Good morning! It’s been a while since my last post. I’m still alive, just busy.
One of the few creative things that I have been able to do is a collaborative OC creation project, inspired by the video “10 Artists Create a Cast of Characters Without Communicating!” by Stormyth.
After getting permission from the original creator, we selected 8 tropes between 4 people, and decided on our theme. The eight tropes were The Protagonist, The Protagonist’s Ally, The Mentor, The Love Interest, The Villain, The Villain’s Ally, The One Who Haunts the Narrative, and The Creature/Monster.
The theme my friends and I chose was a world where several alien factions had crash-landed on medieval Earth in the Mediterranean region.
Character 1: The Protagonist.
Willkin is a mercenary knight who has become renowned as a hero as he has traveled through various nations. However, Wilkin hides his face from everyone he knows because he’s not a noble. He’s not even human.
Originally an alien engineer on one of his faction’s ships. His dress, name, gender presentation, and behavior were adopted after landing on Earth, and he began to adapt to his new world.
The concept I had in mind was that he came from a shape-shifting species with the ability to adapt to different environments over several years. I chose to make a humanoid alien, but I tried to take inspiration from many sea-based organisms, especially cuttlefish, which can be alien when compared to human biology. Another source of inspiration was slime mold, which moves and changes shape according to its environment.
Wilkin’s story on Earth started after the spacefaring ship he worked on was attacked, and he ended up landing in some thick woods in the anglosphere. The low-level engineer crawled into the armor of a deceased knight nearby, using it as protection while he gradually explored and studied his new environment.
Although born into a non-gonochoric species, after his body started to mimic that of humans, he began to resemble a man and adopt the social behaviors of one. While no one group’s life was especially easy in the Medieval era, men did have it slightly better than women, so his adaptability assumed that of a male human.
His armor components are mismatched from different cultures and time periods, being a mixture of different pieces he’s scavenged through his adventures. The gray bands in his skin are implants forced on him by his old life’s engineering position. They allow him some control of nearby metal, allowing him additional security to keep his armor on almost at all times.
I see one of Wilkin’s main struggles not only as the fights that he wins or battles that he overcomes but also as the fact that he’s running from his past. He would be challenged by a need to care less about the glory and fun of his experience—landing on Earth ended up being the best thing that happened to him, going from a cog in a machine to a champion figure in his adopted culture—and more about the people he’s grown to care about.
There will come a time when he will need to embrace and share both his past in the stars and the human he has become to protect people he cares about, and I imagine more ideas will come to mind as I see the characters my friends made!
Character 2: Villainous Henchman
In contrast with the video inspiring this project, everyone was given two characters to design. In this case, I wanted to give my second assignment some foiling characteristics with Wilkin. I imagine the two’s relationship would be distant. She is more in opposition to what he is than to who he is.
Ruthanne is the Villainous Henchman. She is a human from a merchant-class background who has become an alien technology expert and dealer.
Her first outfit is based on some contemporary artwork I liked, including some triangle iconography as a reference to her engineering implants. They are the same Wilkin’s, implanted after she reconstructed the appropriate surgical technology. Her second outfit was inspired by various pieces of vintage sci-fi art.
I also like to put a bit of myself in all of my villains an often find my villains reflect me more so than my protagonists. I’m giving her my hair, and perhaps my more reserved nature.
The arrival of the alien factions would have been the worst thing that ever happened to Ruthanne, but also the most defining aspect of the person she is now. Her neighborhood and household were destroyed by a crashed ship, killing her family and destroying much of her family’s onsite contracts and possessions.
From the wreckage, she uncovered a series of artefacts, including several computers. Ruthanne was well-educated by tutors and teachers in a skillset she would have never been able to publicly use as a woman, but the world has turned upside down. She uses her intelligence to sell information as well as reconstructed technology.
Ruthanne is self-interested to the extent of not taking any unplanned risks, hence why she’s allied with the primary villain after recognizing them as a source of security. She is driven to do whatever it takes to make herself feel safe and secure. However, after learning which faction’s crash destroyed her family, she does have a vendetta against members of that faction.
Ruthanne’s role allows for potential human or alien alliances, as she can see both as venues for her own advancement. If she’s working for an alien villain, she can be the human face of the operation. If she’s working for a human villain, she can help them get whatever they need.
I’m looking forward to seeing my friends’ creations. The next artist is @geist19
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