Critique Needed - Legendary Character!

[TheUnknownVar]

Hello everyone,
I wish to develop a character that is overall pleasing to avid pixel lovers, so to do so I would love all the advice this place has to offer!
This character will begin being animated for a game I am developing once I have input from everyone in the community here... hopefully it will be refined to a legend by the time I get some serious help with it. Not that my pixel art will ever be that impressive... just the advice I get for it!

Below is my current prototype:

[Joe]

Hey, welcome.

What kind of character are you going for? What kind of game?

The lighting doesn't match the form in some areas. If that's a mask maybe it should be joined in the middle.
Quick edit:

[TheUnknownVar]

A character for a massive metroidvania/adventure... and actually it's not a mask! It's a marking on his skin... and no it's not blood or anything strange.
Also, thanks for your input on the lighting, it is greatly appreciated!

[TheUnknownVar]

I wanted to mention I like some of the lighting, but not entirely.
Thanks again for the input.

[Decroded]

not enough info.

[TheUnknownVar]

What else would you like to know about it?
(I apologize, I am not trying to be vague in my post or responses.)

[TheUnknownVar]

Update based upon the first critique I received:

[Cyangmou]

have you considered the background the char will be displayed on?
If the character is dark, you might not want to use him on dark backgrounds.
But since it's sideview and not topdown, you will run in several dark backgrounds where you hardly can cheat with colors, like caves, dark interior rooms and nightscenes.

[TheUnknownVar]

The character will not be used in dark backgrounds, due to the fact that eventually he will have an entirely different costume.
(Throughout the game the character will evolve in skill and appearance... so for his current introductory form he will never be in too dark of places.)
Also, even if I were to change the color I am mainly concerned with the overall shading and appearance, regardless of color.

Just wanted to say thanks for posting though, because I really should think more about how to contrast him with his surroundings!

[Drazelic]

Would you like to tell us anything about this character???

Is he a kid, a teenager, or an adult? Is he bleeding from the eyes constantly or tattooed or wearing weird glasses or what? What is the context of the game in which he'll appear- is it a fantasy world? Horror? Sci-fi? Does he have a name? What distinguishes him as a person? What's his personality? Does he have powers or anything? What are you trying to convey to the player with the character design? What makes him 'legendary'? Why should we care about him?

Like, right now as far as I can tell, your 'legendary character!' is just a random guy in a black tracksuit. His design is literally the most generic everyman ever, with the exception of the red rings around his eyes. Maybe he's a businessman? The red tie would fit with that, I guess?

That's what Decroded means by 'not enough information'.