The rights to characters from companies are a pain in the ass, I think that's part of why we didn't get full artwork from the contractors for Symphony of Evil. Either that, or they were never planned to include them in the promotional art, lol, but it was definitely the reason why Nemesis and Venomania didn't have nice illustrations like the others.
For me, that was the reason the event felt somewhat incomplete. So, just like with the PS collaboration, even though it wasn't necessary and nobody asked me to, I wanted to do my own art and designs for the remaining characters. It was also an interesting exercise to redesign them to fit the aesthetic of the new Lucifen twins designs, which combine the colors of their original design with the structure of the current design.
My rules were to add black so that they would follow Allen and Riliane's design line, add necessary elements so that they don't look 100% the same as the original but not too many, so that the structure of the original design would be lost and they would no longer read as the contractors' work.
SATERIASIS VENOMANIA: THE HAT! Ever since I saw the photo of Louis XVI on the set of Marie Antoinette, I knew Venomania needed one; it gives him a romantic air, lol. I gave him higher heels, a cape, and a cane to make him look more refined. The rose on his hat has a ribbon to match the outfits of the girls in his harem, but with a white ribbon because being black, it wouldn't stand out. The cane is a reference to Gilles. There's also a reference to the shape given to Lust in Chrono Story in his shoulder pads.
BANICA CONCHITA: My poor attempt at figuring out how to make Banica's dress work, inspired by Riliane's dress, I added ruffles to the skirt and sleeves. I considered adding a shawl to the dress, but it clashed too much with all the other elements the design already had; it was simply too much to me. The idea of giving her a veil crossed my mind, but I preferred to keep her Evil Food Eater look separate from her Master of the Graveyard one. In my opinion, Banica's design is more forgiving when it comes to playing with the elements of her outfit, being more fantastical than being 100% guided by historical aesthetics. But if I went overboard modifying it, she would no longer look like Conchita and would look more like Meiko in a random dress.
MARGARITA BLANKENHEIM: I wanted to find something I could incorporate into her design, based on the Victorian historical period that inspired her. Most hairstyles were either tucked into a hat or short with small curls adorned with flowers; so I simply incorporated flowers without changing her pigtails, or it wouldn't be her anymore. I added black lace to her dress and some layers, but kept the colors and shapes to avoid altering it too much and to maintain the simplicity of her skirt. The ribbons on her sleeves are the same as the concept art Ichika did, and there are also references to Eve Moonlit.
KAYO SUDOU: For Kayo, I wanted to incorporate some of her history with Kai into her outfit, as well as fish elements because of her connection to Rahab. I considered giving her a more elaborate kimono, but I wanted to stay true to the fact that her entire look is composed of parts of other characters' outfits. My headcanon is that Rin chose the hair clip because it reminded her of her recently deceased family, hence the three colors at the ends.
Clarification: I found the vector pattern elements on Freepik and modified them slightly.
GALLERIAN MARLON: It was difficult to work with the original design; there weren't many men's designs from the 1920s and 30s that caught my eye, so I extended my search to the 1940s because of WWII and Nemesis, but I still didn't find anything that didn't require significant modification. So I gave the fabric of his suit a pattern that contrasted with the solid color of his judge's robe. And some cruel references in his accessories. I originally thought of putting Salem on his watch, but Gallerian didn't make a contract with him, so I decided to leave it as a souvenir from the S.S. Titanis.
I think he would look better in high-waisted pants and suspenders from the 1940s, but he would lose some of the essence of his original design and become more like Kaito in a nice outfit. But I haven't abandoned the idea of drawing him like that; I would just have to provide enough context so that it's clear that it's Gallerian being portrayed.
NEMESIS SUDOU: Nemesis was fun to design; I always wanted to see her in her military uniform. For her outfit, I had to create an insignia for Jakoku to accompany the other medals from countries that were conquered or allied with his dictatorship, so I opted for a snake similar to the shape of the country's map.
Her coat is based on her original dictator design from her novel, but with modifications that allow it to be worn as a cape, similar to how the Polish army uses theirs. I added gloves to the base design to minimize alterations and a hat with Elphegort's insignia. It's a shame the Tasan Party doesn't have an insignia to add to her uniform. ________________________________________________________ If you want to use the designs for your own fan art, you can do so without any problem, just give credit and that's it.
