PERSONALITY
“Playful” and “elusive” were fundamental keywords when coming up with Splatter. A slippery trickster by nature, it’s almost impossible to have a serious conversation with him. A bit of a Peeping Tom due to his ability to slip into every nook and cranny, he is known to eavesdrop and gossip. There’s something Deadpool-ish about him, as he is not necessarily afraid of dying — he is extremely difficult to kill (someone would have to incinerate him down to a molecular level) and jokes about it often. Bullets will do nothing, and even a grenade or massive explosion will but scatter his remains, creating little Splatters bouncing around, until he sticks back together, and becomes whole again. He has bits of Chucky and “The Good Son” in him.
AESTHETIC
I spun the idea for quite some time before ending up with the current design. I tested concepts where he was an actual splatter, but they didn’t read as well, or weren’t as strong. I liked the idea of fluidity, but I thought it’d be more fun, visually (and for the character per se) to be more elastic rather than just “splatters”. In that sense, he is kind of like a symbiote (Venom or Carnage): a goop with full control of its “body”. The Yellow Smiley was a must for me — and to be clear, it has nothing to do with Watchmen. It’s a common image in Banksy’s work; mostly used to depict a rather insidious irony, or twisted reality. In this case, not only does it tie him to Banksy directly, but it also works as it would in a Banksy piece. Chances are, Splatter is not smiling. And if he is, it’d probably be after decapitating a thug or two. He is a vicious…and disturbing…and dark…very dark…smiley.
REDESIGN
Back in 2017, I never got far with the original design. I tried a few versions of him as a hooded vigilante, but they felt too on the nose, too obvious. And then there was the version made out of splatters, but that was just too messy. A few of these had the Smiley, even back then, but they weren’t working as a whole. The gooey redesign is, to a certain extent, the first original (completed) design. The others were more exploratory sketches, not more than a few strokes, and therefore unfinished.
NAME
Splatter fit with the playful persona I was trying to convey. I don’t know why, but it reminds me of Banksy. There’s something about it that sounds “the same” to me.
POWERS/ABILITIES
He has complete control over the molecules in his body which allows him to alter his form as it suits him. Can fuse himself (and in some cases take over) with an individual’s body.
KEYWORDS
Squirmy, elusive, playful, shifting, trickster. Happy face.
OLD 2017 SKETCH
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"The Seven Luminaries" is a fictitious team where iconic visual artists* are reimagined as Animated Series/RPG superheroes, supervillains and everything in-between, with inspirations drawn from comics, movies, anime, and shows across the ages.
Project was originally conceived in 2017.
(*for this specific project, I narrowed “artists” to those who create static [no moving pictures] works of art.)
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely on purpose 😏
