3D-I Week 6; Major Plot Twist

Last week, we were told by our teacher, to bring concepts of a character to class on Wednesday. We could either find concepts online, with action pose and turnaround, or create these ourselves. I, who like to practice all things related to the subject, chose to make my own character. This is what I came up with after about two days work:

This is Ehta; a member of the only existing tribe of the species of O’juh.  O’juhs are not ordinairy creatures in that they do not copulate. As such neither do they have a gender. They are spawned from pure nature energy. I will be referring to it as “him” or “he” from now on for simplicity. O’juhs live in an Aztec jungle environment, riddled with ancient temples. From these they go gathering for energy crystals that grow there.

One of the O’juhs special traits is their ability to create suction with their palms and as such scale walls like a lizard. They have big, long arms which aids them in this task, the short legs are generally just used for walking slowly among the tribe as well as to redirect themselves.

The O’juhs are an intelligent species, but with a very limited amount of knowledge. The reason for this is because they are a very young species, originating in a jungle riddled with various ferocious creatures. They are wise, and careful, and as such do not travel much outside of their village. The only members that do this are the so called “gatherers”. These are the ones who are allowed to go outside of the borders, searching the temples and discovering the world. It is with the help of these that the village has expanded over the years, but it is a slow process. The gatherers are also the ones supporting the entire tribe, bringing new, fresh energy crystals back from their travels.

Energy crystals:
The energy crystals are used for a multitude of different things in the O’juh society. First and foremost, they are the life force of the entire tribe, placed in special places throughout the village to keep everyone alive. They need the presence of fresh ones to survive and replenish their energy. They are able to use this energy both to use their organic limbs, but also control other crystals telekinetically.They use this ability by infusing them into various weapons and tools. This is useful as their hands are not fitted to hold onto handles like human hands. It also allows warriors and gatherers to use weapons simultaneously as they scale walls, even when their hands are busy.

Religion:
The O’juhs entire culture and religious beliefs are based around the crystal from which they are created. They believe that they are the chosen ones by the gods, to rid the world the evil of the world. They wait however for the almighty leader, fit to lead them on this mission. This is why they stay in the same place, only expanding their borders to give room for new O’juhs to be created, hoping each time that it will be the one they have been waiting for. Once in every moon, when the gatherers have brought enough spare crystals, they all gather in the village center. Here they place the depleted crystals of a dead O’juh, and simultaneously feed their individual energy into it. This extensive amount of life force allows a new body to form around the old crystal, giving life to a new member.

They also believe that if they were to harm any of the “evil” creatures before the arrival of the almighty, they soil his image and lessen his power. As a result of this, the gatherers, and others who come into contact with these beings, only run away, or if necessary, stun them with a surge of energy.

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At this point, each of us had developed a game world in which our characters would live, and specifically designed a backstory personality behind this character. We were probably all somewhat found of what we had come up with, felt a connection towards it and looked forward to realize it in 3D. But as it would turn out, this would not be the case. Our teacher had other plans for this assignment! She told us to group ourselves into groups of four. At this point she mentioned that it had been a pleasure to work with us so far, and that she hoped that we felt the same, as now we would hate her. She needed say no more, I and many others already knew what was going to happen. “I want you to switch concepts with someone else in the group.”

Although a bit of a plot twist, this is a great exercise! Firstly we learn how to be the employee as an artist and be given an assignment by a lead artist. We learn how to take direction from someone else and be at their mercy. We learn how to take constructive criticism!

We also learn how to BE the lead artist! How to have someone else at your mercy, learn how to GIVE constructive criticism and how to guide someone towards a goal in YOUR head!

Even though I would’ve liked to make my concept a reality and be able to put it all on my portfolio, I look forward to this and creating the concept I got!

That’s all for now, and until the next time; let’s soar!