Concept Art 017: K'awill (Patreon)

Here is our big boi K'awill, lord of fire. The designs of the Nephilim are inspired by various mecha and creatures that have influenced me since I was younger: the orbital frames of Zone of the Enders, the evas of Evangelion, the faces and sirens of Xenoblade and the summons of Final Fantasy, especially 13's take on them. Of course, in case it wasn't obvious when I showed Kukulkan, all Nephilim are inspired by Mayan gods. In fact, most of the artificial entities created by humans in Arcadia follow the Mayan pantheon in some way or another, we have Ixbalanque, Hunnahpu, Hunab Ku, and the Nephilim as well as the Pawathun (the guardians of the 4 corners of the world) which I haven't mentioned much nor showed yet.

K'awill is also inspired by the "Danza del Venado" (deer dance) a traditional dance here in Mexico. That's why his head resembles the sacred animal and he has sleighbells on his neck and legs, which make a sound when he moves and dances to use his fire abilities.

So far the animal head motif is a constant detail in the Nephilim's design since many Mayan gods do have animals associated with them, however, K'awill's animal was too similar to Kukulkan so I decided to mix it a bit and use the deer, which is also a very revered animal in Mayan culture and that is associated with hunting, fertility and in rare cases the sun.

Next week I'll show you Ixchell, Nephilim of Water.
Also after that, I wonder, do you guys wanna see some side characters i have been designing or prefer more of my rough sketches? i have various things to show there   😗