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My entry to "Design an european hero"
eliseu gouveia
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Over at CBR, folks organized a fun lil´bame where you enter a lottery to get an european country for which you have to create a superhero.
I gots... Finland!
Chu think?
Codename: Suoma Ilmarinen
Real name: Suoma
Country: Finland
Age: aprox 2,000
Height: 1,95 meters
Weight: 200 kilos
Powers: class 80 strenght, mach 5.5 (electromagnetic) flight, personal electromagnetic forcefield, ability to absorb and emit electrical blasts. Suoma can boost her superconductive brain performance for a short period of time, allowing her to acchieve 2-minute bursts of superspeed and perform feats such as running at 800 km/h or dodging multiple machinegun fire at close range.
Origin: A bride of gold forged by the legendary immortal craftsman Seppo Ilmarinen to replace his murdered wife, Suoma was repudiated by him due to her cold, hard metalic touch, unaware that the golem was actualy inhabited by a shard of the soul of his departed wife.
Calling herself Suoma, she traveled the world for centuries looking with no success for ways to get a human body.
Returned to Finland after the Cold War, she eventualy adopted the name of her creator and was recruited into the country´s superhero program and, due to her expertise on numerous fields gathered over the centuries, quickly rose in the ranks of the European Community´s Rapid Response Task Force.
Although not as gifted as her immortal creator Seppo Ilmarinen (who could build anything), Suoma´s craftmanship allowed her to perfect her magical body of gold and incorporate next generation technology that allows her to face the threats of the XXI century.
Weaknesses: Suoma is secretly consumed by the desire to have a warm human body
Extract from the Poems of Kalevala
ILMARINEN'S GOLD AND SILVER BRIDE
Craftsman Ilmarinen wept
Every evening for his woman,
Weeping sleepless through the nights
And fasting through the days;
In the early hours complaining,
Every morning sighing for her,
Lamenting for his lovely lost one,
For his dear one in the grave.
For a month he swung no hammer,
Did not touch the copper handle, 10
And the clinking forge was silent.
13 Said the craftsman Ilmarinen:
"I, poor fellow, do not know
How to live or how survive;
Sitting up or lying down
Nights are long and time is tedious.
I am troubled, low in spirit.
19 "Lonely are the nights now, lonely
And the mornings dreary, dreary.
In my sleeping I am troubled, 20
But the waking is the saddest.
It's not for evening that I'm lonely,
Not for morning that I'm dreary,
Not for olden times lamenting,
But I'm lonely for my loved one,
Dreary for the missing of her,
Lamenting for my dark-browed lovely.
29 "Often in these days it happens,
Happens in my midnight dreaming
That I stretch my hand out touching, 30
Touching something that is nothing,
Some impalpable revival,
Odd illusion of her loins."
35 For a time he lives on wifeless,
Growing old without a woman.
After mourning two months, three months,
On the fourth he went to work.
From the sea he gathered gold,
From the billows gathered silver
And collected stacks of firewood, 40
Thirty sledge loads altogether;
Burned the firewood down to charcoal,
With the charcoal fueled his furnace.
45 Then he took those golden coins
And he chose those silver pieces,
Just the weight of autumn ewe
Or the heft of winter hare.
Put the silver and the gold
Into the furnace of his smithy;
Set the slaves to fan the fire 50
And the hirelings pumping on.
53 So the slaves then worked the bellows
With the hirelings pumping on,
With no mittens on their hands
And stripped naked to the waist,
While smith Ilmarinen himself
Was attending to the forging,
Trying to form a golden image,
To create a silver bride.
61 But the slaves are not performing 60
And the hirelings not producing.
So smith Ilmari himself
Now began to work the bellows.
He pumped once, he pumped twice;
After pumping for the third time
He looked down into his furnace,
Peering down beside the bellows-
What was coming from the forge,
What emerging from the fireplace?
71 From the forge a ewe is thrusting, 70
Forced out by the blowing bellows,
One hair gold, one hair copper
And each third one made of silver.
Others are well pleased with that,
But smith Ilmari himself
Is not pleased at all and says:
77 "You are what the wolf was wanting.
I myself am hoping for a
Golden sweetheart, bride of silver."
81 Then he shoved it in the fire, so
Added gold and added silver;
Set the slaves to work the bellows
With the hirelings pumping on.
87 So the slaves then worked the bellows
With the hirelings pumping on,
With no mittens on their hands
And stripped naked to their waist,
While smith Ilmarinen himself
Was attending to the forging,
Trying to form a golden image, 90
To create a silver bride.
95 But the slaves are not performing
And the hirelings not producing.
So smith Ilmari himself
Now began to work the bellows.
He pumped once, he pumped twice;
After pumping for the third time
He looked down into his furnace,
Peering down beside the bellows -
What was coming from the forge, 100
What emerging from the fireplace?
105 From the forge a colt was thrusting,
Forced out by the blowing bellows,
Mane of gold and head of silver,
While its hoofs were all of copper.
Others were well-pleased with it,
But smith Ilmari himself
Is not pleased at all and says:
111 "You are what the wolf was wanting.
I myself am hoping for a 110
Golden sweetheart, bride of silver."
115 Then he shoved it in the fire,
Added gold and added silver,
Set the slaves to work the bellows
With the hirelings pumping on.
121 So the slaves then worked the bellows
With the hirelings pumping on,
With no mittens on their hands
And stripped naked to the waist,
While smith Ilmarinen himself 120
Was attending to the forging,
Trying to form a golden image,
To create a silver bride.
129 But the slaves are not performing
And the hirelings not producing.
So smith Ilmari himself
Now began to work the bellows.
He pumped once, he pumped twice;
After pumping for the third time
He looked down into his furnace, 130
Peering down beside the bellows-
What was coming from the forge,
What emerging from the fireplace?
139 From the forge a girl is thmsting,
Girl with gold braids from the bellows,
Silver head with golden hair-
And a form so beautiful!
Others are frightened by the figure,
But the craftsman is not frightened.
145 Then he hammered without ceasing 140
To create the golden image,
Working all night without resting,
All the daytime without pausing;
Legs and arms he fashioned for her-
But the legs, they cannot walk,
And the hands cannot caress him.
153 Then the ears he molded for her-
But the ears, they do not hear him.
When he made a sweet mouth for her
It could speak no welcome to him; 150
When he made those bright eyes for her
They could not look sweetly at him.
159 Looking at her he considered:
"That would be one lovely girl
If she only could converse,
Had a mind, a speaking tongue."
163 But he took her to the tent bed
Underneath a gauzy netting,
Set her on the downy pillows
In the silken bridal bed. 160
167 Then he heated up the sauna,
Made it hot and vaporous,
Prepared the soap and leafy slappers,
Carried in three tubs of water
For the washing of the chaffinch,
For the cleansing of the bunting
From the gold dust of his labor.
175 There he bathed himself with pleasure,
Splashing to his satisfaction.
Then he stretched out by his bride 170
Within a sheer mosquito net,
Underneath a steely tent
Supported by an iron framework.
l8l On that first night, Ilmarinen
Feels the cold and wants more covers,
So he gets himself more covers,
Puts on two or three more bearskins,
Five or six more woolen blankets
To warm himself beside his wife,
By the side of that gold image. 180
189 Now, his side against the blankets-
That was warm enough for comfort,
But the side against the maiden,
Toward his precious golden image -
That was cold and freezing with hoarfrost
And was freezing into sea ice,
Stiffening into stony hardness.
197 Said the craftsman Ilmarinen:
"This is not so good for me;
I will take it to Vainola, 190
Take it to old Vainamoinen
As an ever faithful helpmate,
As a birdie for his bosom.
203 So he took it to him there.
"Here, old Vainamoinen," he said.
"Here's a virgin made for you,
Beautiful for you to look at -
And she is no big mouth either,
No chin-wagging chatterbox."
211 Old reliable Vainamoinen 200
Took but one look at the figure,
Cast a glance upon the gold:
"Why did you bring that to me,
That queer looking lump of gold?"
217 "For your good," said Ilmarinen,
"As an ever faithful helpmate,
As a birdie for your bosom."
221 Said old Vainamoinen shrugging:
"O you smith, my little brother!
Shove your girl into the fire. 210
Forge it into useful tools
Or then take it off to Russia
Or send it into Germany
For the rich to haggle over
Or great warriors to fight for.
It would not befit my kindred
And it would not suit me either
To go courting after gold
Or go chasing after silver."
233 Then he cautioned and he warned them, 220
He, the man of Quiet Water,
Now forbade the younger people,
All the growing generation
To debase themselves for gold
Or to scrape and fawn for silver,
And he said it in these words,
Pronounced it in these sentences:
"You poor boys, you growing men,
Whether you are rich or poor
Do not ever, ever at all 230
While the golden moonlight glimmers,
Ever woo a woman of gold
Or succumb to lures of silver.
'Frozen is the gleam of gold,
Icy is the shine of silver.'"
I gots... Finland!
Chu think?
Codename: Suoma Ilmarinen
Real name: Suoma
Country: Finland
Age: aprox 2,000
Height: 1,95 meters
Weight: 200 kilos
Powers: class 80 strenght, mach 5.5 (electromagnetic) flight, personal electromagnetic forcefield, ability to absorb and emit electrical blasts. Suoma can boost her superconductive brain performance for a short period of time, allowing her to acchieve 2-minute bursts of superspeed and perform feats such as running at 800 km/h or dodging multiple machinegun fire at close range.
Origin: A bride of gold forged by the legendary immortal craftsman Seppo Ilmarinen to replace his murdered wife, Suoma was repudiated by him due to her cold, hard metalic touch, unaware that the golem was actualy inhabited by a shard of the soul of his departed wife.
Calling herself Suoma, she traveled the world for centuries looking with no success for ways to get a human body.
Returned to Finland after the Cold War, she eventualy adopted the name of her creator and was recruited into the country´s superhero program and, due to her expertise on numerous fields gathered over the centuries, quickly rose in the ranks of the European Community´s Rapid Response Task Force.
Although not as gifted as her immortal creator Seppo Ilmarinen (who could build anything), Suoma´s craftmanship allowed her to perfect her magical body of gold and incorporate next generation technology that allows her to face the threats of the XXI century.
Weaknesses: Suoma is secretly consumed by the desire to have a warm human body
Extract from the Poems of Kalevala
ILMARINEN'S GOLD AND SILVER BRIDE
Craftsman Ilmarinen wept
Every evening for his woman,
Weeping sleepless through the nights
And fasting through the days;
In the early hours complaining,
Every morning sighing for her,
Lamenting for his lovely lost one,
For his dear one in the grave.
For a month he swung no hammer,
Did not touch the copper handle, 10
And the clinking forge was silent.
13 Said the craftsman Ilmarinen:
"I, poor fellow, do not know
How to live or how survive;
Sitting up or lying down
Nights are long and time is tedious.
I am troubled, low in spirit.
19 "Lonely are the nights now, lonely
And the mornings dreary, dreary.
In my sleeping I am troubled, 20
But the waking is the saddest.
It's not for evening that I'm lonely,
Not for morning that I'm dreary,
Not for olden times lamenting,
But I'm lonely for my loved one,
Dreary for the missing of her,
Lamenting for my dark-browed lovely.
29 "Often in these days it happens,
Happens in my midnight dreaming
That I stretch my hand out touching, 30
Touching something that is nothing,
Some impalpable revival,
Odd illusion of her loins."
35 For a time he lives on wifeless,
Growing old without a woman.
After mourning two months, three months,
On the fourth he went to work.
From the sea he gathered gold,
From the billows gathered silver
And collected stacks of firewood, 40
Thirty sledge loads altogether;
Burned the firewood down to charcoal,
With the charcoal fueled his furnace.
45 Then he took those golden coins
And he chose those silver pieces,
Just the weight of autumn ewe
Or the heft of winter hare.
Put the silver and the gold
Into the furnace of his smithy;
Set the slaves to fan the fire 50
And the hirelings pumping on.
53 So the slaves then worked the bellows
With the hirelings pumping on,
With no mittens on their hands
And stripped naked to the waist,
While smith Ilmarinen himself
Was attending to the forging,
Trying to form a golden image,
To create a silver bride.
61 But the slaves are not performing 60
And the hirelings not producing.
So smith Ilmari himself
Now began to work the bellows.
He pumped once, he pumped twice;
After pumping for the third time
He looked down into his furnace,
Peering down beside the bellows-
What was coming from the forge,
What emerging from the fireplace?
71 From the forge a ewe is thrusting, 70
Forced out by the blowing bellows,
One hair gold, one hair copper
And each third one made of silver.
Others are well pleased with that,
But smith Ilmari himself
Is not pleased at all and says:
77 "You are what the wolf was wanting.
I myself am hoping for a
Golden sweetheart, bride of silver."
81 Then he shoved it in the fire, so
Added gold and added silver;
Set the slaves to work the bellows
With the hirelings pumping on.
87 So the slaves then worked the bellows
With the hirelings pumping on,
With no mittens on their hands
And stripped naked to their waist,
While smith Ilmarinen himself
Was attending to the forging,
Trying to form a golden image, 90
To create a silver bride.
95 But the slaves are not performing
And the hirelings not producing.
So smith Ilmari himself
Now began to work the bellows.
He pumped once, he pumped twice;
After pumping for the third time
He looked down into his furnace,
Peering down beside the bellows -
What was coming from the forge, 100
What emerging from the fireplace?
105 From the forge a colt was thrusting,
Forced out by the blowing bellows,
Mane of gold and head of silver,
While its hoofs were all of copper.
Others were well-pleased with it,
But smith Ilmari himself
Is not pleased at all and says:
111 "You are what the wolf was wanting.
I myself am hoping for a 110
Golden sweetheart, bride of silver."
115 Then he shoved it in the fire,
Added gold and added silver,
Set the slaves to work the bellows
With the hirelings pumping on.
121 So the slaves then worked the bellows
With the hirelings pumping on,
With no mittens on their hands
And stripped naked to the waist,
While smith Ilmarinen himself 120
Was attending to the forging,
Trying to form a golden image,
To create a silver bride.
129 But the slaves are not performing
And the hirelings not producing.
So smith Ilmari himself
Now began to work the bellows.
He pumped once, he pumped twice;
After pumping for the third time
He looked down into his furnace, 130
Peering down beside the bellows-
What was coming from the forge,
What emerging from the fireplace?
139 From the forge a girl is thmsting,
Girl with gold braids from the bellows,
Silver head with golden hair-
And a form so beautiful!
Others are frightened by the figure,
But the craftsman is not frightened.
145 Then he hammered without ceasing 140
To create the golden image,
Working all night without resting,
All the daytime without pausing;
Legs and arms he fashioned for her-
But the legs, they cannot walk,
And the hands cannot caress him.
153 Then the ears he molded for her-
But the ears, they do not hear him.
When he made a sweet mouth for her
It could speak no welcome to him; 150
When he made those bright eyes for her
They could not look sweetly at him.
159 Looking at her he considered:
"That would be one lovely girl
If she only could converse,
Had a mind, a speaking tongue."
163 But he took her to the tent bed
Underneath a gauzy netting,
Set her on the downy pillows
In the silken bridal bed. 160
167 Then he heated up the sauna,
Made it hot and vaporous,
Prepared the soap and leafy slappers,
Carried in three tubs of water
For the washing of the chaffinch,
For the cleansing of the bunting
From the gold dust of his labor.
175 There he bathed himself with pleasure,
Splashing to his satisfaction.
Then he stretched out by his bride 170
Within a sheer mosquito net,
Underneath a steely tent
Supported by an iron framework.
l8l On that first night, Ilmarinen
Feels the cold and wants more covers,
So he gets himself more covers,
Puts on two or three more bearskins,
Five or six more woolen blankets
To warm himself beside his wife,
By the side of that gold image. 180
189 Now, his side against the blankets-
That was warm enough for comfort,
But the side against the maiden,
Toward his precious golden image -
That was cold and freezing with hoarfrost
And was freezing into sea ice,
Stiffening into stony hardness.
197 Said the craftsman Ilmarinen:
"This is not so good for me;
I will take it to Vainola, 190
Take it to old Vainamoinen
As an ever faithful helpmate,
As a birdie for his bosom.
203 So he took it to him there.
"Here, old Vainamoinen," he said.
"Here's a virgin made for you,
Beautiful for you to look at -
And she is no big mouth either,
No chin-wagging chatterbox."
211 Old reliable Vainamoinen 200
Took but one look at the figure,
Cast a glance upon the gold:
"Why did you bring that to me,
That queer looking lump of gold?"
217 "For your good," said Ilmarinen,
"As an ever faithful helpmate,
As a birdie for your bosom."
221 Said old Vainamoinen shrugging:
"O you smith, my little brother!
Shove your girl into the fire. 210
Forge it into useful tools
Or then take it off to Russia
Or send it into Germany
For the rich to haggle over
Or great warriors to fight for.
It would not befit my kindred
And it would not suit me either
To go courting after gold
Or go chasing after silver."
233 Then he cautioned and he warned them, 220
He, the man of Quiet Water,
Now forbade the younger people,
All the growing generation
To debase themselves for gold
Or to scrape and fawn for silver,
And he said it in these words,
Pronounced it in these sentences:
"You poor boys, you growing men,
Whether you are rich or poor
Do not ever, ever at all 230
While the golden moonlight glimmers,
Ever woo a woman of gold
Or succumb to lures of silver.
'Frozen is the gleam of gold,
Icy is the shine of silver.'"
eliseu gouveia on
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I think we should organise something like that over here, at PA. Who´s up for it?
"Design an asian superhero" or something....
And I'd be down for a big ol' art jam. We used to do them every so often, but it's been a while since the last one.
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hell yeah! now I can go back to drawing effemenitate sci-fi soldier boys with impunity...and SPANDEX!
"I was born; six gun in my hand; behind the gun; I make my final stand"~Bad Company
I always got a kick at designing characters and superheroes in particular are a riot.
Suoma was not actualy my first non-US superheroine.
Did I ever show you this one?
VELA (in portuguese, vela can mean both sail and candle) was a creation of mine, way back in 93.
Not as powerful as Suoma, though...
Codename: VELA
Real Name: Soraia something (hey, I can´t remember that far back, okay? It was college... lotsa beer... :P )
Country: Portugal
Age: 16-17, I think
Height: I dunno, 1,60 meters?
Weight: how much does a fit 1,60 meters tall girl weights, 45-50 kilos?
Powers: flight. Fast reflexes, too.
Apart from that, it's great.
The cheek on the far side of her face, however... I really can´t see it.
So it took me long enough, but I did one of my own for over there. What great fun you've introduced me to.
Here's the lenghty character info for anyone that cares to look:
Estonia is located west of Russia and south of Finland. For the majority of the twentieth century, the area was under either Nazi or Soviet rule. In designing a truly "Estonian" hero, I thought it'd be best if I went with a character with a strong sense of national pride, being openly opposed to foreign control.
Early Childhood
The character that I came up with, Paavo Suvari, was born in the late 1920s to a relatively poor Estonian woman that lived in the city of Narva on the border of Russia. His father died during a military excursion prior to Paavo's birth. Lacking a male role model, young Paavo was strongly attached to his mother, who would often entertain her son with traditional Estonian folk tales as well as overly exaggerated accounts of his father's life. Paavo took to one tale very heavily, that of the Kalevide, the national epic hero of Estonia.
The Epic
The tale of the Kalevide originated from the same oral tradition as the Finnish epic that Eliseu pulled his character from. The hero of the Finnish epic's name was Kaleva, a great King of the Eastern Baltic region that both Finland and Estonia are part of. In the Estonian version, Kaleva was simply called Kalev. The hero of the Estonian epic was the youngest son of Kalev, Sohni, later to be called Kalevipoeg or Kalevide, both meaning "son of Kalev". Much like Paavo, the Kalevide was born after his own father's death. The Kalevide was a fierce and intelligent warrior that was trained by a hedgehog to battle using stones and the thin edges of planks.
The Tragedy
On June 14th, 1940, Paavo's mother boarded a small transport plane in Tallinn, the capitol of Estonia. Paavo, in his preteen years, was still uncomfortable being away from his mother for an extended period of time. To soothe his fears, his mother told him that the spirit of Kalev would surely protect her, as the plane was named after him, Kaleva. Unfortunately, The Kaleva was shot down from its flight by two Soviet bombers in the first act of aggression towards Estonia from the Soviet Union. All nine passengers died. The full-scale occupation of Estonia by the Soviet Union occurred two days afterwards.
Upon hearing of his mother's death, coupled with the dramatic experience of being alone at such a young age in the capitol city during the invasion, Paavo vowed to spend the rest of his days fighting Soviet rule. Not trusting anyone, especially Soviet education and government officials, the next few years were spent homeless on the streets of Tallinn. It was during this time that Paavo began to obtain his physical prowess and fighting skills.
The Hero
As he got older, he started to break into the houses and offices of Soviet workers to steal food, money, clothing, and other goods. On one of his excursions he was spotted by a high-ranking soviet official that demanded to know who he was. Thinking back to the tragedy of his mother, Paavo's only answer was to say, "The Son of Kalev" before he escaped. After seeing the harsh way in which soviet soldiers would treat native Estonians, it did not take long for Paavo to decide to start fighting for more than his own survival. As a young man, Paavo designed a costume that would invoke a feeling a patriotism amongst his fellow Estonians, and began his single handed war against the Soviet Union.
The Costume
The one displayed in the image would be intended for winter use, especially in Eastern Estonia, where the climate is more harsh. He would have had a lighter weight outfit for warmer environments.
The colors chosen are those of the Estonian flag: blue, white, and black. The mask/helmet, cape, gloves, and boots are all made of a soft and pliable goat's leather stained blue with the use of cornflowers, the national flower of Estonia. The vest is a double-breasted design and sports an external belt, both of which are elements that would have been inspired by pictures of Paavo's father from his military days which would have been similar to this and this, both dated to the 1930s.
The area around his eyes would be rubbed over with a black substance, such as motor-oil, grease, or shoe-polish, to not only further his disguise, but also to absorb sunlight and reduce sun and snow-glare. The motif displayed by the dark areas around the eyes, along with the nose guard and orange crest on his mask are intended to resemble the look of the barn swallow, Estonia's national bird. This look is also enhanced by two slits in his cape that rise to roughly waist level. When leaping or squatting, this would cause his cape to separate at the ends resembling the feathers of a bird's tail.
The Satchel
The inside of the satchel would consist of complex pouches, flaps, and fastens to hold the contents in place. Those contents would vary depending on what goods he had previously pilfered from soviet workers, but would almost always include:
The Character
He is a skilled self-taught combatant, but has no formal or worldly education (think more Wildcat, less Batman). He is more than competent, but by no means wins his fights flawlessly. He is very resourceful of his surroundings during combat, and would often play off the "fights with stones and planks" aspect of his namesake whenever he could. He has no secret identity, and works from a number of abandoned warehouses and factories across Estonia 24/7 to put as many kinks in the Soviet machine as possible. When not in uniform, he considers himself "undercover" researching for his mission.
He ages normally, and is active up through his sixties, with his last spotted appearance in uniform shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. However, as the years would pass, his lack of social interaction, as well as the frustration of being one man against the whole Soviet Union, would affect him mentally, making him quite eccentric. This, along with the fact that he would often go multiple continuous nights without sleep, completely absorbed by whatever anti-soviet project he was working on, would make him a little "street-crazy". (This aspect of the character, non-existent at first, would have increased along with his age, and in his later active years, he would be written like a mix between Adam West Batman and Frank Miller Batman.)
The Design
I made him short and stout in stature, maybe 5'6". His name, Paavo, even means "small or humble". I found this a fun spin on the character, as the original Kalevide and Kalev were both giants. He has light blue eyes, blonde hair, fair skin, wide facial features, and broad cheekbones: all genetic traits relative to the Eastern Baltic region. His costume is somewhat inspired by Paul Pope's Batman (Batman Year 100) as well as Bryan Hitch's World War II era Captain America (The Ultimates). If he were to be portrayed in film, my first choice for an actor would be Nick Nolte.
Same thing happened last weekend.
Must be a host problem, both my site and DigitalWebbing.com are down and they share the same hosting company.
Hope it gets back up again soon....
ManonvonSuperock, I repeat what I said at CBR, that is one sleek character design and concept.
I especialy like the fact that you focused so much on his shortfalls and his mortality, makes him feel more human than many capes out there.
haunteddong... hmm, no.