Ninja animation for game!

[guizadin]

Hello guys!
So, I'm making a new game and I suck at graphics and animation, but in the past 2 days I decided that I'll learn 'cause I want my games to look beautiful o:
So anyways, I'm making a ninja and so far I made these:



Sooo, do you guys have any tips for me? Or is there anything I could've done better?
Thanks!

[PypeBros]

hmm ... that's quite obviously Megaman (NES) sprite in disguise ... The shapes you suggest with your lightning are a bit odd, esp. for the head.

[guizadin]

I looked up some 32x32 sprites on the internet and found a lot with the "outline" like these 4 I made, i tought it was like a "standard" for the 32x32 sprites and I did the same
What should I try to do to make the shadows look better then?
Thanks!