Monster design

When thinking of monsters the first thing I thought of was Monsters Inc. The character design in Pixar's hit are all really great and diverse. All the monsters are very different from each other which was really impressive given the number of monsters. As the film is aimed at children the monsters aren't too scary and I think their personalities really bring them to life and make them easy to identify with despite the fact that they aren't human.
I think when designing my monsters I want to make them a lot less identifiable because I don't want to give them personalities but at the same time I don't want them to be too scary.

This is an enemy from the Square Enix and Disney game Kingdom Hearts. It is very simply called a Shadow. It's a really simple design but it still manages to look creepy and quite cute at the same time. It's cute but it is still obvious within the game that it is an enemy. I really like the idea of using shadow to create my monsters as I think that's something children can identify with as when it's dark you can often confuse shadows of very ordinary things for something creepy or scary.

Final Fantasy Series - Tonberry. This is one of the enemies in the Final Fantasy series and has seen many different incarnations, the above picture is taken from Final Fantasy X. I chose this version because I like the extra detail it has, in comparison to earlier versions, like the leaves on the head and pattern on the coat. I like that the Tonberry carries a lantern and I think this is something I may think about including in my designs.



Japanese Yokai

I've found that a good place of inspiration for interesting concepts for monsters is Japanese Folklore.  The word Yokai comes from the Kanji for "otherwordly" and "weird". There are lots of different kinda of Yokai which range from malevolent to just mischievous and some that bring good luck to the people who find them.

Kappa

The Kappa is a river spirit who is known to be mischievous and sometimes more than just that. Kappa can be bargained with or sometimes tricked. It's said that because they value manners if you bow to a Kappa they will have to bow in return which then means that the water they hold in the lily pad on top of their heads falls out and then has to be filled again from the river the Kappa inhabits. If a human takes pity and fills it up it's said that the Kappa will serve them for life.
Kappa are also said to be fond of Natto (fermented Soy beans) and especially cucumbers. There is even a type of cucumber sushi named after the spirit, Kappamaki

 The top image is the more traditional image of the Kappa but other incarnations have been a lot more child friendly and cute. There is even an anime series about a Kappa called Kappa no Kaikata (How to breed Kappas) which has also spawned spin off video games.

Tengu

Tengu are a class of demon who were originally thought to have bird like features but have since been sort of humanised and have long noses instead of beaks.

Tengu were originally thought to be harbingers of war but their image has softened and they are now thought to be more protective. They often protect certain regions such as mountains or forests. Tengu are often used in Japanese popular culture.

Some examples of Yokai in modern Japanese pop culture.

Gegege no Kitaro
The two Kitaro movies are among my favourite films and feature a cast of various Yokai ranging from the famous Kappa to more strange demons like the household items come to life called Tsukumogami. The movies are based on a very well known manga series of the same name by Shigeru Mizuki.

Nurarihyon no Mago (Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan)

A manga series by Hiroshi Shiibashi, which has also been adapted to an anime series, follows a young boy who has to take his responsibilities and replace his grandfather as the head of a famous clan of Yokai, the Nura Clan.

 

The manga in particular has a very interesting visual style and looks similar to the old brush and ink style of ancient Japanese artists like Hokusai. This is very fitting as the idea of Yokai is obviously something that has been part of Japanese folklore since ancient times.

The Great Yokai War

 The Great Yokai War is a movie for children directed by famous Japanese director Takashi Miike, which is strange considering he is best known for directing very violent horror movies such as Audition and Ichi the Killer. The story follows a small boy who gets dragged into a big war between clans of Yokai.

 

I think that Yokai are a really good source of inspiration for designing original and weird monsters as there are so many different types of them and there are some very strange ones. I think that most of the designs of traditional Yokai are a bit scary for my narrative but I do like some of the more simplistic, cute adaptations of them.
I also really like the way that each Yokai spirit has a story behind it and a reason for the way they look and behave. I'm also going to take inspiration from the fact that a lot of Yokai are based on animals or have animal features.



Pan's Labyrinth

Directed by Guiliermo Del Toro, Pan's Labyrinth features monsters which seem to have taken inspiration from some of the weird and wonderful forms of Japanese Yokai.

 

I find Pan's Labyrinth really interesting because it is very fairy tale like and features the classic idea of something more fantastical existing than what we can see. It also has the often used idea that only children can discover this kind of world. But Pan's Labyrinth is a very dark film and features imagery and ideas unsuitable for children so it's more like a fairy tale for adults I suppose. The design of the creatures and monsters is very successful in creating the fairy tale feel and I think Del Toro may have been inspired by Yokai.

A lot of Yokai have animal features which made me think that I should look at some characteristics found in animals to help inspire my monster design.

Bearded Dragon

Chameleon

I really like the shapes found in Chameleons like the shape of their tail and head and their long arms. I also really like the idea of having horns on my monsters like the Jackson's Chameleon.

 

 Wolf

Fangs and tail are the most appealing things to me here. Maybe my monsters could have fangs but will that make them appear too menacing?

 

Fox

Foxes also have really interesting tails and I am growing to like the idea of having monsters with some sort of tail to make them look less human and more animalistic.

Cat

This is a British Wild Cat, and you can see just from its eyes that it is wild I think. Maybe that is something to consider in my designs, that wild look to the eyes would make the maliciousness of the creature come across visually.