SoulCager Character Design

Emilio Laiso has created a beautiful design for The SoulCager, one of the major villains in Damaged Universe. I wanted to share with you the various stages in the design.

Body

First, he created the body concept; the character bio read (I'm redacting a lot here): He is ridiculously muscular, tall (7-8 feet), with reddish colored skin, and a burnt, stitched together, primitive look.

Armor and Costume

Next came the costume design. He wears armor with round portholes that allow us to see the faces of the anguished souls of those whose powers he has trapped, swirling around deparingly. These portholes light up with the essence of the power he derives from “the Light” and are connected to each other via power lines that also light up. Grown into his back are the skulls of both those he has slayed and those whose souls he has trapped in the portholes.

Detailed Front Design

Now we can see the portholes in more detail and how the wires that connect them light up.

Detailed Back and Extras

We can now see the skulls of the vanquished clearly on his back. We also see a detail of the portholes, where the trapped souls of the vanquished live in an eternal, tormented state.

If you want to see more of Emilio's art, check out Hack/Slash: Son of Samhain from Image Comics. It's a terrific read, powered by the awesome talents of creator Steve Seeley, writer Michael Moreci and, of course, artist Emilio Laiso.