Some sketches and thoughts for a character redesign for my old character, Grim. #characterdesign 1/thread

Grim was a character I created long ago when I was a kid. I think they were inspired by Grim from Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. Yes, I am very aware of (my) Grim's name being the same as Grim's (from the show) name. My kid self back then was weird. 2/11

Anyway, Grim's original design was just a Grim Reaper. Back then, I refer to them as female. Recently, I want to redesign them for a story idea: where do characters, ideas, and concepts come from? #sketch #characterdesign 3/11

Grim, and all characters, exist in this world called Astoria, where ideas form and stories begin. Characters in this world are in a never-ending search for a story to fit in. Grim is studying to be a protagonist. #sketch #characterdesign 4/11

More Grim sketches. Here, I explored more of their design. Their mouth shape was difficult to handle in some head angles and expressions. Same with their nose. #sketch #characterdesign 5/11

I also explored human designs for Grim. There's some discourse online about non-binary/trans rep in media. Some people find non-human representation dehumanizing. I want to avoid making these mistakes so I want to explore more human designs for Grim. #sketch #characterdesign 6/11

I eventually went back to Grim's original design. I ditched the nose pit and gave them a more human nose, toned down their teeth/fangs(?), and a more human-like look. I also applied some corrections to their human design. #sketch #characterdesign 7/11

I like the most recent design variations for Grim. But I am caught between them both. The story is about Grim trying to find a story to fit in as a protagonist. But as a glitched character, a character that does not fit in any story genre, no story fits them. 8/11

This is the reason for their original "monster" like appearance. They don't view themself as a monster, they see themself as human. They are also NB, and many stories usually go for binary characters. Grim wants to be a protagonist, but their personhood is often looked over. 9/11

In Astoria, the land where ideas appear and stories form, glitched characters like Grim have a hard time finding a story to fit into. The reason why stories pass over characters like Grim is that stories much prefer characters that can fit into an established genre. 10/11

If your Nonbinary or Transmasculine, what do you think of Grim's design and story context in this thread? I am welcome to suggestions as I like both their human and original designs. 11/11