Hero Shot - Anubis (Corrupt)

For the corrupt variation on Anubis’s design I wanted to portray a solid and pure rendition of an action orientated pose.
Mid-combat and violent which reflects the actions that are required to attain this morality choice of this god. Wielding his twin sabers infused with the aura of hatred he harbours, the very same mythic essence which is the cause of the cracks that riddle his body and weapons.
Anubis is wandering the desert wastelands of Seth’s realm.

Hero Shot - Anubis (Pure)

For portraying Anubis in his “Pure” state I wanted to focus on a calm and serene setting. But not going too overboard and bright to make the scene a joyous and care-free environment.
As for his pose I needed an open and calm emotion to given, hard to portray with weapons wielded but the final outcome was to show a meditating stance, not ready for combat at that moment but still adapted for such.
The environment is supposed to be the higher realms of the Gods.

Hero Shot - Anubis (Neutral)

For the hero shots I wanted to portray the characters they featured in a way that standard reference concept art.
Posed in a manner that is more fitting to their personality and featured in environments that reflect the character. The featured god in these images would be wielding the weapons and tools that I had designed for them as well, to show how they reflect their owner.
In this shot Anubis is in his neutral state posed and displaying his prowess while wielding his twin swords. Located in the caverns of the Underworld.

Hero Shots - Initial Sketches

Anubis Initial Sketches

Horus Initial Sketches

Osiris Initial Sketches

Seth Initial Sketches

Swords of Anubis

As Anubis is the main character in Dominance I wanted to focus on developing his weapons to the next phase on their concepts. Especially as he has three alternate versions of his tools depending on his allegiance. For his neutral weapon I wanted to give a noble yet sharp look to the design. A mx of sharp edges and flowing curves are mix evenly on the blade and hilt.

When Anubis is aligned with Osiris and later his son; Horus. As well as taking on more monk-lie robes he equips himself with new weapons. With smoother curves, a protective hand guard and engraved runes running through the blade it implies a more discipline has been applied to the design of this weapon. Keeping in unison with the new robes that Anubis takes upon his morality choices.

As Anubis ventures down the path of corruption, finding himself in the company of Seth and other allied Gods to his cause. This weapon features a much wider blade with spike-like edges, giving a much more blood-thirsty and violent appearance. His blade is linked with his soul, so it shares the same cracking surface that covers Anubis’s body.

Weapon Design

My initial idea for the props, assets and weapons that the gods would own were going to be comprised of light and energy, as if they were being conjured up by them. But the designs and details would prove lost as they would be completely white with the coloured glow and aura surrounding them depending on the allegiance of the character. Not only that but any colour pallet design would be lost. When creating these concepts I researched a variety of Egyptian weapons and tools to study their shapes, form and designs to incorporate them in.

For these concepts I did my best to alternate extra aesthetics to give a greater variation to each weapon design. From extra blades and extended pommels to converted handles which change the class of the sword to an axe which could be used for different characters.

Emotive Expression

As a lot of the characters in Dominance don’t share the same aesthetics of normal human beings in that they have the same properties of flesh.
 I wanted show this through the textures of their bodies. Sometimes it looks like skin on their bodies like the case of Horus but at times it is made to look like metal or other materials. For example, Osiris’s skin is represented by the colour green (Like how he has been represented in most  forms in both fiction and ancient Hieroglyphics.
It stretches and contorts like normal human skin through speaking and expressing emotions but in Osiris’s case it does not reflect or show the texture of human skin.

For Seth and other helmeted characters their “skin” is given the impression of looking like metal. Reflecting light and shapes with hard edges suggests that is it solid but the material can be distorted to show expression.

Not as extensively like other character’s skin like Osiris and Anubis for example, but it doesn’t not remain in one state permanently.

This gives the impression that these beings are made of other worldly materials. Also each character’s mouth is illuminated, to not only draw the player’s eye when they are speaking but to further show the mystical aura that courses through these Gods. They harness great power and I wanted to show that in many ways.

Character Design - Bastet

Bastet was a protective goddess. She is usually seen as a gentle protective goddess. However, she sometimes appeared with the head of a lioness to protect the king in battle. According to Herodotus, Bast was a happy and benign Deity who brought good fortune, music, dance and joy to all.

The cat was a symbol of Bastet. The ancient Egyptians made many statues of cats like this one to honour Bastet.
Bastet was one of the daughters of the sun god, Ra. A great temple was built in her honour at Bubastis in the Delta. Others do not see Bast as an entity in her own right at all, but as the personalized anima (female aspect) of Horus.

When designing Bastet I wanted to go in different direction than I have with previously designed female characters in Dominance. Along with her having the head of a animal like other gods like Anubis and Seth to alter herself from the others, I designed her robes to show more skin compared to Isis for example. Similar to the previous Gods her dress holds a swirling cosmos of stars and auras. Another element that further portrays the image of being a mythic being above the mortal realm.

Character Design - Horus

Horus was a god of the sky.

He is probably most well-known as the protector of the ruler of Egypt, the Egyptians believed that the pharaoh was the 'living Horus'. The ancient Egyptians had many different beliefs about the god Horus. One of the most common beliefs was that Horus was the son of Isis and Osiris.

After Osiris was murdered by his brother Seth, Horus fought with Seth for the throne of Egypt.

In this battle, Horus lost one of his eyes. The eye was restored to him and it became a symbol of protection for the ancient Egyptians. After this battle, Horus was chosen to be the ruler of the world of the living.

When designing Horus, I kept in mind that he was revered as the God of War and hunting, I wanted him to have an impressive physique as well as defining armour with thick plating. But keeping with the theme set by Osiris seeing as he is his son, I wanted to keep the cloth tabard and striped patterns on them. As well as keeping his secondary colour to a blue pallet as well as sharing the same tone of aura that surrounds him. Having just one of his arms in plated armour gives the design an asymmetrical design. Standing out from the rest of the cast as well as showing off the muscular structure to his arm and chest. I made sure to have his iconic “Eye” symbol visible in his design