Askesh design by Lucian

               In the beginning there was an idea.

There was only one way to approach this; As I wanted to look more human than creature or alien I had to start from a basic biped character, the first design that come out as you can see below it didn't looked very friendly so I started again from scratch.

The next design had to look more intelligent the first idea it came that a study shows that people think that intelligent people have the eyes further apart, also the eyes would be bigger,
And here it was; now I had a basic idea how the character would look like also this would give a basic start for future iterations in Zbrush.

In Zbrush I played with Z-spheres until I got the right human proportions

The first thing needed to be clarified was how the anatomic exterior structure it would look like.

So I came with this iteration

 Here The rough out of the armour is starting to appear.

More work on the shoulder and the arm                                                                                        

Because I felt that he look's too much like a warrior, a change was needed so I reworked on the face, reducing the strong jaw line, also I experimented with different face proportions.

Now was time to bring some inspiration from the real world so I started with some old stiles and clothing which were used to create some items or armour pieces and weapons.

\

 While Protos played an important role in developing the armour and the warp blades, the clothing elements from Pope Sabinian gave me a clue how to approach the back shield plate that would house the shield emitter as it can be seen below.

Changed the legs from normal one joing to 2 joint legs, also here it is visible the hand warp blades, also added a helmet that I removed from design and will be replaced with a cloth hat.

As the design seem ready the next step is the re-topology. The re-topology in Zbrush does not give the expected results so I started the retopo in Maya;

With blue lines is the mesh exported from Zbrush, with green lines on the left is the mesh created in maya using as a base the high density mesh from zbrush.

At the final mesh would look like this : 

I kept the face from zbrush model and reduced the poly count in some parts while where face will deform i kept the high detail to have smooth deformation. At this point I the mesh would be suited for games as well for animation; Thou for games the poly number would still need reduction.

Further on I made the full body and facial rig.

CHARACTER PROFILE SHEET

Name: Askesh Duraél

Gender: Male

CHARACTER ROLE

Main character, he is most of the time solitary, before being cast away he was accompanied by the Number One which is one of the embodied AI in a semi organic body. The body has a terran anatomy base because the brain anatomy is perfect for binding it with the ship central system. After the disaster he was castaway and sent to live in solitary confinement.

PHYSICAL Profile

Physical Advantages:

Agile, Medium strength

Physical Disabilities:

none

Attire:

The Priest code outfit

Unique Physical skills:

Strong belief, strong psychic

Major life events:

Mass genocide, the Great War.

SOCIOLOGICAL Profile

Born:

Ebyctus second moon, the year 4567 in the house of Narsul

Upbringing:

He grew in a military school as his family was a part of Narsul war house. His father died in the outer rim wars when Askesh was young.

Accent or Dialect:

He speak formal, polite, in his native language.

Past profession:

Military

Major life events:

Promoted, demoted

How does your character make a living/survive now?

On the planet of Beth Ḥadudo the water is very scarce, the only living beings in the desert are a type of arachnid creatures and in the caves it is said that some intelligent life forms may live.

PSYCHOLOGICAL Profile

Personality traits:

Before the genocide that he participated: Obedient, friendly, egocentric,

After the genocide: Lonely, Faithfull, Guilty, Hopeful, Merciful, good, righteous,  

Treasured items: The most treasured items are his warp blades that he received from his father when he joined the military academy.

Personal interests

Science, religion, ascension.

Mannerisms

none

Sense of Humour:

Dry

Major life events:

War academy graduation, war hero, genocide participation

Gameplay abilities

Forward dash with blades, power jump

CHARACTER SYNOPSIS

Initially a member of Q’varr order (a religious-militaristic order) he asked for transfer in the Semjuuk post war planet conglomerate. Now Askesh received orders not from his homeworld anymore but from the high commanders, or from Semjuuk council members which serve directly the supreme leader, the Matriarch.

After the war Askesh have been promoted from counsellor to priest rank for his actions in the Great War. With the promotion he received the Higgaion, a pre-war battle worn Space Cruiser refitted with advanced weaponry and biological torpedoes for special high council tasks. Then he received an order directly from the Matriarch to eradicate a planet which the inhabitants supposedly worshiped numerous gods therefore considered unworthy for joining the Conglomerate but that was the excuse because of the rising Semjuuk population they needed new homes and at almost 0 expense this was the fastest and cheapest way to go; and so once in a while a purge was occurring killing millions of innocent people in the process. They were targeting medium to small planets with small population.

 The matriarch assigned Askeesh specially on this mission to ensure of his loyalty or betray his commanders and the matriarch.

This was his first participation at a “purge”. His inner self was battling to do the right thing. His army loyalist conviction was fighting his deep religious beliefs and the righteousness.
He had no one on that planet, no one he knew, but still there was people innocent people, men women and children would perrish. No matter the reason religious or not, life is a right you have, the right to live; most of his race being massacred in a couple of days;
 After he took out some low tech ships that were no mach for the Higgaion cruiser orbiting the planet, the other captains started the the biological bombing of the planet.... it was done, the end began so he ordered his Ship to launch the torpedoes; She released the biological torpedoes on the main cities, a range of viruses that targeted the native humanoid population only.

Overwhelmed with guilt and pain he asked for the removal of title. After a short trial the council found him guilty of treason, stripped of his properties the ship, rank and out casted on the desert planet of Beth Ḥadudo for 100 years as punishment… He felt he deserved so much more than that, 100 years to die in agony it was cheap.