Blog Update 2/6: Changing Direction

 I wanted to bring the original main character back into the picture but this time as someone who The Spirit of Vengeance protects with a much more innocent demeanor. In keeping with the corruption of the world this story is set in, I wanted the girl to become gradually more and more corrupted until finally the spirit has no choice but to confront her which was inspired from another Batman thing.

Corrupted Robin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRiX5Mh2YCo

 I reviewed some helpful notes from my Interactive Narrative Course about cutscenes which got me thinking on ways I can achieve the feeling I want through cutscene.

 I put together some kind of "feeling" moodboard that had a feeling to them I wanted to capture. One of standing up to impossible odds and one of a stoic guardian protecting the weak. I got this idea from a quote in "The Dark Knight" (2008) that talks of a silent guardian, a watchful protector and a Dark Knight.

A Silent Guardian
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL7PSlUuWPs

I also wrote some random ideas down to try and figure out the character and story and pulled some quotes that I thought supported the idea of Justice>Vengeance.

I did a few little notes on the themes of my story which (once again) were inspired by Batman which is all about justice versus vengeance as ideologies and God of War (which I forgot to mention below) showing the classic tale of rising up against the gods or god-like beings.

I pieced together a mood board of characters that I want my character to either look like or that inform the personality of this "Spirit of Vengeance".

One of the first things that stuck in my mind was Rorschach from "The Watchmen" comics because of his stubbornly incorruptible nature. SPOILER ALERT: Rorschach willingly dies due to his refusal to succumb to corruption. This is something that I thought would be a prominent trait of a spirit created for only the purpose of Vengeance (or perhaps justice?).

Here's a clip from The Watchmen movie of the scene mentioned above.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFs-3KWDKiQ

After deciding my character would probably be a Spirit of Vengeance, I began thinking about the shadow he would cast as I think this is important for any spirit character. I really liked this panel from Batman: Arkham Asylum and did a quick little outline of a shape to work a design off of.

I liked this early Ghost Rider-like concept I did for a background character. I liked the demonic look he had but did not picture him as an evil character but rather a neutral or even good character. I thought this would be a good starting point for my new main character.

I threw together a moodboard of what I wanted the Queen's Kingdom to look like. I like the idea of Towering buildings or a kingdom above the rest of the town to accentuate the Queen's power and status. I was leaning towards purples, dark blues and blacks for colour scheme and Catholic Church-like Architecture. I want the Kingdom to be a place of massive wealth and scale to make for an intimidating final level.