Introducing: Brooke Sharpfin! (Patreon)

Brooke Sharpfin. Nurse Shark. CyberNurse Practitioner.

Cybernetics: KT-AQ2 Hand (x2), Psychological-type internal implants (x3)

A nurse who started working at Bluebonnet Hospital a little under a year ago. Despite her impressive nursing skills, many of her patients - and colleagues - are unsettled by her fierce appearance.

Just because she's a nurse shark doesn't necessarily make her a shark nurse. Luckily for you, she is, indeed, both.

It won't take you long to meet Nurse Brooke, who spends her time helping patients at Bluebonnet Hospital. You'll find she has an opinion or two about Kobold's new and excessive cybernetics.

But don't worry. When there's a patient under the knife, you'll be glad to have a reliable nurse such as herself by your side to guide you through the procedure, offer advice, and handle the myriad of tools you'll need to succeed.

The Nurse / Assistant

With the protagonist and their "sidekick" established, it was time to populate the world with others to interact with. A nurse/assistant character, along with another surgeon, would help establish the new status quo that Peri now finds themselves in.

Gameplay-wise, the nurse would serve as a guide for the player during surgeries, walking through various procedures step-by-step (and berating them for doing anything particularly outlandish!). Spark is, of course, not suited to do this job alone. I wanted to ensure these roles were distinct: a Cybernetic Systems Technician is no substitute for a Nurse, and vice-versa!

Furthermore, the addition of another side character would help shake up the interactions between Peri and Spark. This was especially important given those two's "best friends" relationship. Involving another character who isn't so buddy-buddy would inject a bit of uncertainty into an otherwise stable situation.

I determined several things I needed for this character:

She would be relatively knowledgeable and skilled, which contrasts nicely with Peri once they're flung into the main story proper. This would also help establish some authority.

She needed to know Spark. This would help legitimize Spark's skills (by how she acts around what he does and says) and make it easier for her to meld with Peri, who would otherwise be a complete stranger. Thus, by the time you meet her, she's known and worked with Spark for about a year.

She needed to be a bit more powerful, focused, determined, strong, big, intimidating, etc, in order to contrast with Peri and Spark. Having two characters be too similar is a huge writing pitfall!

She needed cybernetics. Peri only has the K-TAZ, and Spark has none. Having a major side character have cybernetics (and strong opinions on cybernetics) makes broaching topics about them much easier.

Character Design

So, uh... I'll admit, it was pretty easy to decide on a species for Brooke. Nurse Shark. Like, c'mon. It's perfect.

As I mentioned, Brooke is relatively big compared to Peri and Spark. It's good for contrast, as well as to support the idea of some people feeling spooked around her. (The teeth help with that, too.)

Her purple forms a roughly triadic color scheme with Peri and Spark's colors. How cohesive!

She's got a few "cuts" on her tail and ears to reinforce her tougher personality.

She wears a toony shark charm on her right ear (which hopefully hints at parts of her not-so-tough personality).

Her outfit is actually the Bluebonnet nurse's uniform. You'll see another character wearing a very similar set of clothes...

Her cybernetics are somewhat subtle: you'll find her hands have been augmented, and some of her internal implants are apparent near her eyes.

A small supplies pouch and a radio help round out the "nurse" shtick.

Fun facts

During operations, Brooke actually has to hold her tail down. Otherwise, it would cover parts of the operating area...

During briefings, Brooke will also lower her tail, lest it cover up the patient's chart!

During briefings, she'll also usually have a clipboard.

Some candidates for her name included: Clara, Clara, Clarissa, Edith, Eira, Elanor, Eliza, Emma, Florence, Hazel, Ivy, Jane, Linda, Martha, Mary, Mina, Mira, Nerissa, Ophelia, Penny, Scarlett, Sirona, and Nora.

She doesn't like it if you call her "Nurse Shark". This was actually her placeholder name. It also sounds really close to "Nurse Sharp"...

In her initial sketch, there was a version of Brooke with glasses. I decided she didn't need them.

An earlier version of Brooke's sprite lacked her undershirt.

If you see her facing a different direction in promotional materials, you might notice her sprite isn't simply mirrored. Her charm is always on the correct ear, and the red/yellow color accents remain consistent.

She doesn't like the red/yellow on the uniform. Looks too much like ketchup and mustard.

She doesn't appreciate fish puns. ... Probably.

She definitely will not be in a hypothetical Beach Episode if CE:ROM were to have said hypothetical Beach Episode. She would definitely not wear a swimsuit during said hypothetical Beach Episode. Sand would definitely not get EVERYWHERE, this would be TERRIBLE if there was an OPERATION ON THE BEACH.