Following my research on emotional and psychological abuse, I want the game’s enemies to be based off of its common characteristics – being: Humiliation, Manipulation, Isolation and Accusation. However, there is one key issue by basing characters off of vague words with no physical manifestation; how do you visual something like that?
One way this was done in media is the movie “Inside Out”, although vastly different themes than my game, that movie was still able to create character designs based on emotion. The key features of each of their character’s designs that makes them stand out is their colours and their expressions – if you given the image below and had their titles removed you would likely still be able to guess what emotion each of these characters portrayed. This is what I want to accomplish.
How will this influence my game?
For my 4 main bosses, I decided to give each of them a colour or at least a theme that would provide them with a certain characteristic to set them all apart. Then I created mood boards for each of the characters with annotations that will inform the design for my characters:
Demon King
To start, I felt like the game’s final boss would be the easiest to give his own theme. Personally, I felt the colour red suits the “evil” trope – also seen in other forms of media; e.g. Red Skull from Marvel, Red Lightsabers from Star Wars, some depictions of Count Dracula, etc. However, I also had to decide which of the four characteristics of emotional abuse he should embody. Ultimately I decided upon Accusation as I felt it was the “angriest” of the four, as the colour red has clear connotations of rage. Lastly, I decided to create a moodboard of what I want the character to look like so that I have a clear vision.
The Queen
Every evil King has an equally as if not more evil Queen by his side, in terms of look and aesthetic, I feel like The Queen should take on the colour blue as a counter-part to the king. This made me feel like her design should be that of a cold, ice queen – of the remaining characteristic, this general theme suits more towards Manipulation as if she is able to control her surroundings with her ice. The following is a general moodboard for the enemies that will be in The Queen’s region, including herself and her underlings:
The Jester
As the previous two bosses are both king and queen, I felt that thematically a jester would suit the roster of enemies in this story. Furthermore, it would also lean into the child’s imagination – basing the characters in his imagination from toys and things he plays with around his room such as a deck of cards. Of the remaining characteristics of emotional abuse It seemed fitting to give The Jester the Humiliation characteristic, his interactions with the player character would be that of a bully, name-calling and laughing essentially. His area could be themed like a circus or amusement park, therefore his character design could appear something like a clown, puppet, puppetmaser etc.
The Ace/Prisoner
The last named card of the deck, and also the last characteristic of emotional abuse Isolation his setting could be within a prison, where its residents were ignored and left to rot by the king. Due to the isolation and neglect from the king, I imagine the ace to appear malnourished and zombie-like. He would have severely mutilated and mangled skin to show not only the lack of care from others but from himself. This is the moodboard I have compiled to present this idea:
The Wolf
An old, wise inhabitant of Arcadia; its scars and grey fur portray his age and wisdom. Though reclusive and often chooses not to involve himself within the conflicts of the land, its ability to increase in size shows that it is still very capable of combat.
He is reluctant to tell the Knight the truth behind Arcadia and reality, but will oblige if the Knight is able to be deemed worthy.
