Sicarius [Masterkey]

Digital chalk sketch of Sicarius I made for a presentation I did of my OCs. Heads Up: This post is gonna be a long one. So buckle up. Or just keep scrolling, lol. Maybe you're short on time.

I'm feeling a little emotional after the presentation because it was very surreal to speak to a room of people about some goobers I made for a story and have people cheer and applaud them. And because Sicarius is one of my most popular characters, I want to talk about him and my "relationship" with him. He is one of my oldest OCs. He's also probably changed the most as a character. I created him circa 2014, so about 10 years ago, to be the protagonist of something I was calling Skeleton Key--which I quickly changed to Aikagi when I saw just how many pieces of media had the name Skeleton Key, lol.

At that time, he was a 15-year-old typical shonen high schooler named Kuro. Grumpy but had a strong sense of right and wrong. His hair was always black, but it was spikier then, more like Ichigo's. From the beginning he's been an Ichigo expy. As I grew up though, and experienced other manga and anime, and games, I found myself wanting to spin Ichigo's tropes in unexpected ways. Tokyo Ghoul, which I first (unsuccessfully) tried to watch in 2016, and a game series called Metroid inspired me to twist things and push the character who would come to be called Sicarius into harder spots; stress him out, really give him things to angst about. He got older, quieter, and edgier [lol]. His original magic/ghost-based powers became an alien symbiote, plunging him into a realm of body horror I'd previously been too timid to explore. He was becoming something of an anti-heroic foil to Ichigo. Sicarius was interested in exploring the limits and nature of his powers, becoming reclusive, and was gaining a fearsome reputation in the story.
For some time now, he had his current birth name. For spoiler reasons I can't reveal it, but in about 2018 I came up with the initial plot twist that would christen him "Sicarius," a name I pulled from a group of recluse spiders. At this point he'd adopted his spider-centipede aesthetic and powers--which, surprisingly, has little to do with Tokyo Ghoul. I didn't get to Kaneki's centipede form until I finished the series this year, and was only somewhat aware he had one AFTER I had conceived of Sicarius's take on it. Moral of this story is that centipedes are badass and always be inspiring people.

Over the years since I graduated high school I was gradually becoming interested in "edgier" media, more emotive and heavier music like pop punk and metal, and cultivating an identity around being Very Interested In Creepy Bugs. Sicarius has been with me for every step. And all of it affected him as a character. At some point I became consciously aware of his meta-metamorphosis...and I decided to completely rewrite his backstory with this in mind. (Which is the main reason Will is now the first protagonist...his arcs have been easier to polish up and get ready to release; Sicarius's story needed more cooking time).

I don't think of Sicarius as a self-insert. We have some things in common for sure, but that goes for all my characters. Sicarius is more like an imaginary friend I never abandoned. One that does stupid shit with me and helps me weather the consequences. He's a hero, but he's also a vessel for my character flaws, experiments and and mistakes, and the darker corners of my personality I have to suppress in everyday life so people don't run the other way. I think that's something a lot of nerds can relate to.

If you read all that, I am both sorry and appreciate that you spent that time on me. I hope you learned something interesting about Sicarius.Apr 13, 2024

#masterkey

#sicarius

#oc

#longpost

#deepthoughts

Comments

bemdraws

2yr

I didn't feel like it was a long read because it was all very interesting! So cool to read your and his journey, and the flow of it really strikes home with some of my own ocs and how they developed. I like how it sounds like he matured, not just in design but character growth wise. Also, he got a cool name from it all

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diddis_drawings

2yr

Always fun to read about how stories and characters have changed over time (i find it really interesting to know about the concepts, earlier drafts and how the story developed etc.) it’s also really cool that he’s been with you that long! Reminds me of my main project that i’ve also worked on for over 10 years. And fun to hear about the different inspirations too^^
Also, I dig the chalk-style sketches!!

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@0li0s

United States

Manga artist/illustrator

オリオス

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