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Vagrant-Verse — B Day: DOM Arc Collage

Published: 2011-09-16 18:18:15 +0000 UTC; Views: 1381; Favourites: 25; Downloads: 71
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Description Yes, I know its a day late, but in my defense this is the first big collage pic like this I've ever done, and that is a lot of inking and scanning. I think it can be forgiven. Also, this is only Arcs 1-2. Three isn't very far in yet so it will have to be part of the next one, assuming there will be.

Anyhoo, most of you who follow 's kaijuverse shouldn't need explanation as to the various kaiju here, but I will share a little bit into my thoughts on each one of these. Most of his entries are solid monsters, though some. . .miss the mark. I showed those monsters in a sort of 'done my way' sort of fashion to show how I think the design could have been improved.

I will color this someday, I swear. Its too epic not to.

Happy Belated birthday, man!

And please, for the love of all things, hit download to get a better look.

(Left to Right)

Vastrato: The main monster and one of the more original ideas in this story. I like how her lazy attitude makes her able to be matched by kaiju a fraction of her size, really opens the door to fights. I'm still not sure how she could be called an earth defender from that, though.

Shairka: The Zilla Jr. of the story, bonded with the scientist of the group and loyally defends them. This isn't completely correct as to her size in the story as of now, but I figured this was a good guess to full size.

Parrywiggins: From a creative perspective, this guy is one of Ak's best. A noble earwig that actually kicks some major ass is always a winner.

Kee 'Kaw: A mutated Kea Parrot, one of my top 5 favorite birds. Only thing was the thing didn't have much to distinguish it, so I threw in a few Ultraman kaiju esque horns on the head. For some reason I can't picture him any other way now.

Xenus: An alien fungus and the big bad of Arc 2 for his ability to reproduce. I never understood how a fungus, an alien one for that matter, would just look like a big black lizard, but kaiju are known for that. I still tried to make him look more alien though.

Gabriel: An alien bounty hunter of sorts come to wipe Xenus off the face of the universe. A tough customer and an excellent alien design. I find Southern Utah and Coral Reefs are the two best places to look for alien world ideas.

Cyber-Razzek: A cyborg and the first real Defender of mankind we see. I got rid of the tail blade, just seemed like an engineering nightmare, but the rest is about the same. I rather like the mix of organic and machine.

Gilgramesh: In a way, I picture Gilgramesh as the Zilla to Vastrato's Godzilla. They both emerge out of nowhere, attack and destroy stuff, etc. Only Gil goes down while Vast wins it all. I sometimes think of calling him VINO.

Phenoraixa: The 'Mothra' of DOM, Pheno is a lawful good firebird capable of kicking major behonkis. Some moments with him have been strange (him calling Grimm 'emo and scene' right after waking up for the first time in millenia still rubs me the wrong way.)

Grimm: Character-wise, this guy is a favorite of many. The 'Battra' to an effect, Grimm is an ugly Vulture/Condor capable of seeing the future and decomposing his enemies. His emergence is still my favorite fight scene in the series thus far, proved to me birds could kick ass against anybody. I did alter the beak to make him appear more crotchedy, mainly because he was a little GAS-y this time around.

Ambrosia: A fungus monster I can get behind, and named for his symbiotic relationship with Crypt Dragons. Really can't improve on him at all outside of making the caps more distinct.

Hunter: A Tokay Gecko with a major attitude. I split his tail down the middle so as to make him a little more kaiju-ish. I think it works wonders.

Rama: An Amur Leopard guardian and something of a King Caesar, when I think about it. He was a tad plain, so I added an extra set of front limbs, helps with the Hindu name.

Hera: One of Ak's definite winners, Hera is a nigh unstoppable beast that has yet to be topped, though her destruction record will be soon. Nothing really to change on her, she's really solid.

Thanatos: While some might think he's a little too God-modded, Thanatos, a massive male Crypt Dragon with a rather douchey attitude, is one of the more powerful monsters to emerge. He's pretty laid back, though, who wouldn't be at that size?

Len Lengua Terible: One of Ak's stronger contenders for originality, this anteater/armadillo is a rather fun monster, and its a paranoid maneater, a real villain amongst mammal kaiju, which we need more of really.

Razzek: Not much to change about a deepsea three headed eel kaiju with a lovecraft vibe about him. The scene with him and Capt. Heiberg fighting was rather fun in an Advent Children kinda way. I drew him with all three heads, really just 'cuz.

Felinus: After four strong kaiju into the story, Felinus was kinda drab, sad to say. I tweaked him a little bit to make him a little more distinct, hope it helps.

Charmy: While still not terribly unique, this Cichlid is still a solid idea. I changed the spikes on his lump to something more like pegs, spiny battering rams would just complicate ramming things.

Oko: A plain yet still distinct Cephalopod kaiju, Oko was a fun little chapter. He collects things and has a fascination with glo-sticks.

Misoko: The Big Bad of Arc 1, Misoko is a female of Oko's species, a notorious ship sinker and a nasty fighter that took three kaiju to bring her down. Not much you can change in good conscience about that.

Kaiju (c) :iconAkantor MH
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Comments: 26

OperaGhost21 [2012-07-02 21:16:40 +0000 UTC]

Awesome, they all look great!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Vagrant-Verse In reply to OperaGhost21 [2012-07-03 01:12:18 +0000 UTC]

Thanks much, they were a lot of fun to put together

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

JacobSpencerKaiju79 [2011-09-17 04:45:42 +0000 UTC]

Nice looking pics man.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Vagrant-Verse In reply to JacobSpencerKaiju79 [2011-09-20 18:42:13 +0000 UTC]

Thanks man.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

JacobSpencerKaiju79 In reply to Vagrant-Verse [2011-09-21 02:44:12 +0000 UTC]

Welcome

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

RenDragonClaw [2011-09-16 23:26:35 +0000 UTC]

I think you did a novel job in addressing a lot of the GAS-yness that some of his kaiju had, especially Rama.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Vagrant-Verse In reply to RenDragonClaw [2011-09-20 18:25:40 +0000 UTC]

Rama was one of the major reasons I did this in the first place, he just needed a little something extra

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

AkityMH [2011-09-16 21:31:03 +0000 UTC]

Sweet, glad you haven't forgot me.

This is absolutely one of the best things I seen all week long. Being my birthday and all. Zenus is a win, Keekaw is, Parry, everyone. Hell. Yes.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Vagrant-Verse In reply to AkityMH [2011-09-20 18:42:02 +0000 UTC]

I don't forget most things.

It took an extra day, but this piece was a big experiment so I'm glad I got it done. Glad you like the designs.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

AkityMH In reply to Vagrant-Verse [2011-09-20 20:49:37 +0000 UTC]

I might go and redo some monsters after this. Mainly just the four main ones that are GASy.... Gasy... ... we seriously, have to think of a brand new word system for that.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Vagrant-Verse In reply to AkityMH [2011-09-20 21:49:02 +0000 UTC]

I think its too late to change it, its already deeply rooted and doesn't sound pleasant.

And it would be great if you did so.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Pyatt [2011-09-16 21:21:43 +0000 UTC]

I'm actually really glad you did this. I think it's a good way for Ak to see all of his monsters lined up and, if need be, he can fix any problems that are noticeable or completely ax some of them. My main concern is Vastrato's size. She's fricken huge compared to everyone. Even if she's lazy, that doesn't make the fights she'd have with the others in the series very believable, IMO.

Xenus totally looks like a fungal giant from World of Warcraft too.

👍: 0 ⏩: 2

Vagrant-Verse In reply to Pyatt [2011-09-20 18:41:02 +0000 UTC]

Indeed, I'm rather glad I took the extra time to finish this in the end. I helped get DOM off the ground but over time I weakened my grip on creative guidance, I practically guided his hand until right around Oko which was when some of the designs started getting bland and the story became formulaic, so as the weaker designs came about I felt I needed to do something and this provided a perfect opportunity. For whatever its worth I take a small measure of pride in my monster designing, I don't want people to think I just downright approved of the extreme cases of GAS-yness.

Yeah, the size is a BIT over the top. As mentioned I do think her being big is a bit of fun irony, most kaiju films have opponents bigger than the main monster so its fun to see the other side, but overall its just too easy to rain down hell on most monsters when the scale is that different.

MY biggest issue is the story prose, really. It honestly annoys me at times that he's got it where the children act like adults and garner lots of sympathy whereas the adults either act like jackasses or like children. That can work in the genre when its written for kids in a more campy way, don't get me wrong, but combine that with the overdone sexual content and adult situations and it just seems paradoxical to the extreme. I find myself screaming 'pick one already!' when I reading sometimes.

But all things considered the 'verse isn't bad, Ak tries too hard to please sometimes but when he's in the right place he can make some great stuff. At the risk of carpal tunnel, I will stop here.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

AkityMH In reply to Pyatt [2011-09-16 21:31:12 +0000 UTC]

So you are still looking at my stuff?

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

ProfessorCene [2011-09-16 20:48:24 +0000 UTC]

Very nice. I never noticed just how much larger Thanatos is than Hera. He was a little god-modded when he first appeared, but I bet that won't happen when he next appears. And his design is pretty cool.

Out of all of AK's kaiju, the only one I really don't like is Hunter. He's a karma houdini as far as I see it.

I never really noticed it before, but Misoko really is the big bad of the first arc. I'm betting Vorion will be the big bad of the 3rd arc. And I wonder who it is that will top Hera in terms of destruction.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Vagrant-Verse In reply to ProfessorCene [2011-09-20 18:27:11 +0000 UTC]

Well, Thanatos doesn't feel the need to show aggression being as big as he is. The only reason he vaped the Xenus swarm was because he was rudely awakened. The world rapidly adopts a leave him alone policy, yet they do have to learn this the hard way.

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FakaPokeBio [2011-09-16 20:37:26 +0000 UTC]

While some of the redesigns are hard to recognize, (read:Gilgramesh) these are all very cool!

And really, looking at the lineup of the first two Arcs alone, you can't really say that AK isn't creative, even if the designs may occasionally be lacking.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Vagrant-Verse In reply to FakaPokeBio [2011-09-17 19:01:40 +0000 UTC]

Indeed, Gil was a bit difficult to render right, the only reference image I had at the time was very small so I couldn't go to too much detail.

I've always thought Ak had a lot of good ideas, its just sometimes he doesn't go far enough with them. Even more rarely too far, but that's rare.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

FakaPokeBio In reply to Vagrant-Verse [2011-09-20 23:34:35 +0000 UTC]

When I first saw 'im here, I was like, "Wait... since when did AK have a mosasaur in DoM?"
And then I remembered Gilgramesh, and was like, "Oh, it's that kid, okay.

That's very true.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Vagrant-Verse In reply to FakaPokeBio [2011-09-20 23:42:59 +0000 UTC]

Funny, there was a mosasaur in his first attempt at a kaijuverse. No idea if she'll transition in yet but still.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Ravensaurs-Rex [2011-09-16 19:08:04 +0000 UTC]

This reminds me a lot of that chibi-esk spread sheet of Aka's you did a while back.

In any case I have to say this is a bloody brilliant job!

Out of all your slight redesigns, I have to say Xenus is the most interesting, though in your bid to make him look different, he instead looks pretty much like Orga's brother. But that's not really a bad thing.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Vagrant-Verse In reply to Ravensaurs-Rex [2011-09-17 19:03:16 +0000 UTC]

I remember that, I wasn't nearly as competent on photoshop back then so I couldn't fit full sized ones into the paper.

I can live with that, Orga is a favorite of mine.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Ravensaurs-Rex In reply to Vagrant-Verse [2011-09-17 19:28:50 +0000 UTC]

True enough, and we wouldn't be able to compare all the little critters.

Eh, can't say I'm too fond of him, though I don't hate him.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Cupercrusader [2011-09-16 18:25:48 +0000 UTC]

wow

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Vagrant-Verse In reply to Cupercrusader [2011-09-16 18:56:03 +0000 UTC]

Thanks

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Cupercrusader In reply to Vagrant-Verse [2011-09-16 18:56:33 +0000 UTC]

np

👍: 0 ⏩: 0