Persona Creation
by ~gaiden012, 5 days, 4 hours ago
Journals / Personal
*If you dont like Persona or The Shin Megami Tensei Series, then click the return icon, because this journal entry is not, I repeat is not for you!
People complain about how hard it is to make a Persona, and It's kinda ticking me off. Some people don't even put effort and/or creativity into theirs, such as:
fav.me/d32vvt5 no offense, to him but can you count this as a real Persona oc? Although I've yet to play 4, I've watched it, and this "Persona" would not fit into it. But enough of my criticism. I'm making this tutorial as to how I make a persona, If your reading this, and have interest in making a Persona, keep reading.
1) Brain Storming
This is the most important part of making a Persona. Go on the Persona wiki:
megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Me… or Google and look at some Persona, these are the real deal and thats probably how you'd like yours to be, right? Thats how I felt when I first saw one. If you think that the creator of Persona just randomly made all of the Persona out there, then you're terribly mistaken. All of the persona have meaning to them. Such as this one:
megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Or… Orpheus was the son of a King and Queen, He played his harp, Some say that Orpheus' Father was the almighty god Apollo. While making a Persona, i believe that it should be based, on a real spirit, god etc. It can even be based off of the wolf in the "Boy who cried wolf" folktale. My Persona is Orion, a Greek god who excelled at hunting and its a constellation. Before making a Persona, you should always do heavy research on its past, especially if its based upon a god of mythology or an ancient spirit, also from my research I've noticed how most Persona are named after a god or spirit, They're never made up names or anything like that. If you're ever looking for information based on your soon to be Persona, just visit Wikipedia or Google. Once you've done your research, here comes the slightly difficult part.
2) Conceptualization
So you've done your research, do you remember it? If you do, then recall certain parts of it. In your reading, did you find any information retaining to your Persona's appearance? Say if it were, the god Zeus, then you'd picture him wearing a roman;Greek cloth with a long beard and lightning abilities right? and you'd probably be right, believe it or not. Each god has their own special ability or talent. They all have different appearances, you just have to proofread the text and find out what it's like. For my persona, Orion, when he was alive, he fought with a club, he wore standard Roman/Greek armor and he had a lion hide shield on his right arm. So thats what I would draw him like. Don't just draw your Persona as an ordinary human or god etc. Add your own special quality or detail, you think Orpheus actually looked like this?
megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Fi… No, the artist of Persona 3, realized that when Orpheus was alive, his head was cut off. So the creator was so cunning and creative, that he designed a robotic body for him, drew Orpheus' head, put the two together and bam! He had an awesome Persona
megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Fi… This is why you should always proofread, because you never know what you'll find in the text. By now you should have your initial Persona sketched out.
3) Finalization
After you've finished sketching your Persona out, nows the time to add any special details to it because your about to finish it up. So far, you've designed your Persona, and you like it, but what about other important things? Such as its Arcana? An arcana is the group that your Persona belongs to such as, Emperors, Death and even a Hermit. Here's a list of Arcana:
megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Ar…Well thats it! Thats how you should make a persona, Next time (If this journal actually gets some recognition) I'll tell how to make a character! You can make a persona this way and get tons of comments and favorites such as:
fav.me/d2b409z fav.me/d54oi9b and
fav.me/d2vut4v or be lazy, and get zilch. Well I guess thats it, bye!
*UPDATE ~ 12/29: Wow! This journal is more popular than I thought, Its in several groups and It's even one of the featured blogs in one of the groups
Thats amazing, Well as promised, I'll post a "How to make a Persona character" Journal, It'll be awesome
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gaiden012.deviantart.com/journ… original source if you want to comment or fave there.
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Interesting article. Even though all of my designs are not zeroed, and canon ready, I learned quite a bit about fusion last year on my Compendium Project. Here are some quick tips for anyone wishing to make a more authenticate Persona design.
1.Connection and Character traits. Knowing some basic Astrology helps. Check the connection between your O.C and Diety/Mythological figure you are using. My advice if you are not making a Persona for a real person, build a really solid character with a Zodiac Sign first. Know their strengths and weaknesses. Many times Mythological alignments, will slowly form with the Arcana type if the character is balanced.
2. Source Collection. Start collecting image sources in relation to the Persona you want to create. I usually collect 8-10 images for the better fusions I've done. This can be more than just an image of a Diety, or Mythological figure. Read the full Mythos behind the character, and build up images that emanate with the story. Not all images will be used in the final fusion, though it will help the entire process. This Persona 2 Design Analysis by Poltergeist0001 is helpful
fav.me/d37dynh3. Fusion. Do a couple rough drafts of the Persona image. Fuse some of the images you have collected into a humanoid body frame. You can do it in 2-D Art tests, or just visualize in your mind what works. If you got good visualization skills, some sensible geometry will form and respond to the Persona frame you made. Plug in, scale, or rotate image parts if need be, creatively play with the image and focus on what works for you. An easier way of doing this, is to find Classic Illustrations, or Sculptures and update the image into your own modern form. (A remix fusion if you will) Integrate the parts, and subtract what is not needed . Certain Mythologies don't have many Images to base a Persona off of(ie,Etruscan, Babylonian). Find their aka if you can. Many times one major Diety will be known as something else in another region of Earth. Wikipedia has Gods and Goddesses grouped by elements,characteristics, and association. Not 100% design satisfied at the first physical drawing, keep working on it. 2-3 passes (with breaks of course lol) should produce a decent Persona design.
4.Form Refinement and Face Designs. Persona means 'mask' so try to make the face look good. There are nice groups that specialize in mask forms (like Masquerade ball masks) here on DA. I never used them really, just a tip. If you have trouble with the face try to study the way Transformers (Autobots and Decepticons) faces are built in Illustrations.Neon Genesis Evangelion designs might help also. It depends on your design preference and Art influences. Knowledge of Art Symbolism helps with the form refinement of your Persona. Here you can apply hidden meanings, and strengthen the connection of your Persona and OC.
Just a gist of what I have learned about Persona creation. Anyone want me to elaborate, comment below, or note me. Thats all for now. You can thank Gaiden012 for initiating and composing the bulk of this article.
-Peace
Habari