Spirit family that you will one day murder and steal their powers

This week, let's take a look at the natural evolution of the fish.

This flying magical fish is what we are currently using in our tutorial.  It is a special kind of creature that once killed, grants the player a special power that they will be able to use throughout the rest of the game.  It is a forest spirit of sorts, and thus supposed to be a sacred creature.  After doing a couple fish concepts, I found myself stuck.  I could not get the fish-like creature to emulate the feeling that I wanted it to.  So, the fish evolved into a spirit girl...lady, which I think is a little more elegant.    

In order to use the same play structure, I kept in mind how the fish work, and how their movements would translate over to a more human form.  Each of these concepts bares that in mind in some form.  Additionally, each of these spirits will have the same base model to reduce the work load on our character artist, and to strengthen their sense of unity.  This way, we can give each of the spirits their own unique attributes while keeping them pretty structurally similar.    

For funsies, I made them into a circular mural to be put on the door that leads into the main forest.  This is to symbolize that the forest is their domain and that you are entering into it by going through the doors.  It should then come as no surprise if you happen upon them!

Texture used is purely for concept, so it needs a bit of work.  Doesn't look like a door quite yet!  But that is the general idea. 

After these rough concepts, I did even more rough concepts that our character modeler could work from to  translate them into 3D.

This winged lady is responsible for bestowing the player with the wind ability.  Her wings flap to create a burst of wind much like the original fish's would.

Next is the spirit who gives the player the water ability.  Her tendril-like hair is inspired by the frills of a jellyfish, and flow behind her as if suspended in water.

Finally, we have the spirit that gives the player the shield ability.  She was a little harder to pin down, as she is very much unlike the other two.  I'm still a little uncertain as to whether she will work or not but we will see.  The cloth/scarf thing encircling her body is meant to be used almost exactly as the original shield fish, and is even shaped similarly.

The way that the shield fish is shielding itself is the same way that the shield spirit will be using her cloth.  Is it practical?  Will it work?  I don't know.  Let's see if my concept gets shot down.  Stay tuned.