teamsummoner

Design Notes - Orby

Added 2024-11-16 06:00:07 +0000 UTC

I'll be posting a series of breakdowns showing my thought processes when designing some of these new characters for the next game, giving some insight to how I go about making them.

In many cases when making OCs, I have several characters from other media that I want to take certain elements from or emulate a certain "vibe" from them. I usually consider a character successfully designed when I am satisfied with the "vibe" I captured.

Orby in particular has been tough, not only because she's the protagonist so she needs to balance being a unique character while also being accessible enough to most audiences, but also 'cause I wanted a very specific vibe with her, which the hairstyle played a large part in, hence why I was testing out so many of them.

Orby largely takes reference from Ruby Rose, Ai Ohto and Belle, which you can see in the gallery. A fun thing about certain characters is that they have a certain vibe in their official media, but a slightly or even completely different vibe in hentai or lewd media made of them. One thing I find an interesting challenge is to somehow find a middle ground between these two portrayals.

The main challenge was Ruby Rose, who's my primary inspiration for Orby. In RWBY, she's a very straightforward innocent, idealistic protagonist. In hentai however, she can vary between being innocent as well, or have a more knowing, bratty aura that gives it a lot of appeal.

I saw the opportunity to meld the two after seeing Belle in Zenless Zone Zero, who is very similar to Ruby (cheerful, spunky, short haired protag), but her official portrayal already has this bratty, gremlin vibe that felt like a good fusion of the two Ruby's I wanted to capture. This is what I ultimately tried to translate into Orby's design.

I wanted to make her so that she's not only clearly inspired by these characters (like a wink so that those who know, know), but also stands out as her own unique design that doesn't look too similar to either. I hope I'm succeeding in this regard!

Look forward to more Orby (or Amber or whatever I'll eventually name her), as well as notes like these for the elf and devil girl characters too! - SYTO