Character Design

Body Style

My inspirations for Ndolu’s body style were mostly gathered from science fiction and horror genres, as the character is intended to be the villain in a horror game. I gathered these inspirations based on elements of their design style. My main inspirations include Slenderman (Parsec Productions, 2012), the Na’vi (Avatar, 2009), the Xenomorph (Alien, 1979), and English Mythical Folklore creatures.

My goal was to create an English folklore demon, which had characteristics from these characters. I was intrigued by the slim figure of the Slenderman. Since I wanted the body to look stretched compared to a human. The height of the Na’vi towers above humans, which would give my character a menacing stature. Finally, the head of the Xenomorph would look unnatural, as I wanted the character to be easily distinguished from a human. I also took inspiration from the claws of the Xenomorph, as I intended for Ndolu to have claws to pierce its victims.

Accessories and Poses

Ndolu’s accessories are all derived from the humans it has killed. It has gathered these accessories to collect trophies from each kill. It’s main use for the trophies is to not only be able to prove it has killed humans while traversing the earth, but also show them off to other demons. As having many trophies is a sign of an experienced demon. These trophies are fingers from each person it has killed, stuck to spikes on the collar. The shirt and trousers were taken from 13th and 15th century England, and are both dilapidated, from the length of time they have been worn. I found inspirations for the clothing from medieval England. While the trophies element was inspired by the Predator (Predator, 1987) and The Clown (Behaviour Interactive, 2016).

Colour Design

I wanted Ndolu to have human like skin, whilst differing in colour, as it would be darker than human skin. This was inspired by the Licker (Capcom, 2019). As Ndolu’s skin would scare any human who saw it. Furthermore, the skin gives off a red and raw look, giving a sore and painful look. Additionally, red has been associated with the devil in history and also indicates danger in colour theory (van Braam, 2016).

I wanted the skin to appear deformed. I believe I included this deformity by including indents in the skin to reflect the fear of Trypophobia. Healthline (2017) states that “Trypophobia refers to a strong fear or disgust of closely packed holes.” Using this fear, it would increase the deformity of the skin, and appear less human like.

Visual Style

Visual inspirations were gathered, including clothing, facial features, skin, accessories, body shape and other characteristics. As I wanted to cover all features of my character, and also deliberate how my character would stand and walk. This aspect was interesting to me, as I originally intended for my character to run and walk like a human. However, I then decided that my character would run on all fours. My reasoning being that it would be much scarier. I also wanted to achieve a realistic look for my character. As the intended use for Ndolu is to be in a realistic style video game. Below is a link to my moodboard.

https://padlet.com/nccooper2020/lhbt6zn2ey98jj7c

Character Intended Use

Ndolu’s use is intended for a 3D horror game, where it plays the villain. Primarily, the player must travel through the English countryside, in a random century between the 12th and 21st century, and reach a certain point. All whilst being stalked and potentially killed by Ndolu. Ndolu would be making noises to scare the player, and create jump scares at random times. Additionally, Ndolu also has a piercing scream which would indicate it is about to attack the player. The game would be influenced by Slender: The Eight Pages (Parsec Productions, 2012).

References

Alien (1979) Directed by Ridley Scott [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

Avatar (2009) Directed by James Cameron [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

Behaviour Interactive (2016) Dead by Daylight [Video game]. Available online: https://store.steampowered.com/app/381210/Dead_by_Daylight/ [Accessed 12/12/2022].

Capcom (2019) Resident Evil 2 [Video game]. Available online: https://store.steampowered.com/app/883710/Resident_Evil_2/ [Accessed 12/12/2022].

Healthline (2017) Everything You Need to Know About Trypophobia (Fear of Holes). Available online: https://www.healthline.com/health/trypophobia [Accessed 4/1/2023].

Parsec Productions (2012) Slender: The Eight Pages [Video game]. Available online: https://www.indiedb.com/games/slender-the-eight-pages/downloads/slender-the-eight-pages-097 [Accessed 29/12/2022].

Predator (1987) Directed by John McTiernan [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

van Braam, H. (2016) The color psychology of red. Available online: https://www.colorpsychology.org/red/ [Accessed 4/1/2023].