While I was drawing Dartz yesterday, I realized that he looked very similar to my design of Resh. I've watched season 4 of Yu-Gi-Oh several years ago and Dartz really marked me as a villain, so I wouldn't be surprised if I subconsciously made them look similar 🤔
I put them side by side and I've noticed a few things:
Although they do have some similarities, they are very different in the subtleties.
First, for the similarities. They have both been corrupted by a certain stone; Dartz by the Orichalcos, and Resh by the Darkstone. At first sight, even their designs are strikingly similar, but it's interesting to dive a little deeper.
Resh's features are much sharper and imposing, while Dartz's seem softer in comparison. While their eyes have a similar shape, Dartz's irises being wider make him seem much calmer. Resh's very small irises show an instability much more evident than in Dartz. Dartz may appear as calm and collected, and disguise himself as a savior, while in my interpretation of Resh, he doesn't truly attempt to hide his God complex and superiority over the rest. Although Dartz's smile is false, it is still a smile regardless. Resh doesn't even bother to offer any sort of comfort whatsoever; his rage is clear, it is oppressive and intimidating. Dartz appeals to people's emotions through their weakness, and invites them to his side with a semblance of empathy and compassion, while the reality is that he despises humankind and wants to erase it, in order to clear it of its evil. His goal is to recreate a new world devoid of evil by destroying the old one, and to raise a prosperous Atlantis again. Resh is much louder with his goals, and although both are cold in their own way, Resh is entirely detached to the harm that he is causing. Both are chasing power and world domination, but there is an unmatched ruthlessness in Resh. Resh wants to take down the Megabird and become God, while Dartz wants to revive the god of the Orichalcos, the Great Leviathan, who is his master.
Both are equally terrifying in their own way. One is a wolf in sheep's clothing, while the other's monstrousness is evident in his every move.
