Above are my character studies for my project. From right to left the races are: Draenei, Orcs, and Night Elves. I chose these races to study specifically as I wanted to base my characters from each one of them. I did both male and female as I didn’t know what gender I would be picking when I got to the concepts. This study was done so that I could study proportions of the characters and how they relate to each other.
This concept was created based on the idea of patriotic armor. For night elves, common themes in their culture iconography are crescent moons and owl feathers. The weapons depicted are called glaives, and are the traditional weapon used by the elves. The color purple and blue are also associated with the elves and commonly seen in their clothing and flags. I imagined that this character is a very prominent figure in the military rankings and leads a group of warriors which is the reason for her circlet. Her steel plate armor is decorated with owl feathers that signify good luck in her culture.
This character was created with the idea of a powerful shaman in mind. As I continued to explore earth colors and ideas, I thought that he also could be more of an arcane wizard and drafted that as well. The shaman idea stuck better, so I continued to flesh it out. He is a Draenei (an alien-like race to the universe of World of Warcraft) and roams the world to ensure the balance of the elements. His belt depicts the emblem of a group called The Earthen Ring which is dedicated to keeping the elements in check. I imagined him to be your average shaman, doing his work for The Earthen Ring and living a relatively peaceful life as a nomad.
For my final character, I wanted to explore a darker theme. This orc necromancer was largely inspired by a giant crow I saw out in the parking lot on campus one day. She belongs to an evil group that seeks to destroy humanity: the Burning Legion. A group that has invaded the planet to give rise to evil and demons. This orc had lived a peaceful life prior to the work she conducts now.
She had died by a demon invasion, but upon being infused with fel energy (a destructive magic used by demons) she was revived and now works to add to the ranks of the Burning Legion. Her robes are tattered and old to look like they are “from the grave” and her demon horns are genetic mutations that grew after being resurrected. She is but one among many other necromancers that work to see that the Burning Legion completes world domination.
