Races of Middle Earth - Character - Kogepan

#2

Welcome to the challenge! :beer:

Your model looks fine for now, but I’m looking forward to hearing a bit more about your character! :wink:
Good luck for the challenge :thumbsup:

#3

Ok then… My concept is based very loosely on the hindu mythological idea of Kalakeyas, who were a form of “Rakshasas,” or demons. They terrorized people during the night and hid themselves in the ocean in the daytime.

So… :

Some unknown time in the beginning of the Third Age of the Sun, Sauron sent out a large party of orcs on an important quest. The orcs failed their task and had the surprising foresight to not return to Sauron, realizing their punishment would be death. So They journed West across Middle Earth until they could go no further. Aware that Sauron had probably become enraged and banded them traitors, they decided to steal a ship to ensure their safe escape. Although sucessful in stealing a large warship from a harbor and setting sail, they had no knowledge of navigation, leaving them to sail adrift farther and farther from Middle Earth shores. Eventually they came upon a large but distant island inhabited by humans, which they attacked promptly. The men were killed and the women taken as their wives. Thus was the race of the Rakshas created. A society developed based upon season-long raiding trips, during which they would raid and pillage Middle Earth shores during the night and drift a safe distance from land during daytime. Because the male orcs left their half-breed children under the care of their human wives for months on end, that generation was intentionally instilled with a strong preference for human traits. Over time, this developed into a caste system where the more human-like Rakshas were bestowed with powerful ranks and positions, and the most Orc-like of the race became slaves.

phew… sorry for the length there… anyways, I plan on modelling two characters of the race - one of their leader, a more human-like chacter (the beginnings of him is in the image above), and one of his slave, more orc-like. Not the most original idea, I know, essentially just a half-orc race, but I think (hope) the details and composition will make it interesting.

#4

quick update… Needs some tweaking, but at least the head is closer to completion.

[edit] Pic deleted. No use in having a new pic every other message…

#5

Lovely work Kogepan… can’t wait for the fleshing out of this one!

#6

Finally he’s starting to look somewhat respectable… small update here. Basic head modelling more or less finished, proportions changed, and he almost has a neck.

#7

A long overdue update…

After I decided to scrap my previous idea, I spent a couple of days brainstorming over a new concept. So here’s my new and improved race :

The Ahzu - Serpent-Human guardians of a mysterious vault so ancient that its contents are unknown even to them. Their upper bodies are vaguely elven, except for the various snakes that protrude from it (most notably from the top of the spine). Their lower bodies are comprised of three giant serpents. Although this creature has many heads, it functions as one individual. Traditionally, the warriors’ snake limbs handle close combat while the human-like portion functions as an archer. Armor is not worn as a matter of pride.

I don’t have a concept sketch yet… but I’ll be sure to get one up before the end of february… in the meantime, this is where I’m at right now :

#8

That’s a really fascinating new concept, Kogepan :slight_smile:
I really like it a lot! I also think this is the first Serpentine entry in the challenge (at least that I know of), so it’s nice and fresh too.

Those snakes coming forward from the back of his spin are seriously creepy :surprised I’d love to see the actual spot where they emerge from the back though - so please post a render of that when you can! :smiley:

I’m really looking forward to seeing how you do the snakey lower part of the body, this should be really exciting!

Keep it up, your model is looking great so far!

#9

WOW!!

those arms and torso look great!!!
really gives the impression of muscular power and great agility!
keep updating! i wanna see the rest of the body!!!

#10

That’s a great modeling you’ve started here !! Gosh ! Keep going… keep going !:applause:

#11

That is really cool looking! I am really interested in seeing that lower body!:wip:

#12

Looking good, maybe a bit homo erotic with the snakes and muscules, but great stuff.

#13

Thanks for the comments! Sorry for the late reply, but, uh, the Playstation2 demon got a hold on me. That machine is evil!

So here’s an update. He finally has a full body, though there are a lot of things that need to be tweaked. Seeing as the model is coming close to completion, critique would definately be appreciated.

Leigh : Well, actually, the snakes coming out of his back aren’t connected to him yet… I’ll get to that soon, I hope.

Riki : Hmm. Interesting… though if you have to interpret the snakes phallically, then I would think the fact that they’re coming out of him, together with his big muscles, would make him ultra macho, rather than homo erotic, imho.

#14

wow.
awesome creature :smiley:

#15

Thanks H13. Saw your model at 3dtotal so I’m looking forward to seeing yours come together. Hope you finish!

#16

Kogepan-

I think your model is very good, especially the human/elf/fey anatomy of the upper boady. The lower snake part is good as well but I have a nagging critique and that’s to have the body of the snake get bigger somewhat throuhout before going smaller again and coming to the end of the tail. Very few snakes are similar sized throughout their body. Note I didn’t say all snakes, 'cause I can think of a few off the top of my head that don’t follow the “usual” so that might be what your going after.

Tellerve

#17

Tellerve - My first cgtalk critique! I’m touched. Hmmm. I think you’re right, but the problem is that I made the snake portion shorter than I feel it ought to be so that I could fit the whole character into the picture without making the human body look too small. And I fear that making the snake bigger will make that more obvious and make him look stubby. So one compromise led to another, basically. But I think I will make the body at least a little wider so that it doesn’t look too uniform. Good thing you told me that at this point because I happen to be in the middle of more-or-less remodelling the snake part.

#18

I love the upper body - can’t wait to see how you attatch the snakes to his spine.

About the two branch heads on the lower body… I think you should consider making it more eventual. The way you have it, it looks like two heads were simply stuck on perpendicular to the main head.

Something like -<- Will try to upload a pic when I can. Think of the branch of a tree trunk… looked at from the top it should be a smooth curve.

#19

yeah, you’re right, draconix. It looks pretty lame as is. That’s another thing I’m in process of changing at the moment. Thanks man. :beer:

#20

Looking forward to seeing what you do with it.

#21

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