All Things
Generation 1
The first generation represents all of my early creations. Most are poorly thought out and easily drawn. This first wave of creation spans from the time of birth until I entered fifth grade, approximately 1994.
Super Strawberry:
Super Strawberry is the titular character of what is regarded as my "first creation". It is either the earliest one I can remember or the furthest back that I would want to remember. The series, upon its conception, existed in only a mental format. A few pictures were drawn out and storylines, characters, and other adventures were planned out but never came to be in this time frame.
The series was envisioned to be the typical super hero tale, only everyone in the city was a piece of fruit or produce, most likely due to an inability to draw people. The star of the comic exhibited the normal super hero traits of flight, strength, and invulnerability. With no exceptional personality traits or concept of giving personality, the idea was doomed to a rocky start.
The two most prominent characters were the named hero and his nemesis of the time, Dr. Orange. Before a comic was ever made with the two, this enemy gradually shifted into a friend and mentor. A cast was amassed quickly by picking a produce and attaching it to another word that started with the same letter. Almost every common fruit was quickly covered in this fashion. Some characters were created by my brothers, which puts their use and ownership on shaky grounds.
While the ideas were in development, various revenues were considered as possibilities. A computer "game" was developed on from sliding around still bitmaps. A bounty of characters was developed for this "game" that migrated into the actual series. Another more awkward plan was a cross over with the residents of Fruit Town entering the real world to share a storyline with the generic heroes.
The first notable work from this series committed to paper was done in the early mid-90s and was a (comparably) long running series of one page comics. Many key characters were introduced at long last and some of the many planned storylines were revealed. Most of the comics only touched on the origin story or first appearance of major characters.
A second, much shorter run (two) of four pages, quarter sized comics followed in the later mid-90s. Only the most formidable opponents, Crazy Cherry and the Grape Crooks, were chosen to appear. The series died at this point, fostering no growth behind or on pages. Some unauthorized appearances were made by Super Strawberry and Crazy Cherry in my brothers mostly off-line comic, The Greatest Comic (T.G.C.).
The final resting place of the series came when it was merged into Not Quite Heroes.
Slimeball:
This slug/dust mite was the first character of mine to actually appear in a comic, several actually, most of which were the "first issue" in the series. Each of the uncounted runs never got past a third. There was no true focus, either on action/adventure or comedy, and it failed at both regardless.
The lead character, Slimeball, had his name inspired by one of my brothers' characters/doodles, Scuzball. The similarities ended there as one was a draconic monster. The slug was accompanied by a cycloptic version of his identity, Scumball, a creation of my twin brother, and later Crum, an original creation for ownership purposes. Scumball was guest-drawn into a few issues, but Crum never made a committed appearance in any of these earlier works.
Slimeball had as heavy a plot as could be imagined for something drawn by a second grader. Mostly, he was escaping the wrath of cleaning agents or a murderous Venus fly trap, Cutie, which, for some reason, wanted to eat him. Despite having all sorts of various villains and trials to over come, only this Cutie storyline ever found its way to paper.
The final resting place of the series came when it was merged into Not Quite Heroes.
Mydra:
This was a science fiction, action series that pitted giant, draconic, genetically engineered cyborgs with distinct powers against one another on a desolate planet with a core of raw energy that seeped through the cracks on the surface. However, there was literally nothing else that could happen on the world as it was just the violent reptilian warriors. They could only fight against each other which led to a complete lack of interest to the element (an opinion coming from hindsight).
Mydra was named after every element in the fabricated universe. It was a very ambiguous term that was liberally applied to everything: the planet itself, the species metallic dragons, the energy crystals formed in the world's core, and energy type as well. All of these elements were connected as the crystals were formed from this raw energy which was used to "feed" the life forms.
The ruthless Anaconda was a massive giant with four arms, as opposed to having a pair of wings, who lead the evil forces of Mydra. The small band of opposing good included Python, Boa, and probably some snake names that were ridiculously unsuited like Cottonmouth. A plot hole could easily be spotted when it was realized that there was nothing for the two factions to fight over as the planet only had two resources, hard gray dirt and pure energy, which where in bountiful supply.
While extensively thought out, no use came from the Mydra. A brief inclusion was put in a never finished "choose your own adventure" comic, but the entire branch of creations laid dormant for years.
The final resting place of the series came when the Mydra race was added as an element to the Xakadrian race in Lost Legends of Idos.
Lost Legend of Idos:
This was the first attempt at a role playing game ever attempted. The name of the series was not remembered, truthfully, but one of the locations, the Kingdom of Idos, stood out as the most dominant of the few features.
The game followed the journey of an unnamed adventurer, referred to only as "(You)", through a series of supposed quests and missions. These legendary tasks were never named, but extensive definition was put into the locations, characters, and weaponry. Particular creations of significance were the kingdom of Firestone, a city state surrounded by a ring of active volcanoes, the wizard Zoal, the knight Killex, and the spiny monster, Forest Dweller.
While the series was lost and brought to shambles, the scraps from what it managed to be were incorporated into other fantasy series. The foremost of these is Lost Legends of Idos, which received its primary infusion and name from that part partially remembered from this series. The (You) character went on to become three distinct characters in the series while Idos transformed into a legendary kingdom. Zoal and Firestone were exported into Quest, which itself was engulfed by Legends of Idos.
Blob:
Devised as a computer "game", the player was to guide a poorly sprite slime through four crudely made sets of bitmap levels. There was no real game play elements other than basic math in knowing how much damage could be dealt and taken, when to backtrack for power ups, and path choosing.
The storyline followed that a race of evil crabs traveled the universe and took over planets. This planet was one of slimy, amorphous life forms. By a process of "Sinistrication", the friendly goos are turned evil and cooperate with the crustacean threat. For reasons never explained, the titular Blob is the only one capable of saving the day and must battle through the land to the crabs' stronghold to battle their mechanical leader.
There were a limited number of slimes encountered on the world. Most of them were leaders to levels. Slimie, a cyan blob, taught Blob how to punch. Orange, a round slime, could be sought out in secret locations and had important items for sales that he'd loan Blob so that he could save the day. Gooey, a yellow blob, could be found underneath stones and would refill power meters if left to his safe hiding place.
The series later developed an extensive link with Squish Pod when the protagonist and common foe, renamed Kiriban, appeared as characters.
Bla:
Bla was a game series based off a figure sculpted from molding putty. The storyline involved some unnamed evils, most notably an outer space octopus oppressor, needing to be quelled and the titular character rising to stop it. Game play was envisioned to be a 3D scrolling beat 'em up and utilized multiple possible players with three special attacks each, typically being named after some elemental property like fire or thunder.
As the series progressed, the characters transformed from being built of simple geometric shapes, a common crutch of mine, to being fully drawn bodies with four limbs. The special system was modified to allow each character to have access to a small pool of all the basic elemental properties.
The enemies ranged from floating cephalopod Octos to claw footed Blips, who resembled Ballzo with legs, and mushroom-like Poppies, named for popping off their disk-like shielding when attacked. The main character was later joined "in the sequel" on his adventures by a good version of the common baddie, Blip, the ovular Plippy, of my brother's contribution, and finally the large footed Qago. In later time, Poppy was given the same "one is good" treatment as Blip and fought alongside the hero.
While never entering a "dead period", the Bla series was not given a committed attempt at creation despite constant development over the years.
Generic Heroes:
An assortment of masked vigilantes and empowered evil doers took the standard comic book approach of good guys versus bad guys. While the characters had abilities that ranged from common to original, the underlying concept was still heroes against villains with no reason for conflict outside of that fact along.
One of the few original concepts introduced into this series was the floating third faction of "rebels". It was held in common belief by my brothers and I that not everyone aligned themselves with the superpowers of good or evil and served only themselves and their ends. These free agents could work against or ally with either side's faction at any time, creating an uncertain dynamic in anyone's plans. This other grouping was personified in a band of ruffians who took the concept's name itself, Rebels, as their team name.
The primary heroes in the loose series were Fire Flame, a man comprised of living flame, and Red Warrior, an armor clad strongman with a decked out motorcycle. Others existed, but none were ever solidified in their origins, appearance, or abilities.
Their antagonists fare little better. The mysterious mastermind of the sinister forces was named and known, but he had little to any established underlings to his cause. The only one in memory, Hydro, was a water based villain who was strangely not initially chosen as the nemesis of Fire Flame. Most of the focus was put to the previously mentioned Rebel group who had a well established cast of major players. Countdown, Shifter, and Superb remained unchanged over time.
The final resting place of the loose association came when every element was absorbed into End of Eternity.
Generic Space:
Various life forms from outer space and the worlds they inhabited were strung together to create a science fiction setting. There was no plot or story but many actors and settings for one to take place. Nothing significant ever came of the establishment.
Notable creations from this time included the Slom, a species of of vicious, small, and numerous killers that inhabited a wide asteroid belt in the solar system of interest. Since all aliens need a peculiar way of reproduction, the Slom divided almost like single celled creatures, splitting out a newly formed self from a "scar" along there back when every cell in their body would divide at once.
The Conn were a humanoid race with white skin and large, black eyes, vaguely appearing as the cliché aliens reported in human encounters. They had nothing else to them outside of a designed space cruiser. The Kitz were a species of intelligent rodents who mastered light speed space travel. They used this knowledge to become the most dominant freighters in the galaxy. Another species, later dubbed the Ekar, were a spindly, odd shaped race that were so difficult to draw, I refrained from attempting it much until years later.
The final resting place of the loose association came when all of the elements were arranged into To: Earth; Re: Contact.
Super Gnat:
Super Gnat was yet another uninspired comic book series idea that featured a cape wearing hero in a world not populated by man. Like the similar Super Strawberry, the characters were not human. In this case, everyone, good, bad, and mundane, was some type of insect. Unlike the familiar fruit, Super Gnat had a unique superpower in which he created an energy bubble around himself in order to act out enhanced strength or invulnerability.
The comic was never planned out much beyond the titular protagonist, and a single villain was never assigned to him. The character laid dormant, unused, until 1995 when he appeared in an issue of Rubber Man. He subsequently was carried over into Not Quite Heroes with the rest of the mock hero cast.
Generation 2
The second generation represents a transitory period, covering the cartoonish and crudely designed to full drawn people. It holds more soundly planned sets of series. Each creation was either given a committed game or comic series rather than being planned to eventually be in something that never could be made. It is credited as stretching from 1994 to 1998, when I entered high school.
Quest:
This was my first attempt at creating a full fledged paper role playing game, or "quest" as my friends and I called them. Due to my utter lack of creativity, this became the name of the game. While the game was given characters, enemies, states, weapons, spells, items, a full map, and color, not actual means of interrupting actions based upon stats was ever truly devised. In other words, the game had no game mechanics. Regardless of its poor thought, Quest would go on to seed two sequels.
The storyline, as per normal, was the least inspired epic of all time: a great evil had taken over the kingdom by killing the king and ascending to the throne. It was up to you, a lone adventurer, to save the day. The reason is never given to why. The original planned ending involved the weakened leader freezing the heroes in time until he had the power required to defeat them, and, when he did, thousands of years in the future, he was stepped on by a befriended dragon hatchling from the past.
The notable characters were the adventurer Sabbit, the warrior Gex, the thief Cilltra, the sailor Yakka, the wizard Xaxor, and Puff Dragon Puffy. These characters would reappear in every game. The second game established Zola, a fire mage, based off Zoal from the prior Legend of Idos. Other returning elements were the Jewelry of Power, a series of treasures with unbelievable power. In the original, the player could only acquire one or two of the set if they happened upon the secret treasures.
The final boss, and only boss, was preceded by a series of guards. One wave was two hordes of armored spearmen who were vanquished with a single fireball. The other was two elemental beasts, the Lord of Fire and Lord of Magma. These two later appeared in the third installment in the kingdom of Firestone of Legend of Idos. During the completion of this map, the game fell out of development.
The game series passed forgotten for most of high school ('98 till '02) in lieu of more pressing RPG settings and storylines. It was not until the end of senior year that the quest was picked back up to finish. Two more full maps were added after this, which were mostly unspectacular. A revolutionary element came in introducing more Elemental Lords than just two fiery elements. Wind, Water, Plant, Thunder, Metal, Doom, Earth, and Ice were added to the list, and the Dark Sorcerer was revealed as the Lord of Magic.
The final resting place of the series came upon its completion where it was absorbed into Legends of Idos and defined the series with its concept of Lords.
Challengers of the Universe:
A paper fighting game was played on a grid shaped map. The player would choose a fighter to battle against the opposing roster until no more opponents stood. The game play consisted of moving about or selecting one of two basic skills or special abilities. Attacks would reduce the defending player's life by a set amount and each had their own range and reach. Special attacks would deplete a bar of energy. The game play was never fully established as no one ever played the game.
The game began off as Challengers of the World but later expanded universally, a wise choice since the first iteration contained an extraterrestrial being. After all of the regular players were defeated, of which three were planned and one was created, the player could challenge the elite leaders, which included Tragg, the six armed alien annihilator, the boisterous Bonus Guy, if they made it this far undefeated, and the final Mysterious Leader Guy, a cloaked enigma that was almost a self parody to my typical route taken on main bosses.
The series never came to an end or utilized out of its initial planning. Various scraps from other dead ends and projects were funneled into it, such as The Game of Stuff.
Ballzo:
Ballzo was a comic series that played out more as a cartoon show by the characters own fourth wall breaking comments. The series featured a cast of round life forms who lived in the fantasy world of Surreal Land and followed their supposedly comical exploits. The comic was drawn on a single page, typically with three rows of panels. It was crudely drawn in pencil and colored in crayon.
The comic centered on Ballzo and his "show" which lacked any topic or subject matter other than the star, himself. His evil twin brother, Ozllab, and supposed friend, Mad Ball, joined him in nearly ever comic. Casting calls were held which introduced other characters, such as Spring Ball, who turned into a regular character, and the nerdy Buddy Ball. Various guest characters and comics were made by my brother, most which revolved around the exploits of his characters, Shine Ball and Mica Ball.
The final resting place of the series came when it was merged into Not Quite Heroes.
Rubber Man:
Rubber Man was the titular character of my first "great" comic series produced. It was made on a monthly installment of issues for the whole year of 1995, a month after the character was created. Each was a full page of paper cut in half to generate six quarter sized pages and a cover.
The comic had little to any followed storyline. It began with the origin story of the hero and his less than epic encounters with villains, such as his nemesis Dr. Bolt, but it quickly relegated into nonsense and extensive acknowledgement of being a comic. Later issues lost their focus on one villain and turned into a showcase for many threats.
A thirteenth issue was attempted on schedule, but all effort and care was lost for the dying series. The character would go on to appear in several of my brothers off-line comics, without approval, which later became The Greatest Comic (T.G.C.).
The final resting place of the series came when it was merged into Not Quite Heroes.
The Game of Stuff:
This paper quest was a role playing game set in a fantastic, modern setting world with such surreal oddities as an earthworm selling flavored frozen treats from an igloo in the middle of a green field. The game's primary focus was on the wide assortment of "stuff" that could be acquired by the player, which was planned to be any and everything possible. Many of the planned weapons were nothing more than tools my father had.
The game had one full page of colored level content generated for it, which was a far way among my empty thought games. This brief page featured many creatures that I continued the use of, including Gnith, Gnal, and Swirls. The top of the page featured the created playable characters which only ever numbered two, A. J. Schmoe and Freaky the mutant. Much like the second page, the series itself fell into dormancy for many years.
The final resting place of the series came when its characters were exported into Challengers of the Universe and its enemies migrated into Ogum.
Galadofin:
Galadofin was an attempt after Quest to make another great paper quest, despite the fact that the first one was pretty much a failure. The game was named after the looming and threatening evil in the world rather than the lead protagonist for once. In the game, it almost mocked itself for being a game and had some ridiculous notions.
The game had no discernable difference from any other paper quest I ever created as the game play was still shoddy and poorly defined. One advancement was writing what happened at each scene on the back of the page so that, over time, it would not be forgotten. This was never repeated.
No real characters or noteworthy creations came from game. Even the namesake was a complete blank. The main character was a custom creation by the player. The most notable being was Yup, a mage in training who could be purchased at Allies for Hire.
The final resting place of the series came when it was merged into Legends of Idos.
Beano:
Beano was less a series and more a running, recurring character in sketches and doodles, normally committing some horrible act of murder. An ill thought out game was devised where the legume was bounced through a series of platforming levels and collected beans and cheese. He appeared alongside a cast of other beans, each named after their particular stock. Most were crazed, stupid, or complete losers on purpose.
The final resting place of the series came when it was merged into Not Quite Heroes.
Board Game:
The unnamed Board Game was a fully completed half page series of paths with labeled tiles that players could complete in full, making it one of my few fully completed works from any time. The game was played by selecting a character, rolling dice, and drawing index characters from a particular pile when instructed to.
Characters controlled how fast a player could move across the board and how well they would fair inside dangerous enemy encounters. Each also had their own special techniques to help them across the board. Only two were ever created, Marshmallow Defender, an unassigned entity who was put into the game, and Schizo, a split down the middle white and black figure who could separate his halves.
The card types that the board tiles could instruct the player to draw included enemy and event. Event cards caused a particular reaction upon drawing, normally something involving movement or happening upon some beneficial item. Enemy cards forced a battle between that foe and the player. Battle was a mere subtraction of the difference between an attack and defense roll from the defendant's life count. Defeated players had to return to start.
The many enemies were the most memorable part of the game, and several went on to live in other respects. The crowbar wielding punks called Jork went on to become a primary race in Lost Legends of Idos. Many more of the foes were exported into Ogum.
The final resting place of the series came when its characters were merged into Challengers of the Universe.
LEGO Game:
An over-thought out time killer was designed using the LEGO people, and a full game with rules, die rolls, and stat sheets was eventually created. The target of the game was to guide one's army into an enemy base to retrieve a crystal or computer card and return to one's own stronghold. The game crossed all time frames that way any part, futuristic or medieval, could be used.
While some characters were made to be threatening or awesome, my army straddled bizarre and lame with a defiant lean to the latter. These epic creations included such names, and a name says it all, as Ladder Guy, Dagger Man, Normal Guy, Oldie, Octo Head, and Snouty. These creations were relegated to existing in only LEGO form since that was the only medium they were ever attempted to be made in.
The final resting place of the series came when it was merged into Challengers of the Universe.
Guy:
Guy was a planned game, something to the like of a top view action/adventure fantasy video game, that followed the exploits of a young man who had lost his memory. The man, greeted by a townsperson with "Hey, guy", is believed to be a heroic champion and journeys through many perils to reclaim his lost memory. At the end, he learns that this was not his identity all along.
The game focused heavily on the different items and equipment that Guy could acquire. Each had its own particular attack pattern and defined special technique. The game had extensive thought put into its item and inventory system but never a single level created for it, a twist to how paper quests tend to turn out. A sequel was even thought out for the game despite there never being a first made.
The concept, horribly uninspired generic fantasy with a cliché amnesia plot, was never taken far. One character designed for it, a colorful townsfolk by the name of Parilock who burst into flame upon confessing his love of fire, was cherished enough to be the reason that a sequel would have even been made, basically to have him as a playable character option. Some manner of attempt was gone about to make him an ally in the first, and I have the erased pencil on a page to prove it. This character was later exported into Dungeon Delver.
Necro:
Necro was a time transcending fantasy story involving elves and age old grudges from betrayal. The titular character, Necro, despite being the same word for "corpse" in Greek, was a young elf who witnessed the betrayal of his elder mentor against his kind and his kingdom. Due to the agelessness of the elven people, their battle extended into the modern era.
The entire basis of the notion was a set up and an end, involving use of a tactic the student learned from the master to defeat him. It involved seeding water with "dormant flame" to turn it highly combustible. A spy would taint a supply of water for extinguishing needs with the potion so that, when the sieged castle would be lit ablaze, the fire would spread even faster. Necro was to hit his old friend with a squirt gun so that he could engulf him while beating him to an ashen pulp with metal gauntlets.
Aside from those two elements, the series gradually shifted darker, especially upon learning what "necros" mean in other tongues. The series all but faded away with exception of this elf who transformed into a grim embodiment of death and darkness. He was later exported to other series, including Mighty Warrior and Legends of the Lost Kingdom. By this time, he was a wholly different character, now known as "Orken".
Mighty Warrior:
Mighty Warrior was an elemental based fantasy role playing game thought up but never committed to any physical form outside of a few sketches. A true name was never assigned to it, and it was only called by the title given to the lead character. The series began as a time traveling epic where a soldier is sent to the past to quell a future threat. Little was thought out for the game outsides of the series of spells and special attacks held by each of the elemental holders.
The lead character, Alfredore, was the spitfire son of a great hero, Fredrick. The calm priestess, Lumina, served over the light element. A rough dwarf, Stonehammer, was the earth elementalist. Nekro, in a temporary transition, served as the brooding master of darkness. The other elements were not assigned proper characters.
The series was left largely unacknowledged for years. Most of the characters who were imported into it were immediately repositioned into other, more promising series. The series remained dormant for years until the titular character, Alfredore, was integrated into Dungeon Delver.
Conquest:
Conquest was a generic medieval territory conquering game idea that spanned several unfinished attempts by various creators. The concept remained the same between instances, and characters and back stories were recycled. The premise was always some figurehead managing a small kingdom while warring against neighboring city-states until they were the last crown left on the map.
The most prominent ruler was King Bismer, named after Bismarck, the capital of Dakota. He was a uninspired, crown and cape toting emperor who had a dead son, meaning he had no rightful heirs to his throne. Due to drawing poorly, his non-smiling face appeared to be a thin mustache. His common soldier type was a green armored swordsman with visors armed with golden blades.
Years later, in early 2000, the concept was picked up again. No intent was had in producing a work from the series but the characters were used as practice in the tide of rejuvenation from older, forgotten works. Bismer was turned into a more savage, warrior-like king with a full, wild mustache. His standard troop types were split to his regular swordsman, now armed with three blades as his land's emblem was, a fur toting berserker, to mesh better with his more brutal appearance, and a curl topped mage knight. This particular character model would serve as the basis for several unrelated magi, including the mage in Barrack Breaker and Lord Glyp in Legends of Idos.
Generation 3
The third generation covers series of a more serious tone, often dealing with the concepts of revenge and redemption. A common motif used was featuring three acts to an overall storyline, typically an introduction, a shattering revelation, and a rebirth or rising of greatness. Much of the concepts focus on good and evil, life and death, or dancing cheese, so don't think it was a teenage angst thing. This wave is slotted over my entire high school experience, 1998 to 2002.
Legends of the Lost Kingdom:
Lost Kingdom was an attempt to remold my very first fantasy role playing paper game into a sustainable storyline with a complete plot and interesting cast of characters. A problem arose when this attempt was made twice due to the storyline deviating too far from the original conception. This led to two separate branches that eventually were made to intertwine with one another.
The first crack at it featured Avyron, a character based off the original (You) whose vest lengthened into a full coat and turned gray. The character was believed to be the lost descendent of Idos but was then revealed to be an elf, sylph, air elemental, the personification of the air element, and finally some type of metal weapon humanoid.
His adventure had three phases to it. In the beginning, he learns that he is the lost descendent of Idos and sets out to fulfill the prophecy of his legacy. Along the way, he is accompanied by his beast/druidess in disguise Farel, a blind priestess Momae, and a dwarven smith Stonehammer. He is then hit with a one-two when learning that he could not be this lost descendant and his home town is destroyed.
Seeking the evil that perpetrated this act, he travels with a patchwork corpse Lodgar, the druidess in her revealed form, and a curse marked mage Yupp. Avyron then learns the true truth about his town's destruction and his actual place in the living legend and sets out in full glory to right all wrongs. The final battle pits him against some temporal mess where he causes time to repeat itself from the story's beginning.
Since the initial attempt strayed too far, Bogg was created from the same original motif of (You) and still wore the same brown vest and yellow color scheme, only with a hat. The character was designed with a scar across his cheek which eventually turned into one of the cursed markings, the same that was on Yup, to which he was allegedly the same character as, only in a different time. Bogg finally escalated into some force of destruction incarnate who abandoned his deity status and became mortal.
The final resting place of the series came when it was merged into Legends of Idos.
Shadow Aura:
Shadow Aura is a collaborative science fiction/fantasy series created by my brothers and I. The series chronicles the struggles of an alien planet chosen as the battlefield for the final battle between Light and Chaos. Hundreds of unique species compete for the cause they believe in. The series was expected to be made into several games, both on-line playable games and off-line card games, as well as stories, videos, and any other media possible. Several plausible attempts were worked out to how many different adaptations could be worked out, but none ever did save for on-line varieties.
Two games have been released underneath the series' name, the shooter Monsta Killa and tactical board-like conquest game Collections. Both were produced by my brother, Mint Man. The series is considered active and still under development.
Lost Soul:
Lost Soul was a Pokémon fanatic fiction written about a young girl whose life was ruined by the Rockets. She swore vengeance against their organization and took violent means to stop them. She later learned that their original goal was to overthrow the oppressive Pokémon League and took that task upon herself, as well, under the guise of the last of the Rockets, Black Thorn.
The characters featured included the mundane, salespeople and common thugs, to the supernatural, such as the soul collector Grave Yard Keeper and the violent spirit of the Headsman. These characters were used interchangeably with the Venom Forest, a psuedo-fan story for the RE League Gym found at my site.
The story was written in three books, Wraith, Vengeance, and Redemption, starting in 2000. After the end of the series, a miscellaneous companion book, Forsaken, was created that covered past events not explained in the written pages, joke encounters, and the later life of Jack, Rei's father, who was still alive.
Despite being a fan work, the characters introduced, outside of the monsters, were all original creations. Because of this, the final resting place of the series came when its cast was merged into End of Eternity.
End of Eternity:
End of Eternity is a post-apocalyptic, comic book setting. It was planned as a collection of stories surrounding the struggles of the heroes and villains in a chaotic world after "god abandoned man". The power above divided the righteous from the wicked at the end of days but decided to leave the fence sitters to the world they chose to love more than goodness. Also released were all those evils and spirits sealed away from harming humanity for ages. These supernatural essences embodied the empty vessels of humans, due to no new souls being created, and imbued them with fantastic abilities.
The primary focus was on the exploits of Red Warrior, a scientific attempt to create new life in the post-deity period who related himself to the chivalrous knights of old, and the Rebels, a street gang comprised of tattered ruffians who ascended to a national threatening power.
The series was extensively thought out but was not committed to any form of media until mid-00's where a small quantity of the initial pieces were written. The series is still considered active and under development.
Arena Terrae:
Arena Terrae was an on-line conquest game developed by Reality's End which allowed players to create an army of miniature "golem" soldiers, each with customizable attributes, special attacks, armament, and appearances. They were guided across an expansive map to battle other venturing players' creations with the chance of discovering an open base to siege.
The characters generated for the game were ambiguous and often had mythological undertones. They included angels, demons, goblins, werewolf, merfolk, slimemen, and wizards.
Some characters, while not truly affiliated with an actual series, were ported over into Challengers of the Universe to pad out its ranks.
Not Quite Heroes:
Not Quite Heroes is an on-line comic parody of the standard super hero. It features an immense cast of misfit and outrageous characters, some as good guys, others as villains, and more as oddities and background filler.
The series was started in 2001 and combined the two most prominent comic series of mine, Super Strawberry and Rubber Man, along with third-rate characters from Slimeball and Ballzo, in an all encompassing comedic adventure. In most issues, all of the characters and continuities were acknowledged, but certain ones would focus in on one set to tell a story pertaining only those characters.
The comic shifted between strip format to full page but was mostly black and white. It featured several storylines and cross-overs with my brother's comic series, The Greatest Comic and Big Fat Manatee. While some focused on the threat of a villain, other tales told of trips to the flea market.
The series came to a symbolic end in 2007 when every character was killed off. While the series is not dead and buried, it is considered inactive.
The Phantastical Ventures of Bimblesnaff and Gruj:
The long titled series was a planned set of fantasy stories that followed the exploits of a stumpy, thinks he's smarter than he is fiend, Bimblesnaff, and his large, cycloptic companion, Gruj. The two are chosen by the gods to stop an over-zealous hero from permanently ending all evil and dark forces in the world as this would offset the natural balance of things.
The storyline crossed with the events of Legend of the Lost Kingdom, with Gruj being the destined antagonist of Avyron despite another hero being his target. This evil force within that commanded his destiny was known as the "Neverlasting", an immortal force incarnated every generation. The series was loosely planned, outside of key spots, and was subject to many plot holes.
The final resting places of the series came when it was merged into Neverlasting, named after the abysmal trait within Gruj.
Tisthy Monsters:
The Tisthy Monsters are a collection of adorable mascots designed to be plastered on the front of shirts and other merchandise. Each is named after a particular food stuff or flavor and has a unique appearance. They number in the dozens.
Pebu, the Peanut Butter Monster, was the first of his breed created. The creature was actually made as a Shadow Aura being but later was given a dual purpose and a whole cast of siblings and cousins. The name "Tisthy" comes from the wording on the original shirt design which read "'Tis the Monsters".
Generation 4
The fourth generation hold place as new beginnings. Much like my tripe storylines, it was the third course at the end, a rebirth of greatness. Rather than inventing new concepts, old ones were repaired, often by grouping like ideas together into one strong core rather than many weak pieces. This spanned most of my college run, the part where I took more classes than worked, from 2002 to 2006.
Neverlasting:
Neverlasting was a fantasy story that revolved around a band of thieves cursed to live forever for having stolen from the gods. As punishment for their misdeeds, before they could be allowed to pass into the afterlife, they would have to return everything they ever stole in both their natural and long extended lives.
The story was the first to be crafted under the newly created setting of Idos, a fantasy world wholly populated by original species and races created over childhood. The primary characters were Phlyg, a Knamu, and Ori, a Kikult sorceress. A wide sampling of the other races was eventually incorporated into the storyline.
The series' end was planned to be an unstoppable force incarnated each generation, "Abandon", being harvested and unleashed from one of the bandits, Gruj, to destroy the Lords and their domain. Due to the gradual decline in faith and worship of the ailing Lords, their and all other spirits are freed to the natural order.
Legends of Idos:
Legends is a fantasy setting and world created to host a series of planned games, stories, and other possible creative outlets. It was named after a world, named after a kingdom in an early paper quest, with five moons, or Orbs. It featured several original races and species created from monsters drawn earlier for previously unrelated projects.
The series was used as a core and engulfed any other role playing series had to create one flowing continuity and tie between all of the games/stories. This led to a massive change among currently established characters as they were changed from human into one of the several newly established beings.
The first series created under Legends was Neverlasting, and soon Legends of the Lost Kingdom which was based on, itself, the same basis for this series. Within time, Quest was absorbed into this feature, as well, leaving no other major role playing storylines not taken in.
A series of tales, myths, and encyclopedic entries were created for the series in the mid-00's, but no actual application or work has been generated from this cumbersome series.
To: Earth; Re: Contact:
To: Earth was a planned science fiction story set in the future when an alien form of life comes into contact with a cargo of information and Earth artifacts sent into the depths of space thousands of years prior as a means of announcing the precense of humanity in the universe to any other possibly existing life in the cosmos. The focus is on the journey of this piece and its reaction from the alien civilations that encounter it and the effects it has on them.
The primary encounter is with the Kitz, a race of intelligent, rodent-like creatures who mastered the fasted means of space travel, who were charged with returning the piece to its point of origin. Earth had long since been destroyed, and the humanity of the future is barely recognizable when compared to the humanity of the past.
The series was merely a setting and bare structure for a story to be built upon. It featured no fleshed out characters other than a vague Kitz deliveryman and a human representative.
Rumbl-o-Rama:
Rumbl-o-Rama is a series of comedic adventures written at Reality's End by its members as an interactive story. The story was first created in May 2004, where the only basis for the tale was an unnamed goblin and a quest for a legendary cheese.
The story would go on to be recreated in false and true sequels. The first, dubbed "Square Rooted", was created several months after the first and was never completed. The true and direct sequel, "Idiotic Iteration", or II, was created one year, one month, one week, and one day after the original. This time frame became known as a Rumbon. The anniversary of the first was intended to be met, but once the date was horribly missed, this compromise was taken. The third part of the story, claimed unwritten, was started in May 2009, five years after the first, under the title "In Vengeance" (IV) since it was too far past for an actual third, "Immensely Incompetent Insanity" (III) to come along.
A brief attempt was made to expand the series in 2004 with a host of original characters and beings, mostly for a game like setting, that never meshed well with the complete zaniness of the existing work. These beings were later exported into Dungeon Delver to fill its need for a cast.
In December 2007, a miniature adventure, "Year End Blowout" was created inlue of a full and third sequel. It was a short piece that further established the characters created by the core authors, myself and my brother, since they could be written with under "fair use" and not impose on other authors.
Greenborne:
Greenborne was a short lived fantasy story idea that focused on the travels of a raving lunatic, the titular character. He was a human raised by visitors from Otherworld as food after being found exposed in a bog. He acquires a magical artifact, the Amulet of the Sun, which he believes allows him to speak with an ancient embodying spirit of the relic, whom he dubs as Princess due to her tiara.
The series was seeded from Rune Scape fan fiction written with the character Fredrick "Bimblesnaff" Greenborn and a commonly encountered female player, Zlupe. It was a rather directionless aim with a build up to the imaginary woman being the a haunting memory of a girl he failed to save.
The final resting places of the series came when it became Dungeon Delver.
Dungeon Delver:
Dungeon Delver is a fantasy setting for a series of short stories and/or planned game that follows the struggles of various people from all times through the confines of a living and purely evil minded dungeon that exists outside time and space. The series was seeded from Rune Scape fan fiction written with the character Fredrick "Bimblesnaff" Greenborn in his escapade through a sentient fortress. This concept was extrapolated and turned into a series all its own.
Dungeon Delver, as a game, features a large cast of uniquely skilled and armed player choices to be guided through a series of infinite rooms and challenges. Every time a path is taken, the doorway, called a Hell Gate, is sealed off, meaning that each path can only be taken once.
Dungeon Delver had a small amount of literature written for it in 2006. These stories each focused on Frederick "Disaster" Greenborne and his encounter in one room within the sinister tower of evil. There was no plot and no direction for the stories other than over the top high spots and action.
The tower is known to recruit those it pulls in to serve as its minions. These Hellions are granted amazing power and an alternate form. As various past characters were being pilfered and pulled into this one, a strange string of coincidence occurred when Alfredore, Mighty Warrior, an elemental specialist with a fiery form, was imported into the series. This not only made the perfect fit to be a Hellion, but it was previously known that his father, a mighty champion in his own respect, was named Frederick. Being as they were both redheads, the decision could not be passed.
Boundless Black:
Boundless Black is a futuristic, science fiction story setting that takes place in the far reaches of space, in particular near the edge of the universe where there are no stars, hence the infinite black. The story had several incarnations, all which featured two primary characters: Shadrick Hopkins, a human taskman, and his co-pilot, Bishop, an intelligent bird capable of speech.
In its first attempt, crafted in the Reality's End message board as an interactive story, Shadrick was hired to recover some unspecified entity from a desolate planet. He was equipped with an out of date mining outfit, called a "kobold", which he modified to be battle ready.
In its later adaptation, distinguished from the first with the suffix "Beyond", Shadrick is a space trucker prone to transporting valuable cargo safely without question. Much as in the first iteration, the cargo in question turns out to not be an inanimate object. Whether this is some strange alien life form, a robot, or some scientific oddity is never revealed.
Outside of these two beginnings, no further work was ever done on the series. The lead character and his pet were adapted into another setting, Wasteland along with another fruitless character, Jethro Duncans.
Redead:
Redead is a comedic horror story set in modern day. It follows the experiences of a fat, balding college drop out loser at the point when alien invaders rise the world's dead to thin out the population before they attack. Having wasted his life to video games and being a decent shot, he takes up the role he played out for years in his games, blowing up the walking dead.
The story was first made at Reality's End on the REWS. The same set up and character, Jethro Duncan, were used to seed a non-interactive story possibility where the protagonist travels about his home town and uses his ignorant bravado to save various pretty girls.
The character was originally generated for the story Large Anchovie with Extra Cheese, also created on a Reality's End writing system, an earlier version, that went no where. He was also featured in the series Wasteland alongside another fruitless character, Shadrick Hopkins.
Wasteland:
Wasteland was a post-apocalyptic science fiction setting for events that parody those witnessed at Reality's End. The entire setting, a destroyed, desolate world, was an analogue to the state of the website's Board Writing systems in all their forms. The characters and their exploits were supposed to be inspired by stories that failed to be finished or acknowledged.
The introduction was written for the story in 2007. It featured the characters Shadrick Hopkins of Boundless Black and Jethro Duncan of Redead adventuring after a mystical orb and being chased by a giant monster. No continuation was written for the story after this point.
The plot was that Shadrick was of the elite, sky bound humanity who lived in a high tech station in low orbit. They are limited on space and resources, and regularly the "lowest producer" is sent back to the dying world below to attempt to fix some of it. He meets Jethro, a junker who collects relics from the Old World, and the two team up.
Clockwork Warriors:
Clockwork is a strategic game idea that utilizes mechanical fighters and artificial intelligence. The premise was that two players create a line-up of picked wind-up machines and arranged them onto a battlefield. Each could be set with a given behavior and would carry out its orders during the battle. This meant that every outcome could be determined at the start and would replicate perfectly if the identical steps were taken by both sides again.
The units each had their own set of attributes and special ability. Each was considered equal to the rest, meaning the number of units was all that was needed to be equal between sides for a fair fight.
The property was conceived in 2004. The game property was never committed to any form of presentation largely for having no dependable means of having players match up against one another.
Dungescape:
Dungescape is a fantasy story/game concept under the Legends of Idos scope. It was based upon a single page of a poorly construed maze game. When old properties were being breathed new life under the Idos name, this earliest existing game, which had no known name or details, was completely reinvented.
The story follows Rwxpak in his efforts to defeat the oppressive Overlord Syth, a malignant lord who feeds off suffering and misery. He allows himself to be captured, knowing he will be saved for the grim master personally, and taken into the heart of Syth's stronghold. It is an impenetrable fortress, but from inside he believes he will have less trouble getting to the evil force.
The game entirely takes place within the immense labyrinth that occupies the lower floor of the castle and all the many prisoners, guards, and monstrosities that lie there as well.
40 Lays on Dragon Slaying:
Most properties are constructed under the anticipation that they could be a game or at least some type of story. Most things in this archive are confined to one of those two possibilities. 40 Lays is unique in that it was created to be and only to be a Flash cartoon. I'm not really certain as to why since I neither own nor know how to use this medium.
In a kingdom, a loathsome wyrm rooted in the nearby mountains and demanded tribute or it'd ravage the land. The queen, thinking of her own safety, and supposedly that of her people, calls forth the wisest and bravest of the land, the Counil of Forty, for ways to thwart the evil beast. The entire cartoon is a montage of each member suggesting and trying out their idea. Every one is introduced or segued by verse from a bard, which builds to the entire "lays" part of the title.
The animation was planned as completely cartoony in both its graphic style and the way events unfolded. The characters were built out of simple shapes that would easily be drawn in the program and slid about. A large amount of the segments involved use of a catapult, which became the running gag of the piece. In fact, the final lay, thought up by the queen's head wizard, is catapulting another catapult.
The structure of the work is wholly charted out but lacks any real means of coming about. Every character is known, and there may be more than the title reports. Some of the characters are actually other characters from different series, just mangled and mashed down.
Generation 5
The fifth generation was a clutch to lost youth and return to simplicity. Starting upon the end of my education and entry into "the real world", the set of series spawned in this time were all small, cute, and brightly colored "game sprite" like novelties. It started 2007 and ended ...
Ogum:
Ogum is a collection of cartoonish, bizarre monsters who are intended to serve as common enemies in games and RPGs. They have been assembled from all types of foes from various games since childhood. The creatures were plausibly presented as being able to be used in some type of on-line creature adoption. The name comes from combination of the words "egg" and "ovum".
The primary source of creatures came from Board Game, The Game of Stuff, and Rumbl-o-Rama's attempted expansion. Others were unassigned oddities that were floating around orphaned.
Squish Pod:
Squish Pod is a series of simple computer games created with Game Maker 7.0. The series follows a moon mollusk, known as a Pod, named Squish in his perilous journey through different lunar levels. The game play consisted of maneuvering with the arrow keys and attacking using a mouse, for aim and firing.
A basic feature of the game play was only being able to stun enemies with the basic attack. This created something akin to a stealth tactic where enemies should be avoided rather than defeated. The more a single foe is stunned and allowed to recover, the more enraged it would become.
The first game was created in 2007 as a means to educate myself in the GM7 coding. It began as a simple "pink versus green squid" shooter in which the player had to keep the enemy from breeching passed. It escalated into twenty plus levels full of unique enemies, obstacles, and items, a multitude of shots and special techniques, and five different boss battles. Many levels involved moving blocks to activate switches to open gates or block teleportation pads to travel further.
A second game was started in late 2008 with the subtitle Lunar Labyrinth. It used the same graphics and concepts for game play but was created with more intelligent code and logic, making the game much easier to create and play. Rather than journey through a sequential course of levels, the game took place on one large map full of dozens of rooms. These individual chambers changed in their content and connections every time a new game was started. This forced the player to explore their surrounds and have a new experience rather than just remember where things were located and play the same game time and again.
Squish Pod is a rarity in that it has been used. Most are merely ideas or prospective properties that I know will never be. This one is already a game. Granted, it's not much of a game and was made with enabling software, but it's more of a step than other creations I have. More is planned for the Pods in the future, hopefully with self-coded games.
Spibanch:
Spibanch was a proposed action platformer game idea with a cartoonish, medieval fantasy setting. The premise revolved around use of a spiked ball and chain which was dragged by and followed the player. The concept was inspired by a small round knight fashioned from Sculpy shaping clay.
The storyline went that the castle was captured by the opposing, evil force of the kingdom and all its defenders imprisoned. The only one to escape this fate was the lazy Spibanch, who had slept through the entire ordeal passed out in the ale cellar.
The shape of the characters were stout, round, and cartoony to match more with classic video game sprites as opposed to more realistic, lifelike graphics.
The game was attempted to jump from mind to application, but attempts to coordinate the complicated behavior of the ball and chain lead to failure. The basics of this attempt were the inspiration and groundwork for the accidental project Castle Defense Breaker, later renamed Barrack Breaker. The forms and characters were not transferred into this property. Later, they were exported to Gumdrop Knights.
Barrack Breaker:
Barrack Breaker is a platforming game developed using Game Maker 7.0. Its aim was to be the opposite of the popular "castle defense" game. Rather than simply clicking at an increasing horde of approaching soldiers who sought to destroy your fort, the premise was to take control of the sieging army. It was the second projected attempted in the development software and crossed into the more involved 2D action genre.
The game play involves guiding seven initial knights, called Breakers, through castles to remove threats and open passages that could hinder the more helpless and mindless soldiers, Grunts, who worked to take down the castle. Each of the Breakers has a unique weapon, abilities, and specialization for appropriate situations. The game featured a multitude of enemies, obstacles, items, and power-ups.
The characters are, for the most part, created from a generic mould that has its color scheme and head change. Each is equipped with a unique weapon, outside of shields which mostly appear and function the same. Because of the lack of uniqueness, the twenty-some featured knights are not regarded as distinct entities but rather all part of a faceless conglomeration.
The title was started in late 2007 where it utilized more advanced techniques in comparison to its predecessor, Squish Pod, and was first released in mid-2008 The game underwent extensive code change and improvements over its short lifespan and continually added new features. This left the title as unable to be claimed as "finished" since there was always more to be pumped into it.
Gumdrop Knights:
Gumdrop Knights is a game property that utilizes round, cartoonish characters in a strategic, medieval fantasy setting. The concept was made in 2009 and was inspired by the period's heavy dwelling into the Kirby series and related fan creations for the game series. Since the creations were autonomous and distinct from the established franchise, they were deemed acceptable for removal to be used in an original work.
The idea was splintered in its conception. It was partially inspired by Barrack Breaker and was originally a proposal to return the exploded property to its simpler looking origins. Additionally, it was an attempt to reboot the forgotten Spibanch series with fresh faces. One of these faces was Squeaky Bogg, a character made as an avatar for myself when working at the Kirby fan site, Rainbow Resort, who later turned into a personal site mascot for Lair of Mad Goblin.
Much like how one progenitor was the mirror of popular "castle defense" games, Gumdrop Knights was to be the opposite of "tower defense" games. The player was to outfit a small army capable of sneaking into a guarded fortress, past the defenses, and into the throne room. Contrariwise, a player could build their own castle and defend it against sieges from other participating players.
The armies were built from basic and advanced units, each with specific attack patterns and attributes. These included ranged attackers, quick runners, heavy guards, blasting magi, and a multitude of field affects such as obscuring view and reviving the dead.
This concept is one of if not the most recent thought to leap out of my brain and literally nothing but ground work has been laid out for it. Could a game be in the works for it right now? Let's look at the last twenty years and consider that likelihood.
Last Modified - May 30th, 2009 | Established May 30th, 2009
