PANACEA: VILE QUEEN

Character Design Process

Now I was able to explore colors. Purple-green combinations appear often in poisonous plants, so I began with that basic palette concept and expanding out, adding more vivid reds and gradients to bolster her bold and toxic appearance.

I arrived at my final designs. She is introduced to the player as a beguiling stranger, and is later revealed to be a powerful dark queen who feeds on fear and misinformation. Lastly, the heroes must confront her true form and overcome her to restore the well-being of the land.

In Panacea, the enemy is not really the virus, but rather the chaos, fear, and misinformation that follows in its wake. However, we still needed a character to embody these forces and give our heroes something to fight against. I wanted to create a character who appears sinister and powerful without being truly horrifying. Since we knew at the time that the virus was carried by some bats, I incorporated bat ears and wings into her design. I knew we would have at least two forms, one humanoid and one monstrous, so I began with her humanlike form and used poisonous plants to inspire my shape design.

Panacea is a PC game that follows a trio of renegade health avengers on a quest to vanquish misinformation and defend public safety in the midst of a pandemic. This game was created to bring some levity to people, especially children, who are frightened and confused by quarantine. I approached this project as an opportunity to explore character design, creating a cast of brave and lovable heroes who promote safe practices in dangerous times. Created for the online Covid-19 Game Jam hosted by the TAMU LIVE Lab.

With her basic design established, I moved on to her monstrous form. I was interested in keeping her upper body like a puppet attached to a grotesque lower body, and I looked at spiny crabs and scorpions to guide the design of her lower half.