A complex character is a character that is made up of more that one part instead of a static image.
This can be used for animations, or to allow you to change the outfit of the character easily.
There are many ways to do this. Below is a few different ways you can achieve this depending on your desired outcome and skill level.
3rd Party Meshes
A simple way to create a complex character is to use a tool such as:
Sprite Loop
https://balkanramgames.itch.io/spriteloop
Price: Free
Sprite Loop allows you to make characters with animations and different outfits that you can switch between in code.
Sprite Loop integration Project Mammut is still in Beta and will be fully available in 2026
Spine
https://en.esotericsoftware.com/
Price: $69 - $379 (Depending on Features)
Spine is the Industry standard when it comes to making animated 2D characters and scene. It produces high quality assets but it does has a high price tag.
Just like Sprite Loop it allows you to changes animations and skins on the fly within Mammut. See Spine for how to set it up.
Spine integration in Project Mammut is still in Beta and will be fully available in 2026
Sub Scene Characters
Project Mammut allows you to create a character as a [Sub Scenes].(/page/sub-scenes).
This can be done in a very simple way, or with custom animations and effects.