#canny tim

"Heroes don't die in their first battle, Tilly."

Canny Tim: *smacks the marble out of his hand*

Sir Dan: >:/

Just in time for Halloween, Canny Tim and Sir Daniel are done!

I’ll admit, I didn’t change much with Dan’s design; I prefer his Resurrection armor and all it’s soda can sound effect glory. However, I wanted him to be slightly more distinct, so I added in his PS1 color scheme. And I thought I’d sneak in my take on living Dan. Kind of amusing how no one thinks this guy was the least bit conventionally attractive but with teeth like that, it was only necessary.

For Canny Tim, I don’t really like his Resurrection outfit, and while it’d be easier to shove him into some armor and call it a day, @pumpkingeorge made a really good point about wanting to be in your favorite outfit in the afterlife. So while sticking to the signature green, I changed up the whole outfit, adding a few small references to his comic book look too.

With the last two heroes finished, I can say that my Hall of Heroes redesign series has reached its conclusion!

Other Hero Designs

Prince Ravenhooves and Imanzi Shongama

Stanyer Iron Hewer and Megwynne Stormbinder

Dirk Steadfast and Karl Sturnguard

I've been playing the MediEvil games since I could first hold a Ps1 controller, and before that I even watched my dad play them and read out the lore to me like a bedtime story. And I can happily say that Dan's backstory in that comic doesn't bother me or make me wish it was completely different at all.

The fact Dan was a pompous bastard when he was still alive is... incredibly fitting. Of course I do love the fanon idea of him always having been shy and reserved, but him having been a cocky, self-entitled asshat living off Daddy's trust fund while also being a liar and a massive coward makes for an absolutely perfect story. It makes his redemption when brought back from the dead, as well as his resentment towards his former self feel all the more genuine.

Like... the point is, we weren't supposed to like him. The whole point of the comic is to make the audience understand that Dan (alive) is practically irredeemable and show how absolutely unfit he was to be a captain of the guard... because that's the joke. That's always been the comedy of it. He's a jerk, he's selfish and careless and cowardly. He's awful and thats why his future self is so agitated when reflecting on his past and wants so badly to fix his errors.

It's a way of the writers explaining that if we had known Dan when he was alive, we would have hated him and never wanted him to succeed. Maybe even wanted Zarok to win, but I'm just riffing. But we didn't know him then. We knew his redemption arc only, for decades, and we already loved him. And then we were given the full story, and learn how much of a dick he was. That is incredible storytelling.

I love the fact he was an asshole. Through and through, for all the above reasons. It makes so much sense.

Additionally, his appearance. I see a lot of people ragging on the way he looks, and I get it, but let me just say that the fact he looked when alive was so rediculous and goofy only compliments the storytelling. He absolutely does not look trustworthy, or brave or powerful. He looks wonky and unkempt. When gallowmere retold the life of Dan, it makes sense that when lying about his success, they would exaggerate his conventional beauty and describe him as some sort of demigod, when in reality he was just an average joe among the castle. Also the facial hair is literal genius. It made me giggle. The point of his looks in the games was to look goofy enough to giggle at, so of course that would translate to his living face as well.

I think the problem people have is, we've become so accustomed to the way Dan is portrayed in the actual games during his redemption and how his persona was presented to us then, that we've already sort of developed a version of him in our minds that we cling to. So that when we're shown how Dan actually was when he was alive, it's hard to take in and accept since we already have a fanon to ourselves. Which is fine, because creation sparking creation is the best and fandoms keep media going. We've already filled in the gaps of his past ourselves because we've only ever really known his future, and thats why Fate's Arrow Dan is such a turn off to so many people.

But, like I said, it fits, it makes sense and I'm glad the writers went with it. I have seen so many fan portrayals of living Dan throughout the decades from so many different talented people I still did, do and always will love them. But I absolutely love the canon we were given and I wouldn't have it any other way.

(Also- I saw some comments about how Dan looked different when alive in Resurrection- and just allow me to point out that so did everybody. Every character and thing was redesigned in the PSP version, including the story. That's a whole different universe, so it's unaffected by the comic entirely.)

Anyways ramble over. 💀🗡🏹