#helios the daystalker

[far-side-skies]

Hi, this ask is your excuse to talk about, Helios the Daystalker

Oh boy I have a bit to say about Daystalker. I finalised his design during the September bird challenge last year, but he's existed for longer than that, and has come leaps and bounds in how he's developed as a character. Bro went from an asshole antagonist character to Demigod Dad who aids protagonists from time to time depending on the AU.

As I've said before, Daystalker is a Dawnrunner, a fan-species created by @grimm-the-6th/@ashe-alter. Think of them as the anti-nightcrawlers of Atmos, they thrive in the sunlight, their weapons are often fitted with raystones (sol crystals but sharp), they are a bitch and a half to kill and they terrify me. Thank you for letting me include them in my lore, Grimm.

I detailed a lot of his abilities in this post here, so if anyone's interested in that, check it out.

He's also able to pass on these abilities to his adoptive children and his Disciples. A Disciple is what happens when a Champion forms a contract of sorts with a mortal, akin to the pact D&D warlocks make with their patrons. Daystalker is quite particular about who he appoints as his Disicples, usually they're children of his who've reached adulthood and wish to remain part of the pride with himself and Honeytongue, though it must be earned.

A small quirk of being a Disciple of Daystalker specifically is that in forming a contract, the person becomes a Dawnrunner if they aren't one already, taking on hybrid traits in combination with whatever species they already were. Horns and a tail are always a guarantee.

I love looking back on this guy's development from a writer's perspective. When I first came up with him, he was an asshole. Saw other races as unworthy of his presence, lived for the glory of the hunt and nothing more, hated Syphons (a mage variant that is yet another lore piece Grimm has let me steal), and started off as a major antagonist in my "season 4" of Storm Hawks which takes place after the Hawks get back from the Far Side by accidentally blowing up the Barrier Cliffs and letting loose the apocalypse for Apocalypse 2: Electric Boogaloo. He was meant to try hunting down the team for causing trouble for another Champion and beat the living daylights out of Arygyn for getting in his way.

Now he is a Dad. A potential ally for the Storm Hawks on the Far Side who is constantly at risk of adopting any lost child he comes across on hunts. I love him so much more, even if he would've been fun to keep as a monstrous villain. And all this because when I was designing Cynniris, an Aquinoan-born Syphon, I decided he adopted her because he wasn't keen on hurting children because they weren't as satisfying a hunt. At the same time, Grimm was working more and more on Dawnrunner family dynamics, which I was incorporating into my existing Dawnrunner characters. Now we're here :3

[far-side-skies]

Finally getting some headway in my character for this month!

This is Helios the Daystalker, an ancient Dawnrunner Champion of the hunt, much like @ashe-alter's Honeytongue. As a matter of fact, they're mates. It's been such a blast to work on both these characters with Grimm and to impliment their Dawnrunner lore into this dude as it's come out. He's changed so much since I first came up with him eighteen months ago, and the hummingbird's colours honestly felt perfect for him.

Daystalker actually started as a villain character when I first came up with him, but since learning more about Dawnrunner lore, he's become a delightfully grumpy Dad™️ in recent months. He went from an egotistical trophy hunter to a very enthusiastic parent. He still finds glory in the hunt, but he's not about to go hunting things to extinction just to impress someone.

Thank you so much Grimm for helping me put this dude together, he's become such a delight.

[far-side-skies]

He's finished! Helios Daystalker, Champion of the hunt. A dawnrunner residing on the Far Side, winner of the #1 Dad award for ten thousand years straight.

I love this dude so much more than I ever thought I would. Unfortunately I don't have much of a chance to write him in fics at the moment because he's what I call a 'Season 3' encounter 😭😿

I do have a comic idea involving him though, so maybe one day I'll get around to drawing that.

Voting for this month's winning oc will be out sometime tomorrow. This is your last chance to get your entries in, once the vote is posted, that's it. I'll see y'all then!

[far-side-skies]

Since that ask got me on a roll...

If anyone's got any specific questions, feel free to pop them in my ask box :3