#ace dagger

Little follow up to my Mermace poster drawing for Mermay!

Happy Mermay!

When the fan meets her favorite...

I drew a character redesign for Ace Dagger from Revolution Island!

Starting off with the head, I gave his face a noticeable cross scar so that it can stand out more, as opposed to the little lines he had on his face for "scarring". Really demonstrates that he has been through some things. The promotions of his head size had significantly shrunken down, so as to give him a more intimidating appearance. His hair, especially the crown of his head, are heart-shaped to match the shape of his snake scarf.

Speaking of- Ace's snake scarf is heart-shaped, which is especially an important detail to consider, because the way it coils around his chest symbolizes the fact that his own heart (figuratively) is being constricted, ergo, his emotions are being suffocated in the process, mirroring his stoic demeanor which is hiding all of his goodness underneath the character he presents himself as.

Ace, as a person, is the type of guy who openly presents himself as a show off who desires attention, despite his occupation as an assassin typically being depicted as a more discreet job. The cyan on his tunic with pockets, and torn ends are indicative of his desire to be recognized, and revered as an "aurafarmer", as there are many dangerous animals that display bright, vivid colors as a means of warning others about their deadly prowess, which is exactly the case for Ace, concerning his choice of attire.

Many sharp shapes are included in his outfit, regarding shape language, which also hint at his dangerous side, but there are also some soft, round shapes involved, which imply that despite the danger he carries, he is not an entirely threatening person, as there is a gentle side of him that is noticably subtle, implying that he is not an inherently evil person by nature.

The pink accents on his tunic, alongside the cherry blossom embroidery are also a good indicator of his true nature as a person. In Japanese symbolism, cherry blossoms represent life and death, **as well** as love, and within the context of Ace, he is not an overly edgy assassin, but rather, an edgy assassin laced with a graceful tint. Someone who carries themself as beautiful, and elegant, but is ultimately dangerous at their core, someone not to be messed with, despite the gentle undertones.

His pants are purple, because GOLLY does he need some purple in his design, as they symbolize mystery, and royalty, alluding to Ace's mysterious character, and heavy pride. Also, his gloves are now fully covered, instead of fingerless gloves. Leave no fingerprint evidence behind while on the job!

Japan's symbolic association with snakes include good fortune, protection, wisdom, and transformation, in which Ace himself has demonstrated three of these traits, such as protecting Diego from Wolfgang, being a wise strategist, and is going through a transformation of his own throughout his life.

Overall, I really wanted to make Ace's character design become more readable so as to successfully portray what his character is about through looking at his visual appearance alone. I wanted to make him look edgy, but also hint at his more kindhearted side, and I wanted to connect his Japanese heritage as well, since I feel that his heritage plays an important part of his character, such as the music cues that play in the reboot sometimes, whenever he is on screen.

I hope that by reading all of this visual analysis throughout my thought process, I was successfully able to do Ace some justice, as he was only wearing a simple hoodie and pants with a face mask in his canon design!

The king and the queen. 🩵 🩷