Character Design: Fantasy Ninjas! *Repeatedly Updated*

Well I was pretty unexcited at drawing these two words from the pack, until I realised that to have 'fantasy' as a description means it's pretty much open to any interpretation. This is very exciting indeed so onwards to some research and ideas:

• One thing that I'd quite like to have is a strong female hero. After looking at the images of Pocahontas and Wonder Woman, I think having a physically amd emotionally strong female lead would be really great.

Ninja Research:

• Tengu are Japanese demons that can be both evil and beneficial. Usually with large noses wings and clawed hands, they are also said to have trained ninjas/shinobi.

• The ryu of ninjutsu are schools usually with legendary foundation stories.

• Ninjutsu was founded by Kain Doshi and Daisuke Togakure:

• It was first formalized by Daisuke Togakure and Kain Doshi:

"Daisuke had been a samurai, but he was on the losing side in a regional battle. He lost his lands and his samurai title.In 1162, Daisuke was wandering the mountains of southwest Honshu when he met Kain Doshi, a Chinese warrior-monk. Daisuke renounced hisbushido code, and together the two developed a new theory of guerrilla warfare called ninjutsu"

• Super useful book about the history of ninjas: Ninja: The Shadow Warrior by Joel Levy

More soon...