𑣲 Sparkle ✦

To start off, Orion is clearly based on the hunter from Greek mythology, as well as being the literal embodiment of a constellation in the game !

He's a constellation given life by Astrofel, the Aeon of Reality, and we can see that in his first design, although we only see it a few times from Astrofel's memories we can clearly see how his design almost copies THEIRS.

A lot of his elements are borrowed from Astrofel's Aeon form, while also remaining very simple, it strongly hints at the fact that he doesn't see himself as an individual yet and instead views himself as an extension of his Aeon.

There's a pretty big jump in time from his first design to the one we see most of in the story, about 4000 years.

Not only does he rarely appear outside of shadows, but the clothes he wears also act like a shadow around himself, he's always trying to hide, never wanting to be seen.

He has a more personal style now, no longer just a subject to his Aeon, but his own person who's had a hand in shaping the history of so many planets. His eye bags and messy hair makes him look like he just woke up, hinting at his "eternal slumber" long before we even find out about it.

He wears almost exclusively black, without any star motifs, almost as if instead of showing pride over the constellation his stars form he's instead embodying the emptiness of space. He has no pride in who he is and would rather be seen as nothing.

There's a strong motif of chains on his cloak, as well as the literal chains over his chest where his star mark is, sealing away most of his powers. We later find out that he put those chains there himself to punish himself and lock away his true constellation form.

His new form is an interesting one, because while the others have had similarities he almost looks like a completely new person now.

He's no longer just The Hunter Constellation, instead he embodies the whole Orion Nebula, he not only takes pride in who he is but also the planets and people who live because of his stars.

His colours are brighter now, making him actually live up to being the living embodiment of multiple stars. The pink could be because of March 7th, she was the first person in the Astral Express who wanted to give him a chance when he asked for help in redeeming himself and the two have an extremely close bond.

His hair and clothes are inspired by Astrofel's mortal disguise, but it's not a copy. They've been reunited and are practically married at this point, but they're now separate from each other. They will take different paths in life, Orion staying with the Astral Express and Astrofel joining the Galaxy Rangers, but they're bonded for the rest of eternity and can handle time apart now that they know the other is safe.

The chains around his star mark are still there, but they're much looser, instead of keeping them to punish himself he now wears them because he enjoys being on a closer playing field with mortals, and he can easily get rid of them if the situation needs him to be at full power.

It's also important to note that his new form is more feminine and delicate, he's become someone who's ready to actually experience what life can give and he's especially taken an interest in music and baking (which he previously looked down on when we first met him (I'll always remember bitchy Orion <3)).

His design also has small pieces of everyone he cares about on it, the most obvious ones are from March 7th, Caelus, Dan Heng and Sunday. The first piece would be his headpiece, representing the five of them together, their polycule is one of the sweetest things to come out of Orion's story and I love that they made such a clear reference to it in his design. Of course he also has small individual pieces of their designs on him, as well as references to the rest of the Astral Express.

The other ones are a little harder to spot but there are some details that call back to Boothill, Ashveil, Rappa, Silver Wolf, Aventurine and Azriel or Wonweek.

And with that we're finally done !

Happy Shifting !!