Help me improve these human enemy battle sprites

[DapperDave]

EDIT: Evidently I don't know how to post images. Maybe it's the source. I'll post links too.

I'm working on the enemy battle sprites for my RPG. The game uses a front-facing/Dragon Quest style view.

As a reference, I made this mockup of a few enemy animal sprites here.  I'm pretty happy with these animals, it's the humans I'm not satisfied with. But if you have suggestions for these animals, don't hold back.

(Image Large)

 [img]blob:http://pasteboard.co/3b36683c-9141-4c06-961c-f666a0172416[/img]
http://pasteboard.co/s1kg9m7nl.png

The actual resolution I'm working with is 398x224

(Image Small) [img]blob:http://pasteboard.co/d24ac711-8e60-43e3-bc11-1933ec4afa88[/img]
http://pasteboard.co/s1nESwm7q.png

And here the humans - some fighting friars (don't ask).  They're not awful, but I wish they were better. The faces look just too pixelated somehow. Not sure what I can do.

(Image Large)  [img]blob:http://pasteboard.co/cc8a7747-56c8-428a-946a-688ffb7d15c2[/img]
http://pasteboard.co/s1qC63E0O.png

(Image Actual Size) [img]blob:http://pasteboard.co/39cf2e9c-f06f-4d20-8997-eb283ddab26f[/img]
http://pasteboard.co/2NJBzBtLc.png