I was contacted to work on animation project for a client, the client presented me with a concept design brief which outlined their vision for a dystopian alternate universe/world, but with no solid physical description of the characters, i was tasked to conceptualize both the protagonist (Nero) and ‘Dusk’ who will serve as the antagonist for the story. The client mentioned they would like for me to craft the characters in an “animated/anime style” to give the final art the most concise look for their animation team.

Dusk is a Demon King who is a revered warrior within his dark kingdom, therefore, i designed him with majestic royal armor and created a serpent-like logo for him which is branded in several places throughout the image. I also designed the brand stamped to his forehead which is a demon symbol to illustrate he is a true native of hell. I cant go into detail on what the skull on his scepter signifies yet per the clients request, but it is the skull-head of Dusk’s arch-nemesis which he parades around as a trophy.

There was different vision i had for Dusk based on the client’s instructions and i posted the early concept design sketches here DV1 Concept Sketches. take a look!

See the protagonist of the story here. Nero.