Character Design

NINJANZEE 2013

I created the Ninjanzee to be a reoccurring antagonist in The Amazing Adventures of Awesome and Oops. The Ninjanzee are two brothers who work together as mercenaries. One has a daughter who fixes and physically augments the two whenever they suffer injury. Their appearance and circumstance will change with every appearance as they continue to come up against Fernando, Awesome and Oops.

I made this drawing to show the profile of the Ninjanzee’s bucket-shaped helmet and to start exploring the potential contrast between his hairy suit and his robotic hands and feet.

On his hand sits a sprite. I designed this little guy to be a mysterious forest dweller with a mask-like face. I imagine it would move around in large family groups, clinging to the bark of trees with their crab-like legs. When threatened, the sprite emits a blinding flash of light from its face.

This version of the Ninjanzee is a robot with short swords housed in its forearms. A mechanism moves the blade’s base up a channel in the palm of the Ninjanzee’s hand, where it rotates into an “up” or “down” position for use.