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Ulysses-Idola 6 Ref ~pg. 1~ by Sparkyopteryx
At long last I'm finally getting some proper character references up here! Have to work stop and go on it though since commissions still come first. Since Ulysses is such a complex character with an involved, intricate design I'd rather submit his reference in separate pages instead of all together, otherwise the file will be of an ungodly size. Once they're compiled I'll be able to make a proper Character page for him.
More bits of info:
- Only things left above his shoulders that are still intact and organic are part of his throat, larynx, upper part of his face and muscle fascia to broadcast expressions (whatever you can't see through the visor is effectively gone) and his brain, although his hippocampus has been heavily modified so he can properly function and move with his modifications and chassis.
- Since his energy source comes from highly specialized nanite hives, his diet has been drastically altered and limited entirely to supercharged nutrient mixtures tailor-made for this purpose. He no longer has jaws, teeth or a mouth but simply has an opening under his vocal synthesizer so that he may drink these mixtures (not unlike protein shakes really) through a straw. Thankfully, his sense of taste is long gone when he was re-purposed into a cyborg.
- Vocal synthesizer "translates" what muscles are left of his throat and larynx into speech, allowing him to communicate as normal with proper inflection and tone (as well as he can with a mechanical voice).
- Whatever flesh or epidermis is left has been treated with a special bioware process called "plasticization" where tissue is preserved in a state similar to live tissue but has been rendered biologically inert, no longer replicating cells, secreting oils, etc. If you removed his visor his skin would actually be a flat neutral off-white.
- Antennae are highly mobile, expressive and integral to his sense of balance and peripheral "vision" by being sensitive to air currents and sound waves. He would not be hindered in complete darkness as a result.
Submission Information
- Views:
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- Comments:
- 3
- Favorites:
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- Rating:
- General
- Category:
- Visual / Traditional
Comments
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I have been rather perplexed by how human its face and eyes looked through the mask, at first, considering its obvious insectoid, mantis-like appearance, only to understand it is a more or less synthetic, cyborg hybrid of the two... or something like that.
A most unique concept. I have always been fascinated by insect-inspired characters and species, designs, portrayed in a Science Fiction setting, as the insect characteristics would provide an entirely new level of description and understanding (different body morphology, way of expressing emotions, communication, etc) but you took my fascination one step forward.The conclusion is a disturbing one, exactly the same way as any first encounter with any alien life-form that defies everything we understand of the living. Your design is therefore, exquisite, quite verily so!
Though, not only your design and your unfathomable manifestations of imagination are worthy of commendations, but your artistic skills are too! Not only you came out with a fascinating, and curiosity-arousing concept but you also possessed the artistry to drag this from the bowels of your imagination onto the paper canvas flawlessly, with meticulous skill and acumen.
The drawings, especially the bust sketch on the left present a respectable amount of details and a stunning shading work. I can also easily distinguish all the little, yet important details of the costume and gadgets.I am looking forward to see the other parts of his references. This characters has intrigued me very much.
Wonderful work!-
A bit of backstory might be needed to clarify his strange appearance, so here's a brief summary: Ulysses used to be an off-Terra (not born on Earth in other words) human in a military outfit that primarily escorted exploratory groups to other planets and protected scientists on planetary colonies. Due to a catastrophic lab accident much of his organic body was mangled or otherwise rendered completely paralyzed or useless. An old friend of his, a visionary in the biotech field, approached him with an offer to become refurbished in a specialized, nanite-powered cyborg chassis. This old friend of his also had a deep love and fascination with Earthling insects, and the design was based specifically off of idolomantis diabolica, hence the strong resemblance to a mantid.
Thank you kindly, Eduard. I admit something about creating and developing anything sci-fi related is more labor intensive than my usual familiar high fantasy settings, so it tends to take longer for me to get something "right." Ulysses here has been a solid concept floating around since August-September but it took several months before all of the pieces started to gradually fall into place.
It's rather hard to give a proper reference to such a complex character, but I try haha. I have great fun rendering all of the details and intricacies that come with robotic or bionic-inspired aesthetics, but I try to make his character "silhouette" recognizable despite all of the detail.
Other pages will be forthcoming gradually, but they are definitely coming! And of course he'll eventually have a proper Character page, and possibly an origin or backstory vignette as well. If you were so inclined to read it, the partner recently wrote his own short story intro for a character that is actually very closely tied with Ulysses.
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Clove Darkwave
Such a well thought out and intricate design you've got going with him, I'm impressed!