A cyberpunk character art lineup made for a personal project.
I painted these in 2020 to join the Artstation Lightbox Expo: Box of Mystery character design challenge. We were supposed to design 6 archetypes (serious, brave, joyful, wild, leader, and mischievous) while having the concept of a “Box of Mystery” in mind.
I had some of my own characters and a setting ready, but needed new illustrations of them. So I took the challenge as an opportunity to create a relevant narrative and to flesh them out.
Softwares: Photoshop, Pureref
The background story – ‘Pulse’
I have a fictional scenario in which Titan and Eden‘s story happens.
They’re mercenaries in a cyberpunk-meets-demons fantasy world. Think Shin Megami Tensei with Mushishi, Cowboy Bebop and a dash of magic.
Titan is a demon or demigod living a reclusive life until a party of demon hunters accidentally crashes into his temple. Among the invaders he finds Eden, who does a favor for him and his lair — at a great cost.
The other characters are work colleagues and people they meet in their adventures.
The “box guy” at the center is a mimic-type demon, a trickster of sorts that ends up inside a vending machine.
The lady sitting on top of it is a Hunter captain who oversees Eden, Titan and Cerberus (the dog). And the small old lady is a photography-loving witness who helped the gang find the mimic.
I’ll leave a link to the base story below. Be aware that it’s an exposition trip that mentions only Cerberus, Eden, and Titan, though. 🙂
Content-warning: Profane lore — often mentions gods, demons, and angels as the entities that live among humans in that world. Descriptions of physical intimacy between Titan and Eden.
The Characters
Titan and Eden
Eden’s cyberpunk world and personality made me think about sport-y and trendy wear blending into combat and fashion, much like we try to communicate nowadays with e-sports aesthetic.
The terminator reference relate to the small red glowing dots all over her design, from necklace and eyes to the gauntlet/smartwatch: I wanted to signal an inner rage or “strangeness” that she channels when fighting or training.
It is impossible to not mention Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell as well. When designing Eden I thought a lot about Kusanagi’s strong, stoic and contemplative persona.
Titan is Eden’s partner, a centuries-old demon that passes as (a large) human. He refused all firearms and brings a small gladius to combat.
This character has a traditional disposition and a guardian role in the story, but instead of going with a classic shield for him to carry, I went with riot gear, bomb suits and bulletproof vests.
Cerberus and Lt. Pallas
The “Wild” archetype and Eden’s former partner.
Cerberus is a demon-dog from the mercenaries’ kennels. Adopted as a pup, the beast is loyal and intelligent.
I’ve used lobos-guará and borzois as references for his body shape.
Lt. Pallas, the Leader archetype. Sophisticated, powerful and wise, she oversees several small cells of mercenaries and has connections in all places.
She commands with a tranquility that is inspiring to recruits, while unnerving to enemies. I used as inspiration an old photography from Brazilian actress Ruth de Souza.
Most of my art draws archetypes from tarot cards, as I love using these as creative tools. Pallas and Cerberus, once paired, work like the Strength tarot card.
Old lady Sophia and The Mimic
Although futuristic and cyberpunk-ish in nature, I’m using joyful/grandma to express this universe’s hopeful and fun side. Technology serving well-being and personal expression.
The old lady expresses herself through vibrant clothing, enjoys old-day hobbies such as photography and has biotechnology augmentations that help her navigate life in a carefree, friendly manner. At the point of befriending demon boy and serving as witness to our mercenary investigators.
Demon boy is the mischievous character, and the “Box of Mystery” itself.
He is just like a treasure chest mimic, but I thought about what a cool, urban, and futuristic “treasure chest” would look like, and decided to paint a vending machine.
Inspirations: Old Oni artworks + the trickster/mystery element through the wooden mask.
Tear-shaped carvings under the eyes suggest that, although playing pranks and scaring people, their actions come from boredom and loneliness. I wanted to be very obvious about those being tears, although this is a small detail.
I though about figures such as Zelda’s Skull Kid, and Loki, as well.
How the story ends
Old lady Sophia and the demon boy/mimic come to an arrangement to look after each other, and mimic “moves” from his vending machine home into her own apartment complex. So he gets to “possess” more objects: Lamps, fridges and whatnot.
In exchange for all the new entertainment, food and company, he tries to calm down and to not pester other humans that much. They become BEST BUDS, taking photography trips around their area and looking after each other.
Granny passes away peacefully years later, and a devastated, but more mature demon kid never forgets their friendship. :´)
Titan is very passionate about everything small/mundane/human, so he wouldn’t miss the opportunity to visit them occasionally and to cultivate a friendship with old lady Sophia.
Over time he meets her family and finds out some of her family is from one of the most influential, dangerous mafias in that city, WHOOPSIE.
They’re like “So, weird kid, weird dog, gigantic dude and blue lady are looking after you, nan?? You like them??? Alright, they’re not enemies then, rock on.”
And this is how Eden and Titan got a huge street reputation, out of nowhere.
Development sketches and initial concepts
More progress pics — this is my Artstation challenge log, in which I posted all character art sketches, references and ramblings.
Painting videos
I live streamed part of the painting process on Twitch, and some of the videos are still around.
4 – painting the mimic character
Patreon (hi-res sketches, art insights and more ♥)
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