Ya Know What? Motivation Can Go A Long Way To Defining And Fleshing Out A Character.

Ya know what? Motivation can go a long way to defining and fleshing out a character.

Knowing why someone does something helps them be memorable, be realistic, and be likeable. Not having a motivation can make them feel bland and stale. Characters suffer from not having a motivation. Case in point: Nexomon Extinction.

Let's go over the positives first. Amelie and Vados both have clear motivations, end goals, and reasons for their actions. They want humanity to live on without the constant threat of Tyrants. It makes them compelling.

However, on the opposite side of the spectrum, Nora and Ross have nothing. Why do they want to become tamers? We don't know. Why do they want to stop Tryants? You are just meant to assume that it's because 'Tyrants are bad :('. That's not compelling. It's boring, and no amount of funny quips or personality can save a character from having a boring story. So....

I gave them motivations myself. And it was pretty simple.

Ross

Ross' parents lived in the westward district of New Ignita, where the housing was less stellar. Ross himslef was a excitable child, depsite barely having turned one. They were making ends meet, but things were... stressful. It became all the more stressful when the entire district was forced to evacuate due to a Tyrant threat. The fire Tyrant of the time (a couple before Mulcimer) had appeared close to New Ignita, specifically the west district. As they were evacuated, they received the news that the entire district was destroyed because the Tyrant got into a fight with the fire Greater Drake, Dracoon. Fed up with everything, Ross' parents decided to leave the continent and start their lives anew somewhere else. They left everything behind at the desert outpost, shoving all of it into the Guild's hands. Even their own child ended up in the hands of a Guild Tamer.

And thus, Ross began to blame the Tyrants for his parents abandoning him. He also began to despise the way they headless destroy human settlements. He also became grateful for the guild tamer who brought him to the Orphanage. Thus, his reason for becoming a Guild Tamer is secure.

Nora

Nora's parents were well known scientists, having put a lot of time and effort into the study of Nexomon as a whole. They had moved to the edge of the Immortal Citadel. Nora, at six years old, adored her parents and wanted to be just like them. Then, the Plant type Tyrant (the one before Tikala) started to move towards Parum city. Nora's parents, ever the observers, noticed that the long spines on the Tryant's back were hollow, and they were probably used to secreate some sort of poison. They then told Nora to stay in the basement as they went to go tell the Guild's front lines. As soon as they had arrived however, the Guild had pissed off the Tyrant to much, and it had started to throw a tantrum and released a poisonous gas into the air. 36 people died due to this gas, including Nora's parents. Nora was found 3 days later near her destroyed house. The only reason she survived is because her parents sealed the basement to prevent external gases from getting in. Deena was found outside of the rubble of her house, and it appeared that a large nexomon had dug her out and freed her. She was found surrounded by fresh flowers.

Nora wanted to join the Guild to study Nexomon, specifically Tyrants, so that what happened to her parents never happens again. While she doesn't have any active hate for Tyrants, Nora struggles with panic attacks and anxiety relating to the powerful Nexomon. Another, smaller goal is to find the Nexomon that saved her from the rubble of her former home.

Xanders

And thus, the stage is set. With both of these backstories and, more importantly, these motivations not only will Nora and Ross be more compelling, but the plot will also take a small but noticeable turn. The player will not only feel bad after the confrontation in Lateria, but Xanders will also become more compelling as a result. Xanders as a character has a similar backstory to Nora and Ross, and he would probably use this to his advantage. He would taunt the player, saying that their closest friends would never support them if they knew they were a Tyrant. And, (hopefully) the moment all of your friends find out that you are a Tyrant on the roof would hit so much harder emotionally, only for all of them to still support you in the end.

Xanders now doubles as a foil for Ross and Nora. All three of them were raised in an orphanage because of a Tyrant getting rid of their parents, but Xanders let his hatred consume him, and he refused to move on. Nora and Ross, in contrast chose to move on and support their friend. And really, that's the compelling thing both of them needed.

I’ll never understand why anthropomorphic animal cartoons like Robin Hood and Zootopia will go to the trouble of creating character designs that are meant to be understood as “attractive” or even “sexy” to the human audience but explicitly avoid showing interspecies romances between anthropomorphic animals. Why is THAT weird but, like, trying to make rabbits recognizably sexy-coded to humans isn’t?

Happy Halloween!! I wasn’t expecting this redraw to wind up so intricate lol Got the Nexomon games for Switch so I could replay them on the TV and afterward decided to redo the Halloween drawing from last year. If you like my art, please reblog :)

Ethan and his expressionless face

a selection of artist memes hand-picked and curated by me based on my own experiences

rereading my own writing is just a constant fluctuation between "damn, girl, you wrote this? (affectionate)" and "damn, girl, you wrote this? (derogatory)"