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witla · 6 months ago

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Weirdo's Underworld Character Inspiration Post

I was doing that one template of 6 characters that inspired your ocs for the WU ones, but its very difficult to me because I realized most of my characters aren´t really inspired by previous ones. They are more of a mix of ideas, tropes, things and just like one or two characters and some real people.

So instead of having a headache to think 6 exact characters, I'll just list here some characters, people, things and more that inspired the characters; in appearance, personalities or both.

Why am I doing this? Because I'm bored lol. Also forgive my English, it's not my main language, so maybe there will be grammar errors, sorry!

Weirdo

Why is he called Weirdo to begin with? Well, it's kind of a stress relief. I've been called a weirdo, even though I didn't really do anything that weird or strange (the weird thing about me in that time, I guess, is just that I was shy and I was a teacher's pet/goody two shoes/nerd). Some ex-classmates were just meanies, but don't worry; that's just a past thing, and it doesn't affect me, actually.

The first idea about Weirdo was pretty much that, the life of an awkward, odd individual during life, highlighting his struggles, howeverI thought an underworldly theme could be more interesting, to explore his personality and struggles but in the afterlife.

So the irony here is that Weirdo is named Weirdo, even though the rest of the residents are weirder and crazier than him in some ways.

Some characters/people/things that inspired Weirdo were:

Elsens from OFF (both appearance and personality)

The way people draw "insert here" characters in art, like gray/blank people

Chadam, a character by Alex Pardee, mostly associated with The Used (appearance)

The concept of anxiety/awkwardness/feeling weird itself

Hoops

At first Hoops was going to be freakishly tall and thin like most basketball players are, however I thought it would be a good subversion if he was the opposite: short, chubby, longer hair and with notable acne.

Of course the idea of Hoops came from basketball, most of my family including my dad and uncles used to play basketball, I loved to go to see them play.

However in terms of more inspo, Hoops doesn't really have from other characters, the only think I could point is the red varsity jacket he uses, reminds me of jock characters like Flash Thompson from Spider Man or Dash Baxter from Danny Phantom; except Hoops is not a big jerkass like them.

Enigma

Like their name, Enigma is a big enigma to me lol; I like most animals, and cats are among them; they are adorable! , so I just drew a literal cat person, but I'm sure I have some inspo behind them, because the idea of a cat with big eyes and no visible mouth at first is not a new concept.

I would like to talk more about Enigma but honestly that would reveal a lot of what I'm planning to show, aka no spoilers lol.

Some characters/people/things that inspired Enigma were:

Hello Kitty (Just in appearance, a cat with no mouth lol)

Mao Mao from Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (appearance)

Me-Mow from Adventure Time (appearance)

Potion

Potion is one of those characters who got a lot of changes; in terms of appearance, her first design was so different, having a black dress, a droopy face, thinner eyebrows, and no visible lipstick, and she was first named Darling; this is because she tends to call others "darlings." After some fixes and tinkering, she is now what she is, but in personality she hasn't changed really.

The idea of her was, of course, a bartender, an alcoholic one, because alcohol is, for me, an interesting topic that can talk about addiction and coping. Well, I also love myself an alcoholic beverage, but I do control my limit.

Some characters/people/things that inspired Potion were:

Angelina Jolie (appearance)

Jerafina Tabouli from Smile For Me (appearance and personality)

Moira from Piss (appareance and personality)

Flappers

Doctor

Doctor is an interesting case; my idea of Doctor is more of a fear I have, the fear of hospitals. Let's just say that there was a time in my life when I went to the hospital so often due to health issues, it was a bad time, this was between 2020 and 2021 before WU characters were made.

So Doctor was born from the idea of a crazy surgeon doctor that could freak me out and just wanted to pull out organs; however, I toned down his insanity to make him someone who genuinely cares and wants to do good for others even if he is a bit extreme on that care.

Some characters/people/things that inspired Doctor were:

At least 3 doctors I knew IRL (appearance and personality)

Like I said, the concept of fear around hospitals/surgery

Black Jack from Black Jack (manga) (appearance? and personality)

Doctor Dandy from Chulip (personality)

Climate

Like Hoops, Climate wasn't really designed in the base of characters but rather a concept; his goat appearance comes from goats as religious symbols. Goats are usually seen as offerings, sacrifices, pretty much in a bad way, due to their curious appearance and behavior.

However, goats actually are pretty sociable and friendly; maybe Climate's personality as a cranky, malhumorous guy comes from people perceiving him in a bad way? Well, I'm not saying much on that as I want to develop more. But yeah, Climate's faun appearance is mostly thanks to goats in the religion/general symbolism. The only character I could think of who is based on his personality is Squidward from Spongebob Squarepants lol.

Lucky

Like Potion, Lucky had a bit of change, not in appearance much, but in terms of character, initially she was only a bassist of a band, her name simply was Bass.

Eventually I made her character of a ludopat who is obsessed with winning and thinks she is mature and hot shit, when in reality she still a teenager who doesn't exactly know what she is doing. Still she remains playing the bass, but it's not really her main gimmick now, and for that change in gambling, her name became Lucky instead.

Some characters/people/things that inspired Lucky were:

Little Miss Scary from Mr Men (appearance)

Celestia Ludenberg from Danganronpa (personality)

Juan Carlos Bodoque from 31 Minutos (personality)

Punks, specially in the 80s (appearance)

Ocean

Ocean had quite a change, originally he was going to be the typical surfer dude with a radical attitude, coming from a beach it's usually portrayed that way; But, like Hoops, I instead made a subversion, what if he looked like a surfer dude, but instead he was quite calm, laid back and not really interested in water activities rather interested in inventing/innovating and the irony on his name is that he has thalassophobia.

And in terms of appearance, he didn't looked so human like his final design, he look more abstract. Initially his appearance was based of the SquisherZ Oozurf from Hypnospace Outlaw, but then I imagined him more human, since he is the calmer and nicest of the cast.

Some characters/people/things that inspired Ocean were:

The Ocean itself (appearance)

Palm trees (appearance)

Kamina from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (appearance)

Mezzosoprano

Originally Mezzo was from a previous idea/universe I had, an artistic universe; she wasn't even of the main cast but rather a one-chapter character. to say the least, she was in a opera trio. But since I liked her design so much so I decided to snatch it and become part of the cast of WU.

In terms of inspo, the main idea, of course, is about opera singing; I just love the gracefulness and aesthetic of opera.

Some characters/people/things that inspired Mezzosoprano were:

Franca Mattiucci (appearance)

Head of a Woman (Olga Picasso), painting by Pablo Picasso (appearance)

An old OC I don't have a photo of (appearance and personality).

White with yellow roses and oyster mushrooms (appearance)

Trim

Just like others too, Trim went through a lot of changes. I wasn't really sure which name was better, Cutter or Cut or Fade or Scissor, eventually I remember the word Trim which sounds better and fits well.

In terms of appearance, originally Trim's head was round, and so her eye and overall body were drawn more curved than sharp. I wasn't sure why I gave her only one eye, maybe to represent her precision and eye on detail; then I decided that it would look better to have more shapes to make the cast look different from each other, so I shaped her like a diamond, since she is flashy, fashion and pretty!

Some characters/people/things that inspired Trim were:

Blue Diamonds (appearance)

80's/90's aesthetic (appearance)

Hairdresser Octopus from Parappa the Rapper 2 (appearance and personality?)

Skid

Skid is also someone who had tons of changes in appearance and personality. Initially he was a waiter hence the rollers. I had consider the names Skate, Speedy, Roller for him, then like Trim I remembered the word Skid, and well it was perfect and more natural.

Mainly, Skid is based around snakes; that's why his skin is green, and his arms, both in his old and new design, try to simulate striped snakes. Usually, snakes are also seen as evil (example the literal devil), they can be aggressive but there's also ones that are calm and docile and represent healing, so Skid has that in him, he can be abrasive, cold but deep down he can be a sweetheart.

Some characters/people/things that inspired Skid were:

Snakes, especially green pythons and striped ones (appearance and personality)

Jet Set Radio/Future (appearance)

Street/urban aesthetic (appearance)

Rampage

Like Mezzo, Rampage came from a previous idea/universe, a crime focused one, and like Mezzo, I loved Rampage's design so much I snatched her our of there and became a character in WU.

From her initial design and personality, well, she actually didn't change at all; her weird-shaped head and hair and dress style have stayed the same since I first drew her, and her personality also stayed the same: an athlete who is not really interested in athleticism but rather anarchy and causing mayhem.

So as for inspos, she doesn't really have any; I'm even shocked myself where exactly the idea of Rampage came from. I just drew her; she appeared in thin air on my head.

Virtue

Recently I've got a pickle with Virtue, I was having the idea of discarding her entirely because I was not really a fan of her design and personality. But now I roll with this new design I made for her.

Intially named Justice; Virtue's entire gimmick revolves around the trope of Blue and Orange Morality; she wants to serve justice and make sure everything is balanced out, but the ways she does it are questionable, hence why her appearance also has those colors on her.

In terms of more inspo, at first the idea of her was based on superheroes and supervillains alike, especially how they look in comics; some of them had ridiculous attires, lol. Now she is more the down-to-earth court reporter she was back then; still, she wants to be a superheroine in her way.

Quantum

Quantum is the resident that came after anyone else. While I was looking at the characters, I thought that something or someone else was missing, so I just got the idea of another resident, an old smart lady who is also as enigmatic, cryptic, and mysterious as Weirdo and Enigma.

She is mostly based personality-wise on some teachers I had. In my experience, most of the science-based subjects were taught by old/middle-aged women. So, like Doctor, the idea of Quantum is thanks to those IRL teachers; the majority of them were pretty nice! I only have a bone to pick with one of them.

Some characters/people/things that inspired Quantum were:

IRL teachers I had (personality)

Harvey Dent/Two-Face from Batman (appearance)

Woman with a Book, painting by Pablo Picasso (appearance)

Doc Brown from Back to the Future (personality)

The Judger

For the leader of this strange underworld, my principal idea was to make something not human; I didn't want more anthropomorphism to play here. I wanted a TV thing connected with meat tubes; I just thought of something cool yet creepy, because if I saw this thing IRL in my face, I'd be terrified.

So that's what The Judger is essentially, an otherworldly creature that is hypnotizing, eerie, and something you wouldn't want to mess with. I got the idea of the body/head to be a TV pretty much as a symbol of the influence of TV on viewers, when it comes to news, entertainment, and how some people think it is a brainwashing machine. As for the meat/muscle tubes, it's just to add the mystery and oddness; you expect a TV to hang with electrical cables; instead, this mechanical thing is hanging by something organic/fleshy (gross!!).

So to summarize, I didn't want the Judger to resemble a human; I wanted the ruler to be a thing that you know means business.

Some characters/people/things that inspired The Judger were:

Analog TVs/Analog horror (appearance)

The Antisleep Volumes album covers of Blue Stahli (appearance)

GLaDOS from Portal (personality)

Also, I remember I saw some enemies? monsters? I don't know if it's from a movie or videogame, but they were floating TVs with their cables hanging. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Because those also influenced The Judger.

EXTRA fun facts:

Weirdo was going to be more of a jerk, he still has a bit of that but it was changed to have a more relatable factor as a nervous and anxious person.

Ocean’s necklace was based on one I received in a trip to Mazatlán, Sinaloa, sadly I can’t find the necklace, but I have the memory of it.

Enigma does have a mouth but it rarely shows up, it appears mostly when they are eating, their mouth is hollow, at difference of cats, Enigma doesnt seem to have fangs/teeth.

There used to be other residents before: Camera, Domino, Frog, Wrestle, Empress and others; I didn’t really know how to write them, so I decided that killing them off from a beginning was a better idea lmao.

I hope you liked this reading, I could have made a powerpoint but I don't have time really, I thought this would been published 5 days ago but busy is my middle name lol.

Anyways that's it for now, any questions or commentary can be at my inbox I guess.

Thanks -An Witlacosh

#an talks #an doodles #weirdo's underworld #ocs #my ocs #original characters #oc lore #ocs lore #inspo lore #mucho texto #I'm tired but writing this was fun

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