A modular hero kit for isometric pixel art games: 508 layer files of armour, helmets, capes, hair and weapon sets that stack into heroes, in 8 directions with 11 combat animations each, on exact 64x64 cells (504 frames per layer). Two body builds (broad and slim) with all the same gear, 20 ready-made heroes, an arrow and three magic bolts with impacts, and a script that builds any combination. For action RPGs, tactics and strategy games, dungeon crawlers and town NPCs on any 2:1 isometric map.

Licence in one line: use them in your commercial games; do not resell the files. No credit required.

Build scenes with this pack: every hero of it is in the Gridwright Isometric Builder, a map builder in your browser with all our isometric packs, which exports PNG, GIF, Tiled and Godot scenes.

What they can wear and hold (per build)

• Bodies (6 files per build): 2 builds (broad and slim) x 6 skin tones.
• Chest armour (33 files per build): 7 styles: gambeson, leather armour, chainmail, plate armour, tabard over mail, ranger jerkin, robe - 3 to 6 colours each.
• Legs (13 files per build): 4 styles: trousers, leather leggings, chain leggings, plate greaves - 3 to 4 colours each.
• Boots (6 files per build): 2 styles: leather boots, plate sabatons - 3 colours each.
• Gloves (6 files per build): 2 styles: leather gloves, gauntlets - 3 colours each.
• Shoulders (9 files per build): 3 styles: pauldrons, leather spaulders, fur mantle - 3 colours each.
• Capes (12 files per build): 2 styles: short cape, long cloak - 6 colours each.
• Helmets and hats (29 files per build): 9 styles: kettle hat, nasal helm, great helm, knight helm, horned helm, hood, wizard hat, circlet, headband - 2 to 5 colours each.
• Hair (80 files per build): 10 styles: short, swept, spiky, curly, bob, long, ponytail, bun, afro, braid - each in 8 colours.
• Facial hair (24 files per build): 3 styles: beard, long beard, moustache - each in 8 colours.
• Weapon sets (36 files per build): 12 sets: sword, sword + round shield, sword + kite shield, axe, axe + round shield, mace + kite shield, dagger, spear, spear + round shield, staff, wand + tome, bow - each in steel, royal and dark.

11 animations in every layer, 8 directions

idle (4), ready (4), walk (8), run (6), slash (7), thrust (6), shoot (7), cast (7), block (4), hurt (3), death (7) frames per direction: a battle idle, a forehand slash, a one-handed thrust, a bow shot, a staff cast, a shield block, hurt and death. Hit frames and the frames where arrows and bolts leave are in the JSON, with the spawn point per direction. Every direction is drawn on its own, none is mirrored.

Weapon sets that never clash

A weapon set is one layer: the sword in one hand and the shield on the other arm are cut against the body together, so each covers the other correctly in every direction and frame. Sword, sword + round shield, sword + kite shield, axe, axe + round shield, mace + kite shield, dagger, spear, spear + round shield, staff, wand + tome and bow, each in steel, royal and dark.

Layers that just stack

• One layer order in every direction (body, boots, legs, chest, gloves, cape, shoulders, facial hair, hair, helmet, weapon set): each layer was cut against the 3D body it is worn on, so the back directions need no separate versions.
• Every pixel is opaque or empty, so plain alpha blending stacks the layers exactly. Chainmail and quilted cloth have a texture that moves with the body, so they never read as plate.
• One sheet per layer with all the animations side by side (8 rows x 63 columns), and layers.json with each animation's first column, fps, loop, hit and spawn frames, the feet point, the walk and run speed per direction and the spawn points.
• compose.py (Python + Pillow) turns any recipe into one sheet per animation at any scale, with a JSON and single frames if you want them. The 20 ready-made heroes ship as recipes and as sheets at 1x, 2x and 3x.
• Checked by the build: every body, armour, hair and helmet layer has pixels in every standing frame, nothing touches a cell edge, and compose.py run on the shipped layers gives exactly the shipped heroes.

The 20 ready-made heroes

Knight, Paladin, Footman, Viking, Barbarian, Crusader, Royal guard, Mage, Necromancer, Ranger, Valkyrie, Huntress, Sorceress, Rogue, Squire, Priestess, Shieldmaiden, Duelist, Dark knight, Archer.

Fits the rest of the shop

The same rig, 64x64 cells and feet point (32, 46) as Gridwright Isometric Character Creator (townsfolk with life-sim animations: sit, eat, type, wave) and Isometric Characters, so heroes and villagers stand side by side; enemies are in Isometric Monsters, the ground in Isometric Tiles and walls in Isometric Castle & Siege (all sold separately).

What it does not include

No two-handed weapons (greatswords, halberds), no dodge roll or jump, no mounted heroes, no faces with mouths or expressions, no slash trails (see Gridwright Combat VFX), no tiles (the scenes use Isometric Tiles, sold separately), no Aseprite files and no engine project. Long hair shows under helmets. The art is drawn at 1x; 2x and 3x are scaled copies.

Licence

Use and modify in personal and commercial projects. Shipping the heroes inside your game is fine. No resale or redistribution of the assets, modified or not. Credit is appreciated, not required. Not for AI training or NFTs.

How it was made

Every frame is drawn by code: the body is a set of 3D parts posed per frame and seen through the same 30-degree isometric camera as Gridwright Isometric Tiles, lit from the top left and banded onto 6-tone colour ramps with outlines; an armour layer recolours the body regions it covers and adds its own 3D parts (breastplates, mail skirts, helmets, capes, weapons). The code was written with AI-assisted tools. No image generator was used, and no third-party art is included.