Character Artwork

This page has all the character artwork that I’d call “close to final” rather than concepts that I haven’t settled on.

As such you can consider these portraits the official ones of certain characters. Though any uniforms and other small details are subject to change when I wake up at 1am and go “ehhhhhhh nah let’s change that” for no goddamn reason whatsoever.

All artwork here was done by Shannon Hay, save for the one with Iza with a helmet on as that was done by me (notice the extensive use of Procreate’s symmetry drawing assist).

You can click on each image to view it at full resolution.

Iza

Iza’s design is my ass-backwards combination of Ozen from Made In Abyss and Klaus from Blood Battlefront Blockade. When trying to figure out the leader of GDS, the thought process eventually reached “What if she was huge, perpetually sleep deprived, deeply cared about her legionnaires and could bend a steel I-beam like a twist tie.”
To me that was something more interesting to write versus the standard “Harried, arrogant, and a total bitch to everyone” type of character that usually fulfills that role.

With Iza, the idea was that of someone who will destroy an entire civilization if she deems it necessary, but will also bring Glacier to a standstill so one of her legionnaires can hop off to go take a picture of something.

Johann’s design was based off of… whatever that dad’s name is in Full Metal Alchemist… mixed in with one of the doctors at my old physician’s office. The guy wore a labcoat + a Dodgers hat at all times, which was an interesting combination to think about when it came to patient visits.

“Did you see that absolute heater they sent into left field? Wild, couldn’t believe my own eyes. So looking at this scan, it appears you’ve got anal fissures. How much fiber would you say you eat in a day?”

For Nax and Estra, I wanted their normal look to be something human shaped, yet not human in terms of outline. Hence why they walk around with no sleeves, almost glide across the ground, and have tall octagonal head wear that’d look right at home in the Vatican. While with their uniforms they have the body of a person, what everyone sees on a day to day basis (their uniforms) looks off, wrong, and not the kind of clothing a person would ever be comfortable moving around in.

I’d show you what their other design looks like, but it’ll have to wait till I’m done playing The Riftbreaker.

Nahli is a big-muscle, hollow skull, straight speaking self-admitted moron that’s extremely good at what she does and her design centers around that. She doesn’t need to know more, she doesn’t want to know more, she wants someone to point her in a direction and say “go” while leaving the details to her discretion.

What these drawings lack are the immense amount of tattoos Nahli has, but that’s simply because I’m still designing them. Each one has to mean something, I’m not covering her head to toe in filler trash just for the sake of it.

I have no idea how her hair maintains that shape after wearing a comm hood, nor do I feel like pulling a reason out of my ass. It likely involves spit.

With Acris’ design, I wanted to create a character that actively didn’t want anyone to know what they looked like. The most standoffish type thing I could come up with was a huge jacket, a face covering, and long bionic limbs to put distance between them and everyone else. Acris as a character doesn’t want anyone to know who they are beyond their name, what they look like, or where they come from. Instead, the focus should be on their work and what they’ve accomplished.

Yes, I decided on the face covering after listening to Mirror Reaper. Congrats, you figured me out.

Klein’s look is based off Tormund Giantsbane from Game of Thrones, since the idea was to have him be this huge, musclebound ogre of a man that only ever fights with his hands. That kind of appearance would then seem in utter contrast to his role as the head of the chaplaincy, and as the vice commander of GDS as a whole.

I wanted to have a haircut and beard like that once, but the barber kept saying “Ah ha ha, I mean, you sure dude?” over and over until I got the hint.