ACTION RPG

MONSTERS
PIXEL ART ASSET PACK

Table of Contents

Introduction
Enemy Monster Sprites
Additional Assets
On Shadows
Effect Animations
Regarding Sheet Formatting
Note For RPG Maker Users
Small Enemies
Bat
Beetles
Mite
Jelsquid
Wasps
Medium Enemies
Crystal Crab
Hobs
Slimes
Snake
Mole / Merfolk
Pinecoon
Skulls
Spinning Turtle
Large Enemies
Lantern Phantom
Plant Monster
Slicer Soldiers
Marauders
Introduction
Thank you for downloading this asset pack!

This pack includes a lot of monsters with multiple complex animations. Because each monster
was designed with unique gameplay behaviors in mind, most have multiple bespoke animations.
Therefore I put together this guide to help you understand how best to use all of the animations
included.

Enemy Monster Sprites

The intent with this monster pack is to provide sprites for the common enemies that your player
would encounter throughout his adventure-- therefore the monsters in this pack span a wide
variety of designs and complexity-- many enemies are basic, with only one or two simple
animations, but some enemies have potential for complex behaviors with multiple states.

I’ve categorized the enemies into small, medium, and large. These categories are based on the
intended complexity and behavior rather than on the literal size of the sprites.

Think of them how the player might encounter more difficult enemies as he progresses through
an area in your game!

Note: Most of these enemies were first shared on my patreon page with a unique description of
how I implemented their behavior in my example project. I’ve included those descriptions in this
document, as well as recorded gif and video examples (in the included “extras > examples”
folder)-- but of course you are welcome to use these sprites in any way that works for you!

Many of these monsters were designed with gameplay versatility in mind-- so you can
potentially use the assets from a single design to make multiple monsters for your game. The
idea is to maximize the gameplay potential!

Color Variants

In addition to some alternate color schemes, every monster sprite in this collection comes in a
default full-color version (compatible with most asset styles generally, including my Elements
series) as well as a second color designed to be used with the muted palette of my Time
Fantasy series.

Each monster’s folder contains a folder labeled for the Time Fantasy color variants.
(Note: I used an automated action to convert the colors to the Time Fantasy palette. It should
match up pretty well with the style and be just fine for most uses-- but the colors won’t be exactly
the same if you are looking to use a limited palette. Unfortunately there’s just too many files here
to recolor them all manually.)

Use the color scheme that best fits your project!

Additional Assets
On Shadows

I’m including two shadow sprites. They will work with most enemies. Center them at the feet and
they will help ground the sprite to your game world-- these are especially important for
flying/floating enemies, as it will help the player see where they are located in space.

I find that the shadows look best in-game at around 60% transparency, but it could depend on
the style of your project.

Effect Animations

I’ve also included a few extra effect animations. These can be found in the “extras” folder.

● Dig/Unearth (8 frames, 32x32)

○ Used with the crystal crab or any other enemy that comes out of the ground.
Could also be used for the marauder weapons when they are pulled out of the
resting state.
○ Designed to look nice with my “Time Elements” tileset terrain, but should be
versatile enough to fit any environment-- maybe with some recoloring.
● Simple death effect (5 frames, 32x32)
○ Not the best animation, but should work for some smaller enemies; or at the last,
as a decent placeholder. I included it because I used it for testing these in my
sample project, so I figured it would be a fine bonus if you have a use for it.
● Breaking Crate (7 frames, 16x32)
○ Used with the hob enemy.

Regarding Sheet Formatting

Because the enemies here generally use bespoke animations, I have chosen to arrange the primary
sheets as simple horizontal strips compiled onto a sheet. This should be practical for most game
engines, and easy to understand if you need to modify the format for your specific use.

In some cases, an enemy might have multiple sheets-- all of these are explained in detail for the
specific enemies-- that is the main purpose of this guide.
Most sheets will include empty spaces-- these are filled with solid-color frames. These are included
to help with the readability of the sheet by separating animations; they also provide reference for
frame size and spacing-- it will be helpful if you need to re-arrange the sheet or move any frames.

Note For RPG Maker Users

By default, RPG Maker does not use action combat. These enemies were not designed to work in
RPG Maker, especially not with some of the more combat-focused animations.

Still-- I have done my best to include versions of the spritesheets formatted for use in RPG Maker.

Generally, these sheets include the same animations as the normal sprite sheet, but arranged in
vertical columns. Note the animations that are four (or more) frames-- these will work with a
"spinning" sequence, but you will likely need to be creative in how you implement these sprites in
your games.

The RPG Maker versions include a 100% scale sheet and the two sizes used in various RPG Maker
editions (200% for RMVX/Ace and 300% for RMMV/MZ).

Small Enemies
These enemies typically have simple animations designed around the most basic of enemy
behaviors: they generally deal damage by bumping into the player without using specialized
attacks.

Bat
He's meant to be the most basic enemy there is: he flies around erratically and hurts you by
bumping into you. Though, of course-- when you first enter the area, he'd be sleeping
upside-down, and he won't wake up until you get close.

This bat comes with three animations:

● Basic flight (4 frame loop)

● Sleeping (2 frame loop)

● Wake-up, transition from sleeping to flight (5 frames)

Beetles

This set includes five different beetle designs. They each have a walking/running animation for
all four directions.

In my project, I’d make use of this by having them run towards the player in a straight line. Being
a basic enemy, they are easy to avoid-- move out of the way and punish them as they dart past!

I might use some unique gameplay quirks for the different variations: maybe the one with the
spikey jaw gets stuck in a wall, or the guy with the horn flips over rocks that he bumps into.

Animations:

● Walk/run (3 frames, meant to loop with the center frame repeated in the ping-pong
animation pattern)

● This animation is the same for all four directions (three directions, with the left/right
mirrored)
 Mite

The mite is an extremely basic enemy with only two frames that cycle as it moves. It likely
swarms the player but is easily taken care of by a single attack.

😉
(Honestly this one was included as a bonus because it was an unused head for an enemy that
never got finished. I thought it was cute and figured that it might be useful.)

Jelsquid

The jelsquid has a single animation that can be used when idling in place or when moving. It’s
intended to float above the ground.

It has an animation for all four directions. While this might not be necessary if you use him as a
simple obstacle-type enemy that floats in place-- you might want to make use of his eye by
giving him a sentry role. Maybe he alerts other enemies if the player walks into his field of vision.
Alternatively, the north-facing direction provides a different possibility altogether: that animation
in isolation could potentially work as an eyeless variant for an entire monster. It depends on
what type of enemy behavior will work best for your project.

Special note: Credit to Tyler Warren for the original Jelsquid design

Wasps

I thought that this would be a really simple one-- behavior-wise, it'd just be a faster version of the
bat. The idea was to have a weak enemy that would swarm the player. After making it, the first
design was way too large to be a swarming enemy. So I created a smaller version and I included
both. It’s two enemies in one!

The big one might be a standalone enemy, or maybe it is the queen who comes out on her own
after the player has defeated the swarm.

Either way, they have the same simple animation pattern-- these are intended to be very simple
enemies.

● Fly (3 frames, meant to loop with the center frame repeated in the ping-pong animation
pattern)

● Note: this animation is intended to play very quickly, the wings should look like they
flicker

😅
You can copy-paste the same behavior for both of them and the two different hitbox sizes will
provide you with two enemies for your game. Efficient!
 Medium Enemies
These enemies have more specific animations than the small enemies.

Some medium enemies might still attack by simply bumping the player with their hitbox, but
they would have additional complexity for behavior patterns, such as switching between
different states. Other enemies in this category might have a unique attack animation or more
options for ways you can use them in your game.

Crystal Crab

The crab has two primary animations-- a neutral walk, and a walk with his claws snapping! This
way you can have him switch between neutral and aggressive states.

Of course, there's also a fun animation for use as a transition between these two states; where
he throws his claws up and down to prime his clickers!

I also realized that this “jump and prime” animation works well if used as an "unearth" animation,
so it didn't take much redesigning to also include a little "hiding underground" idle as well. Now
your crab can pop out and aggro the player when he gets too close.

Animations:

● Underground Idle (2 frame loop)

● Walk, Claws down (4 frame loop)

● Jump and Prime (7 frames)

○ Intended for use during a state change, looks best if he stops moving during this.
Transitions into either of the walk animations, can also be used directly out of the
 underground state (in this case I also recommend overlaying the “dig out” effect
animation)

● Walk, Claws out and clicking (4 frame loop)

Hobs

Some people call them hobgoblins, but any real goblin considers that an insult!

These hobs are mischievous troublemakers who like to hide in crates, barrels, and pottery. When
the unsuspecting player gets close, they come in for the attack-- and they take their hiding spot
with them!

After you smash open the hob's hiding spot, they will run away and find another one. Finish them
off before you lose track of where they went!

Note: The crates, barrels and pots are identical to the ones in my Time Elements tileset
asset packs. If you’re using my tiles, this will help these monsters hide in the
environment. If you’re not using my tiles, you’re welcome to edit the hob sprites to use
objects that fit your chosen style.

There are two designs, and they both have the same animations. The behavior is intended to be
the same as well-- maybe one of them has more health, or maybe they are totally identical and
you can simply use the two designs for extra visual variety.

Note that it’s also entirely possible to use these animations for a basic-style enemy without
using the hiding-object behavior. Whatever works best for your project!

There are three core animations:

● Walk (4 frame loop)

 ● Sleep (4 frame loop)

● Jump (4 frames)

The jump animation can be used as a transition animation between multiple states and it
provides options for a variety of enemy behaviors.

● Of course it can be a “wake up” out of the sleeping state.

● The other intended use is to transition into the walk animation after the hiding-box has
been broken (I recommend overlaying the box-breaking effect for this).

● A third potential use is if the player startles the hob-- and this sends him running towards
an object to hide inside.

There’s also versions of the walk and jump animations that can be used for various crates,
barrels, and pots. The sleep animation isn’t included for the objects-- for which you’d just use the
single image of the box itself (the first frame of the jump animation can be used for this).

Slimes

Another classic-- the slime monster is a staple of RPGs, both turn-based and action. So of
course I knew that I'd have to include the slime in this series. But I've made a bunch of slimes
before, and there's really only so much that you can do with it.

In order to maximize the gameplay value of these guys, we have two variants: big and small.
When the player deals with the big guy, he splits into smaller slimes that have less HP but they
move faster. Uh-oh!

Their movement is based on bouncing-- it looks best when they don’t move during the frames
when they are on the ground in their animation-- and then move straight while in the air. This
gives them a natural way of moving that works as a unique enemy pattern.
Note: Before making the big slime, my first idea was a special attack animation. I thought that it
might look good to have the slime try to squish out and hit the player. Ultimately I don't think the
animation came out quite like I imagined it, so instead I went with the idea of the “big slime that
splits into smaller slimes”. But since I made the animation, I figured that I might as well include
it. It should work with the smaller slimes but I don’t think it lines up well with the larger slime.

Note 2: I've also included two variants of the big slime. This is because the big slime originally
had a big shiny highlight on it. In testing that looked strange because it wasn't consistent with
the visual style of the smaller one. So I made a second version of the big guy without the shiny
highlight. Since I had both versions already animated, I decided that it wouldn't hurt to include
them both and give you the option.

There are also some additional effects specifically for these slimes:

● The “footprints” are simple blobs of color that can be used to splatter the ground as the
slimes bounce around, or maybe when they take damage. I’d recommend using a little bit
of transparency in-game with these. (static frames, not animated)

● Two unique splashing effects for when the slimes are jumping around on the ground
(one for the small slimes and one for the big slime). Line them up with the bottom of the
slime. (6 frames)

● There's also a larger effect animation for when the big slime splits. It’s intended to work
as an overlay effect so you can remove the big slime and also spawn the smaller slimes
underneath it. (10 frames)

For the slimes themselves, the animations are very simple:

● Bounce (Big slime: 8 frame loop; Small slime: 6 frame loop)

● Startle (Big slime: 4 frames, Small slime: 3 frames)

 Snake

😆
My original name for this guy was the “dragon wurm”-- but it’s more descriptive just to call it like
it is.

This enemy's animations come with two diagonal directions-- these directions can then be
flipped to create full animations for multidirectional movement. This is a clever animation
technique that is a common standard in many games today.

The snake has three behavior animations-- each of these animations comes with both
south-diagonal and up-diagonal directions:

● a wiggling loop for idle and movement (4 frame loop)

● an anticipation where he rears back and opens his mouth (3 frames)

● and then the strike itself where he lunges forward (3 frames)

 Mole / Merfolk

These two enemies share the same behavior pattern-- with special animations designed with
gameplay in mind: the mole pops up out of the ground and throws a rock towards the player
before digging back to safety.The merfolk does the same thing but he pops out of the water.

Even though these guys have the same animations-- the idea is that these can be two separate

👍
enemies for completely different biomes. You can even copy most of the programming for their
behavior-- two enemies for the effort of one!

It doesn’t take much to make them different from each other via gameplay: certainly the merfolk
would be more challenging for the player to hit if he can't reach into the water with a sword!

I also think that it'd be a good idea to have their behavior be slightly different in other ways...
Maybe their projectiles have different speeds, trajectories, or patterns. Maybe the merfolk hangs
around longer than the mole, giving the player more time to hit him with an arrow from a
distance... There's lots of possibility for gameplay variations even while using the same
animations!

The sheets are arranged identically for both the mole and the merfolk. Animations:

● The emerge animation (8 frames) has a variant with a different final frame: you can
choose which one works best for you depending on if you want the enemy to emerge
directly into his "holding" state (arms up) or transition into the "idle" animation (arms
down).

● Two idle animations (4 frame loops). The one with the arms up lets you overlay a rock (or
any other object) that he's ready to throw at the player.

● The throw animation (4 frames) will look best if it transitions into the regular idle
animation after.

● Submerge (4 frames).
 ○ While the enemy is hiding under the ground/water, no sprite is displayed.

● The rock itself is also included as a standalone frame. You can of course use any other
object.

Pinecoon

The pinecoon works as a common enemy that your player might encounter in the forest zones.

This guy's spin attack launches him towards the player-- but he doesn't stop until he crashes into
a wall! And then he's dizzy for a moment, so you have the opportunity to counterattack before he
regains his senses.

This attack behavior is a classic staple for top-down monsters that I thought would be an
important one to include!

Here's a breakdown of all the animations included for this character:

● The idle, sleep, and dizzy animations are regular 4-frame loops.

● The bounce and spin-attack animations also loop, but they're 8-frames. I'd recommend
setting the animation speed of the spin-attack to be significantly faster than the other
animations.

● The wake-up animation is 4-frames and intended to be a transition between sleep and
any of the other animations. You can also use the first frame of the wake-up animation at
the beginning of the dizzy state, or for a funny damage-reaction pose.

● The pre-attack animation (6 frames) is the windup that transitions into the spin-attack.
It's important to give the player a warning so he can react!
 Skulls

There are two types of skulls included: regular and flaming. Additionally, both skulls have two
variants: with and without a chomping bottom jaw.

All of these have a simple floating-movement animation loop for four directions. They’re
intended to move like the small enemies with simple behavior patterns. Multiple directions
provide more movement patterns or even edit them into other enemies or environmental tiles.

But you can also create a more complex enemy by using them together--

The small skulls could “ignite” into a flaming skull, and/or the player might need to put out the
fire before he can damage the monster. You could also change the pattern after the player hits
the skull for the first time and it knocks off the jaw!

Animations:

● Hover (3 frames, meant to loop with the center frame repeated in the ping-pong
animation pattern)

● This animation is the same for all four directions (three directions, with the left/right
mirrored)
 Spinning Turtle

This is the spinning snapping turtle, and he can be used in multiple ways to maximize potential
gameplay behaviors. There are three main animations here, and there's a bunch of ways we can use
them in different combinations.

The first animation is very simple: it's a two frame spinning animation-- flick between those two
frames rapidly and it will look like the turtle is spinning while withdrawn into his shell.

Then there's two other animations that build on that: Both of these animations are 4 frames long,
and they can work in reverse order (so 8 frames total if you play it back). Both of these animations
work in four directions:

● the first one is the emerge/withdraw animation,

● and the second one is a mouth-opening animation.

Here's my suggestions on how to use them:

The animations are in four directions for a reason-- I figured that we can maximize the turtle-spinning
behavior by having his direction randomize when he stops: the player might need to whack him on
the head, so he'll need some clever positioning to get to the weak spot.

And depending on how you implement it, maybe the player could knock his limbs or tail too. Note
that the animations are set up in a way where you could potentially crop them or split them into
specific segments, so the head or limbs might not need to all come out of the shell at the same
time-- if you want to use them in your game that way, there's a lot more options for making a
thoughtful enemy encounter.

The "mouth opening" animation has two potential uses: first is the more obvious: it can be played
quickly as a bite attack. Maybe more interestingly, we can have the turtle emit some sort of projectile
or hazard. I love the limitless potential that projectiles can provide for creating different patterns and
enemy variants.

You could also go even further by having the spinning shell emit some sort of elemental hazard too!
Personally I'd take advantage of this to create multiple enemy variants that could be used in different
biomes throughout the game. I've included three different colors for just this use-- you can see the
red one breathing fire, the blue one leaving a trail of slippery ice, etc...!

Large Enemies
The large enemies have more complex patterns with a lot of possibilities for different ways to
implement them in your game. They are intended to be used as elite enemies, or as the biggest
monsters for their biome, but you could potentially use them as a mid-boss or even as a full
boss!

Lantern Phantom

This monster is potentially another two-for one-- it depends on how you want to use these in
your game. I'll share the behavior that I designed for him, but this one is really flexible.

This is the Lantern Phantom-- as a base monster, he's pretty simple and not very threatening... he
can go through walls, but keeps his distance so it's not easy to close in on him. But his magical
lantern can create ghostly fire wisps, which slowly follow the player. These wisps can get out of
hand, and make it even harder to get close to the phantom, so make sure to put out the flames
with your sword!

Of course, my favorite kind of monster to create is the kind with lots of opportunity to implement
different variations in behavior.

Because this guy's primary animations are so simple, you could really do anything-- it's really all
about how you want to make use of the flames: in my example, I have them very slowly follow
the player, but of course you could do anything you want. Maybe his flames stay in place but
spread over time, maybe they move out fast in a straight line and the player needs to dodge... or
maybe he creates a wild bullet-hell pattern that snakes all over the screen!

🤷
That's the kind of thing that I like to think about-- I probably spend too much time imagining all
the different ways that these monsters could work in different games.

It’s also possible to treat the wisps as individual enemies of their own, and if you do it that way,
there are even more possibilities. Maybe your flame wisps are a common enemy that normally
spawn once from a torch, and then you encounter this phantom as an elite who can generate a
bunch of them! To make the most out of that possibility, the sprite sheet includes a variant of
the flames with a little ghostly face.

Here's the description of the animations that we have on this sheets:

● The first two animations are the basic idle/float animation. It's a four-frame loop that
uses a repeated middle frame (three-frame stepping style). There's a version with and
without the lantern.

● The next animation is an 8-frame straight animation for the lantern flare.

○ You'll want to spawn the flame on the fifth frame here, where the lantern lights
up. The animation is designed to lead up into that.

● Lastly-- the wisps/flames themselves. The base flame is a four-frame loop, and there’s
also an initial animation where the flame grows. It's four frames and intended to lead into
the loop.
 Plant Monster

The plant monster has simple animations, but there’s a lot of possible ways to make use of the
tentacles. So I’m counting him as a “large” enemy for that reason. Plus... he’s also huge!

This guy’s main sprite has two animations: one simple idle animation and one with his mouth
opening. You can use them together to make it look like he's eating or chewing-- or you can just
have him open his mouth threateningly when the heroes approach!

The tentacles have a couple of color variants, and two animations:

● Emerge (4 frames, can be reversed to go back down)

● Idle/Wiggle (3 frame loop, repeat ping-pong around the first frame)

They can be used as attacks that come out of the ground, as individual enemies, or maybe as
limbs that have to be defeated as a gimmick. Or-- they could even be part of a navigation puzzle
like the dungeons in Shadows of Adam.

BONUS:

There’s also some tiles included: after your players defeat the monster, there might be a secret
entrance to a dungeon underneath. These tiles are arranged in a simple regular grid (16x16
tile-base), so you can easily add them to any existing tileset.
 Slicer Soldiers

I wanted to make sure that this set includes some creatures that could work in the later areas of
a game world, maybe as elite enemies. That got me thinking about some more intimidating
designs, something otherworldly or even alien...

This is the Slicer Soldier. He is a guardian who has stood for centuries, an uncanny golem
created by some unimaginable ancient race. He stands as an intimidating statue, but when the
player gets close, the slicer jumps to life!

He has two methods of movement-- he can creep slowly, but when he's on the attack, he leaps
after the player hoping to do heavy damage with a slice from his bladed head. His attacks are
quick and lethal, with a three-hit-combo before taking a short moment to recover.

Like some of the other monsters in this set, the Slicer Soldier has two directions designed to be
mirrored, allowing for full four/eight-directional motion.

And here's a breakdown of this enemy's behavior and animations:

● The idle animation is a simple 4-frame loop where he breathes in place, in his
ready-crouch position.

● Walk is another 4-frame loop, a more traditional stepping animation.

● The jump animation is 8 frames. It can be looped or used in between other animations.

● Attack animations (8 frames, the first 3 frames are anticipation)

 ○ Note: There are two different north-facing attack animations here-- I originally just
had the two directional attacks, but the first north-facing one didn't line up with
the hitbox in my testing, so I had to redo the angle. Instead of completely deleting
the original, I figured that I might as well include it as a bonus-- maybe you have a
use for it.

● Lastly, there's an extra sheet with additional frames for standing still as a guardian
statue.

Marauders

Imagine you're out exploring in the world, and you find a ransacked village. It seems that
something terrible has happened here! But there's not a soul in sight... until you keep pressing
further on...

Maybe you follow a trail that the culprits have left... and a few screens out into the wilderness,
you stumble into a campsite... where-- sitting around their campfire-- you encounter the gang of
villainous marauders!

These guys have an animation for sitting or napping, and when they are alerted to the player's
presence, they have a snappy "wake up" animation. Then they can grab the nearest weapon and
quickly hop into the fight!
The thing that makes these marauders unique is that there's three variants: depending on which
weapon they grab, their attack pattern might be different! There's a spear, sword, and a hammer.

The actual attack animations for each one are pretty much the same. I did this to make it easier
to work with-- I imagine that in game, the differences would be in the timing of the attacks, or
maybe the range and hitbox. I think that'll be a good way to get a lot of use out of this type of
enemy, and makes them ideal as a recurring enemy faction that you encounter in different
combinations throughout your game.

The marauders have a bunch of animations, all with both north and south directions (which are
designed to be flipped so they can be used in the four-diagonal style of top-down action
combat).

Each of the weapon-holding marauders has these core animations:

● Idle (4 frame loop)

● Walk (4 frame loop)

● Attack (4 frames: 2 anticipation frames, 1 lunge, and 1 followthrough)

In addition, there’s a separate sheet with the two options for their "sleeping/unaware" state:

● Sitting idle (4 frame loop)

● or taking a nap (4 frame loop)

● transition animation where they hop up into their idle stance (5 frames)

○ This transition is designed to look right if you pick up their weapon with it
(assuming it is close to their sitting sprite), so they can transition from “unaware”
into their weapon-holding idle or walk.

I've included the weapons themselves as simple single-frame objects. The idea is that the
marauder stuck the blade into the ground next to him while taking a rest-- these guys don't take
very good care of their things!

Thanks again for downloading this asset pack.

I hope that you make good use of these sprites. I put a lot of work into them and I would love to
see the games you create. If you want to show me your project-- or if you find any errors with
these assets or in this guide-- please feel free to send me a message or email.
You can find my contact information on my website (finalbossblues.com)

Thanks!

- 20.20.2024