Gallery

Vis in City of Heroes, Amasar in Final Fantasy XIV, @tropesanddreams to Tumblr. This is a gallery of the character art I've accrued over the years.

All art is copyrighted to its respective creator.

City of Heroes

From roughly 2008 to 2012 when the official servers closed, City of Heroes and City of Villains were where I spent more or less all of my time roleplaying. Below are the characters I played in that time, and beyond.

Stheras - by nerdmurderThe snake boy mage Vincent Granby, who unknowingly struck a Faustian deal and found himself irrevocably changed in both body and soul as a result. Disgusted by what he became, he eventually purchased a hologram that would allow him to appear as he did before his transformation. But of course, it did nothing to change what was underneath.

Stheras - by AlpacaFriendOne of Stheras' major themes was failing to come to terms with the life he found himself with. The war that surrounded him growing up pushed him to get power for himself however he could. After his transformation, he see-sawed back and forth between finding a way to return to his human body and accepting his new life.

Stheras - by Saburu91When I started playing Stheras, his in-character age was only 17. After a couple of years, he entered a university student phase. Also, I wanted a reference sheet.

Stheras - by CocobeefWhile the official servers closed and Stheras' RP more or less wrapped up, a few years later I decided his costume needed a redesign as I never had a good reason for his vaguely east Asian costume. This is the design that came out of it.

Stheras and Cole - by honeyjarrWith the official servers closing, a friend and I decided to give our characters a happy ending. So Stheras and Cole moved off to Hawaii, got married, and lived happily ever after.

Hypersonic - by FruxieHypersonic is likely my oldest continuously played character. Sean Casus started as a petty super-powered criminal after being sent to jail despite acting in self-defense. The details of his story are too long to list here, but from that point eventually became a superhero, only to fall from grace again and end up with a sometimes extremist mutant advocacy group.

Arctice - by honeyjarrArctice grew up in the slums of Chennai, India, and used his awakening abilities to protect the downtrodden. Unfortunately, his methods were not exactly wholesome, and he made enemies of some very powerful people. It eventually left him with a broken mind and a long road to recovery.

Irroro - by paneseekerIrroro was a character that came about due to my desire to use the Titan Weapons powerset, and put it on a character who looked natural wielding a giant axe. So we ended up with a strange, giant lifeform from an alternate Earth.

Irroro - by AlpacaFriendThough it never came out in roleplay, I always imagined Irroro's great strength and nigh-invincibility came about due to his nature as a living god of his people. Then he came to the City of Heroes world and became stranded there due to a great misfortune at Portal Corps.

Irroro - by RhardoSometimes you just want to make your 9 foot tall axe-wielding monster into something a little more adorable.

Glow-Bug - by honeyjarrAlternate dimensions being a big thing in City of Heroes, Glow-Bug was the Praetorian (an alternate dimension version) of Hypersonic. He fought with the Resistance, those trying to overthrow the dictator of Praetoria. But as things fell apart and his homeworld was overrun by cruel nature made manifest, he escaped to Earth and found himself just another petty super-powered criminal.

Solvjotunn - by Amparan StudioThe invasion of Earth by the interdimensional alien species known as the Rikti forced people across the world to step up in a big way to fight them off. Solvjotunn, or Silver Giant, became a soldier in the Norwegian Armed Forces. He stumbled across the font of power by chance, but did not hesitate to take it when it meant being able to protect others.

Solvjotunn - by Amparan StudioBut then, what was a soldier to do when the war ended? Irreversibly changed, he acted as a defender in Norway for some time, but superpowered events were far and few between, and he was not one to let his great abilities go to waste. So it was that he ended up as yet another superhero in Paragon City.

Solvjotunn - by RhardoDespite that, one of his themes was finding purpose when you were essentially an instrument of righteous violence for your whole adult life. Unfortunately, the game ended before this could be explored in full, but given Lucas' generally self-content nature, I imagine he got himself a cottage somewhere in the Norwegian countryside and lived as something of a legend until the end of humanity.

Solvjotunn and Jian - by nerdmurderFor a time, following the closing of City of Heroes, a friend and I RPed Solvjotunn and his character Jian together. I don't recall how this particular image came about, but here's the living weapon giving the silver giant a surprise kiss.

Solvjotunn - by nerdmurderDid you know Ikea is popular in Norway? It's true! Here is Solvjotunn looking very displeased about apparently becoming an Ikea employee.

Siegerunner - by honeyjarrEven the most secure security systems had their flaws, and if the challenge was good, or the price was right, Siegerunner would be happy to be the one to break that security system. Personally, and by force, preferably. Recently, his uncomplicated criminal lifestyle took a turn for the strange when he attracted the attention of a mysterious psychic, but that is a story that has not yet seen its conclusion.

Wardbreaker - by AlalamponeYour friendly neighborhood fox spirit, come to break the wards binding his family to a slowly ticking down death clock. Naturally, he'll get it done in time, but there's no reason he shouldn't enjoy himself along the way.

Wardbreaker - by honeyjarrThough Wardbreaker didn't see as much play as I'd have liked, I always imagined him very much in the vein of classic fairy tale spirits. Neither good nor evil, simply a force of nature to be dealt with as needed. The trickster aspect of the kitsune was very much part of his persona as well.

Knightly - by nerdmurderAnother Faustian deal. As Knightly's world was overrun by creatures hellbent on the destruction of mankind, he became a vampire. With the enhanced strength and senses he had obtained, he was able to get his family to safety. However, the world he had ushered them to had no place for someone like him. So it was the he disappeared into the underground.

The Tenebrean - by honeyjarrThe Tenebrean is an example of what happens when you give a theatre kid the magical powers of the void, with none of the competence required to handle that level of power or responsibility. She was constantly torn between trying to get a handle on her abilities to put it to good use and numbing herself to the world and her situation. Also, something of a troll.

Rubis - by nerdmurderWhen the heroes closed in on the supervillain Rubis, a kid named Ari had the misfortune of becoming the villain's escape route. Rubis snatched Ari's body away from him, and left Ari to deal with the fallout of Rubis' actions. By the time everything had been sorted, Rubis was long gone, and Ari found himself in a body that was not his own.

Rubis - by nerdmurderFinding himself in a new body, Ari did what any kid in a world full of superheroes would do, and became one himself. He decided to redeem the name 'Rubis,' though. With the same name and nearly same appearance (his old body was transformed to suit its new inhabitant), this causes no shortage of problems with other superheroes thinking he's the evil one.

Reclaimer Rho - by honeyjarrRho had the distinction of having one of the most dangerous jobs in Portal Corps. It was her job to enter destroyed worlds and "reclaim" and catalogue, or neutralize, objects and targets of great power. If there was something that could hypothetically by of benefit, or pose a threat, to her home dimension, it was her job to take care of it. It was not a position she took lightly.

Tidebreaker - by nerdmurderThe privileged kid, Jeremy Park was a shipping magnate's son who had trained from a young age in an elementally based martial arts which gave him command over the element of water. He never had a particularly noble cause to put his abilities toward, but you can be sure he defended the status quo!

Chemical - by honeyjarrChemical was the leader of an anti-mutant group. Chemical used chemicals, as the name implies. While he served an important role in other characters' stories, he never saw much play himself, and especially fell out of favor with the rise of real world fascist and authoritarian types.

Kommos - by paneseekerAn unfinished piece of the ghost. In my head, Kommos was the one responsible, directly or indirectly, for a great deal of the misery that afflicted my other characters. His overall goal was the reawakening of magic as a significant primal force in the world. At which point, he would seize that power for himself, return to the time of his civilization's fall, and rewrite the course of history. Thankfully, there are those who would thwart him.

Zantetsu and Orion - by nonki-

Other

These characters are from an assortment of other games and roleplaying stories.

Eri - by CocobeefEri was what was called a 'Mageblood' in what was essentially a very low magic DnD setting. Growing up in a monastery, Eri's abilities aligned nicely with the views of her religion in what would happen if you just believed extra hard and did things the right way. Unfortunately for Eri, due to her lack of religious faith, every reference toward her as someone others should aspire to be like just created a strong sense of guilt within her.

Eri - by Furious KettleEri eventually left the monastery and joined a group of other magebloods. They went about finding magebloods who needed help with or may not have been aware of their power (think X-men), while dealing with those who saw their very existence as an abomination.

Stheras - by nerdmurderUnlike the Stheras of City of Heroes, this one was simply a mage in a high fantasy setting. No Faustian deal, no transformation, no other life.

Stheras - by CocobeefThe Stheras in this setting was assigned to a rural pioneer town to try and help the place get its act together and become productive. Unfortunately for him, it was inhabited mostly by people who had been assigned there as punishment, or wanted to escape from more civilized places.

Stheras - by CocobeefUnfortunately, while the design was great and the potential for story certainly there, he was never able to progress very far. His story stagnated before it ever really began.

Stheras - by nerdmurderHopefully someday another setting will come along that he could fit in. Or, I could create one of my own.

Stheras - by CocobeefRide 'em cowboy.

Zal Young - by AlpacaFriendZal is from another DnD game. Originally a human born and raised in a band of traveling merchants, Zal was abducted by the Fae and taken as a slave. His mind and body were warped on the capricious whims his masters, leaving him with avian characteristics and a broken mind.

Zal Young - by honeyjarrDespite the hardships he's endured, or perhaps because of them, Zal usually has a great deal of self-confidence and the sort of positivity that can only come from not realizing just how much danger you're actually in.

Zhao Jun - by CocobeefZal Young's precursor, Zhao was made in preparation for a tabletop game that was to take place in fantasy East Asian setting. Unfortunately, the game never developed. Fortunately Zhao/Zal did end up seeing some use.

Tetsuo Kagezaki - by Snapp Draag'nTetsuo was a beastman in a tabletop game based on the anime "BNA." His role on the team was meant to be as something of a identity forger, as beastmen in the setting were heavily discriminated against. However, as a pangolin and the only person who had experience with computers on the team, he become something of a tech tank.

Harper - by honeyjarrHoneyjarr has very low rates, and I was playing Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp at the time. So we ended up with Harper, who only ever existed as long as they had that hair style in the game.

Final Fantasy XIV

After a long break from MMOs, some friends convinced me (and helped me get a new computer) to try Final Fantasy XIV. I have only been playing since 2019, but enjoy it quite a lot all the same.

Amasar Kha

The would-be champion of the Azim Steppe, a land inhabited by a war-like, nomadic people. Amasar dreams of uniting the tribes of the Steppe and ushering them to something greater. However, he has gained his fame more as a leatherworker than as a warrior.

Rhaya'a Relanah

The wharf rat Astrologian, Rhaya'a was a petty conman until just recently. He grew up among pirates, and likely would have become one himself, were it not for his uncontrollable seasickness. After the Calamity and the death of his mother, Rhaya'a became largely aimless, conning people and taking odd jobs here and there (with a brief stint as a certain Au Ra's retainer). However, his fortunes may be turning, if he can just keep himself from lashing out at those that would lend him a helping hand.

Zantetsu Kiba

A Raen man born of Doma, raised in Thavnair, but recently come to Eorzea. Rough in voice, friendly in demeanor, and with an axe on his back, there may be little separating him from most adventurers. But then, he is not trying to separate himself from other adventurers. All Zantetsu wants is to build a life for himself in Eorzea alongside his partner.

Caragai Iriq

A Xaelic man come to Eorzea when naught more than a few summers old. Eorzea is home. It did not take a misfortune-filled trip back to the Azim Steppe to tell him that much. Now he finds himself back in Eorzea with an adoptive son thrust upon him, an injured arm, and little means by which to provide for the two of them. Thus does he find himself relying on others outside of his family more than he ever thought he would.