#robin shaw

Weirdly tall, only dwarfed by Kurt among the crew.

He's an insomniac, though he's a heavy sleeper once he finally falls asleep.

He's farsighted and probably needs glasses.

Smoker, but manages to successfully wean himself off them before he runs out.

Covered in more tattoos and scars than I bothered to draw. If The Temperance has the supplies for it, he'd probably tattoo any interested members of the crew.

His hair grows another ~5 inches by the end of the voyage. He blondes very easily in the sun, and ends up with surfer-esque hair (think Owen Wilson). He also starts prematurely graying from stress.

He's pretty hairy, but since it's all thin and blonde, most don't realize.

Comes from a big family, but he isn't close to any of them—they didn't even know he went to Antarctica until they read about his safe return in the papers.

Has a bit of a death wish at first, but is more-or-less able to shake it off once he realizes he needs to step up or everyone dies. Even then, he didn't really fully believe he'd be making it home up until the moment he actually does.

Doesn't mince words and is pretty straightforward. At first, he tried to maintain some level of decorum and chain of command, but as soon as he actually takes command that all goes right out the window and he shifts to being blunt and honest with folks.

Gets along best with Hammond, as they have similar senses of humor.

Templeton can barely stand him (<- I was constantly gaining and then immediately losing his loyalty). He disagrees with just about every major decision Shaw makes but the results speak for themselves.

He has a lot of respect for Grimley and, in any other circumstances, the two would likely be pals. He think's Grimley's mutinous song is pretty cool (<- I have been listening to it looped while drawing this).

Runt reminds him of himself as a kid, and one of his biggest regrets is not leaving the boy safe in port.

Has a soft spot for Dr. Nutlee, he calls him "Art"

He resents Hunt for being too weak to handle the position and leaving him, with his zero experience, in charge. By the end of the game his rage has simmered down, but he still hates the man.

Things I didn't need to look up that I, nevertheless, looked up for this:

The history of the cigarette—filters were added to cigarettes in the 1950s, so Shaw's cigarette doesn't have one

How sunbleaching works—the UV rays destroy the hair's melanin

Relevant time period—the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration lasted from 1900–1920ish. I decided to narrow it down to taking place between 1909–1914 based on the end of the Nimrod Expedition (the first to reach the south magnetic pole) and the start of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (at first just so I wouldn't have to think about the complications brought about by the beginning of WWI, but then I decided that since the game is set in an alternate universe I can just decide to not worry about WWI). This time period would have been during the Edwardian Era, but since Shaw's backstory would have mostly taken place during the late Victorian Era, I kept my research focused on that period.

Tattoos in the Victorian Era—Exceedingly common among criminals and sailors. Shaw was both. Shout out to https://www.digitalpanopticon.org/ for having a database of criminals AND tattoos from this period, very cool and helpful!!

The History of Smuggling in the Victorian Era—it was on a significant decline from the beginning to the end of the 19th century. Shaw's gang was very much an outlier at this point in time.