Vrock redesign series, chapter 2: the skeletal and muscular structures.
So let's look at the vrock again in its base design.
(The chapter on the vrock's awful wings starts over here and has a more detailed image description of the vrock itself: wings part 1)
(I'm making image descriptions slightly more integrated into the explanations, apologies if its confusing as I try to find the best way to convey all these visual details)
The vrock is a scrawny lanky creature, its arms are extremely long and its torso is way too thin even if it didn’t have wings to consider. It doesn’t appear to have space for many internal organs and it certainly doesn’t have the extra muscles that should be necessary for both wings and arms. It definitely does not have the huge keel bone most birds have to attach their flight muscles, and I'm skeptical about whether it even has room for a normal ribcage anyway. Here I've attempted to draw a skeleton over the top of the vrock to figure out exactly what's going on with this tiny torso while it's mostly hidden behind the skinny front arm:
(Same picture as above but faded. A blue skeleton is drawn over it and labeled: "I couldn't fit a functional skeleton under this body." And "no space for a keel bone". The skeleton outline is barely contained within the vrock's body, which is not great for any living creature as there’s usually more muscle, fat, and skin between the bones and the outside air.)
I know the gangly form is visually creepy and therefore a common design choice for evil monsters like this freaky bird demon. But I think it's important to actually consider a creature's anatomy and how it should move when you're designing it. So I'm going to focus these next few posts on the skeleton and muscles of the vrock and give it some bulk in the torso.
Next post explains how this skeleton can be fixed.














