So i have my world, its rules and the general populace, such as the races and its shape – but i need characters. I need characters who will drive my story, characters who will take us on their journey. Even before i shaped the world – i had an idea for my main character. Having a soft spot for young childish characters, i found my protagonist taking on that appearance and accompanying traits. I didn't want a perfect character, a character who could accomplish anything so flawless as that would be boring. In fact, as this protagonist developed, i found myself making his flaws more predominant and those flaws have helped shape his character.
I decided that my protagonist would be called Maxwell and that he would be quite the midget character. He would be an Aestrian, a small Aestrian, as well as being childish and young – so he is twelve years old. I also knew that he would have a bestfriend too, who would go by the nickname of Charm. A fair chunk of the influence in this decision came from my own experiences and past. As i have already outlined in a previous post, Aestrians are small bipedal and arboreal beings who are swift and acute to natures instincts. Already these traits compliment his budding personality, his hyperactive childish mentality. Going with this, things started to take shape such as his appearance – in giving him large ears and baby traits similar to young children and animals…
Maxwell has gone through a lot of designs, all of which revolve around arboreal mammals, and in particular, mice, monkeys and squirrels. He also brings in traits of cats, pigs and dogs too.
I knew that Max’s eye would be his Magos mark, as i wanted it obvious just like his personality. But how would i display that? The attire too and the length of his tail, ears and structure of his feet all went through transitions.
The feet changed as did everything aobut him. I thought maybe he might utilise a staff as a sort of weapon or means of assisting through climbing such as pole vaulting. The arm here is a plot element, but i was testing how i could visually show it.
More experiments with his appearence and size. More vibrancy in digital colouring and a test of everything.
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Maxwell Farris -
Age – 12 Date of Birth – 13th August 1068 AD Race – Aestrian
Magos Mark Location – His right eye. Magos Mark Type – Husk/Amplex.
Maxwell is an upbeat and energetic Aestrian whom originates from the vast depths of Grande Grove. He is a high spirited young boy who is always beaming an apparent endless supply of smiles. This positivity leads him to be highly optimistic and cheerfully bright, even in some of the darkest of times. It is unlikely that you will find Max far from the company of Charm, as the two are nearly inseparable, having grown up together throughout childhood. Somewhat of a loose cannon, Charm is often there to keep him in check as his thought patterns seem to deviate into reckless actions, due to his childish naivety and lack of respect for any apparent authority. These traits have led to him being characterized for having a ‘magnetism for trouble’, as it seems to follow him wherever he goes.
Although more often than not accidental, his intentions have never been criminal. His luck is unfixed and rampant as is his tendency to deviate from the norms he is supposed to be bound too. His older brother, Zakai, has had a part to play in influencing the personality of his brother, such as his brash bravery and capacity to help those in need by putting aside his own goals. His little brother aspires to be like him by being a -somewhat of a hero- whom explores the world outside the walls of trees he is so accustomed to.
Maxwell readily requires guidance from peers to keep him out of trouble because unchecked he will run head first into any danger, oblivious to immediate dangers until its too late because of his naivety and oblivious nature. Often Max’s projection of a childish demeanor gives him the edge in battle due to opponent’s underestimating his potential – as he is not as simple minded as he may first appear.
Trivia -
- Max’s design was intended to complement his spirited youth. As such he draws aspects from all sorts of sources such as mice, monkeys and other small mammals to compliment his energetic and mischievous endeavours. Yet to match his oddities, he has several flaws. His dwarfness, odd hair and magos eye were intended to amplify that. His later conduction of the magos arm is a reflection of the fate of Zakai’s tail.
- When Max was younger he had difficulty pronouncing the phonetic ‘R’s’ of words and so when saying ‘brother’ it would become ‘bother’ and so ‘bro’ to ‘bo’. ‘Bo’ has stuck with him as he still continues to nickname Zakai occasionally as ‘BoBo’.
- Max’s natural hair colour is a light brown. An incident involving sticky staining berries ended up with his hair clotting the red juices. His hair ended up becoming a permanent shade of crimson.
- Ironically red is Max’s favorite colour. He considers it the colour of heros.
- Max’s lack of respect for authority didn’t bode well for his education. He has been kicked out of school more times than he can count up to. As a result he has poor handwriting and reading skills, and can only read ‘staple’ words fluently, words which are commonly seen and said.
- In earlier years, Max almost drowned within the fast flowing rivers of Grande Grove. He’s been terrified of deep water ever since, freezing up like a cat whenever it challenges him.
- Max’s favourite food is honey. He also quite likes to eat duck.
- Max hate’s winter just as the Aestrians have an aversion to it. Perhaps why he has a slight aversion to Zero.
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