Character Design

Celeste Pecora (G8)

Arts and Creativity

Published Issue 3 2022-2023

Hey people! I’m Celeste.

You know, that person who writes those dreadful comics in the newspaper?

Yeah. That guy.

In this article, I’m gonna talk to you about my character design process!

Please note that I am going to bring up my one and only interest (the 1997 Nintendo video game franchise Star Fox) many, MANY times in this article because it plays a huge part in the design of all my characters, and it’s also the only thing I can ever think about (three cheers for autism amirite?). If you don’t want to see the words “Star Fox” every few lines, I highly advise that you not read this.

–

ALRIGHTY! The first thing I do when designing characters is get their appearance down. This is because I usually base the names of my characters on their appearance. Appearance can say a lot about a character; the way they look can portray their personality or the opposite for deception or irony- a huge, threatening monster might actually be a huge softie!

My characters are a 4-manned team of sci-fi pilot bounty hunters (because, Star Fox), and for the article, I’ll be using one of the team’s members as an example.

Meet Rowan McCirrus! Ace pilot and proud member of the COSMOS Interplanetary Bounty Hunter Team!

Rowan’s appearance takes inspiration from the main/player character of the Star Fox games, an ace pilot by the name of Fox McCloud (pictured in the image above). Like Fox, Rowan has green eyes and, well… is a fox. He has small markings above his eyes, similar to his inspiration’s large, fluffy “eyebrows” (I don’t think they’re actually eyebrows).

Next, you’ve got to name your beautiful scribble child.

Not all names need to have reasoning behind them (I have a character who is named “Commander” for literally no reason at all), but I prefer to give them names that reflect elements of their character.

The name “Rowan” is a Scottish-Gaelic name meaning “Little Red-Haired One”. Rowan is short, so “little” (I’m very, very sorry to all the people reading this who are 5'2" and under), and he’s a red fox, so “red-haired”. 

Rowan’s last name, “McCirrus”, is a little tribute to the character Fox McCloud, as cirrus is a type of cloud.

Finally, I give my characters a personality.

I put the most effort into this part, as I like to make my characters seem like they could be real people. Rowan’s personality is almost completely inspired by another Star Fox character, Falco Lombardi (also pictured in the image above. You’d think someone named “Falco” would be a falcon, but he’s actually a pheasant and it drives me nuts). Rowan is sarcastic, snarky, hotheaded and doesn’t have much respect for others. Unlike the avian he was inspired by however, Rowan also has a soft spot for his teammates and acts as the therapist for the (very dysfunctional) team.

–

So, yeah.

That’s my design process.

Thought it would just be fun to share, but maybe it’ll help you design your own characters! I love to inspire others, after all.