Hero and Villain
" When I was young and I was forced to watch Disney films, I wasn’t interested in princesses, only by the villains. When you are a hero you are always running to save someone, sweating, worries and guilty."
-Nuno Roque
The Powerpuff girl is my childhood favorite cartoon. It was an American animated television series that ran from the late 90s to the
mid-2000s. Created to be “perfect little girls” and made from “sugar, spice and everything nice”, the Powerpuff Girls possess certain super powers which help them to solve crimes, fight villains and basically keep evil at bay. This is all well and good if you like happy endings but life is not always like this. Like Nino Roque, I tend to be more interested in the villain character in cartoons. What especially impresses me the most, is the monkey Mojo Jojo, who is my favorite.
Perhaps the reason I like the villains is because of their way of life; they are free and can live without any rules. Though there is a witty and ironic side to them – and nod to aspects of Western subculture – they still defy the overused, tired cliché that good always defeats bad.
Brief
Therefore, I wanted to make them anti-heroes because I believe everyone has two sides: both
good and bad and I’m interested in transformation, people changing from one to the other.
What would happen if The Powerpuff Girls were created bad, instead of good?
What if the doctor broke the container but then chemical X created evil girls?
What would the result be?
Content And Ideas
In my version, The Powerpuff Girls are renamed: The Sour-tuff Girls and instead of possessing Superpowers, actually possess super guns, super knives and super-evil fire, Rather than revere the scientist who made them as a kind of father (as in the original), they kidnap the Dr who created them, torture him and treat him cruelly. So, they're kind of like Frankenstein’s monsters but younger, female and multiplied by three. Little super-bitches really.
Research
I did some research on the villain's type and characteristic.
Satan:
The evil incarnation in works, the main enemy of heroes. Often possess extraordinary wisdom and strength. Some have huge armies, while others lead a group of crowds or even alone, but the common trait is pure evil with no reason and no purpose. Such as Satan in a religious theme.
Dark devil:
An all-powerful evil leader, the goal is to dominate the world. Often possess extraordinary wisdom and strength, and leads the evil forces. For example, Darth Vader (Star Wars), Sauron (Lord of the Rings), Voldemort (Harry Potter).
Female villain:
Female evil person. She is often set as a glamorous character with attractive looks and movements. Sometimes set against a miserable background, with a dual personality. Sometimes the reader/the audience support them because they are cool and sexy.
Scientist:
A scientist who becomes crazy because of a personality defect or an accident in his experiment uses his science and technology to endanger the public. For example, Doctor Octopus in Spider Man.
Secondary villain:
The secondary role of the evil forces, the character is not as evil and can even show a good side; their ability is often being smart (brainy) and sometimes display a funny side. Such as the Rockets in the Pokémon series, the Dullembix thieves in the Little Darth Vader series, the dark lovers in the Pied Mermaid, and more.
My character design
Buttercup (Fucker-Up)
Buttercup is described as a 'tough hot-headed tomboy' in the original; her personality ingredient is 'spice’, the signature colour is green, and she has black hair in a flip. She loves to get dirty, plays rough and fights hard. She is the only Powerpuff Girl without a unique super power.
So I decided to rename mine: “Fucker-Up” as she is clumsy and always doing things wrong, or making life uneasy for people. In my story, she will still be the tough tomboy, because she is the one without any super powers. So I gave her a heavy weapon – super-spice gun – because tomboys love guns, don’t they?
But the most dramatic transformation came by changing her face. I found ideas from villains in cartoons, and gave my “Sour-tuff Girls”, hard, adult looks. I changed the face and body of The Powerpuff Girls from a child to an adult, and had them wear some sexy, exposing clothes, holding-heavy weapons.
I did some sketches of her wearing a black and green top, under her mini skirt, she is wearing fishnets. Her left hand is dragging the professor by the scruff; her right-hand is holding a green super gun. See below skecthes.
sketches
Blossom
(“Bosom”)
Blossom is the self-proclaimed leader of The Powerpuff Girls. In the cartoon, her personality ingredient is "everything nice"; her signature colour is pink, and she has long red hair with a red bow. She is often seen as the most level-headed and composed member of the group and also strong and determined. Her unique power is freezing objects with her breath as seen in the episode "Ice Sore".
I gave her the name “Bosom” to be rude and cheeky and she has an opposite super-power in my story. Her unique power is “evil fire”: she can burn objects, people, places with a single wave of her hand.
sketches
I dressed her in a red mini suit and painted evil, red flames on her palm. Her face reveals an evil, mischievous smile.
After I sketched all of the characters, I chose three drawings then scanned them into my laptop, and edited them again with Illustrator software. You can see the final result at the bottom of the page.
Bubbles (“Troubles”)
(“Troubles”)
In the original version, Bubbles is the softest and sweetest of the three. Her personality ingredient is sugar, her signature colour is blue, and she has blonde hair in pigtails. Bubbles is depicted as kind and very sweet but she is also capable of extreme rage and can fight monsters just as well as
her sisters can.
In my version, I changed her name to “Troubles” and gave her a split-personality, almost made her schizophrenic, so she could be the sweetest girl or the cruellest! I designed a special machete made out of ice for her. She has her right hand in her blue skirt pocket and left hand carries the machete, which rests casually on her shoulder.
sketch
Final digital characters
Final Poster
