You will find it in the bones

Batter - Stark, graphic style to reflect his dogmatic views. More some vague ideal than a human being. His bat serves as a barrier between us, cuts off his head, and is a burden upon his shoulders. He is in profile because he is defined by movement; behind him is only a white void. Pale cyan because it complements red and white, and isn't used for any zone in the game. Faces to the left, aligned with the Puppeteer

Judge - Friendly, trusting body language (back to you). Faint halo since he can be thought of as Zone 0's guardian. He has his zone's colors. Batter casts a shadow over him with a faint cyan light, foreshadowing the end of the game (the bat crossing the Judge's neck). Faces left, aligned with the Puppeteer (also foreshadowing).

Zacharie - Purposefully video-game-y with strange perspective and coloring closest to the game. Pixel edges, the top edge of the dialogue box. He is distant and placing a small barrier between him and the viewer with his arms. Looking up, at his mall location. Centered, neither aligned nor against the Batter or Puppeteer.

Sugar - As a secret boss, it felt apt to keep her in shadow, only catching some of the doorway's light. Rough and spattery to hint at her sugar use, similar to how the drunks are drawn in Disco Elysium. A more sickly yellow to help remove her from Judge and move her a little closer to Enoch (again, sugar). A foe, facing right.

Dedan - Profile, because like Batter he is defined by action. Not afraid to get his hands dirty, facing the meat waterfall (which is red like the boss background). Rougher textures. Painted in the colors of his zone. The clock numbers are a reference to his attacks and a halo for his guardian status. A foe, facing right (you get the idea).

Valerie - Valerie is dead, hence the big X, the rictus-like facial expression, skull-like head, and large eyes clouded with Japhet's color. His composition is the inversion of Judge's. His body is vague; this is not about him. The wings, of course. I found the use of red in Disco Elysium's corpse portraits very striking, so I wanted to do that here. Japhet, acting inside Valerie's body, is wrathful, and this is expressed in the tense body language. You first encounter him in the library, so he gets blue.

Japhet - Honestly, most of this comp was just "how do I get Japhet in frame?" I wanted him to feel massive. He gains the color of his zone from the reflected light from the ground. The music notation is a reference to his attacks. One of these forms his halo.

Enoch - Like Japhet, I wanted Enoch to feel big but also wanted his face in view; these are portraits after all. His attacks are drama terms, so he gets a spotlight. This, combined with the smoke, creates his guardian halo. With the intense orange, I wanted to evoke both his zone colors and its incinerators. The smoke and sooty texture also allude to this. Besides ash, the particles can resemble sugar. I liked the idea of him being so large that much of him is in shadow. Enoch is very menacing (but also charismatic), and I hope I captured that.

Queen - The most complicated. Mortis Ghost drew her with a skull face once, which stuck with me. The moth is from her chapter's title card, it matches how we don't really see her face or eyes. Her hair is meant to evoke the battle screen background; this was clearer when the original comp was more zoomed out (I had matched the silhouette). Her color is black because of her chapter's color scheme, chess (her attacks, she is also acting second), and the opposite of Batter's primary color. There are hints of the zone colors in her hair as she grants all zones her power. Her halo is the sun Hugo drew her as; she is, after all, his god. The cold front light from Batter returns.

Hugo - The most human of them all. The pattern from his room makes his halo and evokes a crosshair. He is centered; he is not a combatant. He is afraid, small, the meat is a small barrier between him and the Batter. The lighting gives him a bit of a skull-like look, his flesh tones are sickly.

Puppeteer - The Puppeteer is a character, narratively. The game needs your participation and acknowledges this. I thought an older computer would feel right, besides allowing for a better monitor reflection. This one's what it says on the tin.