And here is Karatzu Karatia, one of Kao's teammates in his earlier adventures. He travels with Kao out of a strong sense of wanting to protect Kao and Sky from harm, given he himself is a father. He's also one of the heads of the digging project that would connect Karatia Caverns with the whole universe, mainly Karatia the Continent where Koyas came from originally.
1. Despite the hammer and pick like shovel he's wielding, he won't carry them during his adventure as he tends to attack by molding his fists into whatever weapon he wants to crush his enemies with.
2. The interesting purpose of him traveling with Kao is to help Kao 'remember' being the father of Kiara and Siberia, though neither of them know it at the time. Katie is the one who encourages Karatzu to go with them though. She cites the fact that the quakes make digging further "too dangerous" but insists that Karatzu goes with him, as she knows the truth.
3. Karatzu acts old and cranky because that's just his personality. He's very caring and protective, but can sometimes come across as abrasive and cold to get that point across. Kind of representing the element of "Tough love" but never overdoing it.
4. I think I'm FINALLY happy with Karatzu's design... in that he not only looks like a Koya, but...actually looks really cool finally. Like someone you'd want to play as in an adventure.
5. His name being "Karatzu" is a pun, but he was named before the "Ratzu" species was established. While I did figure I should make him a Ratzu to push the pun further, I decided not to and to keep him a Koya so it seems more like the coincidence it is. His name is actually based on the word "Karat". but given Katie's backstory, it would make sense his name would contain 'Ratzu" in it.
