Wolf Mage Maikoh character designs (Patreon)

There wasn't much in my sketchbook this month, but!  I've finally settled (more or less) on the designs for this magical girl project my girlfriend and I have been developing, and I thought I'd share them!  You've seen some of them before, but there's been some tweaks on all of them and I wanted to post them all as a set!

Our main girl is Maikoh.  She's unkempt, tomboyish, and has all the charm and ease of a stoner.  She's set to take her mother Ursa's place as Head Mage, the leader of her village, but she's reeeeally not feelin' it.  Part of becoming a Mage means using a Guardian Stone to form a bond with an Animal Guardian - lost ghosts of creatures who have not passed into the afterlife.  Without an Animal Guardian, novice mages often lose control of their magic, having it erupt in destructive energy during emotional outbursts.  Maikoh's magic is becoming more powerful every day, but she's been ignoring the wolf who keeps appearing to her 'cause she knows it'll mark the start of her Head Mage training.  Her emotions finally boil over in an argument with Ursa, where she ends up shattering her mother's Guardian Stone.  When the dust settles, Ursa is nowhere to be found, and large, demonic Cursed Animals are appearing all over the land.  Maikoh decides to set things right; connect with her Animal Guardian, cleanse the Cursed Animals, and recollect the shards of her mother's stone.

The bird boi is Buho.  He's smart and responsible, but a little dry and sarcastic.  He's also Maikoh's best friend.  He's a mage as well, but unlike Maikoh, he's already connected and stable with his Animal Guardian, an owl.  His family are the keepers of the village's myths and lore, and he's dedicated to chronicling stories of all kinds.  He accompanies Maikoh on her journey because let's face it, there's no way she could do it alone.  

Red outfit is Ruffina!  She's impulsive, athletic, and always runs head first into the action.  So it's fitting that her Animal Gaurdian is a horse.   Her village is a giant, sprawling ancient city, a complex society and a hub for trading, but she finds the big city life stifling.  Maikoh and Buho end up here on their quest, and Ruffina hits it off with Maikoh almost instantly.  She decides to leave the city and join them on their quest.  She enjoys teasing Buho.

Purple girl is Kolotl.  Her Animal Gaurdian is a scorpion.  She's the main antagonist, and she's also looking for the Mom-shards!  She believes they are the pieces of the Creation Gem, which was used by the first Animal Gaurdian to create all life on Fera.  She doesn't care about power, but she has a deep loneliness and resentment towards everyone, 'cause she's been abandoned and betrayed multiple times over.  She feels like the world doesn't want her, so she intends to create her own.  Maikoh has a huge crush on her and keeps trying to get her to join their team, but Kolotl refuses to see Maikoh's flirting as anything other than a way to make fun of her.  

Blue bishounen is Lir.  He's beautiful, graceful, and vain, and he's Kolotl's best friend and secondary antagonist.  His village was wiped out by a tsunami a couple years ago, and in his trauma, vowed never to reconnect with his Animal Gaurdian, a dolphin.  He wandered alone until he met Kolotl, who helped him greive openly, and encouraged him to reconnect with his powers, so he's feircely loyal to her.  

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ANYWAY!  That's a lil' summary of the megucas.  There's a lot of power crystal fantasy bullshit going on, and I didn't wanna dive into the WHOLE story, so I hope it wasn't COMPLETELY un-followable, haha.  I'm not gonna dig into designing all of the animals just yet, but I do wanna do the Wolf (his name is Spectre), and the Owl (her name is Ragana), so you can look forward to those eventually!  

If you guys have any questions, thoughts, or suggestions about the characters, I'd love to hear them!  I always love feedback!  Thanks!