Hello everyone! Today, I'll be going over the character design and a bit about the inspirations that went into creating our dearest Sword Saint.

The basic premise behind Soriel, and this may go for the SSS project as a whole, was that we wanted a design that would instantly stand out, with everything about her apparent at a glance.

A lot of that came down to making sure that her design felt simple enough to read immediately, while still having enough little details to tell you something about who she is. Soriel is, after all, someone who exists in a bit of a strange space between being a person and being a symbol.

With that in mind, we found ourselves gravitating toward a very simple color palette. There were a few different ideas we played around with, but eventually one choice seemed to fit her better than anything else.

"All white" seemed to agree with us the most.

Braids tied together with a white ribbon she could probably never do on her own. It gives her a doll-like impression, suggesting that she may be the Sword Saint before she is Soriel.

Initially, we planned to have the armor be a distinct white as well, but eventually decided that too much of a good thing can be bad. Gold was a top contender too, and this may be a spoiler but, Soriel may play a role in future titles. Giving her a color that immediately screams "I'm at the top" felt a tad bit premature.

In her (and our) debut game, she is still only a fledgling Saint; powerful, but inexperienced. We wanted the design to reflect that, which is where the silver armor comes in. It stands in contrast with the gold and white of her sword, while also making it clear that she still has room to grow.

...Why is the dress semi-transparent, you ask? Some things, I fear, will remain a mystery.

Luminarius, the Blade of Light.

You may have noticed that during battles, no matter how much her clothes and armor get torn up, Luminarius remains the one constant. Though sealed by the absence of Soriel's faith, the Allmother's gift remains as indestructible as ever.

Inspirations

In terms of inspirations, it should come as no surprise that Nuko Majin's The Scarlet Demonslayer was highly influential for us. It's a comparison people are quick to draw, and one I feel honored by. It was one of the first H-games I've ever played, and I was very drawn to the character of Agnis.

Despite the similarities, however, Soriel is her own character. She isn't as strong nor as brutal as Agnis; she is someone who puts others before herself and has no knowledge outside of her existence as a sword. Soriel is her own unique blend of a strong-headed but naive heroine, in my humble opinion.

2B from NieR:Automata was one of the first cases where I saw this sort of character. I'd like to say she was also in the back of my mind as I wrote Soriel and helped design her. Of course, you can't go creating a female "knight" character without borrowing a little chivalry from Fate/stay night's Arturia.

As a bonus, and also because some people confusingly think there are seven Sword Saints, as described in the intro, each Saint is a master of a certain type of weapon.

In order, we have the Saints of the Scythe, Staff, Sky, Sword, Shadow, Spear and Shield.

Nothing too important at the moment. Consider it a small teaser for, hopefully, one day.

That's it for this post. Thank you for reading!