What Happened to Yazmin Vane?
I feel like I need to explain what the heck happened to Yazmin for the trip I have put her through. So, this post is going to explain as much as I possibly can. Yazmin Vane or Yazamanyhands is the fifth and final character. She is a unique case of a character made on a whim that became a household classic.
To explain her origin, Yaz was initially the Avatar for the Hoodlites. A Queen, you could say. She was once a normal person with Grimmjaw, but mutated with blank white eyes, goth grey skin and four arms.
This version of Yaz can control all four of the STAB and was meant to be a bit of a loner character. Much like Anis Rusli at the time. As time went on, I decided to ditch this concept. Since it feels like she would be too overpowered. So, I experimented a little more.
Referring to my list of favourite characters, Ranni the Witch, Rhea Ripely, and Noi (Dorohedoro). After her first appearance, I've worked tirelessly to reinvent her design. Which gave voice to my interest in women who are a bit more masculine. Enter Yaz 2.0/ Super Yaz.
This Yaz was bigger, taller and tougher. There's a lot of expansive lore behind this version. Such as the fact that she and Professor Timothy Brian Anderson are half-siblings due to their abnormal connection.
Gotta admit, I was really into Netflix's Sandman at the time, and the relationship between the skinny explosive hair boy (Dream) and the cooler sister (Death) made me want to try the match up.
Sadly, this idea was scrapped. The stress of managing six characters at the time got to me, and I had to do a bit of cleanup on ideas that I'm no longer interested in. For that brief period, Yaz was considered.
Good news, some characters may be dead, but the essence of it lived on! Yaz returned earlier this year in a more human tone. Borrowing from the rejected concepts into one character. I called this Human-Yaz
This version of Yaz is instead a Hollowaye because I love this condition the most. Since some of the characters are gone, it was more open for other colours to come into Yaz's look.
I was into the idea of Heterochromia. So, I tried to make this a more outstanding character with her main features being more unique. At the time, I also wanted to try the idea of a character from the same world but with different ways of using their main power system. So, instead of having a weapon. Her body "is" the weapon. The jury is still out on that comment.
Despite my optimism, I was still a little unhappy with how she looked. The new condition is better, but her colour seemed uninteresting to me. It felt like I was just doing it to honour the fallen. Yaz was no longer the Yaz I liked in the first place.
So, here we are. The latest version of Yazmin Vane. I inquired a friend lately about my issue with this character. I love her design, but I've exhausted every colour I want to see to make her good, and none of it is working!
So, I desperately asked around my circle what they thought of this madness thus far, and one claimed that the old Yaz was better. "I mean, I prefer her first concept with the grey skin and white hair. It made her unique. I think now (Human-Yaz) she looks like she could be a sibling with Hector and Sadie because of their similar colours. You should shake it up."
The conversation made me realise I have been trying too hard to make Yazy blend in with everyone else. Probably best to make her outstanding both in sketch and with colour and return to the root of Yazy's persona. Yaz was meant to be a bit abnormal, and removing that look will take away a lot of her character. There is a mild adjustment. Yaz's hair had a mild mix of blue as opposed to the previous flat white.
The Heterochromia is gone because it was too try-hard. Also, I noticed a trend in characters with Heterochromia. It's an all-too-popular combo. Purple eyes are cooler anyways. So this is Yaz, she's back in grey and I love it already.
It's good to have her back.
