The Last Fantasy

The Last Fantasy

For my character design class this semester, we had to design four characters heavily inspired by the Final Fantasy franchise! It was an amazing learning opportunity as the class was taught by none other than John Grello!

The characters we had to design were the Ruler, the Mage, the Warrior and the Ranger, and we had to tie them all together somehow. I decided to go with theme of magic minerals/dust, as it could be used in multiple ways that each character can the utilise to their own benefits.

The Ruler

The Ruler, the King of the capital kingdom on all of Homeworld. After a new dust was discovered by royal researchers, he went to inspect this latest discovery, only to become corrupted by the highly volatile mineral, transforming him into a raging creature and threatening all those in the Kingdom. Fueled by rage and corruption, he will not rest until everything in his path is destroyed!

The antagonist in this brief, the ruler was the toughest for me to design, as I hadn't created an outright evil character before. He was also a challenge as I decided to design him in a full set of armour, a first for me. I wanted to have the armour be completely made of crystal originally, but that was pushing my limited skill set so I decided to just have it feature on the armour instead, growing out of landmark areas and have his cape simply dissolving into dust as it hits the floor.

I started off with some design iterations, less than how many I had done for the rest of the characters, as I simply wanted to work out where I would feature the crystals and place the fabric pieces on the character.

I then moved into colour passes, also without a high amount of difference between them as I wanted to have the actual armour dark to contrast the crystals. I tried playing around with some gold placement to highlight areas such as the face and hands, and found keeping it minimal worked the best for the overall feel of the character.

And the final look for the Ruler!

The Warrior

A member of the Crownsguard and sworn protector of the throne, he went into hiding along with the prince to protect the royal family after the Ruler's attacks on the Kingdom. He wields a great sword that doubles as a mini-gun and his always alert and ready to fight!

One of the three protagonists of the brief, the Warrior went through the most changes. He originally was a older man with a long ponytail and a much shorter sword, however that was changed as I felt a younger character would suit the overall aesthetic of the world.

Following the same process, I tried multiple different looks on him as I wasn't sure what key costume feature would work for this character and make him stand out from the rest of the line up. I ended up choosing the half cape and pauldron as it made him look more regal and could also match the armour set of the Ruler.

I knew I wanted the armour pieces to be lighter in value compared to the Ruler's armour, and for the uniform to be muted and militaristic in colour. The hardest part to settle on for the colour was the cape, as that piece was going to be the brightest in colour, yet I couldn't let it take away from the Mage as they were the lead character, so I decided to go with a more cool teal cape instead.

And the final render for the Warrior

The Mage

The Crown Prince of the Kingdom, son to the ruler and next in line to the throne. The day his father was corrupted, the Warrior came to his aid and rushed to safely get the prince out and away from the Kingdom and into hiding. During that time, the prince learned he was one born with the rare ability to wield the magic dust and minerals that power the Kingdom, and soon realised he is the only one who can face his father and his new power.

As the main character of this brief, he was the one who I had to make sure would stand out from the rest of the cast. I also knew he was going to one of the most challenging to convey his power, as it was a class rule to not have a wand or staff for the Mage! The first idea was to have a magic crystal he would hold in one hand to then cast with the other, however I went with the dust idea as it felt more pretty and something different!

For his designs, I knew I had incorporate a way he would store the dust  he would then use for magic, as well as choose a key fashion item that screams out 'I am the main guy!'. He was a character who was still finding himself and going through an evolution from Prince to Mage as well, so he couldn't feel like the Warrior who was an already established force in the world setting.

The colour passes of the mage were relatively easy, as I knew I wanted for him to have the unrealistically light Final Fantasy hair and a pop of red to contrast against the rest of the cast, however complimenting that red was a bit of a struggle. I ended up choosing the 3rd option as it was a good balance overall and let the red really stand out from the rest of his character.

And his final look with his magic dust!

The Ranger

The most mysterious of the group, a crystal elf from outside the Kingdom yet she is somehow the Kingdom's best marksman. Often called upon by the Warrior to help protect the royal family from afar, she is called upon yet again after the Ruler's attacks on the Kingdom, this time in more of a close bodyguard and mentor role, teaching the newfound mage about the capabilities of the different types of dusts and minerals found on this planet they all call home.

The Ranger had the limitation of not being a human character, they had to be another race. So to go with the crystal theme of the whole brief, I made her a crystal elf, a native race who are more in tune to the minerals and dusts found on the planet. I also decided to make her a gun wielding type ranger instead of the bow and arrow type, as I could keep the link of gunpowder between her and the Warrior.

For her, I wanted her overall look to feel battle ready yet casual, as she wasn't a part of the Royal military. She needed to be practical and ready for any situation! The challenge was how she would store her guns on her person, so I had to play around with the gun placement and how they would work with her costume and the other guns.

For her colour passes, I wanted her to be more natural and neutral, leaning away from the brighter colours of the Mage and Warrior. I wanted her necklace and facial crystals to stand out from the rest of her form as well, as they were different elements that the other characters don't have either.

And the final look for the Ranger!

And a group shot of the whole cast together!

Overall I am really happy with the final result of this brief and what I learnt along the way. I was taught a whole new process from John that has made my work flow produce higher quality work in general, and key design notes on how to add details to a character. Thank you to John Grello for teaching this class and I hope you all enjoy the final result of this project!