WHO IS NIGHTBIRD FROM "LOST SPARKS"?
Drawing by @tendebill - be sure to check out his social media!
Big question, huh?
And this post will also be quite long.
I thought that since I'm rambling on about the story, which currently has five chapters - and won't be ending anytime soon - I should attempt a more in-depth analysis of the characters I want to present to you. I'm aware that some of the changes I'll be making to the characters or characters themselves may be unexpected, but trust me - it's for the good of the story.
NIGHTBIRD
Most people probably recognize Nightbird from the original "Transformers" series: she was introduced as a giant ninja robot constructed by Dr. Fujiyama. Of course, she also appeared in the film "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts", as a representative of the Terrocons (with visible ninja influences). Another version was presented in "Transformers: Cyberverse": as a mercenary, her design seems heavily inspired by Arcee. She was also introduced as part of the Decepticons in the video game "Angry Birds."
I don't want to go into any major spoilers, so I apologize for not doing an in-depth comparison of this character's portrayal here. She's certainly not a forgotten or under-represented character in the franchise - just look at the figures and cameos she appears in. Furthermore, one of the Autobot ships in the IDW series was named Nightbird, so... Yeah.
Ok, but what do I have to say about this character?
When I started developing the script for "Lost Sparks," I faced the question: who would be the main character?
Of course, I could have tried a collective protagonist and told the story from multiple perspectives, but the threads I wanted to develop later in the story (no spoilers, for now!!!!) prompted me to find a character who would be interesting and perhaps shed new light on certain issues. At one point, I considered creating and introducing a new character - after all, the story does feature characters from Ceall - until, somewhere in the meanderings of the materials I was reviewing, I finally came across Nightbird. Sure, I knew such a character existed, but until then, I hadn't considered taking her into account and writing her new origin. Meanwhile, I had sketched out a backstory for her original character from the G1 arcs, but that's a story for another time... Coming back, I faced the question: how do I see this?
I asked myself a number of questions that helped me answer:
Who is Nightbird? What is her character? What is her personality? What are her views? What are her beliefs? What shaped her? What are her relationships with others? How does she act? What motivates her? How will she navigate the situations I want to describe? What are her views on conflict? What are her views on the Autobots and Decpeticons?
And so on.
All these questions helped me construct and write Nightbird as you will know her - as I will present her - in "LOST SPARKS."
How did I described Nightbird in the early stages of development?
Although she's coded as a female character, I'd like to avoid definitively giving her attributes like Arcee from Transformers: Prime or Arcee from G1, I'd rather go for a defined, determined stance, strong frame, no visible waist (it can be slightly visible, but not like a wasp waist, not like Arachnid from Tf: Prime or Tf: Animated), she's also tall (something around 35 feet tall), strong and athletic. She is agile and strong in combat. Her body is not angular, has no sharp edges, is full of curves, ball-joints are visible - a bit like in bjd dolls. When you look at her, you can't help but feel that she is more "natural" than "mechanical". Ah, most importantly: she doesn't have an alternative mod. So wheels, wings, whatever, she doesn't need. Color scheme: dominant purple with gray and gold accents on the head, wrists, waist, thighs and knees. Eyes are lavender, shiny and almond-shaped. Surrounded by a fan of eyelashes. As for weapons: she wears a belt, on the back of which are attached 2 pistols Rebel (right hand) and Lover (left hand). On her left forearm she has a permanently built-in shield generator, and in her spine she has a graft, which is activated by touching her right hand on the neck - thanks to this, a whip is released, which is at peace with her spine. Other interesting facts: she has a lighter in the little finger of her right hand (a solution to the problem of a heavy smoker, haha). She has implants and plugs on the back of her neck, which are slightly exposed, but e.g. a mnemo surgeon has no access to them. Under her left eye, on her cheek, she has 3 plugs: they look like 3 moles in a row.
In many ways, I had to abandon the traits presented in the versions of her we know: she was dangerous, effective in combat, she was acting as an antagonist (that's okay, we need good villains).
But I wanted to portray her as a heroine experienced in combat, perhaps not morally grim, but with enough flexibility in her moral fiber that her demeanor provokes questioning, but also wary and cautious. The latter may be particularly strong in chapters 5 and 6.
Where did she come from, if she wasn't built in a laboratory? Well, this information is a major spoiler for now, so forgive me, but I won't reveal it for now ;)
I knew a redesign would be necessary because I had a completely different vision for the inhabitants of Ceall – here, again, I sincerely thank @tendebill for creating such a phenomenal design. I intended for the character's mechanical roots to be visible, but I also wanted these designs to be more rounded, more delicate. If you looked at Nightbird standing next to Optimus and Megatron, you could immediately tell she was someone else, even though her roots are Cybertronian.
Why did I choose this color scheme? In this case, I was inspired by a palette that has appeared repeatedly in various variations of this character: gray, purple. But at the same time, I wanted to add something that would complement these colors: hence the yellow. I think it looks good.
Finally, I will add that this section will receive further updates in the future :)
