I think the effect is working.
Once I get this good and I feel confident in the animations, I'll shade the template, and then I'd really love some nitpicking. I haven't done pixel art in a while really, and my shading is probably rusty. Not that it was anything remarkable to begin with.
Thanks again to everyone for their assistance. You're definitely improving my skill, and proving extremely helpful.
