Need critique

[valdimer]

Hello fellow Pixel artists.  I was planning on animating this character...but before I do, I would like to see if anyone has a critique on what I have here first?

[Joe]

It took me a while to figure out what I was looking at. This isn't because the drawing is bad but because the visual priorities are way off.
Is the armor the character or is the person? Therefore, emphasize the person and deemphasize the armor, maybe a red accent here and there.
The white is just as distracting. As well for animation, it would better serve you to merge the white lines and change everything into clear shapes.

[valdimer]

Yeah the character is the priority.  I see what you are saying with the white.  I thought it would be cool to add white accents but it is turning out to be pretty distracting, i'd have to agree.

[valdimer]

So I got rid of the white accents.  I do think it looks better, however, I feel like it's become a sort of big red blob.... What do you think?

[Joe]

(Her) left hip is fused with her arm at the shield.
The shield is ginormous, if it were anything but paper thin (ie able to protect) even a man of that stature couldn't wield it effectively.
Second, the way you have it contoured suggests a very sharp C shape if we were looking top down. This would surely get in the way of the user.
Sword is also unwieldy. It can still be a broadsword without being obtuse.
The white edges weren't prohibitive, just overpowering. Learn to use color! : to make white thinner, make it darker.
You should move the sword out of the way and figure out what's going on in the crotch area, cause I can't tell. It's especially important that you know exactly what everything's supposed to be before you animate.
Also, 38 colors? I don't know if you're working in photoshop but here you only need about 14.
This version addresses the above issues:

[Julito98]

You can also try to use an more metalic color to the armor, colors more near to the grays, good luck!