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The Hero
The Hero is a character concept I thought of immediately after beginning my research into dreams. Since I'm building up characters around dreams, I felt it was very fitting to implement a character based on a teddy bear and to include a more child-like approach to dreams within enter_universim. I want The Hero to represent a child's bravery when facing their fears (the dark, nightmares etc), and to thus convey a stalwart and unshaking disposition, blindly approaching enemies with every intention of silencing it.
I want The Hero to be very simplistic in its design; to be nothing more than a brave teddy bear helping a child confront their fears and providing protection and comfort. I want The Hero to be a very powerful character offensively, especially against characters revolving around more nightmarish concepts, since it is a teddy bears job to ward off evil.
Why do we gain comfort from sleeping with something like a teddy bear? Forming a Brief
I remember when I was a child, I had a single teddy that stayed in my bed from my first at-home sleep till I was about nine. It was in complete tatters after that time, beaten up and damaged, it had truly been with me through thick and thin. I held a firm belief that, if it were next to me, no monsters or evil could infiltrate my sleep or hurt me in any way - it brought comfort that not much else could. We all know that sleeping with something like a teddy bear can bring us comfort, but why?
Therapist Margaret Van Ackeren, LMFT, says 'in most instances, adults sleep with childhood stuffed animals because it brings them a sense of security and reduces negative feelings, such as lonliness and anxiety'. Teddy bears serve as a silent friend who simply takes all of the stress and negativity of our lives onto itself, soaking it up like a sponge, never showing any signs of struggle in that task - no one quite seems to understand us like our teddy bear. The round appearance, happy expression and soft texture welcomes us and makes us feel at ease knowing it is not dangerous or hurtful.
We may also sleep with teddy bears as a form of 'transition' from sleeping with our parents as very young children, to developing our independence as we grow. Sleeping with a teddy bear may help to fill the gap that our parents can no longer fill. Donald Winnicott coined the term 'transitional object' to 'describe any non-imaginary object that a child chooses on their own, attributes special value to, and over which the child has absolute control'. They don't just help during sleep either, they provide security and comfort whenever the parents cannot be there. In fact, studies suggest that children with parents who are consistently present within their lives do not feel as much need to cling to a teddy bear for comfort.
This sense of comfort and security is something I want to convey much more literally within the design and artwork of The Hero. The Hero needs to showcase its unwavering loyalty and its bravery - it needs to be a literal security measure for the player. When I think of blind loyalty and security, I immediately think of a soldier, a knight. A stalwart and brave individual ready to face any opposition with nothing short of pure courage.
Moodboarding
I don't want The Hero to look like much more than a teddy bear, I want the translation of the physical, inanimate version of the teddy bear into the digital/dream world to be very tight and accurate. I want it to be clear that it is the child's imagination and dreams that give The Hero its life, and in turn, its power.
One attribute I love about teddy bears is that some of them carry this expressionless face. There is something quite bittersweet about this expressionless face, as it cannot convey any sort of physical or emotional feedback to their owner, but will always soak up negativity regardless. There are connotations of bravery in this idea, facing up to danger without ever stuttering, letting the danger know that you are unshakable. I think carrying this expressionless face over to my design will be a good idea.
I also want to carry over the softness and rounded appearance of the teddy bears, as it juxtaposes the harsh and unwelcoming nature of the simulation within enter_universim. I feel like this juxtaposition also serves to highlight the bravery of The Hero. It is within a world it does not understand, but will absolutely not faulter in protecting its owner.
As mentioned before, the concept behind The Hero directly connotes the concept of a knight. I looked at more traditional takes on a knight, going along with the 'knight in shining armour' concept and how they fight for good. In terms of armour, I don't want there to be much as it will override the soft and rounded appearance of The Hero's body, so I think keeping armour to a minimum will be the best approach. A helmet could absolutely work, so I will try that!
I want to keep The Hero simple, so I think including a simple sword and shield will help with this. It will help players understand that The Hero is a no frills, straight to the point warrior with only one goal in mind: protecting its owner.
I really like the pose of Link within the cover for Skyward Sword (the second picture along in the middle row). It screams resilience and an unwavering nature. The pose showcases an open body and an offensive stance, reflective of bravery and fearlessness. The thing I like the most about it however, is the shining light of the sword. Compositionally speaking, I think it could be really cool to use this as a means of breaking up the darkness of the card. A pose that tears the darkness in two, serving as a metaphor for how The Hero confronts and fends off nightmares within the game.
I also like the post of the knight on the bottom left - it is calm and foreboding, giving opposition a sense of weariness in response to it. It makes opposition feel uneasy and unsure as to whether or not to challenge.
Thumbnailing
After creating some quick thumbnails, I can say I am definitively sold on the 'pierce the sky' pose for sure. It just exudes the confidence and fearlessness I'm looking to get across for The Hero.
Refinement
With the pose in mind, I set about creating a simple reference sheet for The Hero, adding a bit of texture and detail as I went, while also developing a simple sword and shield to be used by it.
Final Card Art
Creating the final card art was fairly smooth sailing as I had pretty much built up all I needed throughout development to go ahead and draw it. The only addition I made was the glowing element on the tip of the sword. I included this design element to create a stronger fill to broaden the piece compositionally, allowing for less negative space and a more appealing piece.
I also added this element to really hammer home the concept of The Hero. It is exactly that, a hero warding off nightmares and standing tall against evil, a light in the darkness of night. I feel as though it just rounds off the piece symbolically, and adds another bit off success in relation to the brief.
Art Book Illustration
The art book illustration uses the same pose as the card art, but naturally adds a large amount of detail over the top. A challenge I had with this piece that I did not expect was the contrast of the lighting. Initially, I had developed the shading with much less contrast. After slowly adding the green lighting however, I realised that the piece was imbalanced. When there are bright lights present, they create a higher contrast and make shadows look darker, thus leading to a need to heighten the contrast between the light and the body. The poor contrast in the earlier version is showcased below:
Another difficulty I had was the stitch-like texturing of The Hero's body. I completed the stitching by creating a grid, then warping and distorting sections it around different body parts. This wasn't entirely successful, as there are some sections which absolutely do not have the correct angularity or flow, but it has still developed my skills further which I am very happy about!
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