Arjun in Street Fighter 6, a great warrior with a mediocre design

Hello friends, it’s been a few years since I’ve talked about Street Fighter 6. I was happy with everything that went into the game, and saw little reason to discuss the seasonal updates. Either you played them, or you didn’t. In the past three years I didn’t talk about the SNK characters that turned up in the game. I didn’t talk about the return of Elena, Crimson Viper, Ed, Sagat, or Alex. I didn’t even talk about the introduction of Ingrid from the cancelled project Capcom Fighting All-Stars or Tifa from Final Fantasy VII. I didn’t even talk about the resurrection of Bosch either. Yet with the Season 4 trailer that was played during the 2026 Summer Games Fest we have some new faces that I did want to talk about.

The first that caught my eye was Arjun. It was mainly due to the fact that he looked like Ryu with wild hair, and a long beard. As it was Ryu had taken on more of a monk-like appearance in the game. He already had a short beard, and wore a Kāṣāya, or traditional brown colored Buddhist monk robe over his gi. It showed growth for the character, and helped visually signal his story arc had concluded. He was not the young warrior traveling the globe as he was in the original Street Fighter. Nor was he the wandering champion post Street Fighter II. He had finally become a master, and had settled his life in a temple. He was essentially a philosophical, and visual opposite of Gouki / Akuma at this point. The thing I wondered was why the designers at Capcom would reuse the overall look. In fact Arjun appeared very much like some of the earlier concept art for Ryu. I honestly think this was a poor design choice from an otherwise great art team.

Street Fighter 6 Designer Yusuke Hashimoto was an absolute master of his craft. I had already sung his praises on this blog. He knew the importance of character art, and fashion design from his work on PlatinumGames Bayonetta, and Bayonetta 2. He helped redesign the iconic uniforms worn by all the classic SFII World Warriors, the New Generation from SFIII, and some of the faces introduced in SF IV, and V. If there was a person that I trusted to help create a new SF 6 character it would be Mr. Hashimoto. With that said I think Arjun fell flat. Some people online theorise that this design was from somebody else on the team, because he might be busy helping with a SF 7 roster, or major SF 6 update. In either case I appreciated that Capcom was putting in a distinct warrior to represent Nayshall in the game. Previous to Season 4 Bosch was the iconic fighter from the region. He had a great look, a great origin story, and his arc was crucial to the plot of the World Tour mode. Unfortunately he was an unplayable character. This was similar to the other important characters from the region, including Nayshall freedom fighter Rewancha, Fou-Lu the dragon of Nayshall, and Kalima the leader of the Nayshall Resistance.

These were all fantastic designs, but sadly all the Nayshall figures were NPCs as well. It’s great that we would finally be able to play as Bosch in Season 4, however we would be getting a completely new representative too. I believe that Arjun was a good guy. Not only that but I think this person created to take down JP once and for all. The name Arjun was based on Arjuna from the Mahabharata. He was a mighty warrior in the story, and regarded for his bravery, strength, but also for his talents in the arts. The name itself represented several things such as white, clear or silver. He could see those things in the color of his pants, and the silver chains on his belt. Arjuna can can also go by other names such as Vijaya (विजय) – always victorious, invincible and undefeatable, Jiṣṇu (जिष्णु) – triumphant, conqueror of enemies, and Bībhatsu (बीभत्सु) – one who always fights wars in a fair, stylish and terrific manner and never does anything horrible in the war. All of these things might be true of the character. If so then he is the opposite of JP. He would be fighting to undo his silent coup against the people of Nayshall.

Capcom did tremendous world building around the fictional Nayshall. This region, its language, and NPC designs borrow heavily from Nepal. The actual border country sits between China, and India. Nepal itself pulls elements from multiple cultures, while also creating its own identity. Nayshall was as unique in the Street Fighter universe. There was a tremendous love, and respect that the team at Capcom had for the people they were reflecting. You could tell in the look of this place, in the plot of the game, the language on the billboards as well as the graffiti in the lowlands, not to mention the thousands of supporting details. Nayshall was easily one of my favorite places to visit in any modern game. In fact I said that this place had more life, and personality than any of the regions in the Norse God of War titles. I stood by my statement then, and still think that way today.

With that said I still think Arjun is a poor design. I haven’t even seen his move set, or know his exact role in SF6. From a visual perspective however I think he has one of the weakest looks in the franchise. It is very plain, and poorly thought out. Several of the NPC characters had a better look. I get that the concept art for Ryu was worth revisiting. Yet I do not think that it was strong enough to support an entirely new character. I don’t know what the studio was thinking with Arjun aside from someone to carry the plot forward. There was another new character announced for Season 4 that I thought had stronger design elements. I’d like to talk about that in the next blog. Until then I would like to know what you thought about the SF6 announcement this year. Tell me about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Garou Mark of the Wolves, how some characters evolved from concept art

At the EVO 2024 tournament in Japan SNK showed off a playable build of Fatal Fury City of Wolves, this was the sequel to the 1999 fan favorite Garou Mark of the Wolves. I had written about the original title, and updates on the sequel a few times on the blog. Most recently I talked about Preecha the Muay Thai genius. The entire character lineup hadn’t been revealed yet. There was a lot of speculation as to who was next to be unveiled. I wondered if the concept art of the original game might give us a hint as to how some of the cast evolved. Thanks to Zero an Italian friend of the blog (Grazie!) I was able to put together this quick writeup. 

Preecha was not in the original game, however a sprite sheet of the Garou 2 cast had been revealed a few years ago. In the lineup there was a Muay Thai girl that was an understudy of Joe Higashi. If we looked at the original concept art we could see there had been a few girls in the planning stages. One of them had shorts, and padded feet, and hands. She might have been the prototype design for Preecha from 25 years ago. There was also a girl with a briefcase. I think this might have been one of the conceptss for the pirate princess B. Jenet.

In the official canon B. Jenet came from a rich family, however she was bored with her lifestyle. She rebelled by forming a pirate crew, and going on treasure hunts. I think the girl with the briefcase might have been how Jenet would have looked when she was running away from home. An actual pirate girl would pop up in the concept art as well. The character had a sword, had a classic skull, and crossbones tattoo on her shoulder, and wore tattered clothing. She looked much more aggressive, and mysterious than the final design for Jenet. The character’s hair would get longer, and much softer in revised drawings. Eventually setting the template that would become the sassy blonde pirate queen herself.

I’m a firm believer that no good idea goes to waste. There were a few character designs that didn’t seem to work for the original Garou, however they would be revisited in other titles by SNK. One of the early concepts was a bald fighter with an oversized coat. He seemed to have sharpened nails. At a quick glance he might have been confused for Mr. Big, one of the South Town bosses that had first appeared in the Art of Fighting. So this character was redesigned a few more times. The coat was made more stylized, not unlike Jedah from the Vampire/Darkstalkers series.

His costume, and overall look would continue to evolve. Eventually he appeared like some sort of martial arts assassin. This character seemed to be one of the poison fist fighters like Duo Lon, A.K.I., Kurow, and Red Snake. Although this character wouldn’t appear in Garou in 1999, the design seemed to be the prototype for Lin. He would debut a year later in the King of Fighters 2000.

This wasn’t the only character destined to appear in a related game. Another concept character looked like a wild bruiser with a metallic arm, or brace. This arm was a weapon, a sort of cannon that could be used to fire projectiles. Long time fans of the SNK universe could remember that there was another fighter that had a similar mechanic who debuted in 1999. Maxima was a soldier that underwent a cybernetic transformation to make him bigger, stronger, with a false arm that could shoot projectiles. The weird thing was that this character had actually been in the planning stages from the team much earlier than that.

I argued that the designs for K’, Maxima, and Kryzalid from the KOF games were pulled from Daraku Tenshi: the Fallen Angels. The design for a large fighter with an arm cannon was seen in 1998 with the US soldier Harry Ness. The Steel Hearts team that developed the Fallen Angels for Psykio was credited for designing KOF 2001, and 2002, I would argue that their designs were influencing SNK as early as 1999. There was simply too much crossover with what would appear in the SNK games for it to be a coincidence.

There were two concept characters in Garou that only needed a little bit of polish in order to get them ready for the game. There was a classic martial arts villain, and a mysterious warrior in the planning stages. These designs could have been revised again, and again until the best elements of each ended up creating a single character. Instead the team saw that there was enough to make two distinct warriors out of them.

One of the designs was fairly straightforward. What if there were a fighter that was stylized on classic Chinese villains. Someone with a long ponytail, long pants, and wushu sash belt. He would appear similar to Feng Wei who debuted in Tekken 5 in 2004. In the earliest draft this character had massive black tattoos on his hands, and forearms. Perhaps they were tattoos, or they were to signify that he had some sort of poison fist. It was also possible that this marker was transferred to Lin for the King of Fighters game instead.

The look of this character was refined so that he looked more classic, and distinct from the other fighters they were working on. Gato ended up being one of the main villains in the Garou manhua (Chinese comics). His look was a little too traditional in my book. There weren’t any elements in his design that could have connected him to the modern era. He could have fit right into the feudal era of Samurai Spirits, or the Last Blade rather than the modern world. It didn’t take a lot to make the difference either. Something subtle like giving him sneakers (as Capcom did with Yan, Yang, and Jamie) could bring him into our time, while still allowing him to represent classic kung-fu forms.

The other villain that SNK was working on was supposed to be more mysterious. One of the ways they did this was by making his costume more stylized. Perhaps he would have only one arm in a sleeve, or even have him wearing a cape, and mask. These things were rarely seen in fighting games, and usually only appeared on bad guys. This rough idea would be the basis for the masked Grant. He would become the enforcer for Kain R. Heinlein, the main villain in Garou Mark of the Wolves.

Not every concept piece had potential. Some ideas were scrapped, some ideas would be revisited in sprite form for the proposed Garou sequel. There were some rough ideas that I was glad were changed early on. One of which was for the Black karate master Marco Rodriguez. This was a character that I had celebrated a decade ago in my second blog entry. In his original design he had an afro, rather than a pompadour. The afro was a trope that I had talked about previously as well. It was a bit lazy from Japanese developers to stick Black characters with a basketball, or afro because they simply couldn’t be bothered to have better representation.

There were some other ideas in the drafting process that I’ll talk about more in the future. How other popular characters evolved from concept art to the screen. Until then I’d like to hear your thoughts on the comments section. Were there ever any concept characters that you wish had appeared in your favorite games? Tell me about it. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Spy Hunter, the original driving action shooter - Originally published on 1UP - March 26, 2009

If you were a serious gamer of the 80's then you know that Spy Hunter by Bally / Midway was possibly the best action driver the company has ever made. Released in 1983 the game has gone on to see countless releases on consoles, PC's and handheld systems. The arcade original is still possibly the best way the game should be played.

Spy Hunter broke the mold of the racing experience. It was a top-down driver, in the vein of the Sega's original Monaco GP but the similarities ended there. This game included weapons and a narrative. You were a spy making his way through hostile territory. Your car could gain special weapons to use against enemies, from smoke screens and oil slicks to machine guns and missiles. Each of these weapons would come in handy against certain enemies. Some opponents were heavily armored cars immune to bullets, they required drivers to shove them off the road, one of the harder enemies was a helicopter that could only be hit with missiles. The steering wheel found in most arcade racers had been replaced with something that looked more like a fighter plane control, with trigger and thumb buttons all used to fire the different weapons. The game also featured multi-path roads, some of which lead to rivers where the car would be switched out for a high-speed boat.

The entire experience was very reminiscent (read: lifted) from the famous Lotus Esprit chase in the 1977 James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. The sleek exotic car with hidden weapons and even the ability to turn into a submersible. I'm glad that the arcade experience focused on the car chase rather than the cheesy Roger Moore character. The game was very challenging. Very few people could get far enough into the game to try out all the weapons, let alone ever see the boat. All that experienced the game enjoyed the memorable theme, taken from the Peter Gunn television series. If you ask any arcade gamer about Spy Hunter then at the very least they should be able to hum the classic tune. A clever sense of nostalgia prompted Pontiac to create a commercial based on Spy Hunter.

Midway made sure the game was ported on multiple consoles and even followed up with a pinball release in 84. In 2001 they decided to relaunch the franchise and made an updated version of Spy Hunter for the Xbox and PS2. They added a more epic narrative and fleshed out the world of the G-6155 Interceptor. Creating a rival faction and a doomsday plot right out of a big budget motion picture to pull gamers through the experience. The release by developers Paradigm Entertainment was well-done. The classic elements featured in the original returned along with some updated elements. Rather than switch vehicles the new-and-improved Interceptor could transform on the fly and become a boat for river sections and turn into a motorcycle if it took too much damage. The pace was rapid and the game had a fun arcade quality to it.

The sequels to the new Spy Hunter didn't sit well with critics. Angel Studios took over for Paradigm and made a decent game with 2003's Spy Hunter 2. The Interceptor could now transform into other vehicles and even featured "boss" battles against massive vehicles. However by the time Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run came out the franchise went bust. The driver of the Interceptor, Alex Decker, was doing missions outside of the car in a loose GTA feel. The driving portions weren't as well made as the previous games. Players felt that the experience was lacking because Midway had broken up the game into two lacking experiences rather than one solid game. Most could tell that Midway wanted to turn the Spy Hunter game into a film franchise and were pushing the material into places that didn't suit it. The game worked when it was a car chase pulled from a spy film highlight. Not when it was trying to become the spy film itself.

This wouldn't be the first time that Midway had failed the IP. The arcade sequel, Spy Hunter II in 1987, was a disjointed experience. In an attempt to bring in more arcade players on a single machine Bally / Midway fit two steering wheels onto a cabinet and split the screen in half. While this cabinet worked well in Max RPM, it doomed Spy Hunter II. The view was behind the car rather than above and the roads featured a number of blind turns and difficult opponents. For a drag racing game the narrow view was perfect, but not in an action game. The magic of the original Spy Hunter was replaced with something akin to Mad Max. In theory a partner spy in a yellow interceptor could help you on the other side. Rarely did I ever see one, let alone two people, playing this game in the arcade. Just as they failed the franchise in Nowhere to Run Midway was overly ambitious in Spy Hunter II.

Spy Hunter will always be remembered as a top down driving experience that had no peer. But was it the best overhead action driver ever made? Could that genre be done better in an isometric view as RC Pro Am showed? That was a topic for debate. Next week we'll look at two console games that tried to beat the legends. 

Did you ever play this arcade legend? Or did you play the home console versions? Let me know in the comments section please. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

God of War, the runaway elephant

While doing research for my God of War series I had a little bit of extra material that didn’t quite fit in with the other chapters. I’d like to share this final bit of concept work that never made it into the finished game, and perhaps give it some context. I’ve mentioned earlier on the blog that the Piraeus Lion was the best sub-boss in the series. There is an entire stage, and sub-plot in the Ghost of Sparta featuring Kratos stalking an escaped prisoner called the Dissenter. The player does this in the underground prison of Sparta. The atmosphere of the stage, level design, mood, and sound effects all lead up to a battle with the gigantic lion. It resonated with me more than any other sub-boss encounter in the franchise. The fact that they didn’t reuse the lion in any other part of the story made it mean more than any battle with a minotaur, or cyclops. I believe that the inspiration for the Piraeus Lion was due to another encounter that was planned in the previous game, the Chains of Olympus.

In the concept art for the game there is a war elephant. It is probably one of the best unused enemy designs in the series. It was so amazing that the studio even created a 3D model, and rendered a few scenes as to where this encounter would have happened. At the start of the game Kratos is with his Spartan army helping the Athenians defend Attica from a Persian invasion. This was an actual encounter from history. It was made fantastic with the inclusion of the Basilisk, an enormous fire-breathing reptile that was unleashed by the Persians. Kratos gives the monster chase, fights on the beach, and makes his way to the city gates. He breaks through the armored door by using a battering ram, and turns the corner. This is where he was supposed to see the war elephant for the first time, and its rider, a Persian King. The high walls of the city gate, and bridge make for a constricted fighting platform. Just as the locked cells in the jails of Sparta raised the stakes for the lion reveal.

In the final version of the game Kratos is on one side of a moat, there is a collapsed bridge between him, and some Persian archers on the opposite side. They are taking shots at the future god of war. Remember during this timeline Kratos hasn’t killed Ares yet. He isn’t at full-power, nor reputation. I like to think that it was the elephant that destroyed this bridge in the finished version of Chains of Olympus. I only wish the studio had placed it at the bottom of the moat to complete the story. Anyhow I think that this encounter highlights the approach that Ready at Dawn had over the pacing of the game when compared to Sony Santa Monica. Up until this point the GoW series followed a familiar template. The games start in the middle of the action. A fight scene teaches the basic controls. These are usually against humans, or human-sized monsters. Then an enormous opponent is introduced. It might be the Hydra, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Scylla, or the Basilisk. The fight against these enormous creatures seems impossible, but is manageable with the strength of Kratos, his indescribable toughness, and the magical Blades of Chaos. The rest of the game is a series of smaller encounters until a mid, or final boss is reached. The games would recycle the same characters again, and again throughout the quest. Sometimes they would be reskinned, were still cool looking, but essentially the same rivals. The lack of unique opponents was something that I would consider the only weakness to the GoW franchise.

Ready at Dawn wanted to break the cycle by introducing sub-bosses that were tailor-made to the game. They weren’t as enormous as the final bosses, but more grounded in reality. We’ve seen Kratos take on mountain-sized opponents, and while those fights are fun, we sometimes forget how amazing he is in close combat. That is why the developers had him take on the kings of the jungle. Fighting supernatural lions, boars, bulls, and serpents are the types of challenges that Hercules, Theseus, Jason, and Perseus conquered in their classic adventures. At the same time the creatures in the Chains of Olympus are more than typical wild animals. The Piraeus Lion is bigger than any horse. It is covered in arrows, and swords, showing that it is impervious to most weapons. While the War Elephant is armored, has blades on his tusks, and is trained to fight. To raise the stakes the encounters are set in a tight space. Ready at Dawn knew that they were delivering something memorable. These fights served the story. They helped develop the character of Kratos, and fleshed out the fantastic world he lived in.

The studio was still able to create a memorable stage despite having to make cuts in the final version of the game. On the back of the Elephant was a Persian King. He undoubtedly taunted Kratos at the gates of Attica, just as he did in the final version. This character was massive. He was as big as Alric, the Barbarian King that almost killed Kratos in God of War, and had returned for a rematch in God of War II. The Persian King was going to be every bit Alric’s equal, and then more. He was on an elephant after all, which was much bigger than a draft horse. He also fought with a gigantic scimitar instead of a hammer, giving him a lethal reach advantage. He could even summon an Efreet, a sort of fire demon to create a burning ring around him. Alric did not gain magical attacks until he was already dead. On his back the Persian carried golden spears. Although he doesn’t use them in the game I have a feeling these would have been his ranged attacks against Kratos. He could have easily struck the Ghost of Sparta from across the stage thanks to his high perch.

The final version of the battle had the Persian taunting some slave girls when Kratos shows up. He says the Spartan is nothing but a messenger for some puny gods. This is of course raises the ire of Kratos. Traditional Persian soldiers surround, and attack him while the king hacks away. It’s a fun battle, and I can almost imagine that the War Elephant would have been a two-part fight. Kratos would have to find a sweet spot to fight on the bridge. If too close then the elephant could have swiped him with his tusks, thrown him to the ground with his trunk, or trampled him with his feet. If Kratos were too far then the king could have rained spears down on him. Once the elephant was defeated then I bet the king would have fallen back, and entered the slave girl room.

While large, and strong the King shares something in common with the Dissenter from Ghost of Sparta. They are both bullies when they think they are winning. Despite talking big they instantly change their tune once Kratos has them beat. The Dissenter called Kratos an impostor, and that Ares was the true god of war while Kratos is getting pounced on by the lion. The King mocks Kratos when they first meet, but then tries to bribe Kratos when he is knocked down. He offers him gold, and women. Kratos turns down the bribe, and then bashes a gold chest over his face. The brutal ending of the king was as satisfying as it was to the Dissenter. I have a feeling that the same person at Ready at Down had scripted both encounters.

If I had any programming, or modeling experience I’d love to restore this battle the way it was originally meant to be seen. Even if just to watch Kratos get thrown around by an elephant for a minute. I’m grateful that the artists shared their work online, and that Sony also posted additional content. So many game studios never publish art books, or share their concept work. It will hopefully inspire future designers to push the boundaries of their own art, and think about how to plot out a game, or story. I’d like to know if there was a concept character, or stage from God of War, or any other game that you wish had made it into production. Let me know in the comments section please. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

God of War, the story of the Suicide Tree

While doing research for my God of War series I had a little bit of extra material that didn’t quite fit in with the other chapters. I’d like to share this little bit of concept work that never made it into the game, and perhaps give it some context. The first is actually a grotesque monster whose origins may be the most disturbing in the franchise’s history. In the early drafts of the game there was a proposed location, that evolved into a monster. Let’s take a look at the literal roots of this creature. Kratos is pulled into Hades during the events of the Chains of Olympus. He is trying to figure out where Helios, the god of the sun, has disappeared to. The team at Ready at Dawn Studios wanted to make the realm of Hades, and the pits of Tartarus look truly unique. They wanted the landscape to appear as dangerous as the monsters lurking within. They proposed a sort of mini boss that grew from a tree. You could see it in the concept art. The tree was covered with bodies hanging by their necks. It was also known as the Tartarus Suicide Creature.

The studio went so far as to create a portion of a level around this beast. In at least one rare screenshot you could see where this encounter would take place. I’m not for certain if this was meant to be in Hades, in Tartarus, or in the mist created by Morpheus in the city of Marathon. There were no buildings, or other signs of life in this location. We could see a curtain of fog hung in the distance. There were gentle rolling hills with waist high fields of grain. There was nothing else on the stage except for a tree with a thick trunk, and exposed gnarled roots. Ropes with multiple skulls hung from the short branches. You could almost imagine Kratos coming up to the tree when it suddenly started rising from the ground. I’m betting that it would have been hiding, or protecting the entrance to the deepest bowels of Hades. It would have been a scary sight.

There was something about the tree, and environment that was unnerving. The collection of skulls was of course a huge warning sign, but that was only part of the draw. How did they get there? How long has this tree been used to hang the dead? Were they there by choice, or punishment? Spooky forests are nothing new in classical literature. We can all think of a fairy tale that takes place in some creepy woods. Hansel & Gretel, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty are all stories that share pivotal scenes where the protagonists are lost in the woods. There was one forest that itself became a character in a story. The forest of the suicides was detailed by the Italian author Dante Alighieri in his poem known as Inferno. The forest was made of living trees, which were actually the souls of people that had killed themselves. The spirits could only speak if their limbs were broken. They were tortured by harpies that would break their limbs just to hear them wail in pain.

There was a game based on Dante’s Inferno. It was developed by Visceral Games, and published by Electronic Arts in 2010. In it a templar knight named Dante visited the nine levels of hell written about in the poem. He was trying to save his love Beatrice from Lucifer, who we might think of as Satan. It wasn’t hard to see how the dark origin of Kratos, and his adventures didn’t help inspirit the creation of this title. Many publishers were eager to recreate the success that Sony had with the God of War franchise. Unfortunately no amount of sex, violence, or eerily-similar puzzles, encounters, and music was enough to get audiences to switch titles. Of course game play also had a lot to do with the success of GoW. Sony Santa Monica had given us a dark, and twisted forest previously. The Bog of the Forgotten was the early portion of the Island of Creation. In it we could clearly see bodies hanging from the trees. It gave the swamp an ominous feeling. Ready at Dawn wanted to see if they could turn that location into a character.

Illustrator Justin Murray sketched out his idea for the Suicide Tree. He was responsible for a lot of the character designs in the Ghost of Sparta. His tree was oozing with personality. It could have been one of the rare places in the franchise where the terrain evolved into a living monster. Sadly many great ideas have to be cut due to time, and money. This would become one of them. Since the studio had already gone to the trouble of creating a model for it they found a way to incorporate it into the finished game. When Kratos reaches the Gates of Hades we see the tree at the edge of a cliff. Still as ominous as ever, even without any additional context. I’m glad that the studio found a way to use this set piece. I’m grateful that the artists shared their work online, and that Sony also posted additional content. So many game studios never publish art books, or share their concept work. It will hopefully inspire future designers to push the boundaries of their own art. I’d like to know if there was a concept character, or stage from God of War, or any other game that you wish had made it into production. Let me know in the comments section please. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

God of War, where were the Amazons?

While doing research for my God of War series I had a little bit of extra material that didn’t quite fit in with the other chapters. I’d like to share this bit of concept work that never made it into the game. Today I’d like to talk about the Amazons. For a game that features a good chunk of Greek mythology it was surprising that the Amazons were not featured more prominently in the games. The female warriors from were legendary in the fables of Homer, Euripides, Herodotus, and other ancient writers. Queen Hippolyta, sometimes written Hippolyte was the daughter of Ares, and Otrera. She was by far the best warrior of the women, and was gifted a magical war belt by her father. This belt did more than hold her sword, it provided her protection from mortal wounds. Without it she could be killed. Hercules was tasked to retrieve this belt for Admete, the daughter of King Eurystheus. Admete was obsessed with the Amazons, and wished to have a possession of theirs. Getting this item for the young princess would become his ninth labor. Hippolyta freely gave Hercules the belt when he explained his labors. Sadly the queen of the gods Hera had gone in disguise as an Amazon. She had sewn discord with the tribe, causing them to attack Hercules, and his men. They killed most of his men, and Hercules killed Hippolyta before escaping. In other stories she was taken by Theseus, and married him while in Athens. The Amazonians tried to steal her back, and she was killed in the ensuing conflict, either by her husband, or accidentally by her own warriors.

The name Amazon was used thousands of years before the South American river was named. In fact the river had multiple names in Pre-Columian history such as Guainí, Tambo, Apurimac, Orinoco, Solimões, and Amaru Mayu. The Amazon is actually a word from Ancient Greek meaning “missing one breast.” This was because the warriors were rumored to cut off one breast so that it wouldn’t get in the way of their archery, or spear throwing. They lived apart from men by choice. This didn’t mean they didn’t have relationships with men. If they got pregnant then they would only keep the female offspring. In some versions of the legends they would kill the male children, or cripple them, and turn them into slaves. They had a reputation for being merciless in combat. Plus they were known for raiding many outposts, and pillaging whatever they needed. With such a lengthy history you would think that the Amazons would have been a part of the GoW series since day one. Sadly they were only seen once. The female warriors were painted in blue body paint, had a spear, and small Greek shield. They popped up on the Isle of Delos in GoW Ascension. This was the very last of the Greek saga games.

The version of the characters in the game was fairly accurate. Moreover it was great to see some Black representation in the game, better late than never I suppose. Just an FYI, Hercules was Black in a couple of the earliest concept art. But I digress. Although it was sometimes difficult to make out on the screen the warriors actually had only one breast. You could make out a scar across the chest whenever the in-game camera zoomed in. This was usually when Kratos was performing a killing blow. What I never knew was that Amazons were in the plans for my other favorite GoW title, the Ghost of Sparta. Concept artist Justin Murray designed a great chunk of the characters for the game. His stylized characters were not quite comic book, nor were they manga. They fit in perfectly with the majority of the aesthetic used in the GoW series.

There were at least two proposed designs for the characters. Given the diversity of the Hoplite, Persian, and Rhodes soldiers featured in other games then at least two different Amazons would have been featured in Ghost of Sparta. The designs for Mr. Murray were not dainty warriors. They were a few heads taller than Kratos, who is well over six-feet-tall. They were as big as Zeus, or Thanatos based on the concept art. Mr. Murray kept their breasts intact, however they were proposed to have armor go over one breast, or perhaps have some scarring just under their collarbone. Each of the designs also had a unique weapon. One wielded a chakram, sometimes called a chakar. These were circular throwing blades from India. They were best known as the weapon used by Xena: Warrior Princess from the ‘90s television show. Like most of the weapons in the GoW series this version would be huge, and far more intimidating than the historical armament. It had a brass body, with three angry blades on the outer edge. The other proposed Amazon weapon was even more fantastic. It was an axe with a burning core, attached by a chain to a handle. It was unlike any other weapon I had seen from history.

The difference between the thousands of concept illustrations created for the series, and the Amazons was that there was at least one model was created, and rigged for animation. This was years before God of War Ascension. This Amazon looked just like the concept art, and matched the stylized world of the classic GoW games. I can almost imagine how she would have fought. With a chakram larger than the Blades of Chaos she would have had ranged attacks, and close up strikes in equal measure. It makes me a little bit sad knowing that they never appeared in Ghost of Sparta. I’m grateful that the artists shared their work online, and that Sony also posted additional content. So many game studios never publish art books, or share their concept work. It will hopefully inspire future designers to push the boundaries of their own art. I’d like to know if there was a concept character, or stage from God of War, or any other game that you wish had made it into production. Let me know in the comments section please. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

God of War, exploring the roots of Kratos' design

While I was working on the God of War blogs I was going back through a lot of concept art of the series. It reminded me of some early behind the scenes footage. I'd like to explore the origins of Kratos, and how the games could have gone in a completely different direction. I'd like you to use your imagination, and ask yourself what if Kratos had looked like he did in his early art. For starters let's talk about his final design. David Jaffe is credited as the father of Kratos, but he defers the look, and especially animation to Cory Barlog. David wanted the hero of his story to be a rage filled monster. He didn't necessarily have to have the physique of a swollen bodybuilder as most games, or comic book characters did at the time. Instead he wanted someone that was strong, but aggressive. The template he pointed to was the Neo Nazi character Derek Vinyard from the film American History X. Derek was played by actor Ed Norton.

The film is an ugly, but realistic portrayal of Neo Nazis in the USA. The ways in which they are recruited, and groomed by their betters to spread their agenda. Derek is by all means an unforgivable character, especially after killing two Black men, and being sent to prison. What happens next is an unraveling of the character, the roots of his hate, and rage. Ultimately he has to find a way to keep his hate from spreading to his younger brother. It's a great film, but not for everybody. But I digress. The character of Kratos is meant to have a similar tragic origin as Derek, and share the same emotive qualities. With that in mind I think Mr. Barlog nailed what Jaffe was asking for. It was a far cry from the earliest prototypes for the character.

The studio knew they wanted to tell a swords, and sandals adventure. So they tasked the art team to create a legendary warrior. This fighter didn't necessarily have to be based on an actual historical figure. Their armor, and weapons didn't have to be rooted in reality. Leaning on fantasy was acceptable. Dozens, if not hundreds of drafts were submitted. In the earliest forms the character was completely armored. You couldn't really make out a face, skin color, or any other distinguishing figures. It could be the type of character that any game player could place themselves in. It was rarely done in gaming, but it had worked previously with characters like Master Chief from Halo, and Issac from Dead Space. The armored warrior was okay, but audiences needed a reason to root for them. Some of the early drafts also gave this warrior a baby to care for, or transport.

The studio considered this draft of Kratos the Lone Wolf and Cub. The idea was copied many times from the works of a manga series of the same name from 1970. The story of Ogami Itto the former executioner, and his son Daigoro is set feudal Japan during the 1700's. Written by Kazuo Koike, and illustrated by Goseki Kojima the series has been published in multiple languages, and been adapted to anime, and film. It is easily one of the greatest stories of all time, and the fact that the majority of the adventures were told without dialogue helped make it an international hit. Many of the people working on the God of War franchise would have probably been familiar with the manga, if they didn't grow up reading it. I can imagine that the early faceless warrior would have instantly have a ton of pathos if he had to raise his kid in a harsh environment. Yet that was one proposed idea to get audiences to root for the hero. The other idea that was floating around in the early days was to give our hero a puppy.

Imagine how the game would have played if our adventurer was raising a dog, or wolf cub. It's not hard to guess that the combat system, enemies, and stage designs would have to be built around what this little sidekick was capable of. There had actually been a precedent for this type of adventure. You would have to go all the way back to 1989 to see where it started. Sega had a side scrolling action game called Shinobi that they released in arcades in 1987. In it the ninja Joe Musashi has to infiltrate a crime organization armed with his sword, and throwing stars. The sequel Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi has Joe fighting alongside an attack dog named Shadow. He can send the dog to distract enemies while he then strikes them down. It made for an interesting idea, and a memorable game. I'm not sure if that mechanic would work in 3D, but it was interesting that Sony Santa Monica had considered it.

Jaffe would challenge his art team to try different things to help visualize the main character, and type of game he wanted to create. Instead of just going for realistic, or fantasy warriors he would say draw what the physical embodiment of rage would look like. What about war, or anger, or hate? What does that look like if those intangibles were a person? Lots of ideas were submitted. Characters made of fire, and spikes. Assassins covered in blades. All sorts of drawings flowed in. Little by little they discovered that they could humanize what they were going after if audiences could see the face of the protagonist. At first it was just an open face helmet that they wore. Perhaps some war paint, or a tattoo to give them personality. But if this character was going to have face markings then it made more sense to get rid of the helmet completely. Little by little the ideas for Kratos were starting to come together.

Would this character have hair? Would they be covered in scars? Were they covered in paint, or tattoos? If so were these markings tribal in nature? The team went back to the drawing board. They started stripping away the armor, and in doing so they learned it was easier to read the physicality of the character. To make him appear more animated. They saw how much they could take away from him, while still making him look like a warrior. In the end the costume was essentially from the waist down. It was the pteruges, the pleated skirts worn by Greek, and Roman soldiers, shin guards, and sandals. The rest was tattoos, and an attitude. Figuring out the weapons he would be using was a challenge in itself. Swords, throwing spikes, axes, everything was considered. As the game engine was coming together one of the senior artists, Charlie Wen, was sketching on a napkin at lunch. The form, weapons, and poses were an amalgamation of the best ideas from the studio. He brought his idea back to the studio where Jaffe pretty much confirmed that was exactly what they were looking for.

The question then came what to color the character. Jaffe noticed that some other sketches had a ghostly white character. The artists planned on going back, and painting the skin after they had colored in the armor, and weapons. Jaffe said to keep the character pale, and they would create a story as to why he was colored like that. This is how the ashes of his slaughtered family worked into the canon of the game. The team had to figure out what the markings would look like. Were they earth-tones, like mud or camouflage? In the earliest drafts the iconic tattoos were blue, and purple. Purple was a rare color to create in ancient times. It would really only be seen on royalty, or the very rich. The warrior was anything but an elite. Blue was a strong choice, but red popped even more on the screen. So Kratos came together little bits at a time, and after lots of fine tuning with many fantastic artists. It was more than just giving swords to a Neo Nazi movie character.

There were a few drafts that I especially enjoyed. These were the ones where Kratos had a distinct African origin. The character was not only Black, but his armor, and weapons were unlike anything that we had seen in traditional media. I like to go back, and think about how the franchise would have turned out if the settings were Africa. Not Egypt necessarily, although their pantheon would be a good place to end up. Do you think this character had potential? Do you think it would be fun to revisit the classic GoW gameplay, but with a different leading character? Perhaps set in the same universe, but another part of the world?

I hope you enjoyed this dive into the origins of Kratos. Is there a favorite draft of the character that you enjoyed best? Maybe it was a skin you could unlock in one of the game. Would you have enjoyed the game more or less if Kratos were dragging a baby, or puppy along with him? Let me know in the comments section please. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!