Character Profiles + Narrative

Been meaning to get this up sooner. Here is a refined synopsis of the cartoon for the character design project, along with initial write-ups of the character profiles of the Hero, Villain and Sidekick. Some details are perhaps a little superfluous but I had fun creating this little world in my head, hopefully this will help me when designing my characters.

The profiles will most likely be tweaked as I continue to develop the characters.

Hero must fight to save the world against the forces of the Empress, ruler of the Regnum Nation. Their terror and oppression has reigned supreme over the lands and has scattered the neighbouring nations into chaos and disarray. As the last surviving subject of the Renatus Project, Hero must unite the lands before it is too late and stop the Empress and her forces once and for all.

Regnum = Royal power, control, kingdom
Renatus = Rebirth


Hero
Male human, Solider. Early 20s.
Athletic, driven, determined.
Friendly and emotional demeanour.

Strengths and Abilities: Cybernetic Arm can be used for great strength (smashing, lifting), has an in-built energy weapon. Cybernetic Legs enhances speed and agility, able to jump/land at great heights.
Weaknesses: Cybernetic technology reliant on Energy Cores. Ill-informed of the cybernetic technology invested in him. Mentally scarred from his ordeal, having lost his friends and loved ones.

Character Arc:
Initially confused, unwilling to accept what he has become and daunted of the task ahead of him.
Accepts who is he, learns how to wield his abilities and accept the responsibility that has been placed upon him.

Motivation:
Unite and save the world from the Empress's forces.

Hero was the sole survivor of his unit after the attack of Empress's forces on his home town. Having suffered grievous injuries, Hero was taken into the Renatus Project (a programme designed to refit and augment soldiers with cybernetic technology) where he was healed and experimented on with new advanced forms of cybernetics that were designed with the sole purpose to stop the Empress. However, the facility came under attack and was destroyed by the Empress's forces. Hero barely escaped with his life. Confused and ill-informed of the cybernetic technology invested in him, Hero soon becomes the last hope capable of stopping the Empress, being the last surviving subject of the Renatus Project.


Empress (villain)
Female human. Ruler of the Regni, the people of Regnum.
High/regal, cold and calculating demeanour

Strengths and Abilities: Telepathic, Psychic abilities through cybernetic devices. Can read/influence minds and manipulate objects.

Character Arc:
Becomes obsessed in trying to capture Hero to the point which affects her ability to rule effectively.

Motivation:
Lust for power and control, to rule the world.
Capture Hero to steal/assimilate his technology

Powerful and cunning, The Empress rules through fear, oppression and indoctrination. She rose to power through the forced abdication of her brother - and will now stop at nothing to establish Regni supremacy and be the supreme ruler of the world.


Servo (sidekick)
Robot. Last surviving intelligent service bot from the Rentaus Project facility.
Chirpy, lively demeanour with animated expression. Frequently exhibits 'blips and beeps' tones as a voice.

Strengths and Abilities: Can repair/hack electronic terminals and devices. Can also be used to communicate long distances.
Weakness: EMP (Electro magnetic pulse) charge.

Character Arc: Contains information stored on the Renatus project. Forms unshakable bond with Hero.

Motivation:
To accompany, aid and assist Hero whenever possible.
Protect self contained files on the Renatus Project.

Servo awakened Hero when the facility came under attack and helped lead him to safety. With the facility destroyed, Servo now follows Hero assisting him in his mission.

Character Design - Narrative

I’ve been trying to come up with some narrative ideas for the given cartoon show to help fuel my character designs. Set in an alternate world with technology slightly more advanced than our own, the setup is as follows:

Our hero must fight to save the world against the evil cyborg forces of VILLAIN. Their terror and oppression has reigned supreme over the lands and has scattered the neighbouring nations into chaos and disarray. As the last surviving subject of the Renatus* Project, Hero must unite the lands before it is too late and stop VILLAIN once and for all.

*Renatus (Latin for rebirth)

Hero
Hero is the most advanced subject of the Renatus Project, a project designed to refit and augment soldiers with cybernetic technology. Having suffered a particularly fatal injury that left him on the verge of death, Hero required some of the most advanced forms of cybernetic technology to revive him. However, the process was never fully complete with the facility being destroyed under the attack of VILLAIN – Hero barely escaped with his life. Confused and ill-informed of the cybernetic technology invested in him, Hero soon becomes the last hope capable of defeating VILLAIN.

My initial thoughts for Hero is to be a young ‘coming of age’ male perhaps in his early twenties, to reflect his initial naivety of the technology his possesses. Therein lies the character arch where he learns how to wield his abilities and accept the responsibility that has been placed upon him. As such, perhaps he should be of an athletic build and not too muscular, while also having some visible scarring from his injury. A limb or two can be replaced with a cybernetic one, although the key is to retain his humanity with a visible human face and form.

While the technology of Hero may perhaps be more advanced than in the video below, the exoskeleton suit is certainly an intriguing idea and could perhaps be the technology of the standard soldiers that Hero will fight.



Villain
Her motivation for conquest is for the expansion of her empire with world domination in sights. Yet, the arrival of Hero and the technology he possesses sparks her interests, and thus begins a hunt to capture Hero and take the technology from him.

I intend to make the villain a female character in order to juxtapose the typical male archetype of a soldier cyborg. In this way, I must maintain a fine balance between femininity and power to ensure the character remains appealing as a woman while similarly appearing to possess the authority to lead her minions.

Perhaps a prime example of a female villain cyborg is the Borg Queen from the Star Trek series. She very much maintains her female form and structure in a sensual and compelling way that is also hauntingly frightening with her lack of humanity and relentless sense of power and authority.



Check out fascinating documentary of the borg queen herself in the video below, note her particular mannerisms that are quite captivating.


Sidekick
I’m still unsure about the sidekick character, whether he/she/it will be assisting the hero or the villain. My initial thoughts are to have a robotic/mechanical creature of a smaller stature that assists the major character, perhaps similar to that of Mushu in Mulan but in a more pantomime way such as in Wall-E. Although its not strictly a cyborg, I believe a robot/mechanical creature will fit in the world of the cartoon show.



Hopefully, I'll get some designs up soon but feel free to let me know what you think.