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Description
Concluding my series of character designs for as-yet-hypothetical platformer Monster, this is Thief, the guy behind most of the headaches Death has been having. As he represents himself to Angry Fin , he's the ultimate thief, capable of stealing not just objects but ideas - and he's on the trail of the ultimate heist. By promising to destroy Death he secures the loyalty of Angry Fin, who is disturbed by Catherine's fascination with the Scissor Man and doesn't understand why she won't play with him anymore. For most of the game he appears swaddled in brown cloth - see bottom left. Later, however, as he grows in power, his hood bursts open into ragged 'wings' which flutter above his head.

Thief is not who he claims to be, and conveying his true identity through visuals has been a bit of a pain. My early sketches showed him as a lot more nightmarish, whereas I think he has now picked up a touch of the Grinch, which is appropriate given his plan. I did however work in some Beksinski-inspired touches, such as the pulsating mass covering his chest and the vertebrae in his arms and legs (which hopefully works with his hair and increasingly tattered bandages to show that he is a branching, spreading entity). The skin tone was difficult - I want him to look diseased, even feverish, but not actually undead; a nice yellow jaundiced look seems to work well, and adding white highlights creates a slick, mucal look. I changed the hair from grey-blond to reddish as again the former made him look too weak; hopefully he doesn't now remind viewers too much of Syndrome from The Incredibles. The thin, stretched skin hopefully still gives him a nightmarish property, with the red indicating that there's something alive in there.

The key-staff with which he can open any door is a late addition to his design, and one which probably gives the game away as to his true nature, but I think it looks good and gives him a plausible means of attack.

Thief is the same speed as Death and Angry Fin, but can attack adjacent enemies using his key-staff and can also float upwards and slow his descent. His levels are all about running away from Death; Angry Fin completes the top section, opening doors and solving obstacles for him (similar to the Death-Catherine sections). He must do this against a black advancing wall o' doom which is timed based on players' previous runthrough of the level as Death.

Description
Concluding my series of character designs for as-yet-hypothetical platformer Monster, this is Thief, the guy behind most of the headaches Death has been having. As he represents himself to Angry Fin , he's the ultimate thief, capable of stealing not just objects but ideas - and he's on the trail of the ultimate heist. By promising to destroy Death he secures the loyalty of Angry Fin, who is disturbed by Catherine's fascination with the Scissor Man and doesn't understand why she won't play with him anymore. For most of the game he appears swaddled in brown cloth - see bottom left. Later, however, as he grows in power, his hood bursts open into ragged 'wings' which flutter above his head.

Thief is not who he claims to be, and conveying his true identity through visuals has been a bit of a pain. My early sketches showed him as a lot more nightmarish, whereas I think he has now picked up a touch of the Grinch, which is appropriate given his plan. I did however work in some Beksinski-inspired touches, such as the pulsating mass covering his chest and the vertebrae in his arms and legs (which hopefully works with his hair and increasingly tattered bandages to show that he is a branching, spreading entity). The skin tone was difficult - I want him to look diseased, even feverish, but not actually undead; a nice yellow jaundiced look seems to work well, and adding white highlights creates a slick, mucal look. I changed the hair from grey-blond to reddish as again the former made him look too weak; hopefully he doesn't now remind viewers too much of Syndrome from The Incredibles. The thin, stretched skin hopefully still gives him a nightmarish property, with the red indicating that there's something alive in there.

The key-staff with which he can open any door is a late addition to his design, and one which probably gives the game away as to his true nature, but I think it looks good and gives him a plausible means of attack.

Thief is the same speed as Death and Angry Fin, but can attack adjacent enemies using his key-staff and can also float upwards and slow his descent. His levels are all about running away from Death; Angry Fin completes the top section, opening doors and solving obstacles for him (similar to the Death-Catherine sections). He must do this against a black advancing wall o' doom which is timed based on players' previous runthrough of the level as Death.