im too lazy to clean this up. obligatory basegame + dlc slugcat redesigns, might do this for iterators too at some point
design notes/more in-depth descriptions under the cut if you care
survivor + monk: perfect, airbrushed specimens. i felt like them being kind of plain is somewhat the point so i didn't want to be too crazy with markings/changes, so i mostly gave them airbrushed patterning. survivor gets a couple of bonus scars and a slightly nubbier finger on the front right paw (that fall looked rough!)
monk is baby and mostly the same, though built smaller (i'm one of the believers that monk is adolescent) and given a karma flower. i know that karma flower monk is somewhat of a trope in redesigns but i think it's fitting.
hunter: same as siblings, i think the somewhat plain look is kind of the point. i did add a bunch of scars and a bitten off tail tip + a wide stripe on the back.
gourmand: the intention is a bear, but one of my friends called him a squirrel and i'm kind of obsessed with that? the patterning is just a lighter belly, i thought it would be too busy otherwise with other stuff. the changes include a flower necklace and a tummy pouch where gourm stores all the stuff that he can magically conjure up.
artificer: oh that's a nice kitty i say as i pet on kitty. no. i'm evil kitty.....
before i even got to drawing her i KNEW i wanted arti to have lynx ears really really bad. i also ended up making her a calico since it felt kind of appropriate, calicos almost entirely being female and all. it's not very noticeable but her burn mark also has a scar over it similar to hunter's. the spine is not super defined, but i imagine it's either rough fur or whatever the hell scavs have or maybe even spikes. like those caterpillars who have very small hairs that sting really bad when you brush on them.
rivulet: honestly, the ADHD creature was one of the more iconic designs to me that didn't need major tweaks. i mostly ended up messing around with the proportions, i ended up making the frills WAY larger and adding all sorts of additional fins everywhere so you can really understand why they named that thing ruffles. the patterning was fine as it is to me, however i did add a neon tetra-esque tripe along the sides. maybe it glows in the dark too but who knows. also there's gills now.
spearmaster: also one of the more iconic designs to me, but i did kind of wanted to take the idea and take it up a notch. ended up adding spines on the back and a face marking that parallels SRS's thing. honestly in hindsight i should've maybe done this to hunter and NSH as well. the ears have some spots at the tips, at one point i wanted to give spearmaster freckles or rosettes, but decided not to as it felt like too much
saint: probably the most anthropomorphized one here, i really wanted to make saint's attunement and "wrongness" compared to other slugcats obvious. honestly the design is not super different from canon, i added just a little bit of gold markings and wrappings on the limbs. they both mimic ancients and honestly could've been somewhat practical in the cold. the pearl necklace and small armband is also a nod to that. i drew saint a bunch of times for a secret project that'll come in handy later (maybe) (possibly) (if i ever finish it) and i noticed that my depictions were very fox-like, which wasn't entirely intentional but i believe it fits. it's not visible, but i like to think that in saint's ascended form the circle on their forehead with the three dots becomes the karma 10 symbol. i'm probably in the minority, but i don't really like ascended saint with a third eye, i don't know where did that come from...
inv/gorbo/sofanthiel/whatever: fun one! i really enjoy the way the community depicts this guy and how varied the designs are. i kind of liked the cartoony angle some people take, so inv in my take is permanently in the dead sprite mode. there's a bit of a mane at the back of the neck, though i don't think inv is super hairy like saint is. just something to look ~fancy~ trying to get someone's attention, perhaps. i do like the eye motif occasionally given to inv, so i incorporated that by adding rosettes on the back.
watcher: funnily enough i didn't play through the campaign myself when i drew this, though i was already familiar with the story and how it goes. i do believe that watcher is an echo, imo it fits thematically very well into the narrative around it, so there's a lot of gold elements in there. i like the odd effect watcher gains at high ripple levels, so i baked it in as well. the pose that i picked is kind of awkward, looking at it now, but the tail is meant to curl up similar to that of a chameleon's.
