Introduction - Wilkob

As with any stories, we always think of the main character first. That's who Wilkob is, the idea of a high-class traveling bard in a steampunk fairy tale world.

I've always wanted to tell a story about musicians, cartoon style. In very early concepts, our bard here only plays a normal guitar. After discovering the wonderful variation harp-guitar, I quickly switched over. I forgot where and when I absorbed the final idea of a walking mouth for a speaker... but it was definitely 40% developed from the idea of Rincewind's Luggage from Discworld. I LOVED that wacky design. XD

Yes, influences from Terry Pratchet are in. In addition to that, there are also Neil Gaiman; the two of them sure have their influences over my vision of a fantasy hero, one that patterns after what we already knew, but also tells a new story on its own. Traditionally, bards tell oral tales with their songs; I made sure that Wilkob will have much to do with stories as much as he deals with music.

More visuals:I've got a initial rough idea of how Wilkob acts, should a comic feature him. He is a quiet guy, apathetic, and snappy-mouthed. Confident at times, but also have his fears. He doesn't express himself well, and prefers not to. He is not smart, but throughout the story he will learn more and end up knowledgeable. Music represents the beauty and skill that people will see on the outside. Story-wise, Wilkob will start out below-average in skill level, with other side characters better than him.

What would be his motivations? Wilkob is the kind of character who initially could care less about things going on around him, only caring about his daily musical musings. Eventually, others will show him how the world and its people work. No matter the story paths later on, I have decided this: Wilkob will grow to care about others, and that point has to be made very obvious in the storyline. It's nothing groundbreaking; all hero's journey parts and dynamic character principles are being applied.

Until I really start the complete story Wilkob stars in, I've pretty much done my job here for this character. Time to move on~