Dead Man Dan

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by XanderDWulfe

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Another to throw onto the pile of random PlayStation classics, though this time it's actually from a game I've played, more specifically the very one I was playing which lit this inexplicable fire under my ass to draw all the old polygonal wonders... Muse is weird that way!

Moving on -- I love MediEvil. While I didn't grow up with it, it always intrigued me and once I was able to get my hands on it many years later thanks to the advent of the PlayStation store, it quickly worked it's way up to becoming one of my favorite games of all time! This of course is due in no small part to the game's titular character, Sir Daniel Fortesque. He's bumbling, yet charming. He off-putting, yet endearing. His tiny, jawless head and singular buggy eyeball make him extremely iconic, but if I'm being fully honest I've always felt his design's a bit unfinished. Again, he is very recognizable from his facial features alone, or lack thereof, should I say, but aside from that he doesn't have much else going on for him. His armor is extremely bland and save for his skull shield the eerie, Burton-esque art direction on his design ends at his head.

Sure, one could argue that the boring armor was intentional as beneath all the pomp and grandeur, Sir Daniel is a complete nobody, but I've always held that armor should be as unique as the character wearing it. Just like any part of a character's attire, it should wholly represent them and that holds doubly so for one's wearing entire suits of armor! So, as I am want to do, I took it upon myself to design a suit of armor that felt more 'Fortesque' like; something that played off that playfully creepy art style. I wanted it both too bulky as to make his head look even tinier by comparison, yet also too slim to show off his gangly features. It needed to be garish and vaguely imposing, but mostly ineffectual just like Dan himself. (hence the blatant target plastered on his back) It also needed to feel unearthly and decomposed... again, much like Dan himself! In the end, I'm really happy with the result. I might tweak a few things here and there if I ever draw him again, but for the most part I'm happy with it~

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