Interesting Characters

Inspiration: Artists

In recent years i've found Al Hirschfeld very interesting. His use of swooping lines is very appealing to me, and I absolutely love his character drawings.

Yoji Shinkawa has always inspired me. His character concepts are absolutely beautiful, and I have always wanted to try and emulate his uniquie style.



I Found Anthony Jones on DeviantArt last year by complete accident, and I've been in love with his work ever since. He's now a concept for Sony Santa Monica Studios, the creators of the God Of War series. I just find his ability to draw in such a vast range of styles and all of his character design absolutely incredible. His work never ceases to amaze me.

Mike Krahuluk of Penny Arcade. I absolutely love his style, and always find myself trying to emulate it when drawing in a cartoon-ish style. There's a definite resemblance to Hirschfeld's work here.




Matt Rhodes, lead artist at Bioware. These are some concepts for the character "Jack" from "Mass Effect 2". Rhodes is definately one of my main inspirations right now, his works always blow me away.
Jimmy O' Ready, formerly of Realtime Worlds.
Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin and Hobbes. I read every strip as a child, and have been in love with both of these characters ever since.

Paintings

A few paintings I've finished of two of my favourite antagonists. Saren Arterius from Mass Effect, and Proinsias Cassidy from Preacher.

Archetype - The Trickster

Experimented designing villains based on typical archetypes and monomyths.

I didn’t design this character with any archetype in mind, but by studying his visual features I would probably categorise him into “The Trickster” archetype. More to follow.

Antagonists are generally very strong characters, which is why I chose to focus my study on the design and conceptualisation of them particularly.

Many characters are based and found in the mythology of several different cultures around the world, which is stressed through the universal human understanding of character archetypes. A simple example would be the use of the popularised horned demon or devil, which while perhaps bearing no relevance to religion , or more specifically christianity, carries heavy negative connotations universally. Even more interestingly are the existance of monomyths; mytholigical or religious characters or narratives that share the same patterns globally.

Although this may bear no relevance to my honours project, I still find it interesting, as it loops back to Jungian Psychology, which although minor, is one of the focuses of my study.

I wish to explore what makes a good antagonist. What elements, if any, of design, development through narrative, historical reference, mythology, archetypes, parameters and methodoligies, bear relevance and consequence to the design of a brilliant antagonist?

For this, I will explore several character archetypes and personifications of ideas and concepts commonly found in cultural mythology, and with any luck design characters successfully so to portray these factors and traits visually.

However, I would also like to touch upon the complexities of this.

Take Batman, for example.

The very array of villains in the Batman universe is vast and numerous. Most super villains in comic books draw their lust for power from their super human powers, elevating themselves above normal human beings by inflating their own ego, beleving themselves to be akin to a god. (Boring)

Although some villains in the Batman universe fit this criteria, the expansion and development of the characters and exploration of Batmans past led the writing team to explore more into the human psyche, shining light upon the fragile mental state of the majority of the villains, ultimately shaping the Batman universe into one of the more interesting comic book universes.

This is where I bring in you know who.

Forget The Dark Knight. The Joker is possibly the best example of archetypal imagery in comic book villainy.

The Joker is essentially Batman’s shadow, reflecting deeper issues of his own psyche; his complete opposite and repressed inner self. The focus and common themes of both characters problems with obsession and mental issues reveals this. Essentially, it wouldn’t take much for Batman’s character to become much like The Joker. This makes them both the perfect combination. One simply could not exist without the other.

Possible Abstract

“Each film is only as good as its villain. Since the heroes and the gimmicks tend to repeat from film to film, only a great villain can transform a good try into a triumph.” (R. Ebert 1982)

“Antagonists in video games are as necessary as the player’s character. Much like in literature and animation, obstacles must be placed in order to create a challenge for the hero to continue.

A viewer can become fond of an antagonist, such as “Darth Vader” from “Star Wars” or “The Joker” from “Batman”, simply due to them being a very strong, formidable character. This can be achieved through any and all techniques, such as character development, gameplay techniques, and strong design.

However, In any creative industry, fresh character development and narrative is an incredibly important aspect, be it comic books, animation, or video games, and a strong antagonist is an incredibly important aspect of this. So to create a truly unique and immersive experience, what elements must be considered to create a strong villain?”