Bootleg's New Characters from Old Variants!!!

[bootleg]

**UPDATED WITH MORE ART BELOW--PLEASE SCROLL DOWN!!!**
*LASER LIGHT SKELETOR AKA THE EYES OF FIRE ADDED January 11, 2010
*LASER POWER HE-MAN PROTOTYPE AKA LUMINOSA ADDED January 8, 2010
*LASER POWER HE-MAN AKA LAZEROS ADDED December 31, 2009

*KOWL (Toy Version) AKA KORUJITO ADDED December 23, 2008
*TEELA (New Adventures version) AKA LEETA ADDED November 27, 2008
*CLAWFUL (Filmation version) AKA SQUEEZEPLAY ADDED November 10, 2008
*LEO SKELETOR AKA HIGH PRIEST LEO ADDED January 3, 2008
*HORDE PRIME (UK Comic Versions) AKA ALPHA and OMEGA ADDED April 22, 2008
*FLYING FISTS HE-MAN AKA FLYING FIST ADDED January 3, 2008
*TERROR CLAWS SKELETOR AKA TERROR CLAWS ADDED January 1, 2008*THUNDER PUNCH HE-MAN AKA THUNDER PUNCH ADDED December 27, 2007
*CASTASPELLA (Toy Version) AKA SORCIELA ADDED NOVEMBER 29, 2007
*DRAGON BLASTER SKELETOR AKA DRAGON BLASTER AND PARALYZOR ADDED SEPTEMBER 24, 2007
*BATTLE ARMOR HE-MAN AKA BATTLE-SCAR ADDED AUGUST 27, 2007
*BATTLE ARMOR SKELETOR AKA ARMORAX ADDED AUGUST 21, 2007


I haven't posted much art here for the past few months, I hope with this thread I can get back up to speed!

Basically, in this thread I want to post my revisions of MOTU/POP variants, converting them into new characters. The first one I posted here was Starburst She-Ra several months ago, but I had already begun working on several others before I posted that one.

I'll start with an easy one--my version of "Savage He-Man" (AKA "Wonder Bread He-Man"), re-purposed into a new character named simply, "Savage."

The visual details of Savage are largely the same. The contrast between the color of his hair and the color of his furry underpants is greater than in the toy, but I think it helps break up the monotony. I chose to interpret the toy's ruddy brown weapons as blood-stained tools of destruction. The blood stains were accomplished by choosing a "spatter" shaped brush in Photoshop and messing around with the shape dynamics and scatter settings. It doesn't completely blend with my style of rendering, but I'm happy with how it turned out because I basically accomplished what I was trying to do.

I have alternating feelings of lukewarmth and satisfaction towards the drawing itself. As far as proportions, the arms are far more ape-like than I intended. The right arm in particular is terribly awkward, even beyond the usual level of awkwardness resulting from my loosey-goosey depiction of anatomy. On the other hand, the intensity of his expression is about what I was aiming for.

* * *

PROFILE: SAVAGE is a ruthless and experienced warrior who has little use for words. He fights with whatever tools he has at hand, or his bare fists if need be, and is a master of improvisation and opportunism. Savage is a capable tracker, and is well versed in jungle survival techniques. Superficially, his cultural differences alienate him from some of his allies, but his sincere sense of honor and valor are deeply respected by all.

HISTORY: The disappearance of He-Man and the Horde invasion of Eternia have left the planet in dire need of heroes. Teela, now developing her latent spellcasting abilities under the tutelage under the Sorceress, found herself isolated and outnumbered by Horde troops. In desperation, and lacking control over her newly emerging abilities, she attempted to summon He-Man by magical means. A mis-wording of her incantation resulted in summoning not He-Man himself, but one 'as good as' or 'as noble as' He-Man. Thus emerged the hulking barbarian Savage--with his sheer power to compliment Teela's skill, the Horde Troops were easily dispatched. Though Savage was displeased at being summoned without any choice in the matter, he was taken by Teela's beauty and fought alongside the forces of Eternos (the Eternian capital) for a time. Coming to terms with the fact that Teela was still infatuated with this so-called He-Man whom he had never met, Savage travelled back to his distant jungle home. Savage remains an ally of Eternos, and is leading his people in fortifying their territories against the inevitable spread of the Horde army.

* * *

[BlueLobster1979]

Looks awesome, Jason! I really like the idea of turning those weird one-off type variants into their own characters. It adds a new dimension to the whole toyline. I'd really like to see your take on a Dragon-Blaster Skeletor character who isn't Skeletor, but some other evil sorceror simply called Dragon-Blaster.

[coinilius]

Nice work, Bootleg - when you mentioned this back in the Starburst She-Ra redesign thread I was interested in seeing what you'd come up with for the other variants.

[bootleg]

Glass Shrimp: thanks man--i really appreciate it! i appreciate the image hosting assist too--i dunno what was wrong with my hosting the other day. dragon-blaster has actually been drawn and awaiting colors for monthsss--i don't think of him as a full-blown sorcerer, but more like a beastmaster--he's in charge of breeding and training dragons at snake mountain.

coinilius: cool--thank you so much for sticking around! i was hoping to get these guys (and gals) started months ago, but one thing after another...

for those who are interested, both battle armors, thunder punch, and dragon-blast are all inked, scanned, and awaiting colors. flying fists (name TBD) and terror claws are roughed out, and need a final pencil pass. i have concepts and some reaally rough sketches for the remainder of the variants.

[BlueLobster1979]

Glass Shrimp: thanks man--i really appreciate it! i appreciate the image hosting assist too--i dunno what was wrong with my hosting the other day. dragon-blaster has actually been drawn and awaiting colors for monthsss--i don't think of him as a full-blown sorcerer, but more like a beastmaster--he's in charge of breeding and training dragons at snake mountain.

coinilius: cool--thank you so much for sticking around! i was hoping to get these guys (and gals) started months ago, but one thing after another...

for those who are interested, both battle armors, thunder punch, and dragon-blast are all inked, scanned, and awaiting colors. flying fists (name TBD) and terror claws are roughed out, and need a final pencil pass. i have concepts and some reaally rough sketches for the remainder of the variants.

Oh, yeah, hey no prob. I just knew that very few would be patient enough to wait out the delay (as it did eventually, and I mean eventually, like 10 minutes later sitting in an open window in the background, pop up) or resourceful enough backtrack the image through the thread code just to see it, so I just re-posted it for everyone.

[SKELEPIMP]

Sweet!

[super-munkyboy]

Really nice dude, kind of a Bizarro He-man.

Dragon-Blaster and Terror Claws could be conjoured with such coolness.

Would you consider creating characters from lines such Fuerza T and Galaxy Warriors?

[Galvatron]

Great character bootleg he looks badass.

[bootleg]

Glass Shrimp: thanks for the consideration GS, you rule!
SKELEPIMP: lol, thanks!
super-munkyboy: glad you like him dude! if all goes as scheduled, next week will feature battle armor he-man (name to be revealed). dragon-blaster will be the week after that, followed by thunder-punch. fleshed out but requiring full pencils and inks are terror claw and flying fist (name TBD, though i'm warming to 'flying fist' as sort of a tribal style name, like 'running horse'). as for FT and GW--yes, i've actually been planning that all along. i did felinor of FT a few months ago, for a re-design thread. with FT, it's more a matter of retro-fitting their story into MOTU, though visually i am going to make a few changes to those characters. GW stuff, i suspect i won't change much visually, but when i eventually get to them, i'll be writing bios to fit them into the MOTU world. of course don't forget about warrior beasts, sun-man, golden girl, etc. etc. i have my work cut out for me!
Galvatron: i appreciate it buddy!


Another variant re-purposed (by me) into a new character, this time it's Battle Armor Skeletor, now known as "Armorax." The name Armorax was just a last minute portmanteau of the words 'armor' and 'axe.'



The first thing that strikes me is the alarming similarity between the pose on this one and last Tuesday's post. O_O This was totally unintentional and all I can say in my defense is that the two pieces were not drawn consecutively, and both were inked and scanned months and months ago. The posting of the two pieces in such close proximity is an oversight on my part--I have to admit, over the past several months I've been drawing dozens and dozens of gestures for He-Man characters (many of which have not been completed/posted yet) and it's getting hard to come up with original poses. I can at least promise you that the next few illustrations will have varying poses.

Back to Armorax--the weapon he's holding is somewhat based on an axe that Skeletor used in the pilot episode of the series, "The Diamond Ray of Disappearace." I also had in mind the blue axe from the Accessory Pack. He has a bonus bat-cape to match my illustration of Skeletor, though Armorax's cape is shorter because Skeletor outranks him (more on that in the bio below). Armorax has a "normal face" but wears a skull mask to show his allegiance to Skeletor (more on that in the bio as well). The idea is that he is from the same race as Skeletor, but lacks the mutation/deformity that Skeletor is cursed with. I also wanted to show some battle damage as a nod to the original action figure (whose chest armor would show gashes upon impact) but at the same time, I didn't want to obscure the cool bat symbol too much. As a compromise, I gave him a nasty gash in his skull mask.

As for colors, the only noteworthy deviation from the original is the mask itself. I gave Armorax a mask of bleached bone to distinguish him from Skeletor's yellowed skull.

* * *

PROFILE: Brash, cruel, and arrogant, ARMORAX is the perfect champion for Skeletor's Elite. He is a virtually unparalleled melee fighter and combat spellcaster, and an excellent field tactician, though slightly lacking in experience. His chestplate, enchanted with his own dark magicks, provides him almost unlimited protection from physical attacks. His axe, imbued with sorcerous power by the evil powers of Infinita itself, is an artifact that was awarded to him by Skeletor himself. According to various rumors, his skull mask hides a horribly scarred face, or grants him the fighting spirit of a demon, or both. Neither of these rumors are true--in fact, he wears the mask as a sincere tribute to his master and mentor Skeletor, and his combat abilities are born of training and intuition. The scar on the mask comes from a particularly intense sparring session with Skeletor himself, and Armorax brandishes it proudly.

HISTORY: Skeletor's Elite are a group of cabalistic disciples, trained by Skeletor himself. Perpetually distrustful of his lieutenants (and with good cause), Skeletor formed this loyal, tight-knit inner circle to seize the reins of power in the event of his extended absense. With the disappearance of He-Man and Skeletor, the Elite have revealed themselves, much to the dismay of Skeletor's highest ranking evil warriors, Evil-Lyn in particular. Armorax was one of the first recruits, and of the first wave, the only to survive the fatal rigours of Skeletor's training regimen. His loyalty to Skeletor is absolute, however he was dismayed to learn that being Skeletor's named champion did not also grant him a position as leader of the Elite. TERROR CLAW received that honor, and Armorax is constantly smouldering with fury over this appointment. Armorax's resentment of Terror Claw is a fracture in the Elite that Evil-Lyn has picked up on, and intends to exploit.

* * *

post script: i'm embarassed to say thta he is drawn with "heroic arms" instead of "evil arms" because at the time that i drew this (about december or so), i didn't even know what "evil arms" were! my collection of vintage MOTU is pitifully small, skeletor not being amongst it. i considered fixing the picture, but i was actually pretty happy with how the right forearm turned out, so i decided to leave it. any future versions of the character will have gloves or full forearm bracers to represent "evil arms."

[Mike Bock]

Wow man thats one awesome character!!
Love the drawing a ton as well.

[BlueLobster1979]

I love Armorax, J-Ho!!! He rocks! The idea of Skeletor having an elite guard, or secret society within his ranks, is a really cool concept. They are like his grand admirals, dark-side adepts, or emperor's hands (if you follow the Star Wars expanded universe at all).

[Sllohcin]

BRILLIANT!!!

Armorax (Armourax ) is a fantastic creation in both art and story. My compliments on a fantastic design!

[Eamon]

Cool stuff!

[coinilius]

He looks great - and I like the use of 'heroid' arms instead of the usual evil ones - it helps give him more of a 'dressed up to look like Skeletor' vibe (along with the mask).

[BlueLobster1979]

I know I already commented, but I just am really impressed how you turned a Skeletor variant into a new character by introducing the mask angle. So now the actual "Battle Armor" toy can still be Armorax, where as if you changed it to a completely human face, it would no longer work (without modification). I can't wait to see Terror Claws and Dragon Blaster as Skeletors other elite warriors.

[DestrongerLupus]

Bootleg man, you rock!

Great concept, wonderful art

I started doing the same thing with the variants with the 200X mini figs, I felt that snake-armor Skeletors (Of which I ended up with 2) made great support troops for actual Skeletor.

You've made the whole idea THAT much cooler

D/L

[2-bad]

Armorax & Savage Rock!! amazing stuff, J.

[bootleg]

wow, thanks everyone! i'm really glad you guys are enjoying this thread so far!

Mike Bock: thanks man!
Glass Shrimp: a double comment thanks G/S! i actually thought about mara jade while i was writing armorax's profile, though now that you bring it up, armorax has the same complexion as admiral thrawn! i'm glad you picked up on how i tried to keep armorax as similar to the toy as possible--i'm doing the same for battle armor he-man and thunderpunch. however, the re-designs for terror claw and flying fist are... shall we say, rather drastic.
Sllohcin: thank you so much Ric, it means a lot. lol... and next time i'll try and remember the proper spelling for my Canadian and English friends.
Pig Boy: thanks!
coinilius: lol... the heroic arms were actually an oversight, but i'm glad you like how it turned out.
DestrongerLupus: thanks D/L, you're too kind. great minds think alike--i was planning on eventually making more 'new' characters by creating classic style versions of 200x variants. snake armor skeletor is a perfect choice--i'd love to see what you've come up with in that department. of course, before i get to 200x, there's still NA, and before that i should probably get started on the POP fashions. my work is cut out for me!
2-bad: thanks Jazyl, i really appreciate it!

[galaxy warrior]

great job on the bios. crazy it's complete opposite way my mind works for motu im always trying to rationalize more he-man/skeletor variants diggin it hard

[Ionus]

cool i like armorax

[bootleg]

galaxy warrior that's pretty funny, thanks dude! i'm always trying to figure out how to get more semi-canonical characters wedged into continuity. it's a sickness.
Ionus: thanks man!


ok, next up, another dude with an axe! It's Battle Armor He-Man, reborn as "Battle-Scar," for obvious reasons:



On the one hand, I think I more or less got across what I was trying to with this piece. On the other hand, I think it greatly suffers because I have not yet posted an illustration of He-Man proper, for comparison. I need to remedy that soon. In the meantime, I'll just have to point out the differences that would be apparent if I'd had the foresight to finish a pic of He-Man first. Lame!

Anyways, where He-Man has blonde hair and orange (copper?) bracers & belt, Battle-Scar is strawberry blonde, and has gold bracers & belt. I've given Battle-Scar pale skin and blue eyes, in contrast to the Filmation version of He-Man, who had dark eyes, and deeply tanned skin. The idea was to give Battle-Scar more of a Celtic or Nordic look (which is where his title of Berserker comes in as well). In terms of facial features, the cartoon depicted He-Man with more or less classic good looks--I gave Battle-Scar a face that was a little closer to the rough-hewn looks of the toy. His armor is slashed and dented, to represent the battle-damage gimmick of the toy, and the scars on his body were added to continue the theme and give a visual cue as to his ability to take punishment (more in the profile below). On its own, I think this character re-mix comes off as just a version of He-Man, but once I post my take on He-Man, hopefully the differences will be more apparent.

My drawing is a little static, but hopefully it gets across the idea of raw power that I was going for. No characters with axes next week--I promise!

* * *

PROFILE: Young, loyal to a fault, and still somewhat naive, BATTLE-SCAR is nevertheless a veteran of the battlefield. Even before he obtained his magical breastplate, Battle-Scar was well known for taking heaps of punishment on the battlefield. His immense stamina and resistance to pain are magnified to demi-god levels by the breastplate.

Ostensibly, Battle-Scar was the first member of the entity that would become affectionately known to the populace of Eternia as TEAM GRAYSKULL, named so by Orko, much to the chagrin of their reluctant field commander THUNDER PUNCH. It is notable that Battle-Scar is the only member of the core team who is not a blood descendant of King Grayskull.

HISTORY: Years ago in the northern lands, the boy who would become known as Battle-Scar watched as He-Man saved his village from a brutal attack by Skeletor's forces. This left an indelible mark on the youth, and he strove to live up to He-Man's example of bravery and honor. Thus when word of He-Man's disappearance spread, Battle-Scar (now a young yet experienced warrior) wasted no time, travelling to Eternos immediately to pay his respects to his missing (and possibly fallen) hero and offer his axe in service to Eternos and Castle Grayskull.

Initially He-Man's allies were unsure of what to do with the young scarred warrior who stood before them. Teela decided to consult the Sorceress, and was bringing Battle-Scar to Castle Grayskull, when they were attacked by a platoon of evil Horde robots. Teela and Battle-Scar managed to fight them off long enough to retreat into the safety of Castle Grayskull's dark halls. However, more Horde Robots were on the way, Teela had been gravely injured during the battle, and Battle-Scar's axe was shattered, and his armor was blasted to pieces. The Sorceress saw to Teela's wounds and lead Battle-Scar into a room pulsing with magical energies--the armory of King Grayskull himself!

"According to prophecy, only the just and even-handed--those worthy of King Grayskull--may wield these implements of war," the Sorceress told him, "choose wisely, young warrior!" Battle-Scar was humbled beyond words--he could not bring himself to even touch the magnificent arms and armor before him. Everything was elaborately crafted and intricately inlaid with precious metals and gems. He spotted a dusty breastplate and axe in the corner; unlike the other items, these were plain and ungilded. The axe was rough and worn from use, the breastplate marred by slashes and dents, and marked with an ancient heraldic symbol of Grayskull's line. In spite of their obvious wear, both were sturdy, and well-crafted--they would serve his purpose. Battle-Scar hastily equipped the breastplate and axe, promising the Sorceress that he would return them as soon as the battle was over. As Battle-Scar ran to the Jaw-Bridge, the richly crafted weapons shimmered and faded--in their place was a collection of humbler, and yet more powerful implements--like the axe and breastplate that Battle-Scar had chosen, these were the true weapons of Grayskull's armory. Sorceress smiled to herself, "Well done, young warrior."

Now armed and clad like a god of war, Battle-Scar dispatched the Horde robots easily. After the battle, Battle-Scar attempted to return his newfound weapons. The Sorceress explained to him that he truely was one of Grayskull's chosen defenders, and Battle-Scar pledged himself to defend Castle Grayskull until He-Man returned.

* * *

In case anyone didn't pick up on it, the whole "choose wisely" bit is totally lifted from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

[BlueLobster1979]

Oh nice! Battle-Scar rocks, I love this new line of "characters from variants", J-Ho! Great work!

P.S. Yes, even though there is no straight-up He-Man to compare them to, Battle-Scar is distinct with his lighter-skinned, celtic / nordic look, and Savage has an almost Native-American look to him, if he were a little more bronze-skinned.

[coinilius]

Love it as always, Bootleg - I'm digging the Indian Jones riff to his origin as well

[Patreek]

WOW! He's rocking! I really like this varient idea you have going. very cool stuff.

[JafariStew]

Hey Bootleg my friend!
Absolutely love this thread!
Your idea of making valid characters out of the Classic varients is wonderful! Maybe one day you'll do the same for the 200X line, although with all the varients of He-Man & Skeletor, you might have your work cut out for you! I really like your interpretations here & I think the art for BA Skeletor is quite slick, it made me wanna break out my reissue of the figure, & I love that weapons pack idea...brilliant, fun stuff with some top-notch illustrations! The colors are so nicely tweeked but stay true to the figures...I always look forward to your work!