Monster Hunter Guide

Introduction

For my honours project I created a concept art project called the 'Monster Hunter Guide'. The project helped me to learn how to design creatures as I already had experience drawing humanoid characters.

The story in my project follows an immortal monster hunter from the guild of Astilar and some of the monsters she has destroyed over the decades. The focus of the project was to create various monsters for which I used folklore stories and legends of monsters from different cultures / countries to create briefs to guide my designs. I also create some of the weapons used by the hunter to destroy these monsters.

(The font used in the images is from: https://www.dafont.com/breathe-fire.font?text=text )

The Guild of Astilar

The legend begins many years ago when three hunters, Anitekar, Ratimid and Anele, created the Astilar hunter's guild. They are a special breed of hunters who have walked the world for many centuries with the task of destroying all monsters that bring chaos and destruction to humanity. Few people are chosen to become hunters as they gain immortality and live for many years continuing the legacy of the guild.

The hunters are here to keep the balance between good and evil, when the world is haunted by nightmares that appear in many forms and sizes. These nightmares turn into legends which are told as a warning from generation to generation.

The contemporary world has dismissed these legends, these folklore stories as just that, stories they tell their children as entertainment. But there are a few who know the truth; there are still monsters out there and that we should all be afraid of the dark.

In all legends there is some truth that may reveal how to protect yourself from these monsters. Some even tell you how to destroy them ... you only have to read carefully. 

Monster Hunter

Branimira

Branimira: Development 

Branimira is immortal and has been alive for many centuries and I wanted to design her present-day look. I added some elements inspired by the different time periods she has lived in into her design - accessories or clothing. My main source of inspiration for the hunter were other hunters or similar characters from movies and TV series - Van Helsing ('Van Helsing' 2004), Blade ('Blade' 1998), The Witcher series, Buffy and Fait ('Buffy the vampire slayer' series).

Since she was born somewhere in Southeast of Europe I decided to take inspiration from my own country (Bulgaria) and culture for some of the design elements such as the tattoos. They were inspired by traditional embroideries from my town and I tried to create different tattoos to see which will fit better with the design of the hunter. Even her name is chosen for a reason, in Bulgarian 'Branimira' means 'the one who protects the peace' which I thought fitted her character.

Monsters

Black Shuck (Demonic and Dog Transformation)

Black Shuck: Development

The origin of the monster is England and I found some descriptions of the beast which I tried to use for my design. The monster becomes Branimira's companion and follows her on her quests, helping her destroy other monsters. It possess the powers to steal the souls of other living beings and harvest their energy.

For this one I created two designs - one shows the beast in its demonic form (left) and the other when he is in his dog form (right). For the design of its demonic look I tried to stick to the descriptions in the stories but with some changes to the head. As for the dog transformation I tried to create a smaller cuter version of its demon form. I also added a special collar that holds all the souls he has collected.  

Cuca

Cuca: Development 

I used a lot of inspiration from the origin culture (Brazil, South America) for the monster's design - clothes, jewelry, head ornaments. For the colour palette of her clothes originally I wanted to make it more cohesive to the culture (vibrant, colorful , bright) but I then decided to do the opposite and desaturated them. This helped to emphasize that the creature is evil.

Karakondjul

Karakondjul: Development

The origin of the monster is Bulgaria and I found several descriptions of this monsters. Every region in the country has a different story so I used parts of every description to create my own design.

For this one I explored elements for the head and different body types. I experimented a lot with the colour pallet but at the end I decided to use the white cold colours for the monster. Since the monster appears only in winter this will help it to blend with the snowy environment and hunt its prey. The horns and spikes on his back are made to look like tree branches to help with the camouflage.  

Qalupalik

Qalupalik: Development

The origin of the monster is Northern Alaska and its one of the more interesting monsters from all the designs. Most stories describe it as a large scary looking mermaid creature that lures children to the frozen lakes and consumes their vital energy.

For the design of the head I used different types of real life fish while for the body I tried to give it the form of a mermaid. I added some tentacles that the monster uses to grab the children from the surface and take them to the bottom of the lake. All the monsters (except the Karakondjul) have some kind of glowing element so I wanted to add something like this to the Qalupalik. I made it so the back of the monster glows and it can changes colours which helps it to lure its prey.

Koschei the Deathless

Koschei the Deathless: Development

The origin of the monster is Russia and the stories describe it as a decaying looking man with magical abilities. He also have a special chest that protects his soul and no one knows where it is.

I experimented a lot with the armor and the type of clothing for the monster. As with the Cuca, for this one I also used inspiration from its origin country for the design of its clothes and colour pallet. He was a king in the beginning of his life and I wanted to show this with the expensive looking fabrics, the golden jewelry and the crown.  

Koschei's Chest

Koschei's Chest: Development

No weapon or poison can stop Koschei but if a person finds and take possession of his soul he can control and even kill him. Many have tried to find the location of the soul, even Branimira, but only Koschei knows where its hidden.

It is said that the soul is locked in a magical chest that can only be opened by a special key which is made from Koschei's right index figure (as an immortal he can take it out and place it back on with no harm). To contain the power its the soul it had to be placed in a special needle which was then placed in an egg, then in a duck and finally in a hare.

The only clue the hunters have found for its location is that the chest was buried under a green oak tree somewhere on an island in the ocean.

For the design of the chest I used as inspiration traditional chests from the origin country. I tried to infuse the magic element into it by adding the glowing gems and even a magical lock that can only be open with a special key. 

Branimira's Weapons

I designed the weapons that Branimira used to destroy these monsters. I had to take into consideration what are the weaknesses of the monsters and create a weapon that was able to defeat them. Each weapon is inspired by its origin country and the time period it was made. All of them have similar colour pallets to show they belong to the same collection of weapons.

Demonic Bane

Demonic Bane: Development

This is Branimira's main weapon which was given to her by her mentor Ratimid. I used various inspirations for this one - mostly weapons from Europe. I placed a sign on the blade which serves as a protection spell (to protect the hunter that holds the weapon). I have included signs in the other weapons and even in the symbols for the monsters. The language for the signs is inspired from an ancient language in Bulgaria.

Windslicer

Windslicer: Development

This weapon was used to destroy the Cuca and it was inspired by crossbows from before the 17th century. The Cuca can be destroyed with certain poisons so I created special bolts which can hold that set poison. The bolt is design so that when it hits the target it opens which makes it harder to remove it. I have also included some signs (protective spells) on the parts of the crossbow.

Sun Strike

Sun Strike: Development

This one was for the Karakondjul. I used different types of flintlocks from 17 - 18th century and I tried to create my own interpretation of it. The monster's weakness was fire and light so I created special type of bullets (incendiary bullets) that can explode and burn when they hit the target. The weapon has 5 barrels at the top that fire regular bullets (minie bullets) that can cause some damage to the target. It then fires the special bullet from the single barrel at the bottom to destroy the target completely.

Splinter

Splinter: Development

This is the weapon that destroyed the Qalupalik. For this one I tried to combine different ideas ( harpoons, spears and swords) to create a weapon that can destroy the water creature. I used for inspiration the different types of fishing weapons that were used in Alaska around the 18th century.

The final design is a spear-sword that can turn into a spear and then it can be thrown at the monster to kill it. The Qalupalik has a very hard shell / armor so the blade of the weapon had to be made from the bones of the Tizheruk (ancient extinct beats) which was that was the only thing that can hurt it.

Thank you!