Character Bio's

Sawyer Carson (Raccoon) has this name for very simple reasons. I wanted him to have a name that felt very western, very cowboy. I wanted something that sounded effortlessly cool. Both of these names were common in 1800 America, I was tempted by other cowboy names such as 'Clint' or 'Bucky' but it reminded me too much of Actors or Characters who already exist. 

He wears a light tan Stetson Marshal as firstly, it's my favourite cowboy hat. I think its beautiful. Secondly, often law enforces, or heroic cowboys wore light stetsons, which I felt was right for him. Plus, it's iconic ridged top makes for a very memorable silhouette. I knew that I wanted the lower costume to be dark, but not too dark, as comic book characters have to spring out of the page in colour, this was also to reference characters he is based on, such as Raylan Givens, Lone Ranger, Zorro. All tend to wear very dark clothing, or blues and purples. His torso has a very mandarin feel, this is to hint at his eastern heritage, although he was born in the West and raised himself, his mother (Red Panda) is the daughter of Xiong Mao (Panda), Emperor of the East. As we did not want to have more than one of each animal in our works, we decided that heritage would be done by visual hybrids. For example, a Raccoon would be the product of a Red Panda and a Badger, visually that could produce a black and white red panda with a longer snout, not far from a Raccoon. His Spanish Cult Hip Rapier was given to him by his father (Badger) whom is a former officer for the north, this is how he has this european weapon. His belt buckle, is the Native American symbol for Raccoon, which comes with its own stories and myths, this could be interesting when this character meets Natives, such as Chief Mato Makkapitew. 

Chief Mato Makkapitew which is Native American for Bear who has large teeth, has the headdress for obvious reasons, its iconic, symbolic, beautiful, majestic and awesome. I gave him a tomahawk and a spear as I wanted each character to have a different weapon, weather it be a gun, sword, whip, hook, staff or stick. Each of his weapons has a different symbol on it, on his tomohawk, is the two halves of an arrow which is the Native American symbol for peace, on his knife is the symbol for protection, and on his spear is the symbol for war. These symbols are also present on his clothing, which was designed this way for a reason, he has bare selves (no pun intended) to show his strength, and a poncho as I thought it a really cool piece of Native American clothing that is rarely used. I chose bright, creams and yellows as it was a secondary colour that has not been used prominently by another character yet, and I wanted to keep all their colour schemes as different as I could, plus this suited the tribal clothing they would have, and do wear. The bear track symbol in his belly means 'good omen', and the five circles in and around it mean 'time', together this will translate to 'in time this will do good'. The lines or cacti down the edge of his poncho mean 'dessert' and represent the land he lives on. The diamonds on his left breast mean 'medicine man, the wise and watchful'. Which suits him perfectly. The crossed arrows on his other breast means 'friendship'. 

Gustave Sobek is a Egyptian king, worshiped as a god. The extend of his power is unknown, however all of this information will remain unknown to the characters and percentage of the audience. I have not included this in the design at all as I want it to be a revelation some time into the story. Gustave is the name of a crocodile that lives in the Nile in Burundi, he is notorious for being a man-eater and is thought to have killed over 300 people and has gained a near mythical status from people of the region. He is between 6 to 7.5 meter long and is thought to be between 60 and 100 year sold. There have been attempts to catch the monster, inculding a 1 tonne 30 meter cage with a live goat as bait, however the cage was found in the morning, partly broken and submerged in the river, with the goat and croc gone. This is were his first name came from as this is one monster of a croc. Sobek, however is the name of a Egyptian god from the old kingdom and middle kingdom, who was told of being extremely violent and hyper sexual, Sobek coming from the Egyptian word Sbk, meaning 'to impregnate'.  

For the beginning of our story however, Gustave is a drifter, looking to make himself more powerful, keeping a low profile. However into the story he will be realised as the god-king and done full ancient Egyptian attire. For now, he is dressed as a cowboy, swampy colours, rough clothes to show his movement around the land. His posh waistcoat and tie hint at his wealth, and Rabbit/ hare foot show his belief in the supernatural powers of luck, the the sick violence to other creatures he will proudly wear. 

Umri Wa means 'year' in Swahili. This could relate to his impressive age, or his lack of remembering all the years he has lived. He is wearing what African Shaman wear, to show his powers and that he is a tribal leader. The Swahili symbols he has painted on him all mean different things, the one on his belly meaning 'humility and strength' and on the side of his belly meaning 'endurance'. On his headpiece is the symbol for greatness, and his knuckles a broken up sign for wisdom. On his left ear is the sign for nurturing, and the other is the sign for vigilance. The first symbol on his trunk, on the top is another symbol for strength, and below that is 'no worries', thirdly is the symbol for peace, and lastly the symbol for 'time changes'. He also has scaring and stretchers to give him a more african tribal look. 

Captain Edward Odobenus got his name from two place, his first name, is the name of many pirates, such as Edward Teach (Blackbeard), Edward Roberts and Edward Collier, not to mention recent, fictional characters such as Edward Kenway (Black Flag) and Edward Teague (Jack Sparrows father). His second name is the scientific name for a Walrus. As Walruses have iconic teeth I decided to make one of the gold, to pirate him up. I also gave him a scar across his neck from where someone has attempted o hang him for his crimes, the many lost limbs are from a scrap with the Gorilla Ambam, and he has now turned them into various weapons, an idea that was quite pirateesque, and extremely cool. His arm attachments can be changed with ease, and when a flint lock has been fired it automatically detaches, as there is not much time to reload a flintlock in battle. He has a large bag of cannon balls (ammunition for his leg) he carries around with him. The many guns attached to his belt is a reference to Blackbeard, who is known for having five on his body at all times. I chose this hat specifically as the two tips reference to devil horns, something I liked about the design of Davy Jones in the Pirate of the Caribbean series. His coat is based on one I own, I bought from a little shop in Leeds, but it is slightly more influenced with Edward Kenways. I then layered him up with different coloured waist coats to make him colourful and lively before tearing the bottoms and ragging him up, to look a little more rough. 

Mauti Dikeledi is one of the lead villains of the story, his name alone could tell you this. Mauti means 'death' in Swahili. Dikeledi however means 'tears' is Tswana. This name translating to 'deaths tears' hints at a tragic origin for the character, that maybe made him the way he is. As a former slave who is now running the capture of more, he is a particularly despicable character. He his dressed the way a wealthy many of 1800's america would dress, except with more colour (as it is a comic book) but has a slightly more rough and outdoors-ready look about him. This is to say that even though this man clearly has servants and slaves to do his dirty work, he sometime likes to do it himself.

This former Native American, now Air Commander working for Dikeledi's military, is a Bird left with little choices left, only ever wanting to do what is right for his people. His name Dyami Akando, translates to 'Eagle Ambush' in Native American. He is wearing what a military officer of 1800's america would wear, except with changes to the shoulder pieces, belt, cuffs and bottom of trousers, all of these now relate to US 1800 military ranks. 

Xiong Mao is Chinese for 'Giant Panda'. The ancient Emperor bear has lived for 183 years. I wanted to reflect this in his attire, make him wise, peaceful and old looking, and still have look very much like Eastern royalty.