Anakii is an academic group project to create and develop characters for each team member and would said characters would exist in.
Development
In the earliest stages of conception, we gave ourselves a single decision as to what kind of story we wanted to create; Sci-fi or Fantasy.
After some debate we settled on Fantasy and we decided to draw inspiration for the past, specifically Ancient Egypt. Out initial idea was for each of us to embody a different class in that type of society. We quickly found that this made it harder to establish a group or dynåamic, so we scrapped that concept and, instead deciding to have all the characters on the same level. From this we kept the aspects of fantasy and ancient culture and worked with the idea of each character being a God with a different role.
The Story
There was once a primordial force, a force older than the Earth itself. This ancient force split into three individual beings to rule over the planet that formed from what remained. First there was Lontu; the forest dweller and guardian of life, Tahii; the war monger and collector of souls and Takisha; the protector of spirits. Eventually the land that formed gained a name and could come to be known as Agroa.
These sibling deities had the power to control the elements which they used to keep the world in balance. The compassionate and caring Lontu controlled earth and flora, Tahii was the master of fire and Takisha manipulated the air to her will.
However one day, Tahii was tired of the peace of the world, driven by jealousy and resentment for her siblings, she decided to create havoc for her brother, Lontu by destroying his greatest creation, the sacred tree of Taigon. This tree emanated magic that gave life to the earth below providing bountiful harvests for the people of Agroa. This sparked a war between the two Gods. Unfortunately Takisha was caught in the middle of their war. She wanted the two siblings to get along and mend there issues by showing them the damage of their war.
Agroa
The story was developed is in a fantasy-based world so this allowed us to create vast and expansive environments. We started out by developing the world as a whole
We created the land of Agroa, the only land mass in this world, a vast super-continent similar in scope to Earth's Pangea, the awarded us the privilege of being able to create a with variety of diverse and creative biomes.
We started with three main regions that had a clear connection to each of our characters and expanded from there to ensure that the story was the focus.
Taigon Forest (1)
Taigon Forest (2)
The first region was the Taigon Forest, the home of the Sage Oak Tree. The Sage Oak was the starting point for this region as it played a key part in the story of the characters. I worked to develop it into something more than an immediate plot point and came up with the idea to make it something that had an impact on the the culture of the world, specifically on the people of the world. The Sage Oak provides life to the world, more accurately to the land surrounding it. This leads to the people of Taigon and Eastern Agroa to see it as a beacon of life prosperity with some courageous few going on spirit quests to find the heart of the Sage Oak and gain enlightenment.
We also created The Ethereal Yonder and The Shadow Apex to the west of Taigon, the domains Tahii rules over. Environments to counter that of Taigon and Eastern Agroa, the complete opposite of the lush green rolling fields and thick green forestry. The Shadow Apex is a dry, barren, rocky wasteland while The Ethereal Yonder is surrounded by volcanic steam vents, casting a shadow shadow over the area.
The final of the three is Jafei, the home of Takisha. An oasis located to the north, Jafei is a peacful place of flowing rivers and wild vegetation.
Culture
There are a wide variety of cultures across the land of Agroa, this was to further the expansiveness of the world. There are a multitue of aspects that make up the different cultures in this world some apsects being religion , Language and societal politics.
Agroan Hunter
Travelling Merchant
Agroan Farmer
The people of this world are called Agroans and mostly live in the towns and villages situated in the east of Agroa
The Agroans are mostly humble people that live simple lives.
Sone of the most common practiced occupations are Hunters, that venture out to hunt animals and forage for plants and herbs.
Merchants, that buy and sell goods in shops to and from other townsmen and villagers. Some merchants also travel from town to town offering wares from different areas and regions for purchase. Due to the bountiful land in the east from the magic of the Sage Oak, agriculture is vey common with farmers growing and cultivating different plants and vegetation to live off or sell to merchants.
Villager Child
Shop Keeper
Town Elder
Gold is a key indicator of someone's social status in eastern Agroan culture, the more gold someone has the more respected they are in the society.
Typically, the younger villagers have the least about of gold, reflecting their limited life experience and contribution to society. Well-respected people are typically those who have a lot to contribute like shop keepers or healers. The most respected people, however, are the Town elders, these are typically the oldest of the village or have achieved enlightenment through completing the spirit quest of the Taigon Forest.
Typically, the younger villagers have the least about of gold, reflecting their limited life experience and contribution to society. Well-respected people are typically those who have a lot to contribute like shop keepers or healers. The most respected people, however, are the Town elders, these are typically the oldest of the village or have achieved enlightenment through completing the spirit quest of the Taigon Forest.
Nasuni Language
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
Book 4
Book 5
Book 6
Book 7
Book 8
Book 9
Book 10
Book 11
Book 12
Book 13
Book 14
Book 15
Book 16
Using a service called Fontstruct I created a typeface that was comprised of unique symbols. Each symbol representative of a letter from the modern English-Latin alphabet. I called this language Nasuni and it is the native language of Agroa, spoken and written by the people of Agroa as well as the Gods.
Religion
One of the ways we showed the vastness of Agroa's culture was through the use of religion. As our story was centred on three God characters religion was a natural progression. First We looked at the people native to different regions; the people of Taigon are for the most part polytheistic, recognising each of the gods similarly to the ancient Greeks, Aztecs or Norse Vikings. There are also some monotheistic people in this world that believe tha there is only one true God. Tho God that these monotheistic people recognise differes depending mostly on where they are located. Westerners mainly worshipping Tahii whereas northern sects praise Takisha exclusively.
Magic
Magic is a power only the Gods can access but of all the Gods Tahii is the most proficient; investing her time and energy into mastering it. Unlike her siblings that mostly rely on their natural abilities to manipulate the elements. Magic is Powerful and supernatural force, it can be used on forms such as spells, potions and verbal and non-verbal incantations. Magic allows the user to break the laws of nature and depending on how adept the user is.
History
The History of Agora beyond its creation and the origin of the gods is a short one. The people of the land lead simple lives. The Development of Agroans is very similar to the development of humans in real life; They evolved over time. Using their intellect to survive, adapting and developing ways make their lives more efficient. But unlike Humans, Agroans are for the most part inherently people whereas most human advancements have their origins in use for war. This key difference is possibly the biggest separating factor between the two and as a result, Agroans are less advanced at current. Comparing Agroan advancement to the ages of humanity the most accurate statement would that the Germans are in the Iron age. They have developed the capability to utilise iron smelting technology to create tools that are stronger, lighter, cheaper to make bronze equivalents. The agroans also use written language and a reliable means of recording history and information but they are not at the point yet of mass production, with the most common way that information is spread is by word of mouth. But due to the prosperous land in the east of Agora agriculture has become very advanced going far beyond basic domestication of plants. They Agroans have very efficient means cultivating for food, fibres and medicine.
House Style
To develop our house style we looked at different examples of art and animation that could influence our style artistically and work thematically. Animation we were influenced by include DC Entertainment's Young Justice (2010), Todd McFarlane's Spawn (1997) and Nickelodeon's Avatar: The Last Airbender. We also looked at the works of specific artists for inspriation including the work of Mijin Jeon, Nicholas Kole and Khoa Viet.
House Style - Style Guide
This is the house style we developed. We wanted a semi-realistic style that had realistic proportions with minimal details. Taking a lot of inspiration from Mijin Jeon, we gave out characters simpistic facial features and a single colour of the iris and pupil. We also decided on a global head height of around 6.5 heads in order to have consistency across he characters to make them visually eqaul to each other.
Character Concept
When creating Lontu I considered multiple aspects of what would make them who they are. I wanted the character to be kind and caring as he is the God of Life and Guardian of Nature, but also stoic and introvertive as he is a character that is reclusive and lives deep in the forest. I also based his temperament on my own with a Phlegmatic temperament.
Props 1
Props 2
These are the props and weapons I came up with for character early in development. They were all heavily influenced by ancient Egypt.
Gentle Giant 1
Gentle Giant 2
Animalistic 1
Animalistic 2
Animalistic 3
Animalistic 4
Animalistic 5
Animalistic 6
When coming up with silhouette drawings I tried to design a forest guardian/deity character. I started off making them a kind of gentle giant character. I eventually decided to make my character more of a human-like protector with animalistic attributes.
Collective God Designs
Design 1
I tried adding some iconography to show some kind of god-like symbolism. In the end, I think it really helped convey a sense of spirituality and authority.
I found that the first design was a strong start to creating a powerful god-like character but it wasn't an accurate representation of a forest or nature character.
Design 2
Design 3
The second design felt more focused on the nature aesthetic but unfortunately it definitely felt more like an aquatic character similar to the Zora race from The Legend of Zelda franchise.
The third design was more along the lines of what I wanted to create. Doing things like having a cape made of leaves and a scythe worked with making him feel like he belonged in the wilderness. But although a scythe is an agricultural tool for cutting grass or reaping crops, scythes are commonly associated with the Grim Reaper and that is a direct contrast to my characters role. Ultimately the scythe was something I decided not to pursue.
Design 4
Design 5
For the fourth design I focused on the animalistic aspects of the character. Most overtly shown through the iconography, being a symbol of an animal paw. I also tried to show my original Egyptian inspiration in the armour and the accessories. I also tried to incorporate animal ears trying to make them look like Jackal ears. Looking at this design I can see influences from Anubis, DC Comic's Batman Beyond and Marvel's Black Panther.
For the fifth design I decided to make it more oriented towards plants t o really drive home the idea of my character being a God of nature and a forest guardian with thorns on his head and branches growing out of his back.
Lontu First Design
Developing my design further, I worked on adding fine details to the armour and clothing. I also decided to give him a sword from the props and weapons I designed earlier in the process and to give his armour intricate patterns similar to Ancient Egyptian garb.
Lontu First Design (Coloured)
From here I added colours. Using green to draw parallels between his role and his visual design and made his armour gold his level of status.
It was at this point I came up with my character's name Lontu. I came up with it by simply taking my initials L, O, N, T, and turning that into a more appealing word by adding the U to the end.
Costume Designs
Lontu is the God of life and Guardian of nature. He has the abilities to manipulate earth and plants as well as communicate with animals. After the Gods took form in Agora, Lontu blessed the land with his magic creating the first forms of life and took on the responsibility to protect what he had created.
Many People throughout agro worship him and praise his for all that he provides as a caring and benevolent God, often making offerings of gold to him.
It is almost unheard of for anyone to actually set eyes on Lontu, although he is a generous God he rarely associates directly with Agroans. Only doing so when it is absolutely necessary.
Lontu Colour Scheme Layout
Although Lontu is typically benevolent and passive, in extreme situations he will take an active position specifically when it comes protecting creatures.
When Lontu uses the full extent of his power his form changes and he visually becomes one with nature as thick branches sprout from is back and thorny crown grows around his head as depicted above. These changes may be temporary but the effect can last for months. This can lead to the branches changing over time, leaves growing of them as well and flowers blooming is changing over time, leaves growing of them as well and flowers blooming is spring just like and tree and just as a tree would lose its leaves in winter so to would the branches of Lontu's back.
One of Lontu's abilities is zoolingualism meaning he can communicate with animals. This is how he discovered this familiar, Terree. Terree is a forest deer that inhabits the sacred forest of Taigon. Terree is far from an ordinary deer. Standing at 7 metres tall, Terree was blessed by Lontu with the ability to impart wisdom to those who are worth. Because of this the enlightened few that complete their spirit qyest consider the great deer to be the heard of the Sage Oak.
Lontu Symbol 1
Lontu Symbol 2
The symbol of Lontu is designed to evoke the imagery of deer antlers and tree branches with its smooth curves and flowing lines. This is sacred symbol appears on Lontu's back and can only be found in ancient temples and books pertaining to him.
Lontu Character Turnaround
Lontu's design contains a large amount of gold to serve as visual Indication of the high ranking stature within Agrarian society. He wears red because it is a complimentary colour that allows him to stand out when he is in his natural element further extenuating his grandeur, amplifying the sense of awe surrounding him. Lont wears minimal armour because he has no need for it and not wearing a shirt serves to purposes; first highlights his physical build, a display that would inspire intimidation in any that would oppose him and secondly, should the situation arise when he needs to use the full extent of his power, there is no armour to hinder his change in form and no fabric to be torn to shreds by the branches erupting from his back. Lontu also has a tattoo on his back for the symbol life.
Lontu has a sword made of pure gold, although he is rarely ever seen with it due to his kind nature, it made from all the offering of gold he has receive from the people of Eastern Agora.
Anakii Character Line-up (Tahii, Lontu, Takisha)
