Fate of Io: Akio's Rheya

Akio's Rheya

2003/03/17 00:46:42 PST by Temporal [manager]
Edited at 2003/03/17 01:01:26 PST

Before I start, for those who aren't familiar: Rheya is my character. Where Dev created most of the other characters, Rheya was all my work. I tend to be a whole lot more interested in decisions made about her than any of the other characters. So, yes, I may sound like I'm dictating this, and, well... TOO BAD! :)

I think it's time we came up with finalized concept art for Rheya. As far as I'm concerned, Rheya's basic looks were decided before the character was even created or named. Way back in the day, Akio submitted a concept piece for a generic female character which I rather liked, and which I later decided would be Rheya.

Akio did a few concept pieces:

Original Rheya
Another Rheya
Pylos Uniform Rheya

Of course, none of these are fit to be "official", as they are just sketches. What I would like is for someone to draw up an official character design based on these. The official design doesn't have to follow these exactly. In fact, I would like some things changed.

What I like most about the images is her face, eyes, and hair. I like the glasses... but not the funny rings hanging from them (not sure what Akio was up to there). Rheya should look intelligent and thoughtful, though perhaps slightly judgemental/condescending.

I don't particularily like the "scantily clad" look in the first two images. Rheya might wear such things if the weather were exceedingly hot, but not all the time. My favorite image is actually the last one... although, Akio's tendancy towards over-complicated clothing is present there, too. :)

I imagine Rheya's hair as being blue, a la anime. That is to say, she certainly doesn't die her hair. It's naturally blue. Sure, in real life that doesn't happen, but this isn't real life. :P I'm not set on that, though... we'll have to see how it turns out. Black would be my next choice.

BTW, I don't know who wrote "black hair" and "navy blue eyes" in Rheya's profile, but since it wasn't me, those decisions are not official. :P Feel free to ignore them (although I think blue eyes would be good).

EDIT: OK, I changed my mind. Black hair, sky blue eyes. Mmmmmm. Brings more attention to the eyes. :) (I have edited Rheya's node to reflect this.)

Also, don't worry if I sound like I'm looking for something too specific. Most of what I say here should be taken as hints. Do what looks good.

2003/03/17 03:22:11 PST by bond4154 [0/10]

I like them. A lot. We should use them.

2003/03/17 13:32:42 PST by mystik3eb [0/43]

Hmm...those weren't the ones I was thinking of. I saw some others a long time ago I REALLY liked...and those aren't any of them. I actually don't really like the shape of the face much, and she looks a little too mean, a little too bad-@$$...well, that's just the way I see it, but I'm not Temp am I. BTW I was the one who put all the profiles on the characters pages a while back (with corrections by you and Dev, or course), but I think I used info already given with Rheya, sorry. Black hair and sky blue eyes...sounds nice.

BTW, you spelt "dye" wrong =)

2003/03/17 20:41:33 PST by Aetrus [0/15]

I disagree with Mystik here. I think she looks perfect. That is about how I pictured her too. I think Temp and I are thinking along the same lines. She needs to have an edge. She's got a secret that creates that tension. I for one, have an edge because I have fought depression for as long as I can remember. However, I am very nice to people who don't pry too far, and can be a real inspiration from the 'been there done that' perspective. (I can be down right lovable too, just ask my girlfriend <cough>) So an edge in the character design reflects one in the character herself. She guards her eyes for a reason if I remember right. One as intelligent as she is would know that you can tell a hell of alot about a person by their eyes. (I rarely make eye contact with anyone I don't know well)

2003/03/18 02:15:20 PST by Temporal [manager]

Rheya looks "bad-ass" because she is extremely self-confident. She believes that intelligence is the best weapon a person can have, and she knows she has a lot of it. She fears very little.

Aetrus brought up something I had completely forgotten about... the covering-her-eyes thing... that's something I never really liked, but didn't feel like fighting when it was proposed. Now that I think of it more, though, it really doesn't fit Rheya at all... she wouldn't hide from people...

hmm... ::forms new idea::

No no, I'll tell you why she covers her eyes. You may have noticed that all of the characters start out the game with some big personality flaw, but gradually, over the course of the game, solve it. Well, when I first created Rheya, she had no flaw. Realizing this wouldn't do, I bolted on the condescending, anti-social flaw... but I don't really like it that much.

Another possibility would be for Rheya to start out like a lot of smart people I know: lacking in confidence. Forget all the stuff about being condescending, although she would still keep to herself most of the time, sometimes even fearing interaction with other people. And, over the course of the game, she overcomes that. In the end, she is the bad-ass character I described above.

So, regarding the eye-gear... it represents her hiding from the world.

OK, so, if anyone is going to draw Rheya, draw her with some sort of shades. :)

2003/03/18 04:38:42 PST by Morpheus [0/5]

Yeah, I agree. I also thought, on the old forums, we had a big discussion on this subject and this is the idea we came out with. Some lack of confidence, or some trajedy that happened to her early in her life.

2003/03/18 07:18:33 PST by Aetrus [0/15]

mmm so I'm not the only genius who fears people? Its strange that you give Rheya the same character flaw that I have. I suppose it makes sense. If you want a complete analysis of that flaw let me know. I know it well. :P

2003/03/18 09:46:06 PST by Kass [0/13]
Edited at 2003/03/18 09:54:52 PST
Awards: 1 from Dev

Oooh. The ol' lacking-confidence personality flaw. I like. (better than the anti-sociality thing... mainly because I don't really consider that to be a flaw, much of the time. ;P )

What kind of confidence is she lacking, though? You said she might be afraid of interacting with others. Maybe this is due to an isolated childhood (if she even had one) ... or maybe she grew up in an environment where all those surrounding her thought she was some sort of freak, being human with the ability to do magic. So she always considered herself and her abilities to be some sort of abnormality. If this is the flaw she needs to overcome, it would be easily portrayed from the rest of the party's easy acceptance of her, despite her unnatural abilities.

Or on the totally opposite scale... maybe she lacks confidence in her aforementioned abilities. Maybe one time long ago, she made something [TW] for someone and something went terribly wrong. (use your imagination... like, some simple celebration in which she was to provide fireworks... and a malfunction ends up killing a couple people. something traumatizing like that.)

This would make her uncomfortable with using her ability and maybe she would always think it was evil and bad. That perception might be further punctuated by her studies with Miriel and working with Pylos, because her inventions are not used for the purpose she might have chosen for them. In this case, the flaw would be overcome by Rheya seeing how much good her abilities could accomplish, as well as evil. (cause we all know that magic is just a tool, not evil or good in itself, blahblah... ;P )

Regardless of the reason, it might be necessary to put in why Rheya thinks shades are sufficient enough to hide her from people... and this might be more easily done if her trauma / lack-of-confidence was linked to one specific event.

(::gives Temp a heart attack for posting more in this one post than all her other posts combined::)

[edit] oh oh, and as far as the images go. *Definitely* like the third one most. Second one isn't bad, but the first one just totally hits me the wrong way, I think... feels like she's just some immature kid. And I think we have enough of a tough-girl exterior with Enna, anyway. Rheya doesn't strike me as a person looking for a fight. She's just there, cool-as-you-please, observing and listening. And probably criticizing the hell out of you inside.

2003/03/18 10:35:54 PST by Aetrus [0/15]

Cool and aloof. Not because she thinks she is better than everyone, but because she thinks she is less. That's me. Its scary lol. Really this is a wonderful thing to use as a flaw because it is so common and so overlooked. Most people just think I'm arogant. (am in my own way) Really I'm quiet and reserved because I am worried about what people will say or think. Also I'm just quiet.

Rheya would be similar. The shades would be enough to hide her eyes, but no more. I, myself, rarely make eye contact because people see far more than I am comfortable with in my eyes. Same deal here I think. A traumatic event would underscore this, but not, I think, be the cause of it. This is more of a psychological developmental thing. Its how she grew up. Overshadowed by some one. (Miriel perhaps?) taught, if only by herself, to keep quiet and observe everything. She would learn to trust slowly, and open up as the game progresses. How is up to us! (more on that later of course)

Thats what I think...from one who knows.

2003/03/18 11:48:00 PST by Clockwork Dragon [0/3]
Awards: 1 from Dev

Heh, I know I'm straying from my little gameplay sphere, but to be honest, the lack-of-confidence deal is, in my opinion, way overdone. Lack of confidence due to an accident is overdone, freakish-abnormality-lack-of-confidence is overdone, and all it does is make the character seem to be a simpering foo', and characters like that really don't interest me.
My thought is that you shouldn't keep with the antisocial, but definitely keep with the condescending and overbearing nature of the character. Perhaps one of the other characters could see something in Rheya the others don't. You could even keep the lack-of-confidence, but it is hidden by this overbearing nature; the bigger she looks, the weaker the others look, and it hides her weakness.
An interesting personality I see hardly any of in a story is the type of person who doesn't do much but hang back when the others are doing their best, but comes out and takes all the credit and takes charge when the others are in trouble, therefore making said character look like a great leader- though when pressure about the weaknesses, will get very defensive followed by a sinking, brooding depression. Just my opinion.

2003/03/18 13:12:46 PST by Aetrus [0/15]
Awards: 1 from Dev

Interesting that you have a Fight Club quote in your sig. Jack can't deal with his own pathetic weakness so he creates a character who can. Nihilism and wishful thinking collide and we have a catestrophic breakdown of the very society that Jack is a slave too...not to mention a hilarious movie if you get the huge amount of humour that is in it. It's a comedy after all.

About Rheya: I don't picture her being that arrogant. That strikes me as more Cade's forte, but not really then either. I don't think the current lack of confidence idea has been overdone. Certain forms of it have been, but I was thinking of the type where the character is strong in other people's eyes and looked up to, even loved, but weak in their own eyes and constantly fighting themselves into the ground. Eventually they would gain the strength to ask why they feel they must do that. When they find no answer to that they will begin to see their strengths. Perhaps this is Rheya when she sees how Ko deals with his own tragedy. (strength from the young)

We need no traumatic event really. The event would be her childhood development. Overshadowed as I said. No need to overstate that, although we run the risk of losing the player like Square did with Squall. I met so many people who just didn't get him. His character had a lot of development and alot of depth. More than most FF games do. (with a few notable exceptions. Terra for example)

2003/03/18 17:30:49 PST by Temporal [manager]

Aetrus, you aren't the only person with that character flaw. I don't think I will need to ask you about it, if you know what I mean. :P

ok, here is the deal: Rheya is a nerd, basically. She is smart, and she knows she is smart, and she trusts her ability to do "smart" things (like, any sort of engineering task)... but she dreads interaction with people, and she does not believe that her skills make her capable of any great feats. She lacks confidence in that she does not believe she will be able to do the right thing when put on the spot, and she thinks she will come off as dumb when she talks to people because she lacks social skills.

Of course, she'll have to do lots of quick thinking over the course of the game (although, granted, the player doesn't :) ), during which time she will learn that she is a whole lot more powerful than she realized.

2003/03/18 19:56:10 PST by mystik3eb [0/43]

I have had any flaw you could imagine.

Also, to review each picture individually (I still don't like any of them), the first one is hideous, the second one is the best, the third is too...I dunno, she looks too "weak" if you look in her eyes...even with the lack of confidence thing, she still seems REALLY laid back, more so then the Rheya I saw.

I like the semi-anti-social thing. It would fit perfectly well. Like she'll generally stay away from them the majority of the time, and would rather not interact with them, but will if she has to. The lack of confidence and anti-social thing work perfectly together, in fact, one grows another.

I dunno, I'll just say that so far, if Rheya looks basically like those pics, I'll be awfully dissapointed, but you guys don't really care, so that's just my two cents.

2003/03/18 20:13:39 PST by Clockwork Dragon [0/3]

If she's an antisocial person, she won't fit very well into a closely-knit party. Perhaps along the line, instead of learning she's more powerful than she thinks, to let go of her own weakness because her friends' strengths counterbalances them, and they're willing to overlook her weakness?

2003/03/19 00:51:29 PST by Temporal [manager]

She won't fit very well in the party. That is true. That's sort of the point. It's her flaw. Early in the game, she often sits off to the side while the party is discussing things. She just follows what they say.

So why does she join the party in the first place? Well, she knows something needs to be done about Pylos. Being very smart and observant, she has known this for some time, but she has not known what to do about it. Eventually, she discovers what Enna's group is up to, and starts following them around, wondering if she can help them, or if she should. She keeps her distance, not wanting to interact, but eventually she has to jump in and save them (part I, chapter 5, section 4c). At that point, she ends up as an official member, etc. etc.