The only problem I have with this design is how lanky they look. One of the main aspects of Dwarves in fantasy is how robust & sturdy they are; in many ways, they're just like the minerals and resources they mine. Dwarves should be built stocky and brawny to reflect this, whereas these Dwarves almost seem frail. That said, it's still an amazingly unique design. Love the detail put into it first and foremost, he doesn't just draw them a certain way for shits & giggles but explains the evolutionary process behind this look. Adds a lot of depth.
that's probably because modern fantasy is too akin to dnd style of fantasy. In the sense that people want to be those species. And if they're absolute murderous assholes, there's less people who will like that. My theory at least
@@MaindexOmega This is partially why I believe the best fantasy RPG would restrict you to playing a human. Darkvision for example isn't interesting when players have it, but it becomes terrifying when enemies have darkvision and you don't. Also in a heroic story it's important to create a distinction between the "ordinary world" of the protagonist's daily life and the unfamiliar "special world" they must delve into, and if all the players are obscure magical races then you're really hamstringing yourself there.
@@SquishypuffDave I love this. In RPG’s, the most enjoyable sessions were definitely the ones where you were limited to humans or human-adjacent builds and good aligned characters. The bevy of options now is culturally and mechanically non-sensical.
You mean like that Danish folktale where an elf offered sex to a man who was engaged to be married? Where she was all cheer and frolicking until he turned her down once too many times and she flipped out and cursed him. Like her entire personality flipped on a dime. I try to preserve that with my elves. Where they can be jovial and sweet one second then you say something mundane that they took personally and suddenly they are considering how to ruin your life for it.
An idea to expand upon their skin markings. You could add a saying along the lines of "To gauge the trust of a dwarf, check their back" Dwarves can't mark their own backs as they cannot reach them - so others do it for them. Whether or not a dwarf is trustworthy depends on the markings that others gave them (whether or not other dwarves 'have their back'). A blank back could mean that the dwarf doesn't trust others - or perhaps they've tried to hide their own untrustworthy nature by having their markings removed or covered. A tell tale habit of an untrustworthy dwarf is one that rubs their back on hard surfaces and claiming it to be an itch (but infact, it's a habit from frequently trying to scrape off the undesired markings themselves) By this same virtue, dwarves tend not to trust any race with 'markless' backs.
If dwarf 1 trusts dwarf 2 and marks that on their back, and then dwarf 2 betrays dwarf 1 in some way, why would dwarf 2 erase the markings that dwarf 1 made on their back? Unless dwarf 1 was able to add another mark to dwarf 2's back that indicated the untrustworthiness...
@@autumngalix4616 I think it's a good story telling mechanic in that you can have all sorts of variations. There's betrayal, trust, mystery - not just to the trolls, who know what the markings say. There could be hidden messages; only those who know how to read Dwarven markings could find such messages. The trust component could be deeply cultural, and thus it's taboo (on a personal level) to even look at your own back's markings, good or bad. You could have guilded markings (similar to 'Kintsugi', a process of repairing ceramics with gold and lacquer), filling in the grooves with a gold like material to make the markings permanent. Kind of like a sign of status. However this is a ceremony that is bestowed by dwarven leadership AND community vote, you cannot ask for it (it's considered very rude). Pure gold filled markings are a sign of honor and prestige. But especially notorious criminals may have had this treatment - forever marking them as untrustworthy. The gold used in their marking is tainted with the blood of other traitor dwarves; giving the resulting gold a deep, crimson rose hue. Thus any dwarf with rose gold gilded markings is not only likely evil - but highly dangerous.
I LOVE the designs with the whole concept of "Not Meant for Humans" that reminds you that these are entirley different species not just short humans with beards. Making them seem mildly uncanny in their humanoid and familar appearance yet giving them an alien feel is just awesome!
I actually have a problem with it, because he’s redesigning a race. So the whole “not human thing” isn’t creative with that in mind. That’s like saying you are going to redesign a motorcycle and then you give it four wheels. That’s called a four wheeler bud. I get it, it’s “creative”, but it’s not a “cycle” anymore. So you didn’t really redesign crap. You made something new with something known.
@@shadowcard3998 huh? They arent suppose to look like humans anyways... they arent going to be short humans or humans with long ears. They are really different, what he is redesigning are the tokien dwarves or elf
@@exzyyd392 Idk if it'd be painful, considering their skin is made of metal, though, they could be like a tortoise or turtle and have nerve-endings in the "shell".
@@sandmaneyes Orcs but they're frankenstein's monster, they reproduce by taking corpses from the battlefield, both enemies and their own and "repairing" them by carving away whatever's too damaged to use and grafting together spare parts from bodies that are too heavily damaged to be worth repairing, an army of patchwork men that live to make more of themselves, the reason they're so reckless and battlehungry is because they take for granted that the same methods used to create them in the first place will be used to resurrect them should they fall, all they need do is Win so their brothers have ample bodies to work their craft.
I love the "condenses into jar-shaped mass when sleeping" bit, it reminds me of Gorons looking like boulders when they curl up. Maybe these dwarves also eat the ore they process? They would need some way of growing their carapace, perhaps even recycling shed shells?
This feels like a race you would see in a fever dream. The uncanny valley is so strong. I can imagine feeling very uneasy around these creatures despite their hospitality and friendliness, just because they are so alien. I probably couldn't spend too long in their home because I would crave the familiarity of human cultures so much. An absolutely incredible design!
I Wonder if dwarves would feel the same way about humans. Maybe dwarves cant handle human foods like how we cant take more than a sip of there drinks without burning are thtouts or if a dwarf was at a human gathering and they are just having a silent panick attack because of our unnerving apperence
If you lived in their world and saw them regularly, they probably would be a bit more familiar from your perspective. It depends on your exposure to them really.
Yeah, I really like this juxtaposition between its, at first, unfriendly look and its real friendly "inside". This could lead to really interesting emotions, exactly like you said, kinda dream-like - you don't completly understand WHAT you seeing, but you kinda like it. Interesting trope, usually we get to see it used other way when friendly looking stuff has its darker side, but I really like it reversed, I feel it a lot more interesting and in general healthy to do it this way, because "friendly at first glance and hostile in reality" is only could work in some way of a dark twist situation when you either get betrayed by them or get scared, while this type of twist could work in many more interesting setups
Ive always thought that gnomes were far too close to halflings or dwarves in terms of design so it would be really cool if you could put an interesting spin to them
Gnome arguably derive from the much more sinister “red cap” mythological figure (hence why gnome usually wear red hats) which was similar to a small goblin, that lived in abandoned castles and other ruins. Having red caps and gnome be part the same species, but differing primarily in ideology, would be an interesting starting point for some gnome lore
@@4dealliance598 that fits very well, because mushrooms primarily feed on either tree sap, or decaying matter. That would fit with mushroom gnomes living in forests and red caps being attracted to places where battles and deaths took place in traditional mythology Edit: if one sub-species of gnome only fed in a specific type of rare tree, that variety of gnome could potentially become hyper-warlike to protect their trees and forests 🤔
That is kinda why I got confused with reading halfling and gnome in fantasy settings, since in English at least they are very much too similar. While in Norwegian folk tales Nisse or fairies are way more chaotic creatures, that you had to appease to not have them mess with your farm or home
I don't know where this video came from, but I'm incredibly glad that RUclips suggested this to me. This is literally what I do, I love to see other concept artists out there.
As someone who is a big Tolkien and fantasy fan, and a HUGE fan of Durin's folk and of dwarves as a fantasy race in general (the way they are always portrayed that is), I never thought your reimagining of them as some kind of humanoid, insect-like race would be so weird but also very plausible and interesting. I really like how you envision them while sleeping. So cool and so weird :D
A lot of people seem to be sadly confused on the intent of the video. Its not him going "dwarf bad heres better one" its him designing dwarves for his own project.
I happen to also tap into re-imagining classical creatures. What i ended up with is a grid, one axis says "short, medium, tall" and the other "ugly, average, beautiful". In this grid i put the standard versions, like: Orcs are tall & ugly, goblins are short and ugly, elfs are tall and beautiful, etc... As you can imagine, the grid still had spots left. What creature is short & beautiful?, for example. So i tried to close this gaps with new kinds of creatures.
@@astick5249 Yea, but i was thinking about "remotely human sized" creatures. Fairies are normally imagined to be much smaller, at least in modern fantasy.
I personally would love to see your take on elves. Im designing my own fantasy world for a comic, and seeing this design be so out there really makes me want to do the same with my races.
My personal take on elves would be to make them really tall, like young elves are human height but as they get older and the centuries go by they just keep growing vertically. The elders who lead society are easily recognizable because they're like a meter taller than the other elves. Also having limbs that are bendy in a way that's just mildly uncomfortable to watch.
@@bigbrainenergyguy This sounds very interesting. It kind of reminds me of Pratchett's trolls being roughly human sized as young and turning into literal mountains over several centuries. Imagine five meter elves.
This isn’t an original idea per say, but an amalgamation of ideas that I had thought of put into one. Take per say, the theological sense of the story of Adam and Eve except for Wood elves. Imagine if the god of wood elves were a tree, and this tree grew fruit. When wood elves are born, they cut open a slit in their forehead to plant a seed originating from this particular tree. When a wood elf goes through his life it will reach the natural four seasons both explained literally and metaphorically. The seed will also grow inside this elf showing a depiction of how old they are. When the time has come for an elf to end their pilgrimage in life, they will gain an unquenchable thirst for water, and will be compelled to do one thing. “Dig”. In the process of this occurring for generations upon generations, their forests will flourish, bearing the same exact fruit that has sustained elvenkind for basically since their existence. When elves say I can hear the woods whisper, scream or shout, it is a literal sense. Despite what humankind believes, the elven woods are living, breathing things, a network of pooled consciousness and of this original tree. The tree has goals, fears and aspirations. If this tree is threatened, an elf will work similarly like a sleeper agent. Commandeered to act with every fiber of their being. To destroy, to protect, anything that is required of the tree's orders. "I will be watered with the blood of my kin, and my enemies. For this we shall never grow hungry, weary or thirsty. For your service, I will provide you with everything, your clothes, weapons, shelter, and protection."
@@bigbrainenergyguy I once heard someone say jokingly that elves are European catgirls. I took that to heart in my setting. Large, predatory eyes. They still look like a gorgeous human, just with almost alien big eyes set in a more circular skull. I went back and forth on pupil shape, settled for slight ovals- cats and snakes have slits to help see through grass but tigers and bears don't because they can easily look over grass. Somewhat more conical teeth and pronounced incisors. They always keep their lips closed around humans so as not to frighten them... when they are feeling diplomatic. Tall and slender. Elves exhibit sexual dimorphism, the women are bigger than the men, and heavier. Tend to have exaggerated curves, they're related to nymphs after all, where males are like bean poles. Easily exceed six feet on average and the really big ones can push seven. Not obligate carnivores, but most of their diet is meat. Said in a post elsewhere that the big 'cat like' thing is their violent mood swings. Older elves tend to be more reserved but younger ones are very dangerous. The sort you can be having fun insulting each other then you say something absolutely mundane and that is what makes them flip.
Hi! I'm an RPG Game Dev and I love your videos. I love your design for Dwarves but here's a few suggestions: The design does not seem to fit well with the idea of a "social and festive creature" just by their looks, which leads to a problem to the reason towards drinking alcohol; Why do they drink it? Well, by their looks, I'd guess they're just simply addicted to it, same for the smoking, which complements their eery looking style, however, I have a different interesting solution - Maybe water is poisonous to this creature, so instead, they live off of alcohol (their water) and they found a way to syntethize alcohol from a crystalised mineral. This solution gives more uniqueness to the creature and also gives reason towards their interest in forging and alcohol.
The various deviations from the Tolkien dwarf mold have always felt like they're missing something for me. I've liked the Discworld dwarves, Eldar Scrolls pulling more heavily their engineering and art deco ideas, or Artemis Fowl dwarves eating dirt, but they all felt slightly off and didn't resonate with me. But I adore this concept at first sight. You really managed to capture the essence of dwarves but changing them so completely. It just fits perfectly. I'm completely enamored. And as a little added bonus the beard, noses, and eyes give it a face that makes me think of something out of a Studio Ghibli movie. I can't wait to see more
Elves would be tough. Dwarves already have this aspect of caricature to them that if you retain the main distinctive markers, you could go totally wild with everything else. I’d love to see you try elves.
@@davidfrancisco3502These are literally goblins or a generic monster tbh Dont try to always subvert the expectations, make what we know but with a twist
My favorite part of your design is the head. These are subterranean creatures, so they need to be short, and have natural head protection. A flat, armored head makes a lot of sense. I've always viewed Dwarves as akin to moles, although I do like your insectoid concept. My elves are the insects in my world building, so my Dwarves are mammals. I love your stuff. I love seeing works in progress, even if unused.
The flat heads remind me of phragmosis in ants - some ants have adapted flat circular heads so they can act as doorways, blocking or opening small round entrance holes into the nest. Makes sense for a burrowing species.
Man, your character design is like something out of an old, Norse-styled fairy tale! I haven’t felt this sort of awe and wonder since I’ve read Tolkien’s books as kid. It’s beautiful!
I can imagine a scene like that of some first person horror games like Agony, Outlast, RE: Village, etc. Where you've found yourself, after traveling far too deep, in an area where a large population of these Dwarves live. You're sneaking around, traversing through their homes, hiding behind things trying not to be seen because you're unsure whether they are friendly or not, and their appearance chills you. Strange architecture and strange sounds echo through the cavern as these Dwarves simply live their daily lives-but because of their high strangeness-it is scary and unnerving.
The first thing that came to mind when I saw your design was a scenario: A big cavern, small streams of water flow trough, big stalactites and stalagmites, hints of craftmanship and artistry on the walls You walk trough it wondering what ancient civilization has lived here and then you see the strange pots sitting on every stalagmite turning with you and curiously observing the first human they have seen in centuries
That bit about them sharing their culture for their own amusement reminds me of my trip to Africa a few years ago. Our guides tried to teach us some traditional dance moves, we failed horribly, and we all had a good laugh. That interaction in your story gives a very human aspect to a very inhuman looking species.
@@ReblazeGaming no, actually. referring to the continent you visited isnt the same as mistaking a continent *for* a country. if i said "i visited antartica", you wouldn't be concerned. as a *european* i dont care much for people referring to the entire continent, because usually the follow up question is "what country?". you're forgetting that in *real-life conversation* you have to start conversations with something to engage with :)
@@unadventurer_ What the fuck does this even mean? Anime is a medium, not a genre. Why aren’t these designs sufficient to be used in an anime? Because they wouldn’t fit in Naruto?
As a Faroese person, who's been to Iceland, and Norway, and currently lives in Denmark. The amusement of not handelig the local food and drink sounds very Nordic. loved this.
Thinking about what you said, I feel like Gorons from Legend of Zelda are the perfect redesign of dwarves. Following your design concepts of 'being created', looking designed, 'slotting' together etc. and being organic and inorganic as well as still having key elements of dwarves such as their beards. Gorons kind of fit all this perfectly.
1:55 this idea of their body parts slotting into place and the end result you arrived at is perfect, I love the concept that they can fold down into themselves sitting down appearing almost like a pot lmao, really love the creativity!
I came across this, and instantly thought "THAT'S GOING IN THE BOOK!" when you said you initially designed them around grubs. But then I got hooked. This was truly mesmerizing.
In my own fantasy writing I wanted to depart from classic “human but…” tropes, and it ended with me entirely redesigning all reptile biology so I could have humanoid four armed gecko people with metallic blood that are very distantly the “goblins” of my world.
i could leave glowing comments on every one of your videos praising every aspect of the visuals of your work, but i just wanted you to know that what you do is so inspirational that it's fundamentally changed how i think about the creative process
In survival videos it talks about how difficult it is to dig a shelter out and how much planning you need to go to dig as little as possible, so this sleeping jar form evolved out a way to save space in their shelters. Perhaps the cacoon form is oversized so this is a evolutionary stand in their race.
This made me want to redesign dwarfes, too Mine are derived from octopodes Their distant ancestors lived in an ancient sea that was receding, and a group of them got trapped in fjord that then became a lake, and then dried out Octopodes can survive on land but they're squishy and not very adept to life in this alien land. So the octopodes adapted by using rock sheets to shield themselves from the hazardous enviroments and ate dirt to filter out the microorganisms and fungi for food. With time, they learned that some rocks are harder than others, and what each are made of. Mind you, octopodes don't care for their young, they die the moment the lil octobabies hatch. All this understanding is genetic, not learned. With the very stressful life on land, evolution went into overdrive, selection was harsher. Some tentacles grew stronger and sturdier, became their primary mode of propulsion. Others grew longer, thinner and, multiplied by the thousands and grew more interlaced, beginning to resemble wiggly hairs, a beard if you might. Those made it easier to filter through the dirt and extract those tasty, tasty microorganisms. Understanding rocks became understanding metallurgy, and a culture of forging one's own exoskeleton emerged. Well, I say culture, but dwarfes are very much loners. The only time they like to meet is to 1. mate or 2. get hella high on cave mushrooms. Dwarfes are highly intelligent, but in their very own way that is alien to all the other species. Dwarfes don't speak, either because they can't or because they don't want to, and they have absolutely no use for currence or all this other civilisation nonsense. If you can somehow manage to explain to them what you need, they will forge anything and everything you can imagine for you, just for the fun of forging it. But if you annoy them in any way, they'll just straight up strangle you with arms that can crush steel. Dwarven exoskeletons are extremely sturdy and highly individualised to fit the Dwarf that forged it. Since dwarves don't have any culture and avoid even their own kind, they don't have any overarching armour designs humans have. With their squishy bodies and propulsion limbs that can bend any way they like, there isn't even a common body type, every dwarf just builds their armour around themselves and the way they are most comfortable. Some dwarfs walk on two limbs. Some on four. some on more. Some just rotate in their shell and extend limbs in any direction needed. When you kill a dwarf, it is custom to take a part of their exoskeleton and incorporate it into your own. That is the rule for anyone, not just amongst dwarfs. Taking the exoskeleton of a dwarf that died of natural causes is an extreme affront and any dwarf that you come across will kill you on the spot for it. They can taste the difference between killed octopus and old octopus on the armour. Dwarfes have okay eyesight, it is still more developed for aquatic seeing, so they're fairly short-sighted. Hence the preference of caves over open fields, they can see threats easier in confined spaces. A dwarf in a meadow is a dead dwarf. Their primary sensory organ however are their food tentacles, their "beard". They will slobber you and taste your armour to recognise you. They can taste a rock and say exactly what it is made of and what you can make with it. It's definitely a very rudimentary idea with a lot of holes, but i like my land-squid-dwarfs : )
Thank you for filling the "spiderwick's field guide" shaped hole in my heart! I'd love to see your renditions of the universal studios classic monsters.
An idea I like from elsewhere is that the beard isn't facial hair in the same way human facial hair is, it's a fungal based symbiote which each dwarf spends their life carefully cultivating to act as a natural air filter in their long stays deep beneath the ground.
absolutely awestruck. i LOVE this concept i hate the "human but" problem in fiction and always complain about it regularly so it was really nice to see someone redesign a fantasy race like it was from some kind of semi sci-fi fiction. you're amazing. subscribed in an instant.
I think it works alright when it's more of a 'common ancestor' situation, or even 'alternative versions of the same race from different universes' where there's a degree of cosmic predetermination. But yeah it's a little lazy when they're just weird humans but also completely unrelated to humans
@@Destructocorps Its fine when its fantasy, but I do have problems with it in sci fi. Often fantasy races have common sources. Such as Eru creating Humans and Elves, and Dwarves created by Aule. The orcs were just corrupted elves. It makes sense. Skyrim also does it well.
I like how they are still very earthen and rocky. Ideas which tie them to the earth are there like bugs, tunnelling, machinery/arts and crafting, shells/carapace.
These would make such a cool game mechanic, finding dwarves like this throughout the world, waking them up, learning a snippet of the worlds history from them, and then when you've found them all you can go to a gathering where you drink and have a rousing party with them before they go back to working.
Ok this was easily the most interesting redesign of the dwarf I’ve ever seen, and I’m a huge Dwarf lover . It dips hard into science fantasy and Moebius. What a fantastic concept
Vampires could be a fun addition for this interesting dark fantasy style and setting, maybe with some mosquito inspiration with a belly that'll be transparent when full of blood!
This redesigning reminds me of drawings in old the hobbit books every illustrator from every country had different ideas of how the characters really looked and all of them were amazing
A friend of mine had a similar want to redesign Goblins. In his world, Goblins are bipedal shark-like creatures with a long pointed face, gnarly teeth, and fin-like protrusions on the side of the head similar to pointed ears. Their arms are very low on their short body, close to their legs and they usually end up walking on all fours. Since some media portrays Goblins as being able to create machinery that often is shoddy or backfires, their short, low-to-the-ground arms are logic behind this; they can construct things sure, but their bodies simply aren't made to create long-lasting mechanisms.
This is probably the most compelling dwarf design I’ve ever seen! I love the insectoid inspiration and the way they can fold their limbs in almost seamlessly, not to mention the engravings and inlays that add a sense of culture that developed organically. And your style is beautiful to boot! Amazing work, I can’t wait to see what else you’ve made and will make in the future!
I would love to see elves that tap into the cosmic horror vibe of being mystical and unknown ancient entities of the forests. This is such an epic redesign and I’m excited to see what you choose next!
In the book series I'm reading, Freelance Familiars, "Elves" created "The Veil", a multi-dimensional being that constantly adjusts the perception and memory of most of humanity so they never recognize magic. Dragons, which are very much cosmic horrors, have likened the elves to sharks, with the dragons just being big fish, and the main character who is one of the more powerful mortal beings (at that point) as nothing more than krill. They haven't actually shown up in the books though, and have nothing to do with forests.
I think what constitutes uniqueness is an ability to arrange pre-existing material into clever new forms. What you have created is certainly unique, and you have applied your talents well. You should be an inspiration for others to aspire to express themselves as well as you do.
These fellas would be quite interesting to encounter in a video game or see in a story/show/movie. Imagine a lone adventurer wandering into what they think is an abandoned ruin filled with meticulously crafted pottery. But when trying to lift or open any of the "pottery," it's impossibly heavy and starts squirming, complaining that you're disturbing it's sleep. Then the rest of the "pottery" chime in about how drafty it is and wanting someone to close the door. Finally, one little guy stands up and lumbers over to the door, only to walk into the non-dwarf and get startled into alertness, waking everyone up with a proper fuss about an intruder.
I had the pleasure of meeting Terryl Whitlatch while I was in college I was being purely impetuous when I gingerly walked into her office to chat with her. My major was not Illustration but I could relate to her work. She would teach creature design and she was demanding on her students in terms of productivity. She would have them not only design a creature but also its bone structure, musculature, breeding habits, and environmental adaptations. In the end they would have a complete presentation of their work. What your doing here reminds me of her creature design class and I really enjoy it.
this sort of approach is fantastic, I'm not a fan of having all that info then dumped on the player, but by having it accessible to the GM and discoverable through play it really brings the world to life.
It would explain somethings. Like how dwarves can eat so much with no effect, are tolerant to alcohol (both as maggots can be found in fermenting fruit, and some fly larvae are inherently tolerant). The part it kind of diverges for me is the carapace. While an fascinating idea with beetle-like features, their creation specifies maggots (fly larvae) instead of grubs (beetle larvae). While dwarves would still have something resembling chitinous skin, it would be thinner. In addition, it would explain why dwarves are generally viewed as dirty and avoid water (including bathing); besides potentially being nose-blind, a maggot's skin actually hardens and strengthens when dry, providing the Dwarves with a layer of defense in battle and protection in the forge, and thus their bodies have evolved and acclimated to low-moisture and arid environments to capitalize on this defense mechanism. This would also promote a distaste for open water and extended soaking. Not to mention, fish would inherently view dwarves as a food source (fish and maggots), and with their skin softened up in water, makes Dwarves prone to fish-related aggression. Dwarves could very well have an instinctive fear of open water and fish due to this. Salmon are especially vicious. Alcohol may also serve as a means of water regulation, since it's a diuretic that helps them shed water/moisture faster, allowing them to regain their hardened skin at a faster rate after a washing. And since washing would be in the privacy of their homes, Dwarven marriages are probably more intimate and stronger forged, due to the vulnerable nature of simply cleaning up. It might also give way to some offshoot of Dwarf that is the exact opposite, and lives in more water-saturated environments like swamps, submerging to bottoms to cultivate, mine, and harvest bog iron. What do you think? Questions? Comments? Concerns?
I made dwarves hyperevolved naked mole rats, having their holds function as more like a eusocial colony than a city. However, I love the merger of insect and artificial asthetics, I did a similar thing with my worlds version of orks. Making them foot soldiers crafted by the gods, an army that arose each spring to continue a war long over. I though the short story was great, really made the dwarves feel like a culture, more than just a concept.
This is no more redesigning dwarves than when George Martin calls elves Children of the forest. You've just taken some other weird mythical creatures and called them dwarves.
I love the aspect of carving into thier skin/exoskeleton. Body modifications are such a part of so many cultures and its intresting to see how different species might engage with that given thier different physiology.
You sir, are a true creature designer. You go far beyond making sure it looks cool, you also think about how it works, how it lives, what its cultural origins are, and how it fits into its respective universe. As it should be. Inspired!
As a writer and artist, I am truly fascinated by this. Its such a unique and welcome reinterpretation of dwarves, and I'm also happy that you found inspiration and payed homage to the Norse Religion when recreating them. I'd love to see more reinterpretations of famous folk creatures in the future.
if i won the lottery i'd have artists like this help build a story/movie/series with their creatures in it. i see these amazing designs and want to see it out somewhere.
Lizardmen would be interesting to see your take on. There's so much variation in their designs across media as it is, but it could be neat seeing a fresh take on them.
What I would like to see is lizardmen that are the ancient civilisation. they arrived at the peak then a natural disaster wiped out their civilisation but not their race. the survivors deciding "reject society go back to 'codile" then it became tradition. And the other races evolved in the vacuum.
I can't stress enough how awesome this concept is, they are so different, yet they still so recognizable, I can just come to my TTRPG table and introduce this as a dwarf and they will just roll with it. Please, do make more of the classical fantasy races like the elves, orcs and other things in between.
@@lynth The thing is with a lot of creatures in folk lore theres room for interpretation, especially considering how much different interpretations close to the source material are. The mothman is a good example of this as in some interpretations he has an individual human like head while in others he only has a torso with a face. I don't particularly see anything that strictly rules out the stereotypical "dwarf" moniker other than the fact you could argue dwarves are supposed to be a type of human.
Would be a cool lore if the rich/influential dwarves inlay their tattoos with gold, and warriors inlay their tattoos with iron or steel. Or if their armor is cracked in battle they will do a Kintsugi style repair. It lets you use their appearance; lots of steel -> hardened warrior or tarnished silver tattoos -> lesser dwarves lord. Really like your concept of metallic inlays.
Imagine Snow White already fucking terrified in a forest she never went to before, finding a small, kinda hidden, blending into the ambient, lil house, and these are the beings that she befriends. It would be such a more interesting story.
some more "fay" gnomes could be really cool...halflings really are just "what if small people were natural adventurers?" though...weirdly enough if you go find tinypeople in most mythologies before modern they are scary little cannibals a disturbing portion of the time to the point where you wonder where it comes from...things that leave a big impression can stick around a surprisingly long time: plenty of areas still have ice age critters in their mythology.
I admit after clicking this video, I immediately left after having to put my volume up to 100% and still having problems hearing you talk. At first I didn't even think there was any voice over. But I just couldn't let this stand, I came back and searched through others comments. I found that the people with the patience to stick to it were treated to a pleasant and unique new take on Dwarves. Some advice I wish was shared with me before I struggled to learn on my own. Put your volume at 50% or even 40% and if you can't hear it then you need to boost the sound in editing or re-record it. I had the opposite problem and blasted peoples ears off. Always keep your system at the same volume when editing for consistency, the difference will be night and day. Your art is beautiful and has a water color like flow to it, I attribute this aspect to your line weight. The attention to detail in the carvings on the Dwarves skin was done well, because it didn't overwhelm the rest of the drawing. Your use of color values made it all cohesive.
I've always disliked the very simple "just slap a different ear or head shape on a human and make it a different color" way that humanoid races are generally made. This video has helped inspire me to look into making my own version of typical fantasy races! Great art too, I really love the Dwarve's design
I absolutely love this! The final version feels so organic and so inhuman in a way that makes it believable that they would come from the underground. Im especially fond of the way they sit down and how their body make them look like giant sculpted urns!
I love what you did here, and I'm from time to time coming back to this just to see a different approach to worldbuilding. Amazingly well done and creative.
I'm also redesigning fantasy races, I'm making dwarves and dark elves one in the same. They're also based around the "maggot" aspect of dwarves, they're basically roughly humanoid insectoids. They're adept cave livers and they eat mineral rich stone in the mountains. They combine the metals (mainly iron) with keratin and other materials in order to form a durable shell. They sell these shells to mountain orcs (best weaponsmiths on the continent) for food. Basically desert orcs gives wood elves and humans gold and silver and copper for food, desert orcs give mountain orcs food in exchange for weapons, and mountain orcs give dwarves food in exchange for a material that can be melted down to form an extreme pure hunk of iron as the organic parts burn away.
This remidns me of the process Picasso took to simplify the bull. You took the very core of a dwarf and added your own ideas to it in order to create something new yet familiar.
I've always liked to consider unique ways dwarves are adapted to their underground environment, like: - Dwarven beards are natural air filters, evolved/designed to protect from toxic gasses down in the mines. - Their big noses are sensitive to changes in air pressure and pollution. They can tell when oxygen is growing thin, and can follow their noses back up towards safer depths. - Due to their sensitive eyes, you can tell you've entered an area only frequented by dwarves if the lighting is kept very dim. - Due to their insensitive skin, you can tell you've found clothing made by a dwarf if it's unusually rough, itchy, or chafing. - The majority of dwarves suffer from a weak-but-instinctive agoraphobia. They use helmets and hoods above-ground to cut off their view of the sky and stay comfortable.
I do the same and have come to most of the same conclusions lol. I find it helpful to take sapient species' ecology into account because as you explained, it informs their psychology. Nice to see other people think similarly.
I loved the first grubby design, it would fit the newborn dwarves. Making them very vulnerable as hatchlings until they eat some ore to grow out their hardened carapace
I love how the long beard sort of works like armor to protect their (presumably fragile) orange underbelly. It makes sense for them to have beards, too, with this design!
This is one of the coolest character studies I’ve ever seen! I love the inspiration taken from Norse myth, and your final implementation definitely gives off the vibes you were going for. The art is spectacular, and the excerpt is very captivating. I feel like the insectoid design might also tie in nicely with fey or fayries, specifically portrayment similar to that of The Spiderwick Chronicles, which is very insectoid as well.
To address the whole "human, but" thing, I really do see what you mean. That's one reason I love the Parshendi from Brandon Sanderson's book series "The Stormlight Archive". They're so similar to humans, yet so different in so many ways.
I love how they can fit into this small urn/vase shape because it looks almost like they're actually living sentient rocks, as if they were creatures born from stone, or at least thought to be.
Sick dwarves, my man. I like how the eyes are kinda squashed out to the sides of their head like they could get on all 4 and rotate the eyeballs upward like an owl fish, using hooked claws to effortlessly scale rocky outcroppings and wedge into cracks like a climber's cam. I'm picturing an outsider encountering the dwarves for the first time. Thinking them awkward and diminutive by their waddling bipedal posture, he tries to bully one of them. Suddenly the dwarf leaps out of reach and like a penguin hitting the water, gracefully swims onto the ceiling above the startled man. Noticing the commotion the dwarf's companions slowly approach from uncanny paths along the rocks. The largest crawling directly, low to the ground, a tripedal dog with dome face, out-set eyes shining back the meager torch light in the darkness, cradling under his chest an axe whose heft belies the strength of the dwarf's sinewy limb.
I absolutely love seeing the design process of these. Im struggling a lot with art atm, but I still really enjoy being able to see such amazing design work. It’s very inspiring.
(3:54) this makes sense. In real life, humans have a much higher “poison” resistance then compared to animals, as we can consume alcohol as well as very spicy things, of which we find both of those tasty, whereas animals will despise or even DIE from such things. In D&D dwarves have a Poison resistance feature. So compared to a human, they are more tolerant of such effects. Meaning that dwarves can drink more alcohol and are capable of consuming spicier and more flavorful things. So a human would find dwarven food disgusting or overwhelming.
I love the concept of taking something very "fantasy cliche" and making it brand new! Thank you for taking us through the process, it was a lot of fun.
This is amazing, I love the originality of this so much! It still holds the essence of dwarfs so it’s not some totally new creation all together, yet at the same time it steers clear of the image we all have in our heads of what a dwarf is in order to create something that is new.Amazing and very inspiring! I would love to hear more about these dwarves and their nature, how the similarities and differences you see them having from traditional dwarves!
I love the idea of them having metallic bodies because it’s plays so well into their metal working skills as well as their affinity with fire that is often found within fantasy worlds.
Развлечения
The idea of dwarves compacting into little jar-shaped pods during stasis just rings so true to their subterranean origins. Very cool designs.
I could also see that when they are interred in the earth put on shelves like urns
Yea, Im not sure why but this part of the concept rings very true for me. Im not sure why it make so much sense though lol
For some reason it reminds me dwemer automatons🤔
The only problem I have with this design is how lanky they look. One of the main aspects of Dwarves in fantasy is how robust & sturdy they are; in many ways, they're just like the minerals and resources they mine. Dwarves should be built stocky and brawny to reflect this, whereas these Dwarves almost seem frail.
That said, it's still an amazingly unique design. Love the detail put into it first and foremost, he doesn't just draw them a certain way for shits & giggles but explains the evolutionary process behind this look. Adds a lot of depth.
Bionicles
Elves are so domesticated in modern fantasy compared to how they appear in folk tales, I'd love to see you go back to the drawing board with them.
that's probably because modern fantasy is too akin to dnd style of fantasy. In the sense that people want to be those species. And if they're absolute murderous assholes, there's less people who will like that. My theory at least
@@MaindexOmega This is partially why I believe the best fantasy RPG would restrict you to playing a human. Darkvision for example isn't interesting when players have it, but it becomes terrifying when enemies have darkvision and you don't.
Also in a heroic story it's important to create a distinction between the "ordinary world" of the protagonist's daily life and the unfamiliar "special world" they must delve into, and if all the players are obscure magical races then you're really hamstringing yourself there.
@@SquishypuffDave I love this. In RPG’s, the most enjoyable sessions were definitely the ones where you were limited to humans or human-adjacent builds and good aligned characters. The bevy of options now is culturally and mechanically non-sensical.
You mean like that Danish folktale where an elf offered sex to a man who was engaged to be married? Where she was all cheer and frolicking until he turned her down once too many times and she flipped out and cursed him. Like her entire personality flipped on a dime.
I try to preserve that with my elves. Where they can be jovial and sweet one second then you say something mundane that they took personally and suddenly they are considering how to ruin your life for it.
Hell, most modern fantasy elves don't even try to be on the level of Tolkien's elves. Instead they're just humans with ears who live longer.
An idea to expand upon their skin markings.
You could add a saying along the lines of "To gauge the trust of a dwarf, check their back"
Dwarves can't mark their own backs as they cannot reach them - so others do it for them. Whether or not a dwarf is trustworthy depends on the markings that others gave them (whether or not other dwarves 'have their back'). A blank back could mean that the dwarf doesn't trust others - or perhaps they've tried to hide their own untrustworthy nature by having their markings removed or covered. A tell tale habit of an untrustworthy dwarf is one that rubs their back on hard surfaces and claiming it to be an itch (but infact, it's a habit from frequently trying to scrape off the undesired markings themselves)
By this same virtue, dwarves tend not to trust any race with 'markless' backs.
ooooooO thats a REALLY good idea-
Wow...
Neat idea.
If dwarf 1 trusts dwarf 2 and marks that on their back, and then dwarf 2 betrays dwarf 1 in some way, why would dwarf 2 erase the markings that dwarf 1 made on their back?
Unless dwarf 1 was able to add another mark to dwarf 2's back that indicated the untrustworthiness...
@@autumngalix4616 I think it's a good story telling mechanic in that you can have all sorts of variations. There's betrayal, trust, mystery - not just to the trolls, who know what the markings say.
There could be hidden messages; only those who know how to read Dwarven markings could find such messages.
The trust component could be deeply cultural, and thus it's taboo (on a personal level) to even look at your own back's markings, good or bad.
You could have guilded markings (similar to 'Kintsugi', a process of repairing ceramics with gold and lacquer), filling in the grooves with a gold like material to make the markings permanent. Kind of like a sign of status.
However this is a ceremony that is bestowed by dwarven leadership AND community vote, you cannot ask for it (it's considered very rude). Pure gold filled markings are a sign of honor and prestige. But especially notorious criminals may have had this treatment - forever marking them as untrustworthy. The gold used in their marking is tainted with the blood of other traitor dwarves; giving the resulting gold a deep, crimson rose hue.
Thus any dwarf with rose gold gilded markings is not only likely evil - but highly dangerous.
I LOVE the designs with the whole concept of "Not Meant for Humans" that reminds you that these are entirley different species not just short humans with beards. Making them seem mildly uncanny in their humanoid and familar appearance yet giving them an alien feel is just awesome!
Yeah, would also like to see what elves would look like. Would they be pretty or not
I actually have a problem with it, because he’s redesigning a race. So the whole “not human thing” isn’t creative with that in mind. That’s like saying you are going to redesign a motorcycle and then you give it four wheels. That’s called a four wheeler bud. I get it, it’s “creative”, but it’s not a “cycle” anymore. So you didn’t really redesign crap. You made something new with something known.
@@shadowcard3998 huh? They arent suppose to look like humans anyways... they arent going to be short humans or humans with long ears. They are really different, what he is redesigning are the tokien dwarves or elf
@@jmgonzales7701 the fact that you don’t understand is exactly why modern art exists.
@@jmgonzales7701 you also clearly didn’t read my comment thoroughly because I explained exactly why this doesn’t count as “redesigned”.
I love the idea that they tattoo each others backs as a show of trust and intimacy
Literally "I got your back"
That's gay
Or "Kick Me" lol
@@obscurewondering3162I like your back G"
**Intensely painful tattooing ensues**
@@exzyyd392 Idk if it'd be painful, considering their skin is made of metal, though, they could be like a tortoise or turtle and have nerve-endings in the "shell".
I'd love to see you redesign orcs and minotaurs. The way you made the dwarves looks absolutely astonishing!
He has set a very high standard for himself.
Orcs I can see, but minotaurs are kind of a specific mythical creature. At that point you'd be designing a completely unique race/humanoid entity.
@@arcanine_enjoyer Maybe Minotaurs as in that of Taurens from World of Warcraft?
Orcs as more of an undead would be really neat to see.
@@sandmaneyes Orcs but they're frankenstein's monster, they reproduce by taking corpses from the battlefield, both enemies and their own and "repairing" them by carving away whatever's too damaged to use and grafting together spare parts from bodies that are too heavily damaged to be worth repairing, an army of patchwork men that live to make more of themselves, the reason they're so reckless and battlehungry is because they take for granted that the same methods used to create them in the first place will be used to resurrect them should they fall, all they need do is Win so their brothers have ample bodies to work their craft.
I love the "condenses into jar-shaped mass when sleeping" bit, it reminds me of Gorons looking like boulders when they curl up. Maybe these dwarves also eat the ore they process? They would need some way of growing their carapace, perhaps even recycling shed shells?
dwarven shellplate armour sounds metal as fuck ngl
NGL I thought he was referring to scorn
Reminds me of those real underwater snails that grow shells made of literal iron. So cool!
Not shells. Footpads
I mean Goron are basically Dwarves. Hardy Mountain and cave folk who are often the best smiths.
Zora are also elves mixed with fish.
This feels like a race you would see in a fever dream. The uncanny valley is so strong. I can imagine feeling very uneasy around these creatures despite their hospitality and friendliness, just because they are so alien. I probably couldn't spend too long in their home because I would crave the familiarity of human cultures so much. An absolutely incredible design!
I Wonder if dwarves would feel the same way about humans. Maybe dwarves cant handle human foods like how we cant take more than a sip of there drinks without burning are thtouts or if a dwarf was at a human gathering and they are just having a silent panick attack because of our unnerving apperence
@@spice_maker for those dwarves we would look like how the wendigo looks to us
@@poggestfrog Yeah your probably right. We are much taller and skinnier than dwarves
If you lived in their world and saw them regularly, they probably would be a bit more familiar from your perspective. It depends on your exposure to them really.
Yeah, I really like this juxtaposition between its, at first, unfriendly look and its real friendly "inside". This could lead to really interesting emotions, exactly like you said, kinda dream-like - you don't completly understand WHAT you seeing, but you kinda like it. Interesting trope, usually we get to see it used other way when friendly looking stuff has its darker side, but I really like it reversed, I feel it a lot more interesting and in general healthy to do it this way, because "friendly at first glance and hostile in reality" is only could work in some way of a dark twist situation when you either get betrayed by them or get scared, while this type of twist could work in many more interesting setups
Ive always thought that gnomes were far too close to halflings or dwarves in terms of design so it would be really cool if you could put an interesting spin to them
Gnomes were originally earth elementals in mythology, but you would never know that from modern takes on them.
Gnome arguably derive from the much more sinister “red cap” mythological figure (hence why gnome usually wear red hats) which was similar to a small goblin, that lived in abandoned castles and other ruins. Having red caps and gnome be part the same species, but differing primarily in ideology, would be an interesting starting point for some gnome lore
I always thought gnomes should be based off mushrooms. If you want to be creepy: hivemind of predatorial mushrooms - like the red caps!
@@4dealliance598 that fits very well, because mushrooms primarily feed on either tree sap, or decaying matter. That would fit with mushroom gnomes living in forests and red caps being attracted to places where battles and deaths took place in traditional mythology
Edit: if one sub-species of gnome only fed in a specific type of rare tree, that variety of gnome could potentially become hyper-warlike to protect their trees and forests 🤔
That is kinda why I got confused with reading halfling and gnome in fantasy settings, since in English at least they are very much too similar. While in Norwegian folk tales Nisse or fairies are way more chaotic creatures, that you had to appease to not have them mess with your farm or home
I don't know where this video came from, but I'm incredibly glad that RUclips suggested this to me. This is literally what I do, I love to see other concept artists out there.
Here here
I just don't get how he can draw so good but have such terrible handwriting lol
Got blessed by the algorithm god
@@tevarinvagabond1192classic just like me
Rare RUclips Suggestions W
As someone who is a big Tolkien and fantasy fan, and a HUGE fan of Durin's folk and of dwarves as a fantasy race in general (the way they are always portrayed that is), I never thought your reimagining of them as some kind of humanoid, insect-like race would be so weird but also very plausible and interesting. I really like how you envision them while sleeping. So cool and so weird :D
A lot of people seem to be sadly confused on the intent of the video. Its not him going "dwarf bad heres better one" its him designing dwarves for his own project.
Stumbled across this at random, but I absolutely love these little guys. Ideas like this can really freshen up a well known concept.
same
I'm a huge fan of this concept, I'd love to see as many fantasy races reimagined as you'd want to
I happen to also tap into re-imagining classical creatures. What i ended up with is a grid, one axis says "short, medium, tall" and the other "ugly, average, beautiful". In this grid i put the standard versions, like: Orcs are tall & ugly, goblins are short and ugly, elfs are tall and beautiful, etc... As you can imagine, the grid still had spots left. What creature is short & beautiful?, for example. So i tried to close this gaps with new kinds of creatures.
@@valentinmitterbauer4196 Fairies could be considered short and beautiful
@@astick5249 Yea, but i was thinking about "remotely human sized" creatures. Fairies are normally imagined to be much smaller, at least in modern fantasy.
@@valentinmitterbauer4196 in heroes of might and magic 5 fey looks very human sized.
@@valentinmitterbauer4196 potential new category of "really tiny"? Then perhaps with giants we can go the opposite and do "really big"
This was actually really fascinating.
I got huge spiderwick vibes from this
Me, reading this- “OH SHIT IT *IS* SPIDERWICK!”
Same. Definitely reminds me of DiTerlizzi's work overall, and in a very good way.
i love how we just keep zoomiVg iV oV the gobli crotch at 0:39
Changed the dwarf? That’s going in the book, lads!
I personally would love to see your take on elves. Im designing my own fantasy world for a comic, and seeing this design be so out there really makes me want to do the same with my races.
My personal take on elves would be to make them really tall, like young elves are human height but as they get older and the centuries go by they just keep growing vertically. The elders who lead society are easily recognizable because they're like a meter taller than the other elves. Also having limbs that are bendy in a way that's just mildly uncomfortable to watch.
@@bigbrainenergyguy This sounds very interesting. It kind of reminds me of Pratchett's trolls being roughly human sized as young and turning into literal mountains over several centuries. Imagine five meter elves.
This isn’t an original idea per say, but an amalgamation of ideas that I had thought of put into one. Take per say, the theological sense of the story of Adam and Eve except for Wood elves. Imagine if the god of wood elves were a tree, and this tree grew fruit. When wood elves are born, they cut open a slit in their forehead to plant a seed originating from this particular tree. When a wood elf goes through his life it will reach the natural four seasons both explained literally and metaphorically. The seed will also grow inside this elf showing a depiction of how old they are. When the time has come for an elf to end their pilgrimage in life, they will gain an unquenchable thirst for water, and will be compelled to do one thing. “Dig”. In the process of this occurring for generations upon generations, their forests will flourish, bearing the same exact fruit that has sustained elvenkind for basically since their existence. When elves say I can hear the woods whisper, scream or shout, it is a literal sense. Despite what humankind believes, the elven woods are living, breathing things, a network of pooled consciousness and of this original tree. The tree has goals, fears and aspirations. If this tree is threatened, an elf will work similarly like a sleeper agent. Commandeered to act with every fiber of their being. To destroy, to protect, anything that is required of the tree's orders.
"I will be watered with the blood of my kin, and my enemies. For this we shall never grow hungry, weary or thirsty. For your service, I will provide you with everything, your clothes, weapons, shelter, and protection."
@@bigbrainenergyguy Like the Tallest from Invader Zin?
@@bigbrainenergyguy I once heard someone say jokingly that elves are European catgirls. I took that to heart in my setting. Large, predatory eyes. They still look like a gorgeous human, just with almost alien big eyes set in a more circular skull. I went back and forth on pupil shape, settled for slight ovals- cats and snakes have slits to help see through grass but tigers and bears don't because they can easily look over grass. Somewhat more conical teeth and pronounced incisors. They always keep their lips closed around humans so as not to frighten them... when they are feeling diplomatic. Tall and slender. Elves exhibit sexual dimorphism, the women are bigger than the men, and heavier. Tend to have exaggerated curves, they're related to nymphs after all, where males are like bean poles. Easily exceed six feet on average and the really big ones can push seven. Not obligate carnivores, but most of their diet is meat.
Said in a post elsewhere that the big 'cat like' thing is their violent mood swings. Older elves tend to be more reserved but younger ones are very dangerous. The sort you can be having fun insulting each other then you say something absolutely mundane and that is what makes them flip.
So this is what pure creative talent looks like.
I stand in awe.
don’t mitigate the years of practice which honed his skill to “natural talent”
Creative skill, not talent. It takes years of practice to get to this level of character design/ concept art, not natural born "pure creative talent."
this guy is definitely a redditor
"I stand in awe."
That's not a new idea. I've seen dnd settings with insect like dwarves.
@@groupvucic2235 Nothing's new. Still a very unique idea from him
Hi! I'm an RPG Game Dev and I love your videos. I love your design for Dwarves but here's a few suggestions: The design does not seem to fit well with the idea of a "social and festive creature" just by their looks, which leads to a problem to the reason towards drinking alcohol; Why do they drink it? Well, by their looks, I'd guess they're just simply addicted to it, same for the smoking, which complements their eery looking style, however, I have a different interesting solution - Maybe water is poisonous to this creature, so instead, they live off of alcohol (their water) and they found a way to syntethize alcohol from a crystalised mineral. This solution gives more uniqueness to the creature and also gives reason towards their interest in forging and alcohol.
The various deviations from the Tolkien dwarf mold have always felt like they're missing something for me. I've liked the Discworld dwarves, Eldar Scrolls pulling more heavily their engineering and art deco ideas, or Artemis Fowl dwarves eating dirt, but they all felt slightly off and didn't resonate with me. But I adore this concept at first sight. You really managed to capture the essence of dwarves but changing them so completely. It just fits perfectly. I'm completely enamored. And as a little added bonus the beard, noses, and eyes give it a face that makes me think of something out of a Studio Ghibli movie. I can't wait to see more
Elves would be tough. Dwarves already have this aspect of caricature to them that if you retain the main distinctive markers, you could go totally wild with everything else. I’d love to see you try elves.
What about remaking the elves as predatory carnivores with night vision and even practice cannibalism?
I imagine Kaminoans from StarWars with shorter necks and hair.
I think the best version of the elves is in god of war. They have such a unique look and feel.
For dwarves he went back to their Norse, Corpse-Grubs origin, for elves he could back to their fae origins
@@davidfrancisco3502These are literally goblins or a generic monster tbh
Dont try to always subvert the expectations, make what we know but with a twist
My favorite part of your design is the head. These are subterranean creatures, so they need to be short, and have natural head protection. A flat, armored head makes a lot of sense. I've always viewed Dwarves as akin to moles, although I do like your insectoid concept. My elves are the insects in my world building, so my Dwarves are mammals. I love your stuff. I love seeing works in progress, even if unused.
Ahh yes all those famous underground real life animals with flat bucket heads.
@@99Plastics Pink fairy mole, Blind mole rat, Shovel-nose frogs, Badgers, Pangolins, Armadillos, etc.
@@goliathprime Bars
The flat heads remind me of phragmosis in ants - some ants have adapted flat circular heads so they can act as doorways, blocking or opening small round entrance holes into the nest. Makes sense for a burrowing species.
@@goliathprime don't forget antlions. And many species of ants and termites.
Man, your character design is like something out of an old, Norse-styled fairy tale! I haven’t felt this sort of awe and wonder since I’ve read Tolkien’s books as kid. It’s beautiful!
I can imagine a scene like that of some first person horror games like Agony, Outlast, RE: Village, etc. Where you've found yourself, after traveling far too deep, in an area where a large population of these Dwarves live. You're sneaking around, traversing through their homes, hiding behind things trying not to be seen because you're unsure whether they are friendly or not, and their appearance chills you. Strange architecture and strange sounds echo through the cavern as these Dwarves simply live their daily lives-but because of their high strangeness-it is scary and unnerving.
The first thing that came to mind when I saw your design was a scenario:
A big cavern, small streams of water flow trough, big stalactites and stalagmites, hints of craftmanship and artistry on the walls
You walk trough it wondering what ancient civilization has lived here and then you see the strange pots sitting on every stalagmite turning with you and curiously observing the first human they have seen in centuries
I hear the Sound of Rock on Rock when they Turn to Look upon the Curious Stranger.
@@RaydoBaconslayerThat suddenly stops when you glance around
@@ghoultooth I am not weirded out by the fact there is stone grinding but I dont have a clue where its coming from.
That bit about them sharing their culture for their own amusement reminds me of my trip to Africa a few years ago.
Our guides tried to teach us some traditional dance moves, we failed horribly, and we all had a good laugh.
That interaction in your story gives a very human aspect to a very inhuman looking species.
Africa is a HUGE continent... What country did you visit?
@@vivilonrane1330 Tanzania
@@vivilonrane1330 literally people could equally say "i went to europe" or "i went to south america", no need to get snappy!
@@pemo2676 That kind of thinking is why some Americans think Africa is a country
@@ReblazeGaming no, actually. referring to the continent you visited isnt the same as mistaking a continent *for* a country. if i said "i visited antartica", you wouldn't be concerned.
as a *european* i dont care much for people referring to the entire continent, because usually the follow up question is "what country?".
you're forgetting that in *real-life conversation* you have to start conversations with something to engage with :)
These story lines would make an AMAZING anime/animated, darker adult series! This is beyond beautiful and unique.
Nothing about this feels like a good fit for anime.
@@unadventurer_ good thing I put animated right beside it, huh?
@ironicironic379 What he is trying to say, is that you should have omitted the anime part entirely.
@@NachoDaMan I understood what they meant. Why would I do that, when it was based on my opinion?
@@unadventurer_
What the fuck does this even mean? Anime is a medium, not a genre.
Why aren’t these designs sufficient to be used in an anime? Because they wouldn’t fit in Naruto?
I love how the dwarves can scrunch into little jar shapes. Almost suggests a form of transportation or sleeping.
The "manufactured organic" look is something I'm going for with a personal project, I love what you've done with the idea!
Same
As a Faroese person, who's been to Iceland, and Norway, and currently lives in Denmark. The amusement of not handelig the local food and drink sounds very Nordic. loved this.
You don't like our snaps? xD
pfff. you should try indian vindaloo if you want to know the real meaning of handling
Thinking about what you said, I feel like Gorons from Legend of Zelda are the perfect redesign of dwarves. Following your design concepts of 'being created', looking designed, 'slotting' together etc. and being organic and inorganic as well as still having key elements of dwarves such as their beards. Gorons kind of fit all this perfectly.
THAT'S IT LADS, ROCK AND STONE!
*ROCK AND STONE* ⛏️
1:55 this idea of their body parts slotting into place and the end result you arrived at is perfect, I love the concept that they can fold down into themselves sitting down appearing almost like a pot lmao, really love the creativity!
I rather thought they looked like boulders
yeah i figured they lived more in the woods and could hibernate as rocks or boulders for a season or two. then waking up and leaving for their caverns
I came across this, and instantly thought "THAT'S GOING IN THE BOOK!" when you said you initially designed them around grubs. But then I got hooked. This was truly mesmerizing.
Yeah I came in ready to issue a grudge, but instead... I want more on these lads.
In my own fantasy writing I wanted to depart from classic “human but…” tropes, and it ended with me entirely redesigning all reptile biology so I could have humanoid four armed gecko people with metallic blood that are very distantly the “goblins” of my world.
i could leave glowing comments on every one of your videos praising every aspect of the visuals of your work, but i just wanted you to know that what you do is so inspirational that it's fundamentally changed how i think about the creative process
I love the contrast between how friendly they act and how eldritch they look!
This is incredible. I love how alien they feel while also conjuring a sense of familiarity.
In survival videos it talks about how difficult it is to dig a shelter out and how much planning you need to go to dig as little as possible, so this sleeping jar form evolved out a way to save space in their shelters. Perhaps the cacoon form is oversized so this is a evolutionary stand in their race.
This made me want to redesign dwarfes, too
Mine are derived from octopodes
Their distant ancestors lived in an ancient sea that was receding, and a group of them got trapped in fjord that then became a lake, and then dried out
Octopodes can survive on land but they're squishy and not very adept to life in this alien land.
So the octopodes adapted by using rock sheets to shield themselves from the hazardous enviroments and ate dirt to filter out the microorganisms and fungi for food.
With time, they learned that some rocks are harder than others, and what each are made of. Mind you, octopodes don't care for their young, they die the moment the lil octobabies hatch. All this understanding is genetic, not learned.
With the very stressful life on land, evolution went into overdrive, selection was harsher.
Some tentacles grew stronger and sturdier, became their primary mode of propulsion. Others grew longer, thinner and, multiplied by the thousands and grew more interlaced, beginning to resemble wiggly hairs, a beard if you might. Those made it easier to filter through the dirt and extract those tasty, tasty microorganisms.
Understanding rocks became understanding metallurgy, and a culture of forging one's own exoskeleton emerged. Well, I say culture, but dwarfes are very much loners. The only time they like to meet is to 1. mate or 2. get hella high on cave mushrooms. Dwarfes are highly intelligent, but in their very own way that is alien to all the other species.
Dwarfes don't speak, either because they can't or because they don't want to, and they have absolutely no use for currence or all this other civilisation nonsense. If you can somehow manage to explain to them what you need, they will forge anything and everything you can imagine for you, just for the fun of forging it. But if you annoy them in any way, they'll just straight up strangle you with arms that can crush steel.
Dwarven exoskeletons are extremely sturdy and highly individualised to fit the Dwarf that forged it. Since dwarves don't have any culture and avoid even their own kind, they don't have any overarching armour designs humans have. With their squishy bodies and propulsion limbs that can bend any way they like, there isn't even a common body type, every dwarf just builds their armour around themselves and the way they are most comfortable. Some dwarfs walk on two limbs. Some on four. some on more. Some just rotate in their shell and extend limbs in any direction needed.
When you kill a dwarf, it is custom to take a part of their exoskeleton and incorporate it into your own. That is the rule for anyone, not just amongst dwarfs. Taking the exoskeleton of a dwarf that died of natural causes is an extreme affront and any dwarf that you come across will kill you on the spot for it. They can taste the difference between killed octopus and old octopus on the armour.
Dwarfes have okay eyesight, it is still more developed for aquatic seeing, so they're fairly short-sighted. Hence the preference of caves over open fields, they can see threats easier in confined spaces. A dwarf in a meadow is a dead dwarf. Their primary sensory organ however are their food tentacles, their "beard". They will slobber you and taste your armour to recognise you.
They can taste a rock and say exactly what it is made of and what you can make with it.
It's definitely a very rudimentary idea with a lot of holes, but i like my land-squid-dwarfs : )
Thank you for filling the "spiderwick's field guide" shaped hole in my heart! I'd love to see your renditions of the universal studios classic monsters.
Oh god what a blast from my childhood. Thank you for making that reference
I like this idea.
oh my god I always keep forgetting about that series but it was such an important staple of my childhood
i really love the insectoid feel to them, it brings so much alien character to them that clearly defines them as something other than human
An idea I like from elsewhere is that the beard isn't facial hair in the same way human facial hair is, it's a fungal based symbiote which each dwarf spends their life carefully cultivating to act as a natural air filter in their long stays deep beneath the ground.
This is giving 'Oknytt' nordic elf designs in the BEST of ways, thank you so much! I've never come across your channel before but I'm so glad I did! ❤
It’s perfect.
It’s just “dwarfish” enough to recognize and different enough to be unique
absolutely awestruck. i LOVE this concept
i hate the "human but" problem in fiction and always complain about it regularly so it was really nice to see someone redesign a fantasy race like it was from some kind of semi sci-fi fiction.
you're amazing. subscribed in an instant.
I think it works alright when it's more of a 'common ancestor' situation, or even 'alternative versions of the same race from different universes' where there's a degree of cosmic predetermination. But yeah it's a little lazy when they're just weird humans but also completely unrelated to humans
@@Destructocorps Its fine when its fantasy, but I do have problems with it in sci fi. Often fantasy races have common sources. Such as Eru creating Humans and Elves, and Dwarves created by Aule. The orcs were just corrupted elves. It makes sense. Skyrim also does it well.
I like how they are still very earthen and rocky. Ideas which tie them to the earth are there like bugs, tunnelling, machinery/arts and crafting, shells/carapace.
These would make such a cool game mechanic, finding dwarves like this throughout the world, waking them up, learning a snippet of the worlds history from them, and then when you've found them all you can go to a gathering where you drink and have a rousing party with them before they go back to working.
Ok this was easily the most interesting redesign of the dwarf I’ve ever seen, and I’m a huge Dwarf lover . It dips hard into science fantasy and Moebius. What a fantastic concept
Vampires could be a fun addition for this interesting dark fantasy style and setting, maybe with some mosquito inspiration with a belly that'll be transparent when full of blood!
This redesigning reminds me of drawings in old the hobbit books every illustrator from every country had different ideas of how the characters really looked and all of them were amazing
A friend of mine had a similar want to redesign Goblins.
In his world, Goblins are bipedal shark-like creatures with a long pointed face, gnarly teeth, and fin-like protrusions on the side of the head similar to pointed ears.
Their arms are very low on their short body, close to their legs and they usually end up walking on all fours. Since some media portrays Goblins as being able to create machinery that often is shoddy or backfires, their short, low-to-the-ground arms are logic behind this; they can construct things sure, but their bodies simply aren't made to create long-lasting mechanisms.
This is probably the most compelling dwarf design I’ve ever seen! I love the insectoid inspiration and the way they can fold their limbs in almost seamlessly, not to mention the engravings and inlays that add a sense of culture that developed organically. And your style is beautiful to boot! Amazing work, I can’t wait to see what else you’ve made and will make in the future!
I would love to see elves that tap into the cosmic horror vibe of being mystical and unknown ancient entities of the forests. This is such an epic redesign and I’m excited to see what you choose next!
In the book series I'm reading, Freelance Familiars, "Elves" created "The Veil", a multi-dimensional being that constantly adjusts the perception and memory of most of humanity so they never recognize magic.
Dragons, which are very much cosmic horrors, have likened the elves to sharks, with the dragons just being big fish, and the main character who is one of the more powerful mortal beings (at that point) as nothing more than krill.
They haven't actually shown up in the books though, and have nothing to do with forests.
I think what constitutes uniqueness is an ability to arrange pre-existing material into clever new forms. What you have created is certainly unique, and you have applied your talents well. You should be an inspiration for others to aspire to express themselves as well as you do.
These fellas would be quite interesting to encounter in a video game or see in a story/show/movie. Imagine a lone adventurer wandering into what they think is an abandoned ruin filled with meticulously crafted pottery. But when trying to lift or open any of the "pottery," it's impossibly heavy and starts squirming, complaining that you're disturbing it's sleep. Then the rest of the "pottery" chime in about how drafty it is and wanting someone to close the door. Finally, one little guy stands up and lumbers over to the door, only to walk into the non-dwarf and get startled into alertness, waking everyone up with a proper fuss about an intruder.
I had the pleasure of meeting Terryl Whitlatch while I was in college I was being purely impetuous when I gingerly walked into her office to chat with her. My major was not Illustration but I could relate to her work. She would teach creature design and she was demanding on her students in terms of productivity. She would have them not only design a creature but also its bone structure, musculature, breeding habits, and environmental adaptations. In the end they would have a complete presentation of their work. What your doing here reminds me of her creature design class and I really enjoy it.
this sort of approach is fantastic, I'm not a fan of having all that info then dumped on the player, but by having it accessible to the GM and discoverable through play it really brings the world to life.
what course was this?? it sounds so so cool
@@migueloharasleftboob I believe it was an advanced creature and character design class. And it must have been a junior year course or maybe senor.
Art aside, I really like how you connect everything in a one cohesive theme and culture.
Dwarves need no redesign! Thats a grudge!
Seriously, this is really cool!
It would explain somethings. Like how dwarves can eat so much with no effect, are tolerant to alcohol (both as maggots can be found in fermenting fruit, and some fly larvae are inherently tolerant).
The part it kind of diverges for me is the carapace. While an fascinating idea with beetle-like features, their creation specifies maggots (fly larvae) instead of grubs (beetle larvae). While dwarves would still have something resembling chitinous skin, it would be thinner.
In addition, it would explain why dwarves are generally viewed as dirty and avoid water (including bathing); besides potentially being nose-blind, a maggot's skin actually hardens and strengthens when dry, providing the Dwarves with a layer of defense in battle and protection in the forge, and thus their bodies have evolved and acclimated to low-moisture and arid environments to capitalize on this defense mechanism.
This would also promote a distaste for open water and extended soaking. Not to mention, fish would inherently view dwarves as a food source (fish and maggots), and with their skin softened up in water, makes Dwarves prone to fish-related aggression. Dwarves could very well have an instinctive fear of open water and fish due to this. Salmon are especially vicious.
Alcohol may also serve as a means of water regulation, since it's a diuretic that helps them shed water/moisture faster, allowing them to regain their hardened skin at a faster rate after a washing. And since washing would be in the privacy of their homes, Dwarven marriages are probably more intimate and stronger forged, due to the vulnerable nature of simply cleaning up.
It might also give way to some offshoot of Dwarf that is the exact opposite, and lives in more water-saturated environments like swamps, submerging to bottoms to cultivate, mine, and harvest bog iron.
What do you think? Questions? Comments? Concerns?
I made dwarves hyperevolved naked mole rats, having their holds function as more like a eusocial colony than a city. However, I love the merger of insect and artificial asthetics, I did a similar thing with my worlds version of orks. Making them foot soldiers crafted by the gods, an army that arose each spring to continue a war long over. I though the short story was great, really made the dwarves feel like a culture, more than just a concept.
I love the idea of boiling these species down to a conceptual level and then designing based off that extremely awesome video
I feel like too often we all base ideas on for example Tolkien's ideas instead of basing them on what Tolkien's ideas are based on
This is no more redesigning dwarves than when George Martin calls elves Children of the forest. You've just taken some other weird mythical creatures and called them dwarves.
I love the aspect of carving into thier skin/exoskeleton. Body modifications are such a part of so many cultures and its intresting to see how different species might engage with that given thier different physiology.
You sir, are a true creature designer. You go far beyond making sure it looks cool, you also think about how it works, how it lives, what its cultural origins are, and how it fits into its respective universe. As it should be. Inspired!
As a writer and artist, I am truly fascinated by this. Its such a unique and welcome reinterpretation of dwarves, and I'm also happy that you found inspiration and payed homage to the Norse Religion when recreating them. I'd love to see more reinterpretations of famous folk creatures in the future.
if i won the lottery i'd have artists like this help build a story/movie/series with their creatures in it. i see these amazing designs and want to see it out somewhere.
Lizardmen would be interesting to see your take on. There's so much variation in their designs across media as it is, but it could be neat seeing a fresh take on them.
What I would like to see is lizardmen that are the ancient civilisation. they arrived at the peak then a natural disaster wiped out their civilisation but not their race. the survivors deciding "reject society go back to 'codile" then it became tradition. And the other races evolved in the vacuum.
I can't stress enough how awesome this concept is, they are so different, yet they still so recognizable, I can just come to my TTRPG table and introduce this as a dwarf and they will just roll with it. Please, do make more of the classical fantasy races like the elves, orcs and other things in between.
I just wouldn't call them dwarves at all. He designed a whole new species that deserves a whole new name.
@@lynth The thing is with a lot of creatures in folk lore theres room for interpretation, especially considering how much different interpretations close to the source material are. The mothman is a good example of this as in some interpretations he has an individual human like head while in others he only has a torso with a face. I don't particularly see anything that strictly rules out the stereotypical "dwarf" moniker other than the fact you could argue dwarves are supposed to be a type of human.
Would be a cool lore if the rich/influential dwarves inlay their tattoos with gold, and warriors inlay their tattoos with iron or steel. Or if their armor is cracked in battle they will do a Kintsugi style repair. It lets you use their appearance; lots of steel -> hardened warrior or tarnished silver tattoos -> lesser dwarves lord. Really like your concept of metallic inlays.
Imagine Snow White already fucking terrified in a forest she never went to before, finding a small, kinda hidden, blending into the ambient, lil house, and these are the beings that she befriends. It would be such a more interesting story.
THIS is fantasy/d&d content! So tired of rehashed jokes and tired designs. It’s creativity like this that makes a fantasy world feel wondrous-bravo 👏
Halflings or Gnomes being resigned is something I'm most interested in
some more "fay" gnomes could be really cool...halflings really are just "what if small people were natural adventurers?" though...weirdly enough if you go find tinypeople in most mythologies before modern they are scary little cannibals a disturbing portion of the time to the point where you wonder where it comes from...things that leave a big impression can stick around a surprisingly long time: plenty of areas still have ice age critters in their mythology.
I admit after clicking this video, I immediately left after having to put my volume up to 100% and still having problems hearing you talk. At first I didn't even think there was any voice over.
But I just couldn't let this stand, I came back and searched through others comments. I found that the people with the patience to stick to it were treated to a pleasant and unique new take on Dwarves.
Some advice I wish was shared with me before I struggled to learn on my own. Put your volume at 50% or even 40% and if you can't hear it then you need to boost the sound in editing or re-record it. I had the opposite problem and blasted peoples ears off. Always keep your system at the same volume when editing for consistency, the difference will be night and day.
Your art is beautiful and has a water color like flow to it, I attribute this aspect to your line weight. The attention to detail in the carvings on the Dwarves skin was done well, because it didn't overwhelm the rest of the drawing. Your use of color values made it all cohesive.
I've always disliked the very simple "just slap a different ear or head shape on a human and make it a different color" way that humanoid races are generally made. This video has helped inspire me to look into making my own version of typical fantasy races! Great art too, I really love the Dwarve's design
I absolutely love this! The final version feels so organic and so inhuman in a way that makes it believable that they would come from the underground. Im especially fond of the way they sit down and how their body make them look like giant sculpted urns!
This is most def a genre of youtube video I've wanted all my life, so creative I love your work.
I love what you did here, and I'm from time to time coming back to this just to see a different approach to worldbuilding. Amazingly well done and creative.
I'm also redesigning fantasy races, I'm making dwarves and dark elves one in the same. They're also based around the "maggot" aspect of dwarves, they're basically roughly humanoid insectoids. They're adept cave livers and they eat mineral rich stone in the mountains. They combine the metals (mainly iron) with keratin and other materials in order to form a durable shell. They sell these shells to mountain orcs (best weaponsmiths on the continent) for food. Basically desert orcs gives wood elves and humans gold and silver and copper for food, desert orcs give mountain orcs food in exchange for weapons, and mountain orcs give dwarves food in exchange for a material that can be melted down to form an extreme pure hunk of iron as the organic parts burn away.
This remidns me of the process Picasso took to simplify the bull. You took the very core of a dwarf and added your own ideas to it in order to create something new yet familiar.
I've always liked to consider unique ways dwarves are adapted to their underground environment, like:
- Dwarven beards are natural air filters, evolved/designed to protect from toxic gasses down in the mines.
- Their big noses are sensitive to changes in air pressure and pollution. They can tell when oxygen is growing thin, and can follow their noses back up towards safer depths.
- Due to their sensitive eyes, you can tell you've entered an area only frequented by dwarves if the lighting is kept very dim.
- Due to their insensitive skin, you can tell you've found clothing made by a dwarf if it's unusually rough, itchy, or chafing.
- The majority of dwarves suffer from a weak-but-instinctive agoraphobia. They use helmets and hoods above-ground to cut off their view of the sky and stay comfortable.
I do the same and have come to most of the same conclusions lol. I find it helpful to take sapient species' ecology into account because as you explained, it informs their psychology. Nice to see other people think similarly.
I loved the first grubby design, it would fit the newborn dwarves. Making them very vulnerable as hatchlings until they eat some ore to grow out their hardened carapace
I love how the long beard sort of works like armor to protect their (presumably fragile) orange underbelly. It makes sense for them to have beards, too, with this design!
This is one of the coolest character studies I’ve ever seen!
I love the inspiration taken from Norse myth, and your final implementation definitely gives off the vibes you were going for. The art is spectacular, and the excerpt is very captivating.
I feel like the insectoid design might also tie in nicely with fey or fayries, specifically portrayment similar to that of The Spiderwick Chronicles, which is very insectoid as well.
I love how alien they seem. Not outer space alien, no. The unknown alien. Something outside of man's predispositions of existence.
To address the whole "human, but" thing, I really do see what you mean. That's one reason I love the Parshendi from Brandon Sanderson's book series "The Stormlight Archive". They're so similar to humans, yet so different in so many ways.
I really like the sleeping one. So he doesn't stand out in a forrest with chopped threes.
its amazing to see pages like that go from sketches to full blown decorated page
I love how they can fit into this small urn/vase shape because it looks almost like they're actually living sentient rocks, as if they were creatures born from stone, or at least thought to be.
Sick dwarves, my man. I like how the eyes are kinda squashed out to the sides of their head like they could get on all 4 and rotate the eyeballs upward like an owl fish, using hooked claws to effortlessly scale rocky outcroppings and wedge into cracks like a climber's cam. I'm picturing an outsider encountering the dwarves for the first time. Thinking them awkward and diminutive by their waddling bipedal posture, he tries to bully one of them. Suddenly the dwarf leaps out of reach and like a penguin hitting the water, gracefully swims onto the ceiling above the startled man. Noticing the commotion the dwarf's companions slowly approach from uncanny paths along the rocks. The largest crawling directly, low to the ground, a tripedal dog with dome face, out-set eyes shining back the meager torch light in the darkness, cradling under his chest an axe whose heft belies the strength of the dwarf's sinewy limb.
I absolutely love seeing the design process of these. Im struggling a lot with art atm, but I still really enjoy being able to see such amazing design work. It’s very inspiring.
(3:54) this makes sense. In real life, humans have a much higher “poison” resistance then compared to animals, as we can consume alcohol as well as very spicy things, of which we find both of those tasty, whereas animals will despise or even DIE from such things. In D&D dwarves have a Poison resistance feature. So compared to a human, they are more tolerant of such effects. Meaning that dwarves can drink more alcohol and are capable of consuming spicier and more flavorful things. So a human would find dwarven food disgusting or overwhelming.
I love the Norse mythology inspiration.
Could you do elves next? Also inspired by old myths?
There is something in Norse mythology called ‘dark elves’ wich are normally confused for dwarves, so some inclusion of that would be awesome!
I love this take on dwarbs. Thanks for sharing and going through your design/thought processes.
the idea of carving tattoos into the skin is so rad
This is a very cool, very creative take on the dwarf. I'd play the shit out of a Dwarf if you introduced this as a playable race in a ttrpg.
I love the concept of taking something very "fantasy cliche" and making it brand new! Thank you for taking us through the process, it was a lot of fun.
This is amazing, I love the originality of this so much! It still holds the essence of dwarfs so it’s not some totally new creation all together, yet at the same time it steers clear of the image we all have in our heads of what a dwarf is in order to create something that is new.Amazing and very inspiring!
I would love to hear more about these dwarves and their nature, how the similarities and differences you see them having from traditional dwarves!
I love the little visual ad libs. Gives it character
I love the idea of them having metallic bodies because it’s plays so well into their metal working skills as well as their affinity with fire that is often found within fantasy worlds.