“I need a hero!”
June 25, 2010, filed under: Characters,El Cid, by LexA little while ago I posted a first look at the hero of Kid Beowulf vs. El Cid: Rodrigo Diaz. Rodrigo was the first character design I came up with and at the time I liked it, but as I started to flesh out the cast around him I realized this first design wasn’t going to work.
For one thing it was just too complicated–the short cape wasn’t working, there were too many buckles and belts that didn’t serve a function (I was getting into “Liefeldian” territory), and I could tell that drawing and redrawing this particular outfit for 200 odd pages wasn’t going to cut it. In terms of time-period this outfit is all over the place; the armor doesn’t really say “medieval,” the stitching had a Roman flair that wasn’t right either, and the shoulder straps and black shirt were hard to read. In contrast to the other characters Rodrigo skewed a little too old in this design (he’s around 20 years old or so). So I decided to redesign him and came up with this:
This version was getting closer to the period I wanted to convey. I got rid of all the useless buckles and straps, changed his black shirt to chain mail, got rid of the cape and also changed his face in an attempt to make him younger. Even with these changes something still wasn’t clicking for me. I’m not sure what that collar is supposed to be and the gauntlets and shin-armor was too “comic-booky” (for lack of a better description). I lost something in his face though and he actually looks too young and also non-descript; his eyes are vacant and I couldn’t see this version of Rodrigo going toe-to-toe with the other characters, especially my Ximena, who I doubt would be interested in this guy. So I went back to the drawing board again and came up with this version:
I did more streamlining and refining; I liked the chain mail shirt and modified the breastplate, giving him an emblem that features both the kingdoms of Leon and Castile, one part of the other to symbolize Rodrigo representing ALL Spain. I changed the gauntlets to look more functional and natural, and did the same for the boots. His skirt has been modified and accented with a “castle” trim that reflects Rodrigo’s current allegiance to Castile. He is holding Colada–a blade he inherits from his father (his other blade, Tizona, will be won in the book). I changed his face again and brought back some of the features from the first design and given him more definition in the eyes and a determined demeanor.
I like this version; I see maturity but also a capacity for change which is what Rodrigo will be going through in the book. This version feels right for the book and the character. I don’t normally do so much working and reworking on character design, but in this case it was needed and I think Rodrigo’s better for it!
No Comments »
No comments yet.
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL