The hands stay pretty much vertical the entire time so it look unnatural when he reaches down to pick up the character. Palms should be facing upwards more.

Ohhhh, I see. Perhaps after the hand passes by the center of his body or a little bit before, his hand begins to curve up? i see what your saying, as his arm extends, the angle of his wrist becomes too much his palm should be turning upward?

exactly

@Kamira: Hmm, yea not so far. You know, I think that if when he drops you you fall flat on your face and need a moment to get up, it may seem a more threatening attack. We forget when we play video games that falling from a few stories can actually kill you. Plus, it will make the player feel small if they think "oh shit this guy can just pick me up like its nothing"

…and as I mentioned it won't be his only attack. In fact I really just programmed this in because it would make the boss feel big and capable of smashing you.

I was thinking that if he grabs you one of his actions would involve squeezing you real hard and you gotta struggle out of his grip.

Also a possibility. Hey, if they way it's animated works and the visual conveys it well, it could seem scary getting smashed like that. I want to focus on melee attacks too, as later bosses will have these or similar melee attacks coupled with more special attacks; fire breath, electric claps, raising zombies, distorting gravity, etc.

A simple flick attack that pushes you a bit and knocks you down would really make you seem small.

Another thing you could have the boss do is have him slam his fists on the ground, causing you to stumble and fall down unless you jump at the right moment.

wow you ripped my boss off