Rise of the Corrupted Xiāns

Submission for a new Darkstalkers Fanzine that debuts October 31st, Halloween of 2024!

The second zine project I participated in, and this one had a lot of artists partake to show off their skills and love for Darkstalkers. With me having my own Darkstalkers AU in Cryas Darkstalkers and the release being the spookiest day of the year, why not go for something a bit creepy, menacing if you will. And of course, I have to draw the two characters that mean everything to me.

Thus, I made art based on Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling's Corrupt Embrace Burst, the 腐敗的拥抱 (Fǔbài de Yōngbào). Oh yeah, I changed the name of this form since I felt the name better suited the lore ideas behind how the origins of the form came from Corriyami. While it didn't make them victims of Corruption, it did alter them in mutating to adapt to their unique, spiritual based biology. An embrace of corruption.

Ancient characters of 'xiān'/仙 served as a foundation for the new markings that spread around their bodies. The title of the piece is based around both the Corrupt Embrace and the prevalence of xiāns to Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling. In a way, they could be seen as immortals. And thus, tainted by a substance of corruption... ya catch my drift?

In time, I will make a new ref sheet to fully show them off, but this piece is a great glimpse into what I got cooking.

A further practice into my take of basically the MvC2 art style, extremely proud how this came to look! New layer tricks and simplifying the sketch lines in the shaded areas. Some lighting stuff here and there. And another update to their designs to add natural lip colors to them. Hard to see a bit, especially on Hsien-Ko, but they are there!

At this point, kinda waffling on, so I'll just say that I hope you love this art I crafted! Ya take care and enjoy the month of Spooks. >:3