#skeletons: alice

[53v3nfrn5]

Victorian Mourning Jewelry

Often containing hair, teeth, and other physical remains of the dead, these pieces peaked in popularity in the Victorian era. Mourning jewelry is one of earliest sartorial expressions of the gothic romanticism which has defined many famed modern designers, from Alexander McQueen to Ann Demeulemeester to Lieve Van Gorp. The genre is made up of broaches, necklaces, rings, and other adornments meant to celebrate loved ones who had passed away. However, the pieces from that period rather simply served to underscore the concept of "memento mori" ("remember you will die")

[vixpunix]

I love my ex girlfriends

[v0rpalalice]

[universal-joke]

“This character is so me,” I say about a character that is nothing like me. (Click for better quality, ID in ALT)

Anyways, I made a little Alice that I’ve projected my own style choices on to just a bit too much. Things such as she wears colorful and patterned leggings/thigh highs underneath ripped jeans, dyes the roots of her hair instead of the ends, and carries an extra layer to keep warm (however I think that she doesn’t like hoodies/jackets so she keeps a shawl on her instead).

[tanktheta]

I'm having way too much fun animating them

[sweethoneyrose83]

[dibrujas]

📿✨️Decorated bones✨️📿

Lineart under the cut!

Here's the lineart only. I really like it:

[2not0in0love7]

Seen this angel?

[g3mface]

perfect

[godsfavoritebrat]

princess kief

[cecil2311413]

Still celebrating the 100th birthday of Disney!!

[dailydemonspotlight]

Matador - Day 2

Race: Fiend

Alignment: Neutral-Neutral

March 21st 2024

Hailing not from mythology but rather real life bullfighting, Matador is a skeletal fiend who serves as the first major hurdle in Nocturne, as well as marking one of the first examples of a demon in the SMT series not originating in mythology.

Matador literally translates to ‘Bullfighter,’ and historically is a role played by the people in toreador bullfighting events who are tasked with fighting, subduing, and eventually killing the bull in question. Armed with a red capote with a muleta at the top, effectively just a stick with a red cape tied to it, the Matador is the star of the bullfighting show, a fierce opponent to the poor animal.

Contrary to popular belief, the red capote used by the Matador isn’t the actual way they rile up the bulls, and them hating the color red is a common misconception- bulls are actually colorblind! Instead, it’s the nigh-constant whipping of the muleta atop the capote that activates the bull’s fight or flight response, and they almost always choose fight. The reasoning of the red color is to disguise blood stains from battle, as well as tradition.

Bullfighting has been a historical phenomenon from even before Roman times, though it was popularized during the Roman empire’s reign as a form of ritual for the gods. The ritual soon became a common practice in coliseums, and eventually was used to mark the alliance between Rome and Spain circa 711 CE, thus causing it to become a rather common symbol of Spanish nationalism.

Matador in Shin Megami Tensei is an incredibly fearsome demon of the Fiend race, a race consisting almost entirely of Skeletons (and Alice, for some reason). His signature skill, Red Capote, works to raise his evasion to the maximum, a play on how Matadores in real life will drive a bull to attack their capote instead of themselves.

The style and flair Matador uses is common in real-world bullfights as well, flashy clothes used to draw the ire of the audience and make the battle with the bull appear as a performance as much as it is blood sport. The rapier wielded by Matador is a common show in bullfights as well with the intent of dispatching the bull, allowing the actual battle to occur without much contention- it wouldn’t be a fight without a weapon, after all.

Matador is typically one of the more specialized demons, one who leans towards offense and buffs above all, something incredibly fitting for the fancy style and role of a Matador in real life. His specialization in wind/force skills plays into this as well, as a Matador must use great amounts of force to battle with the bull, or, alternatively, they must ‘ride the wind’ in order to engage in a metaphorical dance of death with the animal.

His boss fight in SMT III is one of the most infamous battles in the series, and for good reason- it’s less a difficulty spike and more a difficulty spear. Due to your limited selection of demons and skills at the time you battle with him, the Menorah-desiring demon is a fierce to be reckoned with, to say the least, being one of the most absurdly difficult battles in the series, especially for how early in the game he is.

Thanks to Red Capote and Taunt, two skills which work in tandem to allow him to always hit a far weakened party that will almost never hit him back, the fight effectively communicates the importance of buffs and debuffs in the SMT series over most other JRPG games, as well as serving as an introduction to the Fiends of the series. The ability to use Matador later in the game, and his sheer strength, simply goes to show that this skeleton’s power wasn’t a mere one-off occurrence. Throughout the series, even beyond Nocturne, he appears frequently as a recurring, and incredibly difficult, boss battle.

Overall, this Skeleton, with his unique backstory, design, and skillset, makes his mark as one of my favorite demons in the series. A red flag means death, after all, and the blood shed by this demon to unsuspecting players (and bulls) should not go understated.

[moonchi-af]

[spw-art]

Alice Cooper, 2019-2020

[tanktheta]

Yorick Tombstone (V2) - Mad Maria

He's got a grave with your name on it.

He's come a long way. Really ain't beating the Toa Kaita allegations tho. Also, here's an additional Cycles Render of him.