From Toy Story to Bolt, animation has brought us an array of wonderful characters to cherish and enjoy. This roundup highlights a selection of simply awe inspiring 3D characters.
Stunning 3D Characters

Captain Jack Sparrow
Created using 3DSmax, Zbrush and Photoshop, the attention to detail and expression are fantastic.

Bobby, The Little Octopus
Textured using ZBrush and decorated with Blender, taking 5 days of work. Bobby is a unique and fascinating piece of work.

Harlequin
Hauntingly realistic, Harlequin is truly a spectacular piece of art. At first glance, one might think this was a well lit photo.

Science Doc
Modeled in maya and rendered in Mental Ray, Science is an excellent character, with matching production values.

Goblin Mechanic
Inspired by Max Cant’s soldiers when modeling the furnace on his back he is full of expression and crammed with an array of wonderful details.

Will Smith Caricature
Hilarious and superbly created using Cinema 4D, ZBrush and Photoshop. It has a warmth and charm that make it stand out.

Jelly Spider Friend
Realistic and a little creepy, this is beautifully crafted with amazing colors and textures. The lighting adds to the freakish feel of the piece.

Cloud Tribute
A tribute to the popular Final Fantasy character Cloud, the emotion behind the eyes is extremely powerful.

Beautiful Vanadisa
Created in Daz Studio with a rendering time of over 22 hours, this is a simply breathtaking 3D portrait.

Isabelle
Modeled using a combination of Poser, Vue, Cinema 4D and Photoshop CS, she has a real sense of mystery and magic.

Art Ventura
A wonderful caricature, Art Ventura solves mysterious CG cases. The behind the scenes of its creation is worth viewing.

Ogryn Stare
The artists first project using ZBrush with the entire piece taking over two days. It makes great use of textures.

Rose
A beautiful pose and composition, great use of light and a thoroughly captivating expression make Rose a compelling piece.

Emocionado
A funny and charming piece with great attention to detail on the cloth patterns and the stubble on the chin.

Aztec Priest
Inspired by Mel Gibson’s movie “Apocalypto”, this Aztec Priest is detailed, imaginative and original.

Cyber Goth
Created using a combination of Poser and Photoshop, the design on her scalp and the eye markings really draw the eye.

Samurai Troll
The texture work in the armor plates and skin are amazing given that the artist views this as a work in progress.

Smoking Creature
I don’t what’s more frightening, the hideous character or the amazing amount of realism he possesses.

Kai
This is Kai, Nariko’s dedicated friend (from Heavenly Sword). Created using Poser, Vue and Photoshop.

Shadow Conscious
Absolutely incredible detail, the artist really captured the emptiness in her eyes and created a character deep in thought.

Female Vampire
Inspired by the vampire film 30 Days of Nights, this female vampire looks really realistic and deliciously evil.

Arwen
Created using Cinema 4D, Poser, Vue and Photoshop with an obscene render time, Arwen is a pearlescent beauty.

Fries With That
Fantastic modelling, texturing and shading make this utterly realistic, you will think it’s a photograph. An amazing achievement in 3D realism.

Suspicious Minds
An incredibly striking, beautiful, realistic and moving portrait with an interesting story behind it.

The Worlds Enemy
A superb model of Sephiroth from Final Fantasy with the rendering taking 3 hours and the post production taking 6 hours.

Chris In 3D
An absolutely stunning combination of Poser and Photoshop work. Do yourself a favor and check out this render’s immaculate details.

Cyborg Head 01
The level of detail is nothing short of amazing, enhanced by the textures and lightning that give this 3D render superb qualities.

Ethereal
Artwork based on the W40k universe, it’s an Ethereal from the TAU empire, taking 2 days to complete using Cinema 4D, ZBrush, VRay and Photoshop.

Knight of the Temple
A lone knight of the Temple, standing guard. The chainmail and stone are particularly brilliant in detail and texture.

Grandma
Just awesome detail, amazing textures, superb blending and the befuddling expression on the woman’s face make this a wonderful piece of work.
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27 Comments Leave a Comment
are they all 3D drawings? Some of them looks real images
I know it is hard to believe but yes they are all 3D creations, usually created with either Cinema 4D or Poser.
Jaw Dropping is right! Holy crap!
Thanks for sharing. These are amazing.
These are extremely realistic characters. I like the Bobby octopus, his expression is really funny.
Thanks for sharing.
These are amazing images. Amazing detail on all of them. I especially like the Knight Of The Temple and Cyborg head paintings. Thanks!
Muhteşem. 3 boyutlu karakterlerde resmen dünyaca çağ atladık.
Thank you.
Too awesome.. I saw an other roundup with 40 best 3D Characters.. “you want fries with that” was and still is my top favorite!
Chris scares me. I can imagine if games actually rendered that well, a remake of a Freddy, Micheal, or Jason would be the game of a lifetime, literally…
That’s Johnny Depp don’t lie to me, nah, just kidding, awsome renders, i must now learn how to design in 3D render programs, would be nice to see cinema 4D tutorials around here, don’t you think?
Greetings, from Colombia
nice list of zbrush tutorials
These are awesome!
Captain jack sparrow looks the most realistic, Amazing!
great !!
Art is unlimited
Just…….. brilliant
first one is perfect and very well made.
awesome renders..incredible
It’s very very cool. Looks real to me. By the way, I like Bobby The Little Octopus the most.
Never ever use the term “jaw-dropping” again -____-
I’m really in awe. As a designer myself, I find these sooo professional and sooo brilliantly done. Fantastic.
i never seen before, really awesome graphics.
Excellent work..
really mind blowing 3D arts ..
the christ is fantastic… its perfect.. really…. really realistic…
really a JAW DROPPING collection of characters