The original attempt at making the spider-web of stems and thorns on the back of Arbok didn't go over well, and I ended up having to start over from the beginning:
I'm glad I did though, because both the web and rose itself look much better in the final version.
This was my first concept for what should go on Mega Arbok's hood. Originally, I wanted to have something akin to patterns on the skull that radiated out to become the background, but I settled on this instead:
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This was what I ended up settling on, but it soon became clear with observation and Discord feedback that trying to just adapt the existing sprite without shading wasn't going to cut it with all the visual clutter with the rib bones. While I like the fire effect, I think the current final sprite works better as the fire and skull don't obstruct the curving of the ribs and spine. As a note, the skull itself is another Carlos Calaca Guacamelee reference, as the skull has a red mustache and Calaca escaped Hell after dealing with the devil (hence the fire):
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And this last one was just a little something I threw together today when someone foolishly asked in the Discord what a Halloween S51 might look like:
The idea is that it's an alien like The Thing, which breached the suit of another alien life form that has long since been consumed/assimilated (hence the skeletal arms and bits of flesh and blood, and the bits of rubber gloves on the hands) and now is piloted around by the creature, waiting to snatch up its next victim with the tentacle that creeps out of the crack in the dome.
