Tall, Dark and Mysterious (Mystery Warriors WIP) (Patreon)

Hello!

Sci Fi Alternative month has begun!  First up is Vampire Hunter D, the  half human, half vampire mercenary.  So I actually watched Bloodlust recently to get a better understanding of his character and that movie doesn't dissapoint. The world of Vampire Hunter D is pretty fascinating, an earth equivalent in the future filled with vampires (Nobles) that terrorise humans.  D has made a career to hunt Nobles down but is feared by clients due to his vampire heritage.  It is strongly implied D is the descendant of the first and most powerful Noble (basically Dracula) who wanted to live in harmony with humans.  But due to vampire bloodlust, this is basically impossible and D constantly has to wrestle with his bestial side to maintain his humanity.  All in all, a very cool character with a great aesthetic and mysterious past.       

Now onto another mysterious character I'm much more familiar with.  Revan is basically Star Wars EU's Alexander the Great.  He was active millennia before the movies, during a time when the Jedi Order was really fractured and weak.  The Mandalorians back then were a terrifying force and in an all out war with the Republic.  Despite the Mandalorians being on the verge of completely conquering civilised space, the Jedi Order's official stance was basically 'Oh well, we're staying out of it.'   Sounds stupid, but the Order had their own civil war recently and were not in the mood to lose more members.

Not all Jedi were cool with this.  A minor faction rallied around a mysterious knight who would later be called Revan.  He gathered a bunch of Jedi 'Revanchists', and joined the dwindling Republic armies in their war effort which is where his legend really starts.  

What separates Revan from other famous Jedi is his brilliance in tactics and warfare.  It is repeatedly stated Revan managed to outmaneuver, outwit and outfight his opponents despite always having fewer resources.  And in a span of a few years, he completely reversed a forgone Mandalorian victory into a Republic one, winning crushing battles against a much larger and more experienced fighting force.  So yeah, without Revan's intervention, there might not even be a Republic that survived to the prequel movies.  

To hammer home Revan's impact on the setting, his victories wiped out the Mandalorians.  Yes, you read that right.  The original Mandalorians were a race called the Taung and it was only when that species went the way of the Dodo that humans became associated with 'Mandalorian'.  But those descendants are a largely fractured force and would never come close to their ancestor's glory.  They still remember Revan's ass whooping and his name is always spoken with fear and respect.  Anyways, if you're a fan of Star Wars and haven't played KOTOR, I highly recommend it.  Still the gold standard for RPGs, gives more information about Revan's fall to the Dark Side and has some great 'holy shit' moments.  

I've got D's basic aesthetic down so I'll start working on his Cyberhorse (guess it isn't unique, D goes through at least one in the movie).  Will start working on character poses as well.  Just a heads up, I'm probably going to start doing some public preview posts this month so don't be surprised if there is some repeated content.