Rusted's Ringers, Gallery III: Original Character Designs

[Rusted Blade]

Now for my third and final gallery, for my own original designs. Personally, I find this to be the most enjoyable area in which to produce CaS, since the creative impulse is relatively unfettered, but for the limitations in the tools and item selection--and even there, it can be at least a little less vexing than in trying to find elements that work with recreating somebody else's character designs. But more than anything, I find this is often the area that is most rewarding when it comes to making something that is stylistically self-consistent and a little bit closer to areas of 3D digital art. For most of these creations, some of them dating back to SCIII, I've had no feedback aside from couchplay friends and the occasional online opponent, so I'm looking forward sharing those details of thematic intention and self-constructed head-cannon, so please let me know what you think!

 

[Rusted Blade]

Sonya:

This is perhaps my favourite design that I've come up with using the SCVI editor. Sonya, as I think may be obvious, utilizes a soviet aesthetic, combined with sci-fi thematics and a touch of anime stylism. I imagine her to be a tough as nails veteran solider and a one-woman force to be contended with--at least for operations that don't require much subtlty but can benefit from an abundance of force. In short, she's the hammer, not the scalpel. She's the result of my very first attempt to pair 2B's moveset with a creation, and I think the style just fits her like a glove, at least when one uses the more sci-fi looking weapons models that I opted for here. I'm not really much of a comic person, but one of a few graphic novel series I have read through was the early 2000's Red Star, and I have to say I think she would be very much at home within that universe.

I created two distinct versions of this character, the second of which I labelled 'Sonya Tested'; it is meant to represent her state after a particularly grueling multi-day battle to retain control of a strategic location she has been tasked to protect against overwhelming odds. On aside note, I particularly like how tends to rest her hand on the holster of her sidearm (note the miniature grimoire repurposed to represent an ammo pack on the opposite hip), during certain poses--a completely unintended but great effect.

 

[Rusted Blade]

Aria:

This is one of my all-time favourites, a character I've been making nearly as long as I've been maining Amy's style. I've always imagined Aria to be the scion of a powerful fantasy imperial dynasty: she may well be empress herself one day, if she can survive the deadly intrigues and power struggles of her extended family.

Unfortunately I've lost a number of her earlier designs, but I have retained four of her SCIV designs (though they are in essence just palette swaps with varying hairstyles and weapons), and I've created a SCVI variant as well. Initially, I utilized some laborious object editing joining a set of Warlord's Pauldrons with a stretched grimoire to create a backing to Baihu Coat that was meant to look quasi-practical but also regal (images of this version are included here). I was quite pleased with the result, but once Hilde's items were added, there was no question that the Defender's Coat was a better option for creating the same effect--in fact, I ended up rolling about half of Hilde's default gear into the design here. I also spent a lot of time meticulously adjusting the patterns on everything in the final version, which I think has paid off: the textures (which, it should note, are not present until the last ten or so of the images presented here) and colour scheme are very immersing, if I do say so myself--definitely one of my more refined products with VI's editor. I also added an intricate crown composed of multiple interconnecting objects which can be tweaked to work with various hairstyles and which I intended to be reminiscent of the winged variety employed in her SCIV design, only more ornate.

 

[Rusted Blade]

Turing:

He was created to answer the question of whether or not a machine could convincingly imitate human intelligence. Now he questions whether that standard is a particularly high one. Does he now seek equality for the 'differently sentient', or are his plans of a darker sort? The answer is ambiguous as the Hard Problem of Consciousness itself, but one thing is for certain: when it comes to his relationship with his creators, he intends to be the one asking the questions now...

I think I should change the colour of the shoes and gloves to white, what do y'all think?

D-Fective:

Once it was a mannequine for designing and modelling high-end fashion. Left to decay in an abandoned city ravaged by an evironmental catastrophe, it long ago ceased to design as functioned. Now it seems to feel it is in need of new garments, and I don't think it's a good idea to stick around and find out just what it has in mind for materials...

 

[Rusted Blade]

Grachus:

As you can see below, I've been making variations of Grachus for some time. He is a Roman nobleman and general; he's not precisely ruthless, but he is willing to do what needs to be done to serve the empire and advance his family's interests--and it would surprise no patrician to learn that he fully expects to be consul one day. Why does he have a leopard mask in one of the SCIII variants you ask? Well, mostly because I absolutely loved that badass gladius and shield moveset grab where the aggressor tackles the opponent to the ground and pummels them in the face, and the only thing that can make it even more intimidating is having Armor King's face to stare down at them with as you do it. Regarding the most recent variation, I hate the way the Warlock's "Gloves" clip through the shield, but what are you going to do?--only a few gauntlets would really work with this design.

Apian:

Grachus' nephew, with ambitions of his own.

 

[Rusted Blade]

Hell Hipster:

This one is purely for shits and giggles. I think the name and the images say it all: the tackiest wardrobe selections; the most eye-gouging patterns, the silliest play style (which insists he is using "ironically", whatever that means...); open-toed sandals with socks and a hippie-bro bead bracelet. Ugh, Hell Hipster, you are the worst: someone once told you "you do you"--and they shouldn't have...

 

[Rusted Blade]

Survivor:

This one I imagine hailing from a fantasy megafloral/megafaunal forest. Kidnapped, enslaved and abused by humans from a young age, she eventually escapes and spends years living among the ferocious creatures of the wilds, becoming a guide to those who have to brave the depths and then ultimately a freedom fighter and guerilla leader among her own people. Life has leveled every blow it could at her, but she's still standing and she's not going down without a fight.

I'm pretty happy with this design, even with the understated colour and relatively simple garb--there's a lot of elements here if you look that I feel hint at her story, even if you didn't have the context of me spelling out my head cannon for her. I also like the wear on the clothing which is some of the most realistically rendered I think I've managed with the current editor.

 

[DanteSC3]

Survivor

I think you accidentally created Raphtalia from The Rising of the Shield Hero.

 

[Rusted Blade]

I think you accidentally created Raphtalia from The Rising of the Shield Hero.

I just Wikia'd that: interesting, there are indeed some real similarities, both visually and conceptually--though, personally I find the whole benevolent slavery trope a little objectionable, which is why 'Survivor' is a motivated resistance fighter, and why I named her as I did (though the name is also meant to be a double-entendre on her wilderness skills/general toughness). I've never heard of Rising of the Shield Hero, is it any good? I'm usually pretty skeptical of any of the bazillion stories (anime or otherwise) where an ordinary teen in transported to a fantasy realm and takes on the mantle of...blah, blah, blah, lazy empowerment fantasy for isolated loners this, paper thin evil fantasy threat that... But I liked what I saw of the artistic design.

 

[DanteSC3]

I've never heard of Rising of the Shield Hero, is it any good?

It’s not really your average isekai (transported to another world) show, and I rate it pretty highly in general. It didn’t necessarily have to be isekai, they only went that route to keep the drama high and the main character in the dark to his scenario. Well that, and isekai is an incredibly popular format in current anime, I suppose. Still, it’s atypical in that it is not a power fantasy, far from it in fact.

But anyway, that aside, it tells a pretty solid story of being on the struggle, overcoming adversity, and the adventure involved in rising up and overcoming. It is well-animated too, with good artistic direction, as you noticed, so I would recommend giving it a watch if it has your attention. It’s not just generic fantasy, there’s also moral and societal questions raised and (rather fantastically) resolved in an ideal perfect scenario, whether or not real life reflects that (it doesn’t, more often than not) is another question, but it’s a decent social commentary.

 

[Rusted Blade]

Envy:

Envy is a sort of modern day expy on Ivy and another character I've been making for years. She has that Ivy haughtiness, her same basic build and hair style and a taste of the domineering aesthetic, although her look tends to be more haute-chic than straight up dominatrix. I particularly like what I was able to do for her with the SCV and SCVI editors--though if you're vegan, you may not approve all of her fashion choices. ;)

 

[Rusted Blade]

Ri:

Is "grease punk" a thing? Well in any event, that's really the only descriptor I have in mind for Ri; aside from that, I'm not sure what her story is.

 

[Rusted Blade]

I don't know what it is about finally having an assortment of wings for creation, but I ended up creating a complete host of angels, even though they are not typically a preoccupation of mine, nor am I particularly attracted to the kind of religious lore or fantasy media where they are most often to be found.

Alais / Dominia:

I think Alais is meant to be somewhere higher in the hierarchy of the order of angels, a sword of virtue and icon of purity. Unfortunately, as you'll see in these photos, in many positions there are severe clipping issues between her skirt and fauld. I've tried various different alternatives to this design to avoid this issue, but nothing quite looks as right as this early combination conceptually, so I am just living with it for now. Oh well.

Eida / Potestia:

Eida is meant to represent...well, not an anti-hero exactly, but definetly a character who exhibits a different kind of grace and virtue than one normally associates with angels conceptually. The best I can do to try to describe the snetiments I associate with her design is that I imagine she's some combination of selfless and yet somewhat like a Guts from Berserk: noble in her way and possessing of explosive strength, but not a creature of much subtlety.

Riel / Seraphimius:

Riel is meant to be more in line with representation of Angels in lore and fantasy media that are more otherworldly: an absolute force nature (or super nature as the case may be), a higher order of being essentially unknowable to the mortal mind and capable of unleashing indescribable power in the form of divine wrath. Mamahaha's release into the toolkit has finally given me the tools to appropriately finish this one, as previously I had to use bleached white demon wings to create a third pair of wings, which was alright, but just did not bring this design together nearly as well. This has had me now giving some thought to creating a post transformation version of my Kefka reference design..

Alibaster / Principatus:

Alibaster is an avenging angel--unlike the other three here, a being that takes sometimes a direct and active role in the mortal sphere.

 

[Rusted Blade]

Jinnie:

An ifrit/demon, but a not entirely malevolent one, maybe? I don't know, but I love how this design turned out--one of my more favoured of my SCVI creations.

 

[Rusted Blade]

Sara:

Sara is a simple captain of the guard design I first made in SCIV, vaguely inspired by Abelia.

 

[Rusted Blade]

Zenka:

Zenka is a sort of kitsune design, a refinement on my first SCVI Hilde 2

 

[Rusted Blade]

Roisin:

I didn't have any particular aim when I started this one, but I like the way she turned out. Maybe she's an elf assassin of some sort?

 

[Rusted Blade]

Brasswork:

A metallic golem of some sort?

 

[Rusted Blade]

General Dara / Captain Dara:

I first created 'General Dara' in SCV, but I reckoned circa SCVI, she could be ranked no higher than a captain.

 

[Rusted Blade]

Why God Why:

I think this guy insulted an entire pantheon of dieties and got hit with all of their favourite transmogrification curses at once!