[BlazeHedgehog]

So talking to a friend on IRC and they were like "Hey did you know Blaze the Cat was the original design for Shadow the Hedgehog" and I was like "What". I get handed this link which is already setting off warning bells: http://sonic.wikia.c...the_Cat/Artwork

The artwork in question are these two images, which allege to be a "prototype design" for Blaze the Cat made for Sonic Adventure 2



I skimmed Sonic Wrecks, saw nothing about this artwork. So what's the scoop? Where is this artwork actually from? Anybody know? My bullshit-o-meter is going off something fierce.

[Black Squirrel]

Looks like fan art to me.


To deviantart?

This post has been edited by Black Squirrel: 12 July 2012 - 09:40 AM

[SpeedStarTMQ]

Straight off the bat it looks like fan art to me. Sonic isn't drawn in the usual way, especially not how he would have been in the Dreamcast era.


I think someone's having a laugh.

This post has been edited by SpeedStarTMQ: 12 July 2012 - 09:47 AM

[Mykonos]

I've seen these before, but not in anyway that would have implied they were official. I don't remember the watermarks either, so there's that.

Isn't Sonic Wikia kinda notorious for having some false/bogus/fanon info anyways? Or is that another one?


EDIT: deviantART seems to like calling the character "Proto Blaze" and there are a few results.

http://browse.devian...=&q=Proto+Blaze

This post has been edited by Mykonos: 12 July 2012 - 09:55 AM

[Jay T.]

It does look like a silhouette of a prototype design, if it isn't fan created. I guess it could be possible that if it is legit, Dimps originally wanted to keep Blaze's overall appearance a secret until you play the game, but giving you hints of some of her colors. ...Or something. I'm just guessing.

This post has been edited by Jay T.: 12 July 2012 - 10:08 AM

[Chris Highwind]

I dunno, looks pretty fan-arty to me. Plus I don't understand what your friend means by Blaze being the original design for Shadow.

[dsrb]

Chris Highwind, on 12 July 2012 - 10:13 AM, said:

I don't understand what your friend means by Blaze being the original design for Shadow.

I don't understand how you don't understand. In these images, Blaze is the one who's all EDGY black and red, a design that was later used for Shadow; the allegation is that the designers knew that they wanted an emo character but had tried other designs before settling on Shadow.

[BlazeHedgehog]

Found it.

http://www.sonicwrec...istmasdayblaze/
http://www.sonicwrec...-concept-kitty/

AAUK says these are Sonic Rush concept art but merely hypothesizes that maybe Blaze's design could be "even older". Super weird!

[Ritz]

Still looks like bullshit. Why is the style so inconsistent, even within the same image? These clearly weren't drawn by Yuji Uekawa, but when has anyone else ever handled character design for these games?

[The KKM]

Ritz, on 12 July 2012 - 10:50 AM, said:

Still looks like bullshit. Why is the style so inconsistent, even within the same image? These clearly weren't drawn by Yuji Uekawa, but when has anyone else ever handled character design for these games?

Sonic 2006, for one. Weren't the designs in Adventure made by Oshima and drawn by Uekawa, too?

[Ritz]

The KKM, on 12 July 2012 - 10:53 AM, said:

Sonic 2006, for one.

Who did what there?

[Peace Of Mind]

I just wanna know what's up with that second picture of "proto-Blaze". What is that on her skin?

[Blue Blood]

Ritz, on 12 July 2012 - 10:50 AM, said:

Still looks like bullshit. Why is the style so inconsistent, even within the same image? These clearly weren't drawn by Yuji Uekawa, but when has anyone else ever handled character design for these games?

AAUK was an employee of SEGA Europe for a long time, working as the community manager, I.e, the same position as Ken Balough but on this side of the pond. He's been the source behind much of the high res artwork in recent years. These arts aren't bullshit and I'm surprised you didn't see them before.

[David The Lurker]

Ah, the Proto-Blaze drawings. Ok, here's the thing. Yes, the drawings are real. There is no reason to doubt they are real since they came from AAUK, who did work at Sega (quite publicly since he dealt with the fan community). Yes, the drawings are clearly not Uekawa, but then again these drawings weren't meant to be seen by the public. They were internal documents that, more than likely, were used to help pitch the game Sonic Rush. It was someone coming up with ideas that said "there will be a new female character in the game oh man isn't that cool or something."

What annoys me to no end, though, is the way AAUK explains the drawing. After he says "this is where it came from," he then immediately jumps into a fan theory worthy of 2002. There is no evidence that Blaze was connected in any way to Shadow. She certainly doesn't predate the game she was used in. That is simply him going "oh this character is using some colors that Shadow is using ARE THEY RELATED IN SOME WAY IS SHE SHADOW." But because he has set himself up in a position where is meant to be an expert on such manners, everyone has taken it to be a fact. When it is very clearly not.

To me, the picture does not look like they ever intended Blaze to look like that. What it screams to me is that someone made a silhouette of a female cat, and because it was Uekawa who was actually going to design her, simply filled the character in with a black fill and called it a day. There are a couple details, but I think they were just quick ideas that they wanted to give to Uekawa. I mean, look at her. She has this strange outline that hints that there is something else going on behind that darkness. Even her gloves are blacked out. Why would they do that, unless the drawing was just meant to be some mysterious "oh man wonder what she looks like" shtick.

[Sparks]

So at the end of the day it's real, but it's a quick teaser design they pulled out their ass to pitch Sonic Rush?