Post by Vio on Jun 21, 2015 17:53:43 GMT -5
Hey everybody! Vio's here to talk about something not so well known... The inspiration for my characters! As you probably know, I have a lot of OCs, and more ideas pop into my head quite often. But where do these ideas come from? Why do I keep coming up with them? Well, these 'Vio Talks About...' articles will be here to provide some deeper insight into what drives my characters. I'll be talking about what inspired the characters, the prototypes, what they became, and what I want them to become!
So, to start the ball rolling, I thought I'd talk about one of my earliest characters. Everyone's favourite steam-powered cyborg, Augustus Savoie!
Augustus Savoie is a short-tempered, but knowledgeable individual who has had his life turned upside-down by a freak accident, one brought about by his own pride and arrogance. Crippled and sustained mostly by the reconditioned diving suit he wears, this man often enters bouts of rage at his own inability to do things and express himself, making up for it by rampaging like the ironclad titan he is! Beneath his shell, though, he retains some of his habits - his love of showing off and disdain for pretty much anyone who tries to one up him is as strong as ever.
But what inspired this mans appearance, tendencies and the like? Well, I'll get started on explaining!
A long time ago, in a galaxy not-so-far far away, I created a WIP profile for a character by the name Maxim C. Shrike, a cyborg based upon the character known as Warbandit from Medabots. I used to love watching Medabots, it was on TV when I was young, and I made sure never to miss an episode. And from my childhood came the urge to create an armoured cyborg armed to the teeth with guns! Needless to say, a character like that was never going to pass without some serious tinkering, and while trying to come up with a viable way of making him, I discovered something else.
I'm not sure why, but while watching The Fog (an old horror film that I adore), I thought about those old brass-helmed diving suits. And from there, it got me thinking; "What would a character wearing one of those suits be like?" To me, it felt rather One Piece-y, and so I started to look around for other ideas. I researched those old suits and discovered the origins of the diving helmet. Originally, the Deane Brothers (those who know Augustus might recognise that name) developed a type of helmet designed to protect firemen against smoke, but it was about a decade later that they turned to another man for help in creating a viable diving helmet from their invention. This man was called Christian Augustus Siebe who not only invented this helmet, but he also later developed his own diving suit design! More recently, commercial diver and inventor named Joe Savoie developed the neck dam system, which allowed for lightweight helmets. So there you have it! Not only are those names important, but that's also what inspired the diving suit design of Mister Savoie.
But why is he trapped in his suit? Well, my Augustus got into an accident when testing his own diving suit, and that incident caused serious damage to his body. He survived, but was left comatose for several years, where the family doctor retrofitted the suit to incorporate medical technology and a power supply that would help keep him alive. But what helped inspire this was the Big Daddy from Bioshock! That's probably the most obvious reference possible with this character, but that's not the only inspiration for his looks. Nautilus from League of Legends (a MOBA I like) also helped inspire some of Augustus' traits, from the drawn out echoing voice he speaks with, to the clunky durability he carries. From the concept of a machine gun maniac to the more refined idea of a cripple entombed within his own creation, that is the inspiration of Augustus Savoie!
But wait! I certainly haven't given up on the idea of using Warbandit, and Augustus himself actually carries a few slight traits of the Medabot's appearance with him. These will become far more noticeable when he reaches his miniature time skip, where I plan for him to receive a massive upgrade to become a much better fighting machine! Afterwards, he'll probably carry more of a resemblance to his deepest and most distant origins, but for now he'll remain that clunky man in the suit that everyone loves...
That's all for this article, but if you have any more questions about this character, feel free to ask here!
