Tokyo

Backstory

Tokyo is the inventor and engineer of Ragnatela; with a knack for creating weapons, tracking devices, and methods of getting around, they are invaluable for the State. They are 19 years old.

Tokyo's childhood was a bit of a train wreck. Born as the son of two very important pioneers in Japan, who were the children of the man who built the first nuclear weaponry for the war that broke the world apart, Tokyo (whose birth name was Akio) was raised in a cushy penthouse in the city of Tokyo, in the last remaining democratic government on earth. Akio much preferred to spend their time fiddling with their parent's tools and equipment than up in the penthouse, and they lived happily until the age of ten, learning and living alone. Their parents worked a lot, and Tokyo's two older sisters spent a lot of their time either engrossed in their own work or keeping together the family business, as they didn't have the same creative flair that Akio did, and so they spent most of their days alone. Because of this, they have always felt super disconnected from the rest of humanity.

Then, when they were ten years old, the city of Tokyo was invaded by several of the surrounding Crime States, and Akio's family was forced to leave in the chaos. Their parents and siblings died, with Akio being the only surviving child, and they were taken by their grandparents over to the UK, where the story takes place. During the long months it took to travel, Akio changed their name to Tokyo, in honour of their home city, which was now lost. Tokyo's grandparents handed them over to Capo, Romeo's father and leader of Ragnatela, before going into hiding for their own safety. Being an outsider, revered for their heritage but envied for their skill in inventing, they quickly fitted into the role of isolated engineer. As they grew, they became more and more accepting of their situation and became good friends with Romeo, who was always there for them growing up. Romeo and Tokyo formed a sibling-style relationship with one another, sharing their struggles and bantering with one another at every turn. Tokyo developed many things for the Crime State during their teenage years: weapons such as guns, powered gauntlets, and explosives; vehicles such as cars, bikes, and high-powered hoverboards (which is Tokyo's chosen method of transport). Now that they have fully grown up and been accepted as an integral part of the State, they don't hide their eccentric, shameless personality.

Dates and Endings

As with Ross, Tokyo will periodically invite you on missions with them, in which you can earn points. These are less missions and more "test drives", as Tokyo calls them. They ask you to help test out their inventions, and so each mission has you testing a different vehicle—one day it might be a bike, the next day a hoverboard, the next maybe roller skates, etc. This minigame is in the style of a retro racer game, such as R.C. Pro-Am, Super Off Road, or Mario Kart. After enough points, Tokyo will ask you on a date.

The first date with Tokyo is a bit chaotic; they tell you that they've been working on a private project and wants you to be there when they test it out for the first time. It's a special kind of flare that you are able to input text into, so that you can communicate with nearby troops quickly and urgently. They launch it, and it blows a massive hole in the building. Put out by the failure, Tokyo apologises for inviting you (you can either support them and cheer them up or be awkward and feed their anxiety).

For the second date, Tokyo takes you on a hot air balloon ride (in, of course, a cyber-futuristic hot air balloon). In the good ending, it's a very romantic venture, and they tell you about their tragic backstory before confessing their love to you in the sky. In the bad ending, they act incredibly awkward and do not confess. In both endings, you look down at the city and see everyone going about their tasks; this is where you see Noah having a secret meeting with the enemy. Tokyo says that you need to get down, but Noah sees the balloon at the last seconds and fires a harpoon into it. In the bad ending, Tokyo panics and fiddles, not wanting to give up on their proudest invention, and the balloon explodes, killing you both. In the good ending, your presence calms Tokyo, and they make the decision to leave the balloon on a hoverboard as it explodes behind you both. You head back to the State and out Noah for his treason. You are appointed as Tokyo's official assistant, as they say that you improve their attitude and calm their anxiety.

If you complete Tokyo's good ending, a version of the song "Nai's March" by Superorganism plays during the credits. I picked this song mostly because the first lyrics to the song are "Tokyo, oh Tokyo" and also because the song has art-pop and psychedelic-pop influences and sounds very zen and futuristic.

Nai’s MarchSuperorganism · Song · 2018

Art

First Concepts

Immediately, when I think of Tokyo's design, I imagine round shapes, lots of layers, and futuristic accessories. This definitely came through in my sketch.

I wanted Tokyo's design to not only be more circular but also to indicate innocence and stability, which are important parts of their personality; you can see this in their face shape, eye shape, and accessories (such as round goggles and headphones). Of course, Tokyo's associated colour is going to be aquamarine blue, which makes them seem more futuristic, neon, and cool.

Some of the accessories that are portrayed in these initial sketches stuck straight away; having leg warmers is an idea I like a lot, as it's seen in a lot of Japanese street fashion, especially in lolita and cybercore (as you can see on my moodboard). I also very much liked the idea of having antennas on their head accessories, as I think it gives them a unique silhouette and alludes to radio ariels, or bugs (which I like the idea of since it fits with Tokyo's soft but resilient personality).

Outfits

Looking to my moodboard for inspiration, I mocked up some outfits for Tokyo; a theme in the colours emerged, partially inspired by the neon/noir setting, of having mostly dark/greyscale clothing with pops of neon blue and green. I think this looks really cool, personally.

The first outfit is based heavily on one specific image in the moodboard, and while I like the look, I think it looks a little too grayscale for Tokyo's vibrant personality. I enjoy the second outfit a bit more - although the gas mask motif didn't really stick - as I think the jumper is a lot more like something Tokyo would actually wear. The roller skates are definitely my favourite part of this outfit. The third one leans a bit more lolita than cyber; however, I like the fact that it feminises the character a bit more. It might stray a little bit too feminine for my personal liking, but either way, I'm a fan of the hoodie.

After asking around, I think that I might combine aspects of all three outfits; several people said they liked the jumper in the second outfit, but I'd really like to keep the legwarmers, as I think they make a distinct silhouette, and so I'll probably keep the skirt.

Hair

After sketching Tokyo's head (a sketch that I actually don't like that much), I conceptualised three different hairstyles. The leftmost one is the one that is consistent with the other sketches of Tokyo I've done thus far, which I've grown less fond of since I think it looks slightly too spikey silhouette-wise. The second one I like a bit more; it's a lot circular in its shape language, looks slightly more masculine, which I'm a fan of, and looks more realistic texture-wise. The third one is probably my least favourite, as it looks far too feminine and, while it creates an interesting silhouette, looks generally ugly. Therefore, I will probably go with the middle one.

Extras

Reference Sheet

Tokyo's reference is pretty much exactly how I imagined them looking—despite the headache that was the character concepting process, I think I've actually landed on a design that I really like.

Compared to Ross' character reference process, this went much smoother, as I had already decided on the full outfit and hair; it was just about perfecting the shapes and colours. I took massive inspiration from one of the sketches I did in a sketchbook (see the bottom left drawing under the "extras" subheading), as it was the first sketch I'd done where I felt fully happy with the shapes and proportions.

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