i wanted to draw river in something other than his brown poncho but as u can see i wound up loving his stupid brown poncho. i also took a few artistic liberties compared to Cheshire's design, but
aside from making the jaw thicker and making the eyes a little bit smaller, the only thing i can really think of is that b/c you used a female sprite as the base that might be affecting how you're perceiving it if that makes sense. maybe a few more variations to differentiate it would help...