Sharlock "Shriek" Redesign

     Atrast vala once again my friends! This post is focused on my attempts to come up with a new design for the shriek. Like with my other darkspawn designs, the goal is not to make them look entirely new, rather it's to combine elements of both distinct designs into something cohesive that feels like the best of both. The shrieks are a design that changed quite heavily between Origins and the later games. The newer shriek design was entirely absent from Dragon Age 2, despite the fact that they did have a new design and were even modeled for the Legacy DLC, but didn't make it into the final build. We wouldn't see a fully functional version of this new shriek until the Descent DLC for Dragon Age Inquisition years later.

   

 The shriek, or sharlocks, of Dragon Age Origins were much more monstrous compared to their lithe, elven cousins. This seems due in large part to the fact that they appear to be built on the same rig as the werewolf models for Dragon Age Origins and even share most of the same animations. In addition to the bestial head shape, hunched back and digitigrade legs, this shriek also features strange mandibles that sprout from the sides of the face. This version of the shriek is by far the one that differs the most from its original humanoid source compared to other darkspawn, who all have a much greater passing resemblance to the species of humanoids that they are birthed from.

    The advantage of this design, as I see it, is the fear it inspires. Like the updated genlock design, the extent to which the elven form has been corrupted and twisted really instills a sense of unease in me. Perhaps its simply head-canon, but due to the close connection elves have with nature, I liked the idea that the perversion of the Blight would twist that into making a much more bestial form of darkspawn. They do look kind of goofy, perhaps due to the age of their model and graphical fidelity, but I have a lot of affection for this design and appreciate how it made them stand out amongst the other types of darkspawn.

    The newer shriek, as seen here in an illustration from World of Thedas: Volume 1, are much changed from their original Origins design. Much of the more animalistic design elements from the werewolf rig have been abandoned in favor of a look that much more resembles the build of a regular elf. They retain the arm blades which have adopted the black metal "Mordor" aesthetic present in the armor and weapons of all darkspawn from DA2 onward which I like. Their heads are now mostly obscured by a cloth cowl and metal mask which features metal spikes around the mouth that callback to the mandibles of the previous design. 

    For me, this design looks really cool, but a part of me really feels conflicted with just how very different it is. I imagine if this was how I was introduced to the shriek, I would adore it. But since I have such an attachment to the much more monstrous OG design, its hard for me to truly accept it as a "true shriek". Part of my struggles with this look ties back to my issue with the newer hurlock designs in that I don't like how much it just resembles a pale elf with arm blades and a mask. I prefer that disturbing sense of the power in how the darkspawn taint can twist the essence of elves into such a terrible and deadly monster.

    Finding a way to combine these VERY different looks was really hard at first. I definitely wanted to keep the look of the weapons and armor of the new look, as with the other new darkspawn, I think the "Mordor" look feels extremely appropriate. For anatomy, my first attempt was to just give the shriek the original's legs and head, and attach them to the newer shriek body. This just felt uninspired, especially in the head. 

   

     I also found as I sketched different subtle variations of the original shriek head that I really disliked the mandibles. They felt out of place in the whole design and became an element that I constantly felt was adding too much "visual noise" to the face. 

  

  Despite this, I really wanted to try and find a way to make it work. In once sketch I tried making the mandibles built into the jaw like a Predator (which resembles the shriek in more than a few ways), and that led me down a rabbit hole which landed me at a huge point of inspiration: vampires from The Strain. It seemed like a perfect point of inspiration. By making the lower jaw split, it resembles the mandibles and then creates an interesting visual that could be used when the shriek uses their iconic howl power.

    After going through Origins and Awakening again, I found a precedent in the way that The Mother's face splits into a nightmarish visage. With that I just loved the imagery of a shriek pouncing on a victim and then is mouth splits into a hideous maw and it releases a horrifying howl.

     For the current version of my full-body design, my compromise was this; remain consistent with the pale, corpse-like design concept presented in newer darkspawn iterations, but re-introduce some of the more monstrous elements on top of it. This manifested itself in starting with the new shriek as a base and integrating the digitigrade legs, hunched posture, long arms, and the strain mandibles.

    

I've also introduced the spiny back I've been experimenting with for darkspawn and I really like the look so far. I think the feet should be adjusted some more, right how they look really wee. I'm going to definitely going to be revisiting the design again and posting more sketches. But for now, here is my idea for the shriek! Thanks for reading!

Genlock Redesign

    Atrast vala once again my friends! This post is focused on my design concepts for the genlocks! Spawned from dwarven broodmothers, the genlock are said to be the most common kind of darkspawn. This makes sense due to the dwarves constant conflict with the darkspawn, and their catastrophic losses to the First Blight. Initially the genlocks were obviously the designers analog for goblins, with hurlocks being their version of orcs. With their dwarvish origins the genlocks were short, strong and inclined toward devising cruel contraptions and forging the darkspawn's arms and armor.

    Similarly to hurlocks, genlocks feature skeletal features and sharp teeth with mottled pale or green skin. Additionally they feature pointed ears, something many fans of fantasy recognize as a signature look of goblins but something dwarves of Thedas lack. They wear armor, use weapons and walk upright. They serve as the bulk of the horde but sometimes serve as scouts or assassins. After Origins we don't see them again until the Legacy DLC for Dragon Age 2 with a major makeover.

These new genlocks are much bulkier, and far less humanoid than their previous iterations. The goblin-like features have been abandoned for ape-like ones that make them look and move like gorillas. With their arms used for locomotion, they no longer seem to use weapons but charge forward with spiked helmets and use brute force to bludgeon their foes.

                         

    I am conflicted because while I have a lot of affection for the original design, I think the ape like change is actually quite brilliant. It does what I liked about some of the other older darkspawn designs which make them less recognizable from their humanoid origins. However, they don't seem to function as the bulk of the darkspawn horde and I miss their use of weapons. 

    Like with my previous work on the hurlocks, my goal was to synthesize both distinct designs into one design that feels like it implements the best elements from both. This was difficult at first. I tried sticking with the original design and add more subtle ape-like features in their complexion and equipment.

    Like with the hurlocks, I tried to embrace the current look of darkspawn as pale with blackish blue sections of hardened skin along their thighs, forearms, shoulders, back, and scalp. 

    This was a decent start but I wasn't truly happy with it. Then I had an idea. Chimpanzees! What if I combined the goblin-like features WITH the gorilla like features to create a smaller, primal looking genlock with long powerful arms, but not so hulking as to feel completely divorced from the original design. This would allow the genlock alphas to more closely resemble the alphas we see in DA2: Legacy. I was really happy with my first attempt as it looks like a creature that uses its arms to help move around, but can also use weapons and was a creature I could imagine in a swarming horde of darkspawn during a blight. 

An unarmored genlock with a stocky dwarvish torso, and long ape-like arms.

My concept for a genlock grunt.

    What I like about this design is the stocky torso with long arms. It is reminiscent of dwarven anatomy but adds in that ape-like, inhuman look. It's also a fun nod to how freakishly long the arms of dwarven females sometimes looked in DA: Origins.

Some head sketches for genlocks. I am conflicted on the presence of sharp, needle teeth as I actually don't mind the flatter, skeletal teeth in the current DA2 and DAI designs. However, the blight twists the essence of mortals into literal killing machines. And since darkspawn don't actually need to eat for sustenance, that means the only purpose for their teeth is for killing and that means fangs! The other thing to balance is more of the skeletal/goblin features with the ape-like look the current designs are focused on. I'm sticking with eh pointed ears for now because I like goblins. I wish I had a better reason than that.

    With the chimpanzee inspiration, I liked the imagery of genlocks crawling along the tunnels and caves of the Deeps Roads. Sort of like the goblins of Moria in Fellowship of the Ring.

My idea for a genlock "smith".

    

In some codex entries it says that genlocks mine lyrium (not sure why since their emissaries gain fuel for their magic from the blight and blood), and help forge the darkspawn's crude armor and weapons. Others also mention that ghouls make the weapons and armor for the darkspawn. I think both could be true so I drew this. I liked that idea that genlocks wouldn't use smithing hammers but instead might just wrap their hands in metal and use those to hammer salvaged metal to forge the cruel looking darkspawn weapons. 

    And thus concludes my current collection of darkspawn designs for the genlocks for now! I'd like to tackle my take on their alphas and emissaries soon so keep an eye out for those!  

"Fixing" The Darkspawn

     Atrast vala friends! If you are a fan of Dragon Age and have played through the games you may have noticed that a certain group of monsters in the series has changed a lot over the years through each iteration of the game. It always bothered me how dissonant these various designs have been. I know that the redesign was a very divided topic when Dragon Age 2 came out and while I have my own opinions about it, I feel that ever iteration of the various darkspawn has some value that should remain. My goal with this blog is to record and share my attempts to synthesize all these disparate designs into one, effective design that embraces elements from all iterations. With that said, despite the clickbaity title, I don't see myself as fixing the design of the darkspawn, rather I am trying to make a version of the darkspawn that not just helps align all the games, but also aligns with the lore about what the darkspawn are.

      Let's start with the shock troops of the darkspawn horde; the hurlocks. Hurlocks, I imagine, are the creatures that most people think of when they hear the word "darkspawn". When a human female is corrupted and twisted into a broodmother, this is the sub-species of darkspawn she produces. Across the games they have varied from resembling orc-adjacent monstrous humanoids with reptilian skull-like features, to emaciated looking humanoids, to corpse-faced men. After Dragon Age: Origins the hurlock (and other darkspawn) much more resembled the humanoids from which they originate and looked far less distinctly monstrous. 

Dragon Age: Origins Hurlocks

Here is an example of the Origins hurlock. Their skull-like features have an almost reptilian look to them, especially in the nose and jaw structure. They don't need to eat for sustenance so their teeth look specialized just for killing. The behave very similarly to uruk-hai from LOTR and live up to the role of "shock troops" compared to the smaller genlocks.

Dragon age 2 Hurlocks

Here we see the darkspawn from DA2, much thinner, and much more human looking. They are much more pale which contrasts well with their angular, black armor and helps them stand out on the battlefield.

Dragon Age: Inquisition Hurlocks

 

Here the hurlocks look like they have beefed up a little, but now their faces look like a human corpse. They still have their angular armor, but A LOT of rust has been introduced which to me, while making sense, sort of reintroduces the problem of having the darkspawn blend into their environment.

 In my view, they look more and more like sickly corpses and less like horrible monsters spawned from this evil and mysterious taint. To me, I got the impression that the designers felt like it needed to be obvious where darkspawn come from by making them look more and more similar to the humanoids from which they are birthed. This was a design choice I disagreed with myself. Firstly, I liked how twisted and changed these creatures born of the blight were. As a specific example, when I first played through Origins and realized that the shrieks were a form created by the blight from twisting elves, it put a pit in my stomach. It made the darkspawn corruption feel so much more powerful, that it could create monsters so unrecognizable from the life from which it was twisted. All of the darkspawn, despite their monstrousness, still retained a sliver of traits that connected them back to these origins. This combination felt like a perfect balance that made the darkspawn monstrous, intimidating, and unsettling. Something I did really like from the newer designs was the armor and weapons. While the darkspawn salvage gear from those they kill, its noted in various codex entries that genlocks and ghouls also forge crude weapons and armor. The black armor seen in the beginning of Dragon Age 2 reminded nineteen year old me of Mordor with its sharp angles and patchwork coverage of the bodies of darkspawn. THIS, I told myself, was the crude and violent gear crafted by the ghouls and genlocks of the darkspawn horde.

    So, with this in mind, I have tried to combine some of the physicality of the stronger, more monstrous hurlocks of Origins with some of the more pale and corpselike features, and give them the sharp, black armor and weapons introduced in Dragon Age 2. 

    

    For a long while, I was struggling to find a blend until I saw a drawing by Matt Rhodes (who was the lead designer for Dragon Age 2 and Dragon Age: Inquisition. There was one image in World of Thedas: Volume 1 that became my consistent anchor point:This image here felt like the face was human-like, but also strangely inhuman and monstrous. The physique was strong, but not hulking, and it had the patchwork sharp black armor. It actually looks like a photoshopped version of a previous Matt Rhodes drawing of a hurlock which adjusts the color and adds this cool black/blue pattern along their limbs and scalp which almost resembles scales.

       This looks to be the original drawing. It has a lot of features I like, but the pale, shiny, baby skin isn't what I think a hurlock should have.                         

Here was one of my first attempts. Trying to keep the sharp teeth while adding the dark patches along the scalp and neck.

    Some more head sketches trying to get a solid balance of human-skull like features in the newer designs, combined with some of the more "reptilian", inhuman features present in the Origins design.

Experimenting with the teeth structure of apes here.

Here is an attempt to experiment with a very inhuman look that much more resembles the look hurlocks had in the cinematic trailers for Origins.

Like these guys.

Trying out various head designs and sketching out some darkspawn weapons. Below I sketch my first attempt at combining the physique of Origins hurlocks with the armor introduced in DA2.

Second attempt (much more successful) to iterate on combining the monstrous features of Origins, with the armor and corpse-like looks of DA2 and Inquisition.

This newest drawing is the one I am currently happiest with. It feels powerful and frightening, both human and inhuman and has the patchwork black armor we want.