Short him out? I guess that means he's somehow electrical? At first I thought the enemy was some sort of spirit, being so near water a water spirit then. I don't know if I'm the only confused one though.
One thing to keep in mind when making platformer sprites is this: how far does the character look prepared to jump? If it's a very stylized, small, cartoony character such as Quote (from Cave Story) or Mario, one isn't surprised to see the character jump large distances, making for fast gameplay and open level design. Characters with more limited jumping have worked in platform games too, but those games are very different beasts from the run-jump-go-go-go of the aforementioned popular examples.
Even less willing to jump is a slender female wearing fashion-show clothing and a worried look. I think she looks good, but to my eyes she seems out of place simply because she doesn't look ready for action of any sort.