03 - Manfred Von Richthofen - DragoonManfred Von Richthofen, Better Known As The Red Baron, Is Todays

03 - Manfred von Richthofen - Dragoon Manfred von Richthofen, better known as the Red Baron, is today’s subject. Von Richthofen was a fighter pilot during the first World War, during which he racked up over 80 confirmed kills, a feat which earned him the title “ace-of-aces.” In life, von Richthofen was a skilled, thoughtful tactician, and, if one is being honest, a bit of a pompous twit. Still, his extreme skill earned him the admiration of allies and enemies alike. When he was eventually shot down -- and nobody gets as famous as he did without attracting some less desirable attention -- even his opponents in the Allied camp mourned his passing. In the end, it was von Richthofen’s extreme flying skill that led me to cast him as a Dragoon. Dragoons have a rather fractured history in RPGs: these spear-wielding knights have been cast as both allies and hunters of dragons, and even as thralls held in service of dragons against their will. But it was the association these spear-wielding knights carry with dragons and aerial combat that made the Dragoon a good fit for the Red Baron.

04 - Belle Starr - Rogue A rather famous outlaw from the Midwest, Belle Star was actually referred to as the “female Jesse James.” Which is bizarre, but it gets the point across. She was stylish, a crack shot, and from what I can tell, kind of violent, all of which feeds together to create a character who ends up feeling rather legendary. In RPGs, there tend to be two outlaw-style classes; Rogues and the more ubiquitous Thieves. Though similar in many respects, these classes have distinctly different focuses. The Thief’s main interest is in items, specifically relieving enemies of as many of them as possible. Conversely, the Rogue uses the same basic techniques, but with a focus on dealing damage. Where the Thief would dart behind an enemy in order to pick their pocket, the Rogue would simply plant a knife in the enemy’s back. Given Belle Starr’s violent criminal record, she seemed a better candidate for Rogue.

Where character design is concerned, I’m not against sexy. Heck, I’m a *fan* of sexy. But the main character of the upcoming 3DS RPG Code of Princess, a lady by the name of Solange, is a case where sexy more or less takes over the character. Sexy is the main driving force of Solange’s character design, and it gets downright demeaning. A lot of this comes from elements in the design which make the character appear awkward, elements which appeal to the “protect me” part of the hindbrain. Basically, instead of a functioning, believable warrior, this character is being presented as an object, something to defend rather than as a person in her own right. I have no doubt that the person who designed and illustrated this character is far more skilled than I am, but I hope that my redesign of her can help to show that a character doesn’t have to sacrifice their believability or dignity to be attractive. Anyway, let’s start by taking an in-depth look at Solange’s original design. A lot of the character is an attempt at a fairly straightforward type of sexy, using the sort of elongated proportions and oversized sexual elements you can see in characters like Bayonetta. For example, both Solange and Bayonetta use a fairly narrow torso, long legs, and wide hips to create an illusion of height. Where the two designs part ways can be seen most strongly in the poses they take. Where Bayonetta is shown to be in control and a force to be reckoned with, Solange is presented off-balance and awkward. She seems to be struggling to stay upright, hefting her oversized sword as though it were too heavy for her to use properly. Her expression is wide-eyed and upward-glancing, with the mouth open in an expression of surprise and uncertainty. Again, these elements are used to make her seem child-like and in need of defending. Combined with her outfit, which is basically a thong and two fleur-de-lis pasties, the overall impression is of a character used as a tool rather than presented as a person. My biggest interest in Solange’s redesign was imbuing her with a sense of competence, which would make the sexy that much more palatable. The excessive nudity was the first thing to go, as it was just destroying suspension of disbelief. There are arguments to be made for sexy outfits in semi-realistic combat, but just as you wouldn’t expect people watching a horror movie to ignore the zipper on the guy playing the monster, you can’t expect people to take a mostly-naked fighter seriously. After that, Solange needed a new pose. Where the old image had her awkwardly stumbling, the redesign has her standing erect and poised, looking the viewer in the eye. Rather than struggling to lift a sword that is obviously too large for her to use, Solange holds her weapon like a scepter of office. She’s still attractive, but she’s further from “Sexualized,” and closer (I hope), to “Heroically Idealized.”

So after the first couple designs I posted, it occurred to me that I really wasn't flexing much art muscle. That was partially intentional - when I have to do one design every day, I don't want to have to get too involved - but it did bug me. But the other reason for going more complex this time was... Well, this is King Christina of Sweden. She's quite possibly my favorite person ever.

Christina's birth was a bizarre affair. As she was born, the wetnurse declared her to be a boy, which caused no end of embarrassment when it was discovered that she was in fact a girl. Her father basically said screw it, and raised her as a prince, and when Christina eventually rose to the throne, she took the oath of a king, not a queen. She eventually abdicated her throne, but remained a prominent figure, sponsoring many artists and philosophers, and just generally being awesome.

My design of her was heavily influenced by Final Fantasy Tactics, especially Meliadoul. And indeed, the class I imagined for her was one of a Divine Knight, a class known for near game-breaking power, flexibility, and the ability to shatter enemy weapons and armor. Given Christina's absolute inability to be restrained, it seemed appropriate.

18 - Rod Serling - Illusionist

Mr. Serling struck me as an Illusionist from the very first time I saw the show he is known best for, The Twilight Zone. As a class, Illusionists specialize in manipulating the perceptions of people - basically, lying to people with magic. The most powerful Illusionists can create unbreakable visions that can transport people to another world. And this is basically what Rod Serling did. With a few words, a single script, he could transport you to a world where the sun never rises, where living slot machines stalk their victims, or where a child’s wish can change your fate. This was one of the harder designs I’ve done this month, for a number of reasons. Firstly, Ol’ Rod’s design is pretty much set in stone. That black suit, his cigarette, that cocked eyebrow, they’re all a big part of Mr. Serling’s character. Unfortunately, they’re not particularly well-suited to a fantasy design, and the fact that the Illusionist is a very poorly-defined class (visually speaking) helps not at all.

15, 16 and 17 - The Marx Brothers - Mime Something big and fancy for the midpoint of the challenge, ladies and gentlemen! The Marx Brothers are, without reservation, my favorite comedians of all time. They use a brilliant mixture of slapstick, wordplay, and atrocious, paint-curling puns to create some of the most hilarious movies known to man. Their influence on comedy can hardly be overstated; I find it hard to believe that there is a comedian on the face of the planet who has not been influenced in some way by the Marx Brothers. Though mostly seen as slightly creepy, silent clowns in real life, Mimes in role-playing games tend to be massively powerful, very sought-after classes. The root of their strength lies in their ability to copy the moves of other characters, often without paying the costs associated with those moves. In fact, a popular tactic with the Mime is to have all of the characters in a party become Mimes, then have one of them cast a huge, costly, powerful spell, and then have the whole party mimic the attack turn after turn, dealing huge amounts of damage. This is the main reason I felt the Mime class was so appropriate for these three: given their huge influence, there are a vast number of comedians that could be said to be Miming the Mime. Incidentally, I based their designs on the three games which use Mimes most prominently. Groucho is based on the FFV Mime (probably the most boring Mime - they just stuck shoulderpads and a cape on the Freelancer and called it a day!), Harpo is a FFT Mime, and Chico is a FFVI Mime (aka, Gogo).