A glorified sketchbook blog

Sonic the Hedgehog: Scrapnik Island #1 1:10 Retailer Incentive Variant

Ok! With Impostor Syndrome #1 out, I'm finally allowed to show the design process for Kit!

For those unaware, I co-designed Surge and Kit with Mauro Fonseca; he took the lead on Surge, and I did Kit, but we were discussing and swapping ideas back and forth the entire time. If I say "we" in the descriptions, that's who I'm talking about.

(partially a copypaste from Twitter, but I'll probably go into a little more detail)

Step 1:

I think this was the first drawing I did of Kit, based on the written description from Ian. I was aiming for kind of a bulky, old-timey diving suit sort of vibe to match Starline's steampunkish style. I was also playing with the idea that his water pack was full of something more like megamack (that wasn't in the description, I did that on my own).

Step 2:

Messing around with the colors, and streamlining shapes. The glove/shoe design was inspired by the SCUBA flag; while it was a neat idea, the yellow/turquoise meshed better with Surge's colors, which were mostly locked in already. The water drop marking motif came out properly at this stage, as well as the jumbo ears. The big water pack was lost so Kit would be able to hide his powers and look normal when needed.

Step 3:

We were asked to make Kit's eyes visible, so I worked up a couple options-- also, his muzzle got a little more foxy. the water pack returned, now in the shape of a typical Japanese elementary schoolkid's backpack, to complement Surge's Japanese delinquent vibes.

Step 4:

The first pass at the model sheet, and some ideation on his moveset! In the end his moves ended up being a lot more Mario Sunshine than Doc Ock, so take these with a grain of salt.

Step 5:

At this point, we started getting notes from Sega, massaging the details to a point where everybody was happy. I changed his glove/boot design to better mesh with Surge's punk style (the boots were an unused Starline boot design), and the backpack got sleeker and higher-tech. His ears were shortened to avoid the implication that he can fly like Cream, and he got taller to be closer to Tails' height. Also, the bangs were changed to be less cute, which the added bonus of them looking wet all the time.

Step 6:

And here's the final model sheet! Kit came together pretty quickly compared to other characters I've done.

Bonus step:

And I've got a little bit of Surge stuff! While I was there every step of the way as a sounding board and second opinion on Mauro's process, my main drawn contribution was in the form of alternate costume ideas. You can see her silhouette coming together in option #2.

I did a little digging through my old posts and on the Sonic Wiki to see if there was any other info on them that could give us any clues, and what I found was that their species isn’t actually brought up at all when they show up on the Wiki, meaning that what they are is left kinda up in the air and they could technically be anything. The Wiki also doesn’t mention any possible connection to Whisper though, but because I’m going purely off of visual similarities, then that makes sense. If there isn’t any more evidence to support that they’re related at all outside of just visual similarities, then there would be no reason to outright say that they’re related or that they could be related on the Wiki.

Also, I threw together a bit of a side-by-side comparison of the villagers and Whisper so you can see what they both look like and similarities between them that could be relevant…

Now, while I do agree that the villagers DO kinda look like Fennec Foxes (mainly because of the size of their ears), there also are so many similarities between them and Whisper that it seems like they were specifically designed to go along with her. While Whisper’s ears are a lot smaller, the style of them is pretty similar to the way the villagers’ ears look, and the facial coloring, their tails, and especially the fact that some of them have closed eyes like Whisper are the main things that make me think just by visuals alone that they could be related to Whisper, and if they are, then they would logically be Wolves. It is TECHNICALLY possible that they are in fact Fennec Foxes but are still related to her (like maybe their really distant relatives, or maybe Whisper is a hybrid between the two), but I still think it would be more likely for them to be Wolves, and the elder of them that shows up in both of their appearences could be like her Grandmother or something like that.

Another thing to consider is that we now have an actually confirmed Fennec Fox character in IDW in the form of Kit, and while he also shares a couple similar features to these villagers (such as the look of the ears and the cheek fur), there are less similarities I see between him and Whisper to them, so if I had to make a bet which of the two is more likely related to them, I’d still pick Whisper.

I wrongly assumed Whisper was a fox at the time. Or at least was borrowing previously approved design conventions. I made the Fennecs a snuggly family unit who were scrappy and resourceful enough to assert themselves in an abandoned base of all places. Hence why they’re using fabric and found objects that would be scattered about the base. 

Short in stature to portray vulnerability, but definitely a force of reckoning in their unity. I casted the most assertive Fennec in the script as an older, crafty grandma. A makeshift authority figure over the others in the absence of any big strong tanks to pummel any nefarious visitors. I made the concerned fennec in the script an anxious, younger kit who is using the shell of a dismantled e-series as a protective helmet.

I can share the art now, I think! @nerfuffle did the design for the card backs and frames so you'll have to ask her about that, but I did the interior art. There weren't any pencils really, I had to whip these up quick.

hoomans