More Character Re-designs
The other day, out of sheer boredom, I decided to read the stories of all of DHL's characters. Good gawd, they were awful! So many repeats of character traits; "will not hesitate to kill puppies" "will eat puppies" "can't swim" "good hunter" "can't fish" "can fish" "hates humans". UGH!!
I decided to go through and re-design some of them to A) better match their story lines and B) match a re-written story I had put together for them.
First up is Sasha and Ray
Design wise, the "Dove marks" have been trashed. They're dumb, and don't look good on gray dogs, especially on really pale ones like Sasha. Got rid of Sasha's heterochromia, because it's a cheap cop-out at making a character unique and distinct. Her eyes are now a pretty aqua. Sasha's collar is now a muted magenta, to both bring out her eye color, and add a further touch of femininity to her. I've added a slight temperature to both their designs; Sasha's grays are cool, and Ray's grays are warm, to match their subdued and strong personalities, respectively.
Story wise, Sasha is much the same, but I've changed Ray into a protective brother instead of an overall asshole. It's kind of lame that the whole world is against both Sasha and Neera. Personally, I like the idea of Ray being killed protecting his sister and her first litter. I've decided that the one who hurt Megaira and Aerona is not Ray, it is another dog (maybe another "Dove"?) that Ray drove off. DHL seems to put very little stock into sibling bonds, and I kind of take issue with that.
Next up is Loki and (oh god) Thora
Original backstory:
Loki and Thora are Twins,.. Loki was born first, so Loki calls Thora his Little Sister.... They grew up in a nice home, with a nice human family,... along with their folks and siblings... But their happiness was short lived, when a fire destroyed their home and took the lives of their Canine family.... They were separated from their Human masters, due to the smoke and flames scaring them..... Loki dragged his sister to safety.... The first days as alley dogs were hard, but Loki took great care of his sister for a few years as they grew up into fine young adults.
One day, Loki returned home with food, to fine Thora was beaten and laying in a submissive pose. There laid a male Shepard Pit mixed named Seth by her side, A few of Seth's men pinned Loki to the ground, making it unable for Loki to move for fight back... Seth talked Loki into working for him, if he wished that his sister to stay alive well.... Loki agreed, but he had to suffer threw his life watching his new alpha, abuse his sister.... Loki was scared, and a coward, he couldn't fight Seth off to save his sister by himself.... After awhile he became a close beta to Seth, just so he could stay close to his sister..... Loki prayed to the Grand Alpha, to one day bring a dog, that could bring Seth down. So Loki could bring his little sister, out of this hell that he wasn't strong enough to pull her out of.....
Story wise, "Thora" has been renamed, because just adding an "a" to the end of a male Norse god's name does not turn it into a good feminine name, and it's practically character design sin. Her new name is Freya, the goddess of the afterlife fields, and in some versions the keeper of the golden apples of youth. Freya's character remains much the same, a shy, sweet dog that is bullied by her forceful mate. Likewise, Loki's character remains much the same, too, except that his stupid title is gone, as there's no evidence in his backstory of being mischievous at all, just anguished at his own weakness.
Design wise, I've overhauled their colors and builds. Their "reef sheet" says they're shepherd mixes, with no information on what those mixes are. I made their other side be heavily influenced by sighthound, to add some nice graceful shapes to Freya, and emphasize Loki's weakness (as sighthounds usually look pretty fragile). Additionally, sighthounds' rose ears can pull back and look very pathetic, or prick up with a lot of character. Freya is now a pretty golden dog with a few white accents, emphasizing her sweet nature. Loki is a lanky black thing, with a white chest mark and tail tip. They don't quite look like siblings in my redesign, but genetics can throw some crazy stuff in terms of litters (besides, it's not like their original designs looked related, either).
That's all for now. If I have time later, I'll tackle the oh-so-evil Mr. Seth
I decided to go through and re-design some of them to A) better match their story lines and B) match a re-written story I had put together for them.
First up is Sasha and Ray
Design wise, the "Dove marks" have been trashed. They're dumb, and don't look good on gray dogs, especially on really pale ones like Sasha. Got rid of Sasha's heterochromia, because it's a cheap cop-out at making a character unique and distinct. Her eyes are now a pretty aqua. Sasha's collar is now a muted magenta, to both bring out her eye color, and add a further touch of femininity to her. I've added a slight temperature to both their designs; Sasha's grays are cool, and Ray's grays are warm, to match their subdued and strong personalities, respectively.
Story wise, Sasha is much the same, but I've changed Ray into a protective brother instead of an overall asshole. It's kind of lame that the whole world is against both Sasha and Neera. Personally, I like the idea of Ray being killed protecting his sister and her first litter. I've decided that the one who hurt Megaira and Aerona is not Ray, it is another dog (maybe another "Dove"?) that Ray drove off. DHL seems to put very little stock into sibling bonds, and I kind of take issue with that.
Next up is Loki and (oh god) Thora
Original backstory:
Loki and Thora are Twins,.. Loki was born first, so Loki calls Thora his Little Sister.... They grew up in a nice home, with a nice human family,... along with their folks and siblings... But their happiness was short lived, when a fire destroyed their home and took the lives of their Canine family.... They were separated from their Human masters, due to the smoke and flames scaring them..... Loki dragged his sister to safety.... The first days as alley dogs were hard, but Loki took great care of his sister for a few years as they grew up into fine young adults.
One day, Loki returned home with food, to fine Thora was beaten and laying in a submissive pose. There laid a male Shepard Pit mixed named Seth by her side, A few of Seth's men pinned Loki to the ground, making it unable for Loki to move for fight back... Seth talked Loki into working for him, if he wished that his sister to stay alive well.... Loki agreed, but he had to suffer threw his life watching his new alpha, abuse his sister.... Loki was scared, and a coward, he couldn't fight Seth off to save his sister by himself.... After awhile he became a close beta to Seth, just so he could stay close to his sister..... Loki prayed to the Grand Alpha, to one day bring a dog, that could bring Seth down. So Loki could bring his little sister, out of this hell that he wasn't strong enough to pull her out of.....
Story wise, "Thora" has been renamed, because just adding an "a" to the end of a male Norse god's name does not turn it into a good feminine name, and it's practically character design sin. Her new name is Freya, the goddess of the afterlife fields, and in some versions the keeper of the golden apples of youth. Freya's character remains much the same, a shy, sweet dog that is bullied by her forceful mate. Likewise, Loki's character remains much the same, too, except that his stupid title is gone, as there's no evidence in his backstory of being mischievous at all, just anguished at his own weakness.
Design wise, I've overhauled their colors and builds. Their "reef sheet" says they're shepherd mixes, with no information on what those mixes are. I made their other side be heavily influenced by sighthound, to add some nice graceful shapes to Freya, and emphasize Loki's weakness (as sighthounds usually look pretty fragile). Additionally, sighthounds' rose ears can pull back and look very pathetic, or prick up with a lot of character. Freya is now a pretty golden dog with a few white accents, emphasizing her sweet nature. Loki is a lanky black thing, with a white chest mark and tail tip. They don't quite look like siblings in my redesign, but genetics can throw some crazy stuff in terms of litters (besides, it's not like their original designs looked related, either).
That's all for now. If I have time later, I'll tackle the oh-so-evil Mr. Seth