Koth of the Conans (pt.3): Breath and Some Villains

Pt.1

Pt.2

     Last time, I talked about Koth and his sidekick Hank, as well as one of his many adversaries.  The planet Girth is a savage land of constant turmoil, swarming with bloodthirsty maniacs that Koth has to defeat in his quest for greatness!

     To help him traverse the landscape quicker, Koth travels by flight.  He accomplishes this with the help of Hank shooting him through the air...

     And now, on with Koth's next ally: Breath.  

     The tall yellow one from the promo type vid, he's the more educated member of the group.  He's not as strong of a fighter as the rest, and at times scared of fights, but he's a great at strategizing and analyzing many situations.  Because of his royal background as the (former) king of an empire, he's knowledgable in many cultures, something that helps him and Koth as they travel Girth.

     He use to be the emperor of a spiraling empire for the sun people.  He was marveled by his followers for his booming voice, imposing leadership, and height.  Mostly his height.  His people capture Koth and try to sacrifice him to prove Breath's power as The Sun Emperor, but is exposed to be a fraud as Koth pummels him and escapes.  After being spared by Koth, Breath follows him to redeem himself as a warrior.  

     My original idea for Breath was simply to make a character with a disproportioned body.  Small upper body, long mid section, and long legs.  Someone funny to look at and very tall and imposing, all at once.  He'll tower over you, but you 'll laugh once you reach his face.  Since he's an emperor of high stature in the Kingdom of the Sun, his color scheme and clothes are modeled after an Egyptian/pharoah feel.  My friend Kieran named him a random one syllable name.  The hieroglyphics on his atire (in the first image) actually means something.  It means "death to foreigners".

     Last time, I showed designs for the evil shaman, now named Muguzorrat, the necromancer that uses children for his black magic.  He's not alone, as all good villains have their henchmen to help perpetrate evil.

     This one is named Hibi Chibi:

     A created monstrosity of Muguzorrat, this homunculus is the main supplier of the evil shaman's desire for children.  That's because Hibi Chibi is equipped with a purifying gem that lets him shoot people with his amazing "youth-a-nize" ray.  Anyone hit with it is instantly turned into a kid.  No one has been able to stop this monster, as he revels in attacking vulnerable infants and kids alike.  Can Koth stop this demented child killer?

     His design was meant to be as repulsive and perverted as can be.  He's to look like something out of a kid's nightmares, an awkward boogie man of sorts.  

     And then there's Straw Man:

     Like Hank, Starw Man is also a shape shifter.

     Unlike Hank, who's a polymorph, Straw Man specializes in morphing into other people.  He uses confusion and backstabbing attacks to get his prey.  There's no limit to who he can mimic.  His sole purpose is to find and kill Koth and Hank.  His one weakness, however, is his namesake.  The longer he assumes a different form, the more he becomes mentally unstable.  He'll eventually delve into unflattering mockeries of his forms that give him away.  This is why his attacks are quick and unpredictable.  

     That's all for now.  More to come.

Koth of the Conans (pt.2): Frederator Features Koth & More Art

Pt.1

     Frederator (makers of Fairly Oddparents, Danny Phantom, Adventure Time, etc.) did a video highlighting a bunch of neat cartoons on the topic of barbarians and manliness ala Conan the Barbarian.  These badass cartoons of pure testosterone exploded absolute rage, and Koth of the Conans was featured!



     It's incredible to actually see Koth get recognition and have views from freakin' Frederator!  It was also cool to hear someone else say Koth of the Conans. :)  Although to be honest, I havent seen the old He-Man cartoon much.  I've only seen that cartoon once and I remember cracking up at the theme song repeating "He-Man!" 50+ times in a 15 minute episode, though I did like the animation style.  I do remember seeing a couple of episodes of that reboot Cartoon Network had of He-Man back in 2002.  I'm more influenced by The Herculoids, and (in my opinion) the much manlier Thundar the Barbarian!  Tons of thanks to Channel Frederator for the mentions!

     And as for the giant floating head...

     That is the wise and powerful God of Knowledge Korn.  He's the god everyone on Gerth pray to for guidance and advise.  He hears all prayers and answers all inquiries when he can find the time to get up and reply.  When in a perplexing pickle, Koth enlists the aid of the Mystical Shaman to summon Korn for an instant audience.

     I originally wanted Korn to be made in 3D, but because of time constraints with the project at the time, I had to improvise fast.  So I painted my friend Josh's face and goggles, glued mosaic tiles on him, and put him through AfterEffects to create the awe-inspiring god you see here!  And since he didn't move his lips, I recorded mine and put them in as Korn's mouth.

Inching closer down the path to glorious battle, here's more Koth artwork...

   ...and more of his faithful aboriginal sidekick, Hank!

     And I'm working on the animations for this new villain plaguing Gerth:

     He's an evil Shaman/Necromancer with plans to use the dead to conquer the lands.  What he lacks in physical abilities, he more than makes up for with his immensely potent magical powers.  He specializes in the black arts and forbidden mysticism.  Adding to his fiendishness is his penchant to use dead children (preferably babies) for his dark rituals and summonings.  Society is beyond horrified by his taboo practices, and that's saying a lot about a planet full of perpetually fighting savages!  Koth hears legends of this twisted practitioner of magic, and has nothing but utter loathing for him.  This evil shaman in turn knows of Koth, and knows that his evil plans can never truly be completed as long as Koth lives.

     I wanted to make a magical villain with a revolting design that just oozed hate.  Someone that posed Koth with a huge challenge, as he's weak against magic and it always presents unpredictable scenarios for him.  Demetrius made the colors for him, and I liked it: the pale, powdery skin, the cowardly yellow garb, it all blended so well!

     Can Koth find a way to defeat black magic - a force that can't technically be punched!?

More to come!!!

Captain America's Pride

     Here's a fun new comic with Ol' Captain America.  His colors don't run, but his enemies do.

     You're against democracy?  Congratulations, your face is now a fist magnet!

     In other developments, Stall & Dean project is doing its namesake (stalling) while they hammer out some merger deal with a certain clothing company run by a certain rapper.  So work resumes once that's squared away.  And the next part of my Koth of the Conans summary will be soon.

     More to come...

Evil is afoot.

Cartoon Pilot in Progress: Koth of the Conans (pt.1)

     In the works for a while now is one of my most ambitious projects ever.  It's a cartoon called "Koth of the Conans", an idea created by me and my friend Demetrius back in 2009.  It all started with a joke about someone mistakingly referring to King of the Hill by its acronym, and from there it just blossomed into an insane concept that drew inspiration from classic Hanna-Barbera shorts like The Herculoids, with our own brand of bizarre surreal humor and incredible action!  No-holds-barred craziness in a land of perpetual carnage, that's the world of Koth!

     The show takes place hundreds of years ago on a planet of constant war called Gearth.  Man warring with man and beast and man-beast alike.  It's a blood starved world tearing itself apart, and among the fray stands one fearsome warrior with no equal in power and savagery.  That man is Koth!

     I designed Koth to looked buff and strong, but still portly in a way.  Not really sure how they got abs back in ancient times without Bowflex, but I think he looks fine with the gut 'n all.  Conan the Barbarian lies!  Koth himself is a man with an iron clad sense of justice and deals it without mercy wherever he finds evil.  Because of his reputation, he's always fighting against foolish challengers that try to outdo his strength.  He's so use to fighting, he doesn't even have to try when overkilling his opponents.

     As far as his powers go,  he's got super strength, able to make cunning tactical perception really quick in the heat of battle, is highly resilient to pain and can walk barefoot on most surfaces.  Most of 'em.  Originally his loincloth was a dinosaur's head he rammed his legs through.  He didn't even kill it before wearing it.  The eyes and still bleeding snout would've been on the front, but i decided to simplify it to make animating it less of a pain.  Koth knows not his age, only that he was born 30 years ago.

     Koth is kind of a solitary character, preferring to keep to himself and fighting alone since he's so use to carnage.  His only constant companion is his surrogate son of sorts, Hank.

  
    Hank is Koth's trusted sidekick and a shapeshifter, able to morph and distort himself into any shape and form he wants.  From giant revolvers to pelicans, Hank can assume any shape that'll help with any fight or situation.  I originally designed Hank to be a sort of midget, and since he's influenced by Gloop and Gleep from The Herculoids, he also originally talked only through grunts and such.  I decided to just make him the silent type, since there's so much more emotion and strength in a character's body language and expressions than there is in simple spoken dialogue (as I've stated before).  And his name is also a reference to King of the Hill.

     Here's a few other bgs, illustrating the landscape of Gearth, colored by Demetrius:

     That bonfire in the first on is full of warriors not worthy of joining Koth on a quest.  The second bg is called "The Oasis".  I guess it doesn't make sense that it's intact since they split up. :)

     With all the backgrounds, I wanted to instill a constant feeling of dread and danger.  Vast bgs with lots of depth and detail always adds so much atmosphere to a cartoon and makes it easier to get lost in that cartoon's world.

     Back in college, I did a promo type vid for Koth of the Conans as part of a class with my pals (credited in the end).  Animation duties were split between all of us.



     We didn't have time to complete that 10 minute story so we shortened it to this promo type vid and I set about animating the actual intro.  Here's the progress, and here's a bit more of the one punchy section.  I'm aiming at a minute and a half in length to this intro showcasing a quick display of Koth's power, and introducing his allies and enemies.  It's modeled after a speedy thrash metal song: fast, angry, insane, and leaving you beaten, bruised and on the floor for more!  

     In the next update I'll go more in depth with the details in the intro, more characters, and some stories.

   More to come...