Game Studio: Nonlinear Narratives: The Protagonist

The initial concept
The initial concept

My Protagonist is named Kaira Barnabus. Kaira lives in a post apocalyptic world that suffered catastrophic flooding several decades before Kaira was born and is filled with various forms of fauna that can talk and have formed various societies. Kaira has lost her memories at the start of the game but has vague recollections of someone underwater that she needs to find, the game is about her travelling to try and recover her memories and help those she meets along the way. I’ve had the idea of both this game and Kaira for a few years now and it wasn’t until I stopped just visualizing Kaira in my head and actually drew her that her design started to change. I always knew her color scheme was going to be more earth toned and slightly military-esque. One of the things that I’ve toyed around with was giving Kaira a facial scar.

Sketches where I messed around with the scar concept
Sketches where I messed around with the scar concept

I almost scrapped this idea because none of the scar designs I was using seemed to fit the character or her backstory, but then I gave her the X on her forehead that I’ve ended up keeping. Another idea that I ended up keeping was giving Kaira a scarf that was a pale blue/lavender. This is very similar in color scheme to Kaira’s sister and was meant to connect the otherwise very different looking characters visually. One aspect of Kaira’s design that was directly impacted by feedback I received in class was her boots, originally the boots were so big because I’m bad at drawing boots but then I thought about the fact that she’s in a world where she’s gonna have to fight but she didn’t have any weapons, so why not give her weaponized shoes? These shoes are also her Attribute Visual. Even outside of combat screens (if I get to that this semester) she will collide with things and will probably end up kicking at least one NPC.

How could I have a girl with Kicking Feet if I didn't draw her kicking at least once?
How could I have a girl with Kicking Feet if I didn’t draw her kicking at least once?

Drawing Kaira so many times also helped me solidify her personality a lot more. Even though she doesn’t remember who she is or her past she is still a very confident and sort of cocky woman who has a dry sense of humor. Sketching let me experiment more with her visually as well as with more internal concepts of the character. Giving her these huge boots for Kicking Things made me think about why she would be a more physical person both in terms of fighting as well as her life in general.

a sketch I drew to get a better feel of her personality
a sketch I drew to get a better feel of her personality

Kaira and Zhis were always designed with the other in mind, their color schemes aren’t similar but I made sure they didn’t clash and seemed visually on the same side. Kaira also has a sister and although she won’t appear in this project her design is very much influenced by Kaira’s. Another character who will appear in this part of the project though and was influenced by Kaira’s design is Nadia who dresses in a similar way to Kaira although physically the two women look quite different. At this point in the design process I’m starting to draw Kaira the same way physically in each image but small things about her may still change between posting this and actually making her entire sprite sheet for the game.

possible final sprite?
possible final sprite?
Another possible final sprite
Another possible final sprite
Kaira sprite draft copy
When I officially gave Kaira The Boots
Author: Emory OConnor