- Real world influence
- Inspiration from other characters
- "Original Ideas"
C2
NAME: C2 (short for Cuprite-2)
AGE: 5,000 (as a crystal), 2 (since consciousness)
SPECIES: Unknown
PROFESSION: none
C2 is a genderless (yet male-coded) humanoid crystal, based on the cuprite gemstone, a "dark red of brownish black mineral" comprised mostly of copper oxide.
(Real cuprite - credit: newsandpr.com)
The dark red colour the gemstone can take on is the main inspiration for Cuprite's colour scheme.
The texture of cuprite is commonly a lot of clean cuts and edges; I brought some of this into the design of the character, when it came to appendages and digits. They have sharper edges, and had the character been created in a 3-dimensional space, the fingers would be less of a coned point, and more of a 4-sided pyramids / obelisks.
C2 wears a black and orange tank top; since the backstory has them be a scientific subject, they needed some kind of uniform from the lab. Since I couldn't find very many striking uniforms that were also appropriate from the science field, I looked further. I eventually settled on something kind of related: a prison jumpsuit. In real life and in fiction, prison jumpsuits are usually bright orange. Given the laboratory that takes C2 is a cruel, near abandoned place, I thought it appropriate that the uniform it gives it's test subjects be similar to prison jumpsuits.
(Harley Quinn in her Arkham Asylum jumpsuit, from "Suicide Squad" - credit: Warner Bros.)
In regards to shape theory, C2 is made up of triangles and squares. The triangles are supposed to be subversive, and also go with the story. The lab wants to weaponise C2, making their unique abilities into tools of war. However, C2 isn't a fan of that idea. So the triangles represent that C2 can be dangerous, but doesn't want to use that power. The squares, commonly used to show stability and safety, is more so used to show level-headedness and a need to keep those who it respects safe.
C2 is also amorphous. This essentially means it is without a definite form, and can shapeshift at will. However, this can only be done with a finite volume of crystal; for example, C2 could extend it's legs, but in return, it's arms would shrink down to accomodate for that. The most extreme forms C2 can take is as a near completely flat surface (like a puddle), or as one towering sharp point (like a sewing needle). This is somewhat based on some common alien / extraterrestrial tropes, seen in fictional aliens like the Venom symbiote (Spider-Man comics), Goop (Ben 10: Alien Force) and Bill Cipher (Gravity Falls). But with those creatures, they're able to create more material. The ability to use up only a finite amount of material is based on real science, where changing the shape of something with spaced out particles also requires the volume to remain the same.
While unintentional, I feel like parallels could be drawn to the Ben 10 character Diamondhead, but only in the sense of they're both humanoid crystal characters. I only realised the similarities when drawing sketches of potential weapons for C2 to generate, and one sketch made me remember the character. Coincidental, but I feel different enough.
While unintentional, I feel like parallels could be drawn to the Ben 10 character Diamondhead, but only in the sense of they're both humanoid crystal characters. I only realised the similarities when drawing sketches of potential weapons for C2 to generate, and one sketch made me remember the character. Coincidental, but I feel different enough.
(Diamondhead in Ben 10 (2006) - credit: Cartoon Network)
Dr. Ci Ents
NAME: Dr. Ci Evelyn Ents, "PhD"
AGE: 25
SPECIES: Human
PROFESSION: Scientist
Dr Ci. Ents is a female scientist, working on the "C2 Project".
The most unique part about Dr. Ents is her right arm. In her backstory, she lost her original arm as an intern for the laboratory. Wanting to avoid a lawsuit, they immediately gave her an experimental prosthetic arm, and gave her a "PhD" (It was fake. They're a fraud lab). The arm is based more on science-fiction technology as opposed to real life prosthetics. Ents' arm is made using parts that don't physically touch, but instead float. While there's a little bit of Mag-Lev technology inspiration, it's mostly taking influence from fictional technologies like the Iron Man tech or Peridot's limb enhancers from Steven Universe.
(Peridot with her limb enhancers; both her and Dr. Ents have robotic forearms with floating fingers. However, Peridot's don't extend the whole way up her arm, and only involves floating elements with the fingers. - credit: Cartoon Network)
The shape theory I tried to apply to Dr. Ents is squares; the head, the boots, body shape... it's all meant to represent safety. Dr. Ents isn't like the other scientists in her lab. Where they are all cruel and without empathy, she has a sense of humanity. She wants to protect the innocent people in the lab, so no-one ends up like her.
The colours are meant to represent a more positive, less malicious scientist in her lab's wave of dull, "evil" scientists. The lime green shirt and blue jeans stand out more than what her other coworkers would wear. There's also some light blue elements on her as well, but it's exclusively in her technological elements; her arm. This, again, takes inspiration from Iron Man's fictional ARC technology.
NAME: Experimental Item "E.I." #112
AGE: 200 (as crystal chipping), 5 (since consciousness)
SPECIES: Unknown
PROFESSION: none
E.I. #112 (referring to as #112 from here) is meant to be a conscious chip from the twin crystal that fell to Earth with C2's crystal, which came to life but perished after around 1800 years. However, a chip found of the original crystal was found by the lab holding C2 (albeit 3 years earlier), and grew into a tiny version of the original Cuprite.
#112 is meant to be a Jiminy Cricket-esque character, bouncing off of C2. Despite his smaller stature and more immature personality, #112 is older than C2, and acts as their guide to the real world. #112 is street smart, and helps point C2 in the right direction. Bringing back the Jiminy Cricket comparison, he's like a conscious.
The shapes used on #112 are meant to be somewhat simplified versions of C2's; rounded edges, abstracted elements, and so on. The head spikes C2 has are rounded bumps for #112, the arms & legs are more like sticks & stumps respectively, and only having one eye as opposed to C2's pair.
The colours are meant to be somewhat similar to C2, but also noticeably different. They're both red, but with different secondary colours mixed in there too. C2 has more black / purple mixed into it's red, but #112 has a hint of magenta instead. This is to help establish their relationship somewhat. They're both of the same species, even considered relatives; but they're absolutely NOT the same crystal.
NAME: Antibody (translated from ancient language)
AGE: Seconds younger than time itself
SPECIES: unknown
PROFESSION: Silent assassin, hunter
Antibody is a genderless (uncoded) creature, who acts as the antagonist and as a foil to C2.
Antibody is the self proclaimed "second oldest being", a true statement pertaining to being older than everything except existence. It claims to it's victims to be sent by the universe to bring them to a peaceful place, in an attempt to get it's prey easily. It's lie about the universe is a cover up for it's sporting habit: hunting down everything that isn't meant to be there, and eradicating it. It does it for both sport and for personal reasons; purity. Antibody has the world view that everything is designed one way, and that way only; your own species only belongs with your own species. Anything unusual or out of place is removed... by force.
Antibody is based on the real biological antibody protein. Antibodies are designed to immobilise unwanted pathogens, trapping them into submission and eventually destroying them. Through this process, the body then learns how to quickly and efficiently remove similar pathogens. This can be tied to Antibody's goal of irradicating the "unwanted" from the larger body of the universe.
The colours are meant to represent a more positive, less malicious scientist in her lab's wave of dull, "evil" scientists. The lime green shirt and blue jeans stand out more than what her other coworkers would wear. There's also some light blue elements on her as well, but it's exclusively in her technological elements; her arm. This, again, takes inspiration from Iron Man's fictional ARC technology.
(Iron Man's Mark 50 armour (Avengers: Infinity War), with blue, light up elements - credit: Marvel Studios)
E.I. #112
NAME: Experimental Item "E.I." #112
AGE: 200 (as crystal chipping), 5 (since consciousness)
SPECIES: Unknown
PROFESSION: none
E.I. #112 (referring to as #112 from here) is meant to be a conscious chip from the twin crystal that fell to Earth with C2's crystal, which came to life but perished after around 1800 years. However, a chip found of the original crystal was found by the lab holding C2 (albeit 3 years earlier), and grew into a tiny version of the original Cuprite.
#112 is meant to be a Jiminy Cricket-esque character, bouncing off of C2. Despite his smaller stature and more immature personality, #112 is older than C2, and acts as their guide to the real world. #112 is street smart, and helps point C2 in the right direction. Bringing back the Jiminy Cricket comparison, he's like a conscious.
The shapes used on #112 are meant to be somewhat simplified versions of C2's; rounded edges, abstracted elements, and so on. The head spikes C2 has are rounded bumps for #112, the arms & legs are more like sticks & stumps respectively, and only having one eye as opposed to C2's pair.
The colours are meant to be somewhat similar to C2, but also noticeably different. They're both red, but with different secondary colours mixed in there too. C2 has more black / purple mixed into it's red, but #112 has a hint of magenta instead. This is to help establish their relationship somewhat. They're both of the same species, even considered relatives; but they're absolutely NOT the same crystal.
Antibody
NAME: Antibody (translated from ancient language)
AGE: Seconds younger than time itself
SPECIES: unknown
PROFESSION: Silent assassin, hunter
Antibody is a genderless (uncoded) creature, who acts as the antagonist and as a foil to C2.
Antibody is the self proclaimed "second oldest being", a true statement pertaining to being older than everything except existence. It claims to it's victims to be sent by the universe to bring them to a peaceful place, in an attempt to get it's prey easily. It's lie about the universe is a cover up for it's sporting habit: hunting down everything that isn't meant to be there, and eradicating it. It does it for both sport and for personal reasons; purity. Antibody has the world view that everything is designed one way, and that way only; your own species only belongs with your own species. Anything unusual or out of place is removed... by force.
Antibody is based on the real biological antibody protein. Antibodies are designed to immobilise unwanted pathogens, trapping them into submission and eventually destroying them. Through this process, the body then learns how to quickly and efficiently remove similar pathogens. This can be tied to Antibody's goal of irradicating the "unwanted" from the larger body of the universe.
(Representation of an antibody - credit: bio-rad-antibodies.com)
Antibody is also a literal name; just like C2, Antibody is amorphous. So by that, it has no definitive form, or body. This time though, Antibody can create new material for it's body. It's texture is meant to be somewhat slimey, acting like the symbiote from Spider-Man comics. Antibody also goes through two different stages, when trying to persuade it's victims; stage 1 is the standard form, as seen above. Stage 2 sees a more coiled, snake like body shape, as well as sharpened fingers and the head stripped back to reveal a set of razor sharp teeth. Stage 3, nicknamed "Nightmare Antibody", is a 50ft tall mass of whatever Antibody's made of; a hulking chest, muscled arms, and tentacles & growths coming out of it's back and shoulders. The head stays small, but fluctuates between stage 1 and 2 heads. The final touch is a set of teeth in the chest, acting as the final resort.
The colour theory is a washed out navy and white; I chose these colours because they reminded me of space, the origin of Antibody. Black and white was considered at one point, but then I opted against it, since it made shading look strange. Plus, black and white wasn't visually interesting as opposed to the navy blue and white.
There are some light inspirations from a range of sources, but only some more generic elements; an inky / slimy body texture akin to Venom from 2018's Venom, and a final form like the Shadow Blot from the game Epic Mickey.
No comments:
Post a Comment