Crazy - I'm not sure I see where you're taking this; IMO adding a muddle of colors that will be hard to read and animated isn't solving many design issues.
It looks like we've moved from kinda cliche to kinda dull. There is a big difference between the two! And I think you stepped in the right direction with something a little less typical, but "Joe Cornerstore puts on a baldric" is still a little underwhelming.
There are a lot of roads into the creative process. Some people like to write a whole story before they pick how the main character looks. Some fist-person games get way, way into the design before they firm up the appearance, if they ever do. Some people like to sketch and just see what comes, maybe set a few versions aside or make them into supporting cast on the way but otherwise just let things flow. Most people I think are in-between.
If you take for instance the guy in my avatar, I began by playing a bunch of Rome: Total War, and then remembering that I had a history of arms and armor book that I hadn't looked into yet. I flipped to the section on Marian Rome and noticed that the guy had a particular style of drawing tunics: high waist and flowing in a really neat way. I lost a battle against Epirus and decided to break from the computer. He became a
SKETCH which then got turned into a rough outline and finally a drawing. The colors and details came naturally in the process, although that doesn't need to be the case.
Although I wouldn't exactly claim that this character is extremely unique or exciting, it's not just a Ryu type character. Ultimately character relies on the writing, gameplay, and perhaps most importantly the distinctions between characters within the title, but starting with a decent visual foundation is a great way to move into each of those.