Character design is way more than the visual representation of a character; it’s about bringing them to life by fleshing out their mood, personality, and motivation through their look and feel.
That’s why we want you to look in a bit more detail at the first steps in turning Avril into a flesh-and-blood character!
When we came to designing Batora: Lost Haven’s protagonist, the aim was to combine the four leading characters of the book Batora, from which the video game draws inspiration, into a single, strong female main character who could take on major challenges on her own. It’s with this objective in mind that we got to Avril’s identity.
The next step of the creative process was then the research of references to gather and brainstorm visual details from comic books, mangas, and movie characters who could somehow be similar to the way we imagined her.
From the anatomy to her facial expressions, from the physical poses to the clothes she wears, her appearance had to accurately mirror her personality, attitude, and backstory.
Despite our commitment, however, finding relevant references was no easy task at all!
As you can imagine, the greatest ideas and inspirations often spark at the most unexpected times, and this is exactly what happened to Gaetano Caltabiano, the Art Director of Batora: Lost Haven.
Gaetano already had a clear idea of who Avril was going to be, but it was only while he was watching Spiderman Far From Home that he saw Michelle Jones – played by the actress Zendaya – and had his eureka moment: “Zendaya Is Avril, She Is Her, She Is Her!”
For him, the two had so much in common that he immediately thought that was the way Avril should look like! Avril is indeed just as curious, observant and a bit of a shy loner as Michelle Jones and they share the very same dry sense of humor as well!
Of course, they are also different. Unlike MJ, Avril is a little bit ditsy but that doesn’t make her any less!
Once the foundations of the character were laid down, we moved forward in the research and soon found out that Avril also had some common traits with Katniss Everdeen from Hunger Games: they are both strong, resourceful sixteen-year-old girls who demonstrate their perseverance by staying true to themselves and facing danger with open arms.
At this stage, it was time for the Art Director to pass the torch to Borislav Mitkov, former Assassin’s Creed Concept Artist who joined Batora: Lost Haven project with the post of Character Concept Artist.
Borislav gathered all the references, samples, and features and turn them into reality to finally bring Avril to life. This is the result of his study:
Then, the only thing left was the design of an outfit that could match both her personality and mission!
As for the clothing, we took cues from the vibrant color schemes and detailed line work of Alphonse Mucha to style a polished, bright, and colorful Sci-fi outfit specifically created to assist Avril on her mission: the suit and boots enable her to resist the gravitational pull and the weather conditions of all the planets she visits, while her endless-capacity quantum backpack can store everything she collects.
Another powerful means that enables Avril to survive under the most extreme and diverse conditions of the universe – and her most distinguishing feature as well – is the symbol on her forehead.
Representing a stylized sun and moon, it is the point from which her mental power is released and symbolizes the equilibrium between opposite and complementary principles, thanks to which the universe came into being and continues to exist.
As a woman, Avril is deeply connected to the concepts of origin and rebirth evoked by ancient goddesses such as Iset and Freya. Furthermore, the mark on her forehead recalls that of the deities of Shiva and Buddha.
One last tidbit: the symbol of the sun, in its Native American declination, can also be found into the hilt and tip of Avril’s sword!
No need to say, the design process of Avril has been long and demanding. Many things have changed along the way but our purpose has always been crystal clear from the very beginning:
As the only one who can restore the universal balance, Avril had to encompass cultural elements and archetypes from all over the world to reinforce the sense of union and sharing required to save the Earth from near doom!
Stay in touch for more insights behind the scenes of Batora: Lost Haven and don’t forget to wishlist the game on Steam!
