I can't believe I never mentioned this publicly until now, but I have a positively massive collection of bloons lore (google docs version) from many ninjakiwi blog posts (it doesn't contain everything, but it contains a lot) and I try to update it whenever a new blog post comes out
elite form and some thoughts under the cut (content warning for images of a dinosaur skull and a real life snake)
I decided to really lean into the reptilian theme with this. diabloceratops was my main source of inspiration for the head, while I tried to make the other segments look more rattlesnake-like. the rattle tail was left largely unaltered because I felt that aspect of its design works well as is.
I thought giving it a beak (which ceratopsians like diabloceratops had, as seen in the image above) would work better than its current "mouth" for supporting a pair of fangs. turns out I was right, it looks a lot more realistic and fierce now!
I decided to replace its eyes with much more reptilian ones, albeit elongated. (they were partially inspired by a thought I had, back when it was first announced, that its eyes could be a pair of red bloons.) I don't have much else to say about them aside from the fact that they also bulge out (it's hard to tell with this side view though) like those of a small reptile- including certain species of vipers (not rattlesnakes unfortunately). it can be a bit goofy-looking as a treat.
now for my favourite part of this redesign, the crystals! I like to imagine that the crystals are almost some sort of magical disease, slowly spreading across its head, then eventually its body segments as well (this doesn't cause it any harm, though). in its elite form the crystals spread more quickly until it's almost completely engulfed by them in its final tier. (small credit to @/the-f1nal-harm0n1c for inspiring this part!)
edit: I just remembered art fight lets you have redesigned characters in your roster so it's on art fight now too
