Phantasy Star IV

Part 5/6 - Prince Humperdinck and Count Rugen (The Prince and the Count)

     Part 1 - The Family | 2 - Style | 3 - The Sicilian Assassins | 4 - Buttercup and Westley | 6 - Florin Castle

I loved Chris Sarandon's curls so although I eventually went in the direction of a shorter cut for Humperdinck, I wanted to keep some sort of waviness to his hair. I also wanted to make sure that it was clear that Humperdinck is a hunter and at the same time have an almost wild and animal-like feeling to him so the wavy hair helped bring it to that direction.

In the books Humperdinck is described as "weighed close to 250 pounds, brick hard". Although in the books he is not tall, I did not want the leading antagonists of both the first and back half of the series to BOTH be short (Vizzini and Humperdinck). Felt like I would be sending a not so good message.

For Count Rugen, I went with black so that there would be a transfer of association from Man-in-Black/Dread Pirate Roberts/Secretly Westley in the first part of the series to Count Rugen later on. Diagonal slashes on clothing was a more northern style plus it makes him look even more like death which is in line with the whole Executioner-Grim Reaper direction I wanted to go with him.

Differentiating him from Inigo was also important. So although I went towards a thin direction for both, everything else about them is a contrast. While Inigo was meant to have a flamboyance and a certain “Fencing is life and my passion” feeling, for Count Rugen the idea was that although he is a master Fencer, his purpose is death and fencing is one of the ways he does it kind of thing.

2015.09.04

Sketches from Aventine, a gig I went to with some friends a few weeks ago. It was really fun.

Coffee Shop sketch dump (Epic) — 15.05.31

Henrik. Before the war.

Before the war (p2), During the War, After the War

I know I’m late, but despite being a long time fire emblem fan, I only got a switch recently 😬 so here’s an oc for three houses 😁 He’s Hilda and Holst’s brother.

Proficiency in Swords and Reason. Hidden talent in Authority. (Yes, I know mortal Savant is a crap class and that Hero is nerfed in this game, but Hero has always been one of my favourite classes in fire emblem and it just makes sense personality-wise for him to also be good with reason)

If Hilda doesn’t want to try bec of how awesome Holst is (he’s so freaking cool) and she is avoiding expectations, Henrik decided to deal with their amazing brother’s reputation affecting them by creating different expectations for himself by pursuing different things. (Swords instead of axes, a diplomatic approach instead of being a general. Too bad a war breaks out). Henrik really believes in Claude’s vision because he wants the battles at Fodlan’s locket to end so that Holst doesn’t have to fight all the time. He is close with his sister and is very good friends with Claude (and definitely wants him as a brother-in-law 😉)

A sketch of a young Tom Dixon.

Yuji.

He is my entry for this month’s CDChallenge with the theme Samurai. 

Based on the scenario given, (which was that the Samurai, was tasked with rescuing his/her daimyo’s love, the Geisha Sudo Magodo.) I wanted to make sure there was no possible way Sudo Magodo could fall in love with her rescuer on the way back to the palace (Didn’t want another Shrek situation). So I was trying to come up with possible ideas for that and figured that the best solution, due to the unlikelihood, would be a child. (Can’t speak for his best friend Fatu though, if he is of age.)

Yuji is a prodigy, and is the Kingdom’s last hope. He’s confident and has no doubts about his own skills, but due to his age is often overlooked. He takes advantage of this in battle but is often left out of certain activities (like drinking with his fellow Samurai) because of it. Despite being self-assured, and his fellow Samurai acknowledging his skill, and seeing him as an ally, he wants to be seen as an adult, instead of just the skilled child. He believes that by saving Sudo Magodo and therefore his Daimyo from committing Sepuku, he would finally be seen as man, and gain respect, instead of just acknowledgement.

I included some sketches of an alternate idea, that I explored just to make sure I didn’t get tunnel vision on a kid design, and therefore miss out on another possibly good design. So I figured, maybe the bonus illustration of the adult samurai could just be Yuji as an adult!

Demon Prince Kazuhiko ☄️ and Na-chan 🌠

The last two party members of the After School Demon Fighters Club.

Na-chan is Reiko’s best friend and Aki-chan’s third cousin. She has three older siblings and two younger ones. All of them, including her parents are geniuses. Natsuki, unlike the rest of her family is very outgoing and affectionate but just like the rest of her family, is extremely intelligent (although in her family they consider her the least intelligent due to her lacking a “focus”). Na-chan is very active in her extra-curricular activities often participating in school musicals and is the Public Relations Officer of the student council with her best friend Reiko, while also excelling in her academics and is at the top of her class, second only to the her hardworking best friend. Na-chan is very popular because she is genuinely nice and helpful to everyone. She loves stargazing and has a keen interest in astrophysics but also in music and dance. She is a DPS magic user and due to understanding of science (especially Astrophysics) she is naturally able to understand how her magic works better, amplified by her ability to connect with her feelings through the performing arts, she is by far the most powerful party member (After Reiko can no longer shield her from their After School Demon Fighting activities).

Kazuhiko is the final member and is one of the many children of the Demon King. His pink hair and vermillion eyes are natural while he has the ability to hide his horns at will. Reiko forges him a fake identity as her cousin. Because of his personality, everyone in school thinks he’s a gang member and is a part of the Yakuza, indadvertedly causing everyone to think that Reiko and her father have direct ties with the Yakuza, much to her exasperation. Kazuhiko wields dual swords but he always says that he wield a trident, because he considers his body as a weapon. He “keeps” his swords in his jacket and when he summons them, they disappear from the print of the jacket. He unashamedly loves it when Na-chan plays with his hair, and styles it in different ways. Kazuhiko also doesn’t understand why human men must wear pants.

A mini project I did based on a wedding I attended in a dream 😁

The Knight’s final design is a combination of the two versions I uploaded 😊 

Although I’m not very satisfied with how I painted the illustration, I learned a lot and the app werble is pretty awesome.

Aki-chan ☀️ and Reiko 🌙

The first two party members of the After School Demon Fighters Club Project.

(I made the draft months ago and forgot to post it. sorry)

Akira Hideyoshi often referred to as Aki-chan, is the Twin Protagonists’ childhood best friend. He didn’t have siblings yet at the time, so he treated them like a younger brother and sister. Aki-chan is half American and half-Japanese. He lives with his single mom and much younger sister in Osaka. Although his family isn’t well off, due to his talent in multiple sports (starting out with Baseball and eventually branching off to Tennis and Lacrosse) he was given a full scholarship to the prestigious Tennoji High School. Although not the most academically intelligent, he does dream of eventually going into Sports Medicine.

Aki-chan is the healer of the party but isn’t the traditional kind. He wields a staff with a blade at the end so that he can cast spells and defend himself because he stays in the front lines (and won’t die easily because he’s pretty tough). Apart from his own healing spells, he heals passively creating the ultimate defence with Reiko, the party’s Tank.

Reiko Ishiyama is the “too rich and too good for anyone Student Council President.” Top of her class, Kendo varsity team captain, and rich daughter of the CEO of a security company. She handles the pressure with grace and shines with it. She is logical and practical but is caring and has a genuine want to better the lives of those around her. The problem is that she can be very difficult to approach due to being on the intimidating side and has difficulty connecting with those she is meant to lead. Her best friend Na-chan helps with that. She has a soft side for her best friend in the world Na-chan. The Kimono style-Rayon jacket in her summer outfit was a gift from Na-chan, a metaphor meant to symbolize that the moon, Reiko, will not be alone because she will be surrounded by stars (like Na-chan).

Aki and Reiko become friends due to often encountering one another during sports festivals and tournaments. When their games and/or matches are over, they usually share a nice cold drink. (Sometimes after training in school too).

Li was a Philosophy student who became a figurehead of one faction of the Equalist movement in Republic City before 169 AG.

This is the initial concept portrait of Li Yang (temporary/working name)