In Response To: Visualizing the Halo Universe: Round 5 (Postmortem)
: Visualizing the Halo Universe: An HBO Art Contest
: Round 5
: Remember, feedback on artwork is appreciated and encouraged. We're not
: looking just to share, but also to start discussion!
: Additionally, if you have any ideas for future contests, feel free to email
: them to me at: postmortem@forwarduntodawn.com
: The last round's submissions can be found here.
: I hope everyone had a great holiday and a safe New Years! Now that I've
: gotten back from my various travels, I believe it's time to get this
: rolling again. Due to some of the feedback I received during the last
: round, this time there will not be a winner selected, and there will
: not be any prizes awarded (which leaves me in the awkward position of
: having to figure out what to do with all the prizes I had stockpiled for
: future rounds). From now on, we will be participating for the enjoyment of
: working on new Halo artwork and sharing it with the community to compare
: our ideas and discuss.
: In honor of coming back from our little hiatus, I've decided to kick this off
: again with something a little different, which I hope you all will enjoy.
: I can't wait to see what comes out of this round!
: My introductory post and general rules/guidelines can be found here
: Subject:
: Build Your Own Forerunner Mutation!
: Specifications:
: - Get creative, but think logically about your design
: - Use 343's Forerunner designs as the foundation for your own
: - Have fun!
: Sources:
: Halo 4
: Cryptum
: Primordium
: Halo: Legends
: Details:
: This time around, you will be creating something not from a book or a comic,
: but from your own imagination. The intention is to put together a
: Forerunner of your own design that you could picture standing alongside
: those in Halo 4.
: In Cryptum , Greg Bear introduced us to the idea that Forerunner go through
: various stages of physical mutations, where their forms are altered to
: better fit the role they must fill within their society. Some gain
: multiple fingers, multiple eyes, larger appearances, and various other
: physical additions and subtractions that change their appearance and
: bodily function.
: When you line up many of the various Forerunner designs concepted and
: implemented in the latest Halo game, you really start to see the wide
: variety that their race exhibits.
:
: Your goal is to create your own form that could sit comfortably in this line.
: Once again, it need not be illustrated well or even in any particular medium,
: so long as it gets your idea across.
: Extra Credit:
: A separate illustration of your Forerunner's head and face, so it can be
: compared to that of the Librarian and Didact.
: Have fun designing one form? Why not try your hand at more?
: - - -
: Can't wait to see what you guys come up with. Remember you have two weeks
: to submit your entries.
: Good luck! :)
My copy of Photoshop corrupted most of my files, but I was thinking about the Forerunners and some ideas popped up. There wasn't much of interest either way in the drawings, although when trying to write up stuff I came up with better ideas then I started with, so maybe I'll post what I get to do when my computer isn't trying to eat my work.
From the descriptions of the brevet mutations as well as the known variance, we know that the Forerunners take a wide variety of forms. But we also know in the case of Bornstellar that those forms can essentially mimic other individuals in additional to broader phenotypes.
My thoughts:
*Each Forerunner has a unique look based on their own personalities, which influence the mutation's direction. Quoth David Byrne: "He thought that some of these faces might be right for him....And
through the years, by keeping an ideal facial structure fixed in his
mind....Or somewhere in the back of his mind....That he might, by
force of will, cause his face to approach those of his ideal....
He imagined that this was an ability he shared with most other
people....They had also molded their faced according to some
ideal....Maybe they imagined that their new face would better
suit their personality....Or maybe they imagined that their
personality would be forced to change to fit the new appear-
ance....This is why first impressions are often correct…"
This would also essentially explain the Didact's changed appearance. We know he was trying to make himself immune to the Flood via genetic tampering, but what if the tampering itself was not the cause of the difference? The bestial characteristics he took on were rather a reflection of his own increasing stridency to defeat the Flood at all costs?
*back on the topic of Forerunner mutations, the idea I was working on was creating the "naked" version of a Forerunner Knight. I figure that the t-rex arms still must mean something, and it would be interesting if they were based on a class of Warriors or something similar. Maybe I'll put out a version when my copy's back--I imagine a "fleshy" Knight would look interesting indeed…a
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