Jaga's World - Tumblr Posts
Let's go and introduce the next OC, shall we? This here's Jaga Aranea, a princess on the distant planet Arakis, though she's not one to rely on mere diplomacy—she's also a member of an ancient ninja clan! She combines her katana and stinger to surprising effect, and is deft enough on her feet to sidestep blaster shots and climb up walls. In her spare time, she plays a Solitaire-like game called Kuresoera to keep her mind sharp.
One thing to keep in mind if you meet her... She may be a princess, but don't feel the need to bow to her. She's not a fan.
Jaga's a character I created for a friend's tabletop RPG campaign way back when, a spacefaring one. Unorthodox, sure, but I didn't want to go bog-standard, and with the system we were using allowing for a Giant Insect character (yes I know they're arachnids shush), I decided to play it risky. Invested in tech use, at least, so those pincers of hers didn't just break anything she tried to grab!
Sadly, the campaign in question kinda fizzled out when we went our separate ways between high school and college, but Jaga's stuck around in the back of my mind. Like with most of my OCs, I'd love to bring her to more stuff in the future—an RPG, certainly! Maybe one day, when I can get into making video games...
(And yes, Jaga's name does come from Bionicle's Nui-Jaga. I loved that franchise as a kid! Still do, actually.)
Now who might this be? ...Honestly, I dunno. The idea for some kinda lightning spirit came from me being in the middle of a MASSIVE thunderstorm a few years back. Haven't drawn him really since these two images, but he's still in my mind—maybe he'll come back someday.
Might fit in well with Lotu's world, come to think of it. Or Jaga's.
Off she goes on an adventure!
Time to make a plan of attack... ...And even when you're midway through said plan, don't be afraid to replan.
A coordinated heist? Two separate heists of the same castle? Two completely unrelated heists on different worlds? You be the judge. What I will say is: That's the fabricy visage of the infamous T.D. Bear on the wall in Ghostie's picture. Hopefully his plan won't have to worry about him showing up! No one wants to face their tutor-turned-supervillain...
Here's another old piece of art featuring Jaga, with the older eye design. Was a fine design in the moment, but in hindsight the compound eyes worked better without such clear (or rigid) segmentations.
The way of the cephalopod shinobi is multi-armed, multi-faceted, and, er... multi-perilous. (A rival to Jaga Aranea? If so, then this octopus probably comes from a different planet from her. Or it could just stand on its own, since not everything I draw needs to be attached to a world)
Found myself the time this morning to do a quick warmup sketch, and made this! Perhaps this is what Arakis (Jaga's home planet) looks like... well, roughly. I'll definitely want to come back to this and make it a proper, full landscape.
Originally made September 10, 2019 Onward to unknown ventures! Hope she's got enough supplies in that bag of hers... This canine-ish character would eventually evolve into this more definitively-canine character from a few years later. Man, I have a lot of characters I should use more... or at least draw more.
Here's Jaga Aranea showing off her skill with a blade! It took a lot of work to get to the level she's at, especially given she has to wield it with claws rather than the deft fingers of a mammal. But that's why she's training in a ninja clan. Below's an alternate version, swapping out the blurred-out Arakis concept with a simple cutout border.
(Sorry that I've been absent art-wise here—among other things, I've gotten invested in a certain game that's taken a lot of my time. Hopefully you'll see art of it soon... hopefully.)