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Most dangerous of all: Nyxus

nyxusVillains like Nyxus are usually the ones you love to hate, right?

I doubt anyone likes Lex Luthor or the Joker in the same way they like Batman and Superman, right? The villain always gets a thorough pounding, too, don’t they? Even in the movies lately, they either get pummeled all the way to prison or killed off. An exception might be Megamind. If you think about it, the villain is usually the one that takes one whale of a beating and keeps coming back for more!

Nyxus has the whole Horde Prime/Hordak meets Hitler thing going on. Last I checked, pretty much everyone hates a dictator. She’s not just a dictator, she’s a tyrant. Anything she doesn’t like she destroys. Anyone who dares stand against her, she kills or at least makes it so nobody believes them.

Well, what’s a hero without a villain to fight? Bored, right? Nyxus is Dream Angel’s villain and like Dream Angel herself, she has a bit of an interesting history.

A friend caught me doodling in the college cafeteria and asked me to draw comics for the school paper. I decided I needed to work on Dream Angel once again, but she needed a better villain. Well, my next class that day was a website class. I was already a couple weeks ahead having figured out the needed code and fiddled with a lot of it at home.

Also, the site I was building was for my characters, so it was fitting that I do some research for their background. Arora was to be the Dawn, so I needed her opposite and that turned out to be Night, although I wanted a God/Goddess of Twilight. Nyx is the Goddess of the Night. So, Nyxus was born from that.

So, what do you think of Nyxus? Is she an interesting character? She makes her comic book debut in Dream Angel #1, which can be found in the shop. Also found in the shop is her plush action figure.

Explosive Ker

Ker has a very volatile temper… literally. Getting her mad has very explosive results. She’s the youngest of the Keres, but no less dangerous than her older siblings and mother.

kerHer one weakness is that she’s incredibly vain. Put her in front of a mirror and she won’t move for hours; on the other hand, scratch her skin or get her dress dirty and you’d better start running away as fast as you possibly can.

Larissa was the first to discover she could push Ker’s buttons during one of her earliest encounters with the Keres sisters. Since they wanted her as a hostage, Ker couldn’t lose her temper and Larissa could keep making her madder and madder. Just after Dream Angel rescued her, she delivered one final insult that set Ker’s temper off the rest of the way and she exploded, making it impossible for the villains to pursue them.

She has an interesting design history. I must confess that I didn’t design her outfit, but a good friend of mine (who’s been involved off and on in these comic books) designed it. I’d designed the other four Keres with mildly sexy outfits – at the time, Stygere was a girl – but I was stuck on what Ker should look like. I asked for help designing her outfit and she came up with the outfit Ker now wears. It’s changed some from my friend’s design, but overall, it’s the same.

What do you think? Is she an interesting character? Ker makes her comic book debut in Dream Angel #2. It’s a good idea to consider getting the book that came before it, so the story makes sense! Also available in the shop is her plush action figure.

Fascinating Foxy!

Foxy is unique. Japanese mythology tells us that the Kitsune (pronounced “kit” as in sewing kit, “su” as in suit and “ne” as in negative) is a mythological fox demon that would entrap a warrior’s mind and then kill him. The more tails the demon had, the more powerful it was, with 9 tails being the maximum.

foxy

Foxy isn’t too different from her mythical counterparts, but she has her share of twists. For one thing, she’s bio-mechanical. She chose the mechanics to enhance her power, plus she got tired of trying to find clothes that fit over 9 bushy fox tails. Mechanical parts solved the problem for her.

She’s certainly nobody’s fool and hates being tricked. She’ll fight for a good cause and frequently wins the fight. She’s also one of the very few that can go toe-to-toe with Hellbot and possibly defeat him. Clever and sometimes unpredictable, she’d rather not fight at all.

Since she is a Kitsune, her powers include mental manipulation, but the catch is her power only works on the male mind. Also similar to her mythical counterparts, she possesses the ability to shape shift, but can only hold a different form for a short time in spite of her increased power from being bio-mechanical.

Of the two classifications of Kitsune, she might seem to be right in the middle. Neither benevolent nor malicious in the end. She might pull a prank on someone one moment and help them the next with a problem. It’s not really in her nature to want to cause harm, though she sometimes does.

If she finds out she’s been tricked into doing something she’ll do what she can to undo the trick and maybe even utilize some tricks of her own to settle the score.
What do you think? Is she an interesting character?

Foxy’s comic book debut is Dream Angel #3, which is available in the shop. It’s recommended you get the books that came before it so the story makes sense! Also available in the shop is her plush action figure, who loves being hugged.

Our lovely leading lady Dream Angel!

Dream Angel is today’s star. She’s a fascinating character with a fair variety of interesting undiscovered powers, but there are some really cool things you don’t know about her.

dream angel

Dream Angel’s original name was Destiny. She was based much more closely on Sailor Moon, too. Initially, when I first started drawing her I set the time period to right after she graduated high school – the day after.

If you’ve read the Sailor Moon manga, you know that in the first book Bunny goes racing around getting ready for school and quite clumsily. She does similar in the anime, but it was the manga I was going from. Destiny also goes racing around getting ready for school but as she darts past the calendar, she remembers she graduated.

Breezer, Katrilina and Hanaji have changed some too since then. Hanaji retained his name from this earlier story. There’s more to this early story line, but it won’t be discussed here. Actually, there have been several early stories and one even won second place at the county fair.

Her powers are largely unknown, even to Breezer and Ryu who’ve been her best advisers and mentors. So, any new abilities discovered tend to be a surprise for everyone, hero and villain alike. These moments of surprise have caused both sides to stop fighting long enough to try and understand what happened and one side or the other takes advantage of the moment of hesitation.

So, what do you think? Is she an interesting character? Dream Angel makes her comic book debut in (of course) Dream Angel #1, which can be found in the shop. Also found in the shop are 3 Dream Angel outfits for Arora Arum.

The deception of Kageki

Kageki is a bit of a mixed-up story. Without revealing too much, you find out she’s an ally of Nyxus. From her appearance alone, you learn she isn’t one to mess with. She’s a direct opposite of Teikou no Senshi.

kageki

Kageki is the result of a brainwashing spell and bad luck. Although she’s a fierce fighter, Nyxus forgot to check the spell for the means to break it. Of course, that leaves us to wonder if there is a means to break it.

There isn’t much to tell about Kageki. She’s fierce, she’s the result of a spell and she’s the result of bad luck. From there, telling more would spoil the story.

The idea for Kageki actually came from the Sailor Moon Live Action series. Near the middle of the series, Sailor Mercury is brainwashed by Kunzite and changed into Dark Mercury. It puzzled me to some degree why he didn’t pick on Jupiter, who’s far stronger, but in the end, Mercury proved an excellent villain that the rest of the girls just couldn’t and wouldn’t fight. I really shouldn’t tell how they manage to change her back, as Kageki has similar circumstances and it would spoil the story.

Similarly, Double Dragon shares a hero-turned-villain-back-to-hero story, so I have to say it’s a good concept to start from. My hero-turned-villain is closer to Dark Mercury, though. Kageki does put a bit of a different spin on the idea, making her a fascinating character.

What do you think? Is she an interesting character? I’d love to hear from you! She makes her comic book debut in Dream Angel #8, which can be found in the shop. It’s recommended you get the books that came before it so the story makes sense! Also found in the shop is her plush action figure costume for Elizabeth Amphitrite.

Playful but dangerous Daybright

Daybright is today’s special feature. This even-tempered stallion might seem boring to some since it takes quite a bit to really upset his calm demeanor. Just like his twin, however, he only allows one rider: Red Nite Soldier.

daybright

According to mythology, (depending on the story you find) Daybright was one of the two horses that drew the Sun God Apollo’s chariot across the sky each day and was cared for by Apollo’s sister Aurora, Goddess of the Dawn.

So, he’s not especially interesting mythologically, he’s not especially interesting unless he’s angered in my story, why should you care? Hmmmm…. He’s cute? Just a little chuckle there. He’s more than just cute and he does get interesting in battle. Very interesting at times.

His interest lies in the most dangerous and desperate situations, though. His special ability is to become water. It doesn’t happen often and only when all other options are exhausted, but he has gotten our heroes out of a couple very tight scrapes.

I bet you’re wondering why a horse that in mythology would draw the sun chariot across the sky would be able to turn into water. Well, that’s a good question… I’ll leave that up to your imagination.

What do you think? Is Daybright an interesting character? Daybright makes his comic book debut in Dream Angel #2, which can be found in the shop. Also found in the shop is his soft, cuddly plush action figure. Who, like his human counterparts, has a full wire armature that makes him able to stand on his own and hold a pose.

 

Stubborn grandmother: Mrs. Arum

mrs. arumMrs. Arum is a stubborn sort. When I wrote her part in the comics, I decided she’d be Jake’s mother. I took my time designing her. I shopped around some for her look. Plainly seen from her hair, Arora gets her appearance from her grandmother. The difference is Mrs. Arum keeps her hair in a French braid instead of a ponytail.

The idea behind her character is to be a balance of feminine and masculine and *minor spoiler here* since she’s a retired construction worker, wear appropriate attire. Clearly, from her blouse, she chooses to show her profession, but the lace collar shows also that she’s still female. She picked her wardrobe carefully so she wouldn’t be a distraction in the workplace, but would still retain her femininity.

Retaining her femininity with such a commonly masculine profession presented a problem for me when it came to designing her outfit. I finally settled on a fitted blouse with lace on the collar to be the primary feature. From there, it was a matter of the color and print of the blouse. I thought of using a flowered print, but Dad found the flannel with construction equipment that might as well have screamed her name.

According to the story, she doesn’t trust Dream Angel or her friends in the slightest and doesn’t want her “Jakie” to have anything to do with them either. Naturally, she doesn’t know who Dream Angel is: her granddaughter. This tends to cause unwanted friction when the heroes are struggling to keep her safe.
Even Jake has to take a more stern approach to getting his mother out of harm’s way, much to her displeasure. Luckily, when she realizes what’s going on, she does finally get out of harm’s way.

What do you think? Is she an interesting character? She makes her comic book debut in Dream Angel #7, which is available in the shop. Getting the books that came before it is highly recommended so the story makes sense! Also available in the shop is her plush action figure.

A friendly, cuddly spider: Bitsy

Bitsy FireKeeper is probably the biggest hero of all, despite being among the smallest in size. Spiders tend to scare people, but this one only looks frightening to most. The soft pink and white hairs on her body are sensitive to touch and like a dog or cat, she enjoys being stroked and cuddled.

bitsyShe’s the pet of Keru Firekeeper, younger brother of Virgo FireKeeper. A loyal and very loving friend for Keru.

Upon the discovery of her venom being toxic primarily to insects, including vampire cockroaches, Dream Angel started encouraging Keru, accompanied by Athalia, to join the battles.

Most of the heroes would prefer to keep their distance from the spider, but they all understand she’s not aggressive towards them and likely wouldn’t hurt them.
Reprobates, Harpies, vampire cockroaches, Jerigel and the Keres sisters all hate Bitsy. Though she’s not very dangerous to most, the roaches and Jerigel in particular panic at the sight of her.

A bite from Bitsy isn’t fatal to any creature except insects. To the vampire insects, her bite has another effect, though. This bite causes the vampire to return to human form, shedding the insect form permanently. Unfortunately, they panic at the sight of her, making it very difficult to successfully bite even one. On the plus side, they scatter very quickly making for fast escapes from the castle when she and Keru are found inside.

Bitsy FireKeeper makes her comic book debut in Dream Angel #8, which can be found in the shop. It’s highly recommended that you get the books that came before so the story makes sense! Also found in the shop is her plush action figure. She’s highly fond of hugs and can never get enough! Will you give this beautiful, soft and very cuddly spider a hug?

Patient older brother: Virgo FireKeeper

virgoVirgo FireKeeper is a dedicated older brother. Dedicated to avenging his parents’ murders, that is. Of course, today’s question is where did this tiger man come from and what makes him so special in the Dream Angel universe?

I have a decent respect for a number of interesting subjects. Mythology, fantasy, the occult, religion, just to name a few. Astrology is another that’s come around in my various readings. The interest in that one can be traced to Sailor Moon. Not many know that I have a very firm love of Sailor Moon. Fewer know that I didn’t fully get involved in the series as a whole until high school – long after the manga and anime had come out initially.

Before discovering a strong love of Sailors Uranus and Neptune (the latter of whom I’m quite a bit like), I held a healthy respect for Sailor Mercury as I could readily relate to the bookish genius girl and her inability to effectively socialize with others. It’s fair to say I’m not a genius in the same sense as she is with her IQ of 300, but being bookish and unable to effectively socialize with others fits me quite well. What’s this got to do with the tiger man Virgo? Well, I’m getting to that, if you’ll bear with me a moment.

For those that might not know, the characters of the Sailor Moon universe are heavily based on Greek and Roman mythology, but also astrology. My relating to Sailor Mercury translates over to Virgo. According to astrology, Sailor Mercury’s sign is Virgo. See where he gets his name? The source of his character design comes from a strong love and respect of tigers mixed with a love of manga/anime cat-people.

In the real world, tigers are endangered, in the Dream Angel universe, tiger people are even closer to extinction. With his parents’ murders, Virgo finds his reason to fight against Nyxus and begins to fight for his species’ survival as well. Along the way, Dream Angel becomes a friend and valuable ally.

What do you think? Is Virgo an interesting character? Virgo makes his comic book debut in Dream Angel #6, which is available in the shop. Getting the books that came before it is highly recommended, so the story makes sense. Also available in the shop is his plush action figure.

Fast, fiery, Firebright!

The last thing anyone wants is Firebright angry. This fiery steed is a stallion through and through. He’ll attack Reprobates unprovoked and without mercy.
He’s an exact opposite of his twin, Daybright who has a laid-back personality and loves to just romp and play.

firebright

The only one who can calm Firebright down is Blue Nite Soldier. This is a one-rider stallion and even Blue Nite Soldier sometimes has trouble with him.
Firebright hates Reprobates, harpies and most of all, the giant vampire roaches. Unfortunate victims of Jerigel SwampFang or not, he’ll attack.

The only other person Firebright tolerates is Dream Angel. The only reason he would is if Blue Nite Soldier isn’t around to give him direction. He may be a wild stallion, but he still looks to Blue Nite Soldier for guidance.

His special ability is to become a blazing inferno and melt through just about anything. Combined with Dream Angel’s own fiery power, the blaze can approach supernova heat. This combination leaves both Dream Angel and Firebright completely exhausted.

The Keres don’t even want to cross his path. He knows his enemies and is unforgiving. At one time or another, he has had a bad experience with all the Dream Angel villains. This has left him bitter toward them and he isn’t the type to forgive. This makes him dangerous toward them.

He’s a stunning stallion and a wonder to behold in flight. The last thing anyone wants is him to be angry. His twin tends to solve the problem squirting water in his face in play. Being a horse of fire, he doesn’t like it much, but it does calm him down anyway.

In spite of his savage attitude most of the time, he’s a lovable stallion. He has gone romping with his twin.

What do you think? Is Firebright an interesting character? Firebright’s comic book debut is Dream Angel #2, which is available in the shop. It’s recommended you get Dream Angel #1 so the story makes sense! Also available in the shop is his plush action figure who loves to be hugged and cuddled.