butcherpete

Basic Appearance:

While Gwen is muscular, I really advise against using female bodybuilders as a reference. Bodybuilders of both sexes tend to be weaker on average than, say, wrestlers or weightlifters of the same weight, because bodybuilders often work muscles that don't do much just to obtain that "chiseled" look, while other athletes work muscles that have more utilitarian purposes. A bodybuilder's physique also isn't very useful in a fight, since they have really low levels of body fat (and body fat absorbs shock when you get hit.)

Agewise I'd put her as 26-27.

Gwen does explicitly have a six pack though so that's awesome.

Looking at women who are athletes in the same field Gwen's in--combat sports--is probably the best idea. A good starting reference is boxer Kathy Collins (who has the broad shoulders and hefty arms I always imagined Gwen having), although MMA ladies Cristiane Justino, Tamikka Brents, and Julia Budd are also excellent body references. If you want to look up more, keep in mind that they should probably be in the same weight bracket (140-150 pounds.)

Her breasts are pretty modest, but she has very developed pectorals so that is definitely a thing to remember if drawing her from the neck down.

Anyway, she probably has the same skin tone Sibyl does in-story. Sibyl, by the way, is described as having a body the color of white sand. She doesn't have any freckles, unlike Kelly, but she does have a small mole underneath her left eye.

Her eyes are teal (#008282) and very big and expressive. She's also said in-story to have very stately, classical features and bearing, so interpret that as you will. I will say that she looks more Caucasian (possibly with some Nordic/Baltic ancestry) while her sister looks more Japanese.

Tattoos:

Gwen has quite a few, though depending on what you draw her in, they might all be visible.

Collarbones: These will probably be in almost every icon. They're just a pair of frilly flowery filigree black scrollwork lines that run from a little past her collarbones (going towards her shoulders) and extend to almost where her breasts are.
Back shoulder blades: Articuno, both wings spread.
Left Upper Arm: Kawaii Heracross
Right Upper Arm: Kawaii Breloom

Cosmetics/Accessories:

Obviously, she doesn't wear any makeup or anything fancy when in actual fights or during training. She makes up for this by going all-out  when not doing anything that requires any physical activity.

Her lipsticks tend to be on the very pinky end of the color scale. I'm not sure what eye makeup goes best with teal eyes, so I'll let you use your own judgment here.

Another feature Gwen has is that she tends to wear lots of rings and paint her nails quite a bit. She has a very intimate relationship with and spoils her hands, probably because she spends a good amount of her time punching the crap out of things with them.

Clothing:

Unfortunately society requires us to wear clothes, when if you're that muscular you look better naked. Yes, if you're buff you look better in the buff.

Poor girl probably spends a small fortune on custom work or alterations, too, since there's pretty much nothing on the market that suits muscular ladies' builds and isn't workout clothes.

Still, Gwen's very proud of her body--especially her abdominals, arms and back muscles--and likes showing it off. This means lots of backless things, crops and cutout dresses, along with the more usual sleeveless things.

Also inordinately fond of pinky-purply shades, although she prefers louder shades of pink-purple rather than soft pastel shades. Okay, well, soft pinks are alright, but lavender is right out.

This site has some good guidelines for what clothes suit muscular women the best. Other than that, she also likes long dresses as long as the skirt isn't too full. Those cotton maxi dresses you see lots of women wearing in the summer should give you an idea.

This doesn't apply to her judo or MMA gear, since both of those clothing sets are standardized sets of equipment rather than conscious fashion choices.

Casual:

Since finding clothes is kind of difficult for her, she mostly just gets solid-colored or somewhat basic things and then dresses them up with lots of fun accessories.

She also has a pink hoodie that she tends to throw on whenever she just needs to run errands quickly and doesn't want to bother with the hassle of getting properly dressed.

See also: this pinboard.

Judo Gear:

You've probably seen gis as used in martial arts like karate and judo before, so I'm not going to provide a reference. Officially, two types of gi are recognized in judo--white ones and dark navy blue ones.  You're supposed to have both on hand, since during official competitions one person wears a white gi while another wears a blue one.

Gwen's are both kind of on the old side but well-taken care of, so they're not too shabby.

Another note: I have no fucking idea what I want to do about the belt, other than it's black like her soul, although if we use the traditional Japanese grading system she'd maybe have 3-4 notches. She's been in this business a lot longer than she's been doing MMA.

MMA Gear:

Athletic bra (knowing her, probably pink or purple), fight shorts (similar to the kind boxers use, although I might be wrong and there could be slight differences), breast protectors under the bra that are analogous to the package cups that they put in male fighters' shorts.

MMA fighters also wear a specialized padded fingerless glove like these ones. They're meant to provide the cushioning needed to give someone on the receiving end of a punch proper protection (like a boxing glove), but still allow the user enough grip and dexterity for grappling. They're usually black or dark gray.

Also, a mouth guard. Gwen's is pink.
 

Hairstyle:

Her hair is chestnut brown like pretty much both of her other siblings. She used to have it much longer but got it cut since it tended to get in the way during fights or training.

As of right now, it's in a short, sleek, straight bob, sort of like Mahiru Koizumi from Dangan Ronpa 2 or Shizune from Katawa Shoujo. She sometimes puts random things like bands or flowers or clips in it to spiffy it up.


Bearing:

If we're going with all of the Dangan Ronpa comparisons, I'd say that yes, there's the obvious correlation between her and Oogami Sakura. However, as far as facial expressions and gestures go, I'd actually say that Sonia from SDR2 is actually a better source of inspiration. Gwen's personality is also a bit like a more grown-up Rise Kujikawa from Persona 4, given that she's very girlish, generally nice to others, and somewhat flirty but loves a spotlight and can be a bit boastful about herself.

Still, as surprisingly mild-mannered in everyday life as she is, she's not all frills and gentleness and tea: this is a woman who beats the shit out of other women for a living and enjoys every minute of it. She's...kind of brutal whenever she's actually in the process of beating the shit out of someone. While safer than a couple of other combat sports, mixed martial arts is still brutal as hell, and Gwen is one of the biggest Blood Knights in the entire damn fic universe.

She is a warrior princess who actually acts like both a warrior and a princess, is the way I'd put it. In early phases of her designing I was partly inspired by classical depictions of Amazons, so there's that.


Important Notes:

• Like her sister (and her mother and brother) she has a slight overbite. Good references to just how noticeable would be Bianca from the first Black/White or Rapunzel from Tangled.
• Gwen is naturally left-handed. Fun fact: left-handed fighters are at a slight advantage, since they attack from the opposite position most fighters learn to defend from. 

Props:

• None really come into my mind, but she does drink a lot of tea.
  

Pokemon Team:

• Heracross (Female)
• Breloom (Male)
• Mienshao (Female)
• Scrafty (Male)