forgotten god - design concept // july MOTM // sfw (Patreon)

thanks again to ciyu for suggesting "a god no-one believes in anymore," which i shortened to "forgotten god."

there are so many ways one could interpret this design prompt, so it took some brainstorming to narrow it down to two main lines of thought. first, i wanted him to look like the deity of a long lost civilisation. second, he should embody some aspect of the world that modern humans often neglect. the result is a god of the sea.

only 5% of the ocean has been properly explored, which has long given rise to stories about the unknown: mysterious shipwrecks, gigantic sea monsters, and … hidden underwater cities. if such a civilisation was lost to catastrophe or war, who would remember their gods? and modern society certainly doesn't treat the ocean right, as evidenced by oil spills staining its surface and heaps of trash piling up on its shores.

in other words, this character used to be worshipped by an underwater city along the lines of atlantis. but this kingdom fell, and land-living humans started polluting nature instead of respecting it. the more people forgot about him and his ocean, the more his strength diminished, until he became a shell of his former glory. because what is a god without followers?

in terms of aesthetics i drew inspiration from a few different directions. one is the many things that can get lost in the sea: his colour scheme is based on shipwrecks, and the glitter of a few golden scales mimics sunken treasure. the design of his tail, fins, and gills is inspired by so-called “living fossils” like coelacanths and frilled sharks. makes sense for an ancient, forgotten god to look slightly prehistoric, no?

i always love a few plant elements, so his hair and ears resemble seaweed. to illustrate his forgotten and neglected state he's scarred and tattered, faded and weakened. there's tangles of underwater plants and fishing lines/nets wrapped around his limbs, and the uneven patches of colour along his body is supposed to mimic the appearance of oil spills. after centuries of no worship his "halo" is broken into many pieces, and no living person remembers how to read the glowing glyphs on his skin.

thankfully he gets a happy ending, after a certain human finds him again. sometimes, one single person believing in you is all it takes.

// art + character © me.