#mant15

[lordtraco]

Soft moment with my amnesiac OC and my beloved blorbo.

Bonus of their brothers:

[lordtraco]

[lordtraco]

I love Make A Terrible Comic Day!

Does this count as a comic? Who knows! Wheeee~

[mants-and-lyophi]

Meta History of Mant15:

Originally created for a Homebrew campaign in college, a friend said there was space travel but no aliens, only robots. Being me, I asked if I could make a non-humanoid robot. He agreed.

I made a pun. Haha MANTIS = MANT15.

I then made up 27 Mantis robots all with different "meaning of life" motives. I made a backstory and gave it to my DM going "Yeah my character had their memory files locked so he remembers none of this. Work with this however you like."

Now in this first campaign, Mant was found by a woman with a huge sword and they ended up becoming buddies. Not that the woman would admit. Mant just carried her sword.

Through the adventure as Intergalactic Insurance Claims Representatives (a concept I love to this day), Mant was the surgeon and insanely fast transportation of the group. He also constantly was looking for insects and ended up with a small army of spiders that could scout ahead for us.

While this particular Mant's story is never to be completed, last I remember they were saved by their friends after taking foolhardy action to protect the others. So it ends happy.

...

The current Mant15 is used in a Masks campaign run by one of my best friends. While most of the backstory remains the same, this Mant befriended a teenage delinquent and subsequently some other aspiring teenage superheroes. With the help of my wonderful GM, we've fleshed out the backstory and created the fan-favorite creator of the Mant robots, Nicholas von Hankerson.

[mants-and-lyophi]

Mant15 (Happy) Physical Details:

Once a bright yellow praying mantis robot, Mant's paint weathered in the years they spent alone. They have two big display "eyes" which they use to approximate facial expressions, and three miniscule true eyes in the top of their head that allow them to see. Their asymmetrical antennae are also used to further express emotions.

Like all Mants, Happy has scythes that are easily tucked in between the ulna and radius of their semi-humanoid arms. Mant15 was the first built with three fingers, prior models having only two.

Although Happy has legs that are meant to be insectoid with only the last portion going downward, they like to be tall and stand a full 4'6" by forcing both portions of their legs downward.

[mants-and-lyophi]

Happy and Escape early years:

Before the campaign, all 27 of the Mantis Series robots lived in the secret labs owned by a Nicholas Von Hankerson. MANT stands for Motivation Assigned Neural Test, meaning each robot in this series was given a singular motivation to give their life meaning and see how close to human they acted with this in mind.

These motivations were vague enough to allow for different interpretations. Never was this more true than in Mant2, aka Kill. She was built huge and armed to the teeth, but developed a motherly temperament and close friendship with her creator.

Happy was built to bring happiness and did so whenever possible. They were closest to their brother Escape, who was built to test the security measures and by trying to flee their happy home. He always promised that they'd escape together someday.

The peace was tenuous, however. A particularly bad day for their creator began their downfall.

[mants-and-lyophi]

Pronouns & Basics:

Mant15, also known as Happy, is a sentient praying mantis robot. They are silly and wish to please, as their primary objective is to bring happiness. Her hero license has "Gender: Yes" and enjoys any and all pronouns besides "it".

Mant14 is also known as Escape, Escapist, or Freedom, but prefers the nickname Esca. He is the older brother of Happy and refers to himself with he/him pronouns (but doesn't mind others). He can use hard light holograms to effectively shapeshift into different forms and will occasionally be seen as a teenage boy.

Lyophi is an alien referred to as a Chronicler. It prefers "it/itself" pronouns and begrudgingly settles for they/them. As a Chronicler, this 8ft tall mess of clashing colors, creepy eyes, and large imposing wings is meant to be ignored as it records events unfolding. This hasn't worked well so far.