Fantasy Bronze Age Warrior Concept (Patreon)

The seed for this idea was "If you cut out the sci-fi aspects of Jedi and went full fantasy, what would you get?" I took that idea and ran with it, letting my mind wander where it willed. I went with the bronze age over medieval as I think it better lines up with the concept. Plus, spartan armor looks awesome.

First, I needed a lightsaber equivalent. I extrapolated out the existing concept of (magically) powered crystals and turned it into a more literal version. One because it looks cool, but also because of some of the real-world properties of crystals. Mainly, their ability to be "grown" and hold incredibly sharp edges. My idea was when the blade is unpowered (unmagicked?), it becomes just as brittle as any other crystal. Meaning the user can snap off the blade and grow a new one as needed. So long as they kept the "seed crystal" (which replaces the pommel).

Second, I wanted armor but not bikini armor! Seriously, trying to modify armor pieces into something not overly sexualized was an endeavor all its own. Even the original "breast plate", that was part of the set the helmet came from, stopped just above the boobs. I guess getting stabbed above the nipples wasn't worth the extra material. So, I cobbled together various other armor pieces into something more believable.

For the scene here, our hero is entering a foreboding place as the sun sets behind her. The dangers are unknown, but her will to push forward is stronger than the armor she wears.

Setting up this set required using several different lighting techniques. The area is quite large and incredibly dark (this set is actually free btw). Getting the appropriate amount of light so the warrior remained visible without casting conflicting shadows was an interesting challenge.

I didn't even finish all I wanted in time. But that's okay, this was simply a fun exercise. I'm going to do an additional post around this concept in the future and further comment on the armor and sword design. A lot of thought went into this concept, and I have way more to show (like our warrior's face).