Okay, I've been working on this alien character for almost two years, and it's time to publish something. I call her Athena. She is actually composite creature, composed of 7 separate organisms. I've decided to set the canon for her origin; "she" brings herself together, after several failed attempts by Herman Bear. This is their attempt at an anthropomorphic form, after looking at Herman, and, uh, one particular "swimsuit edition" Herman had on board his ship.
When Herman Bear becomes stranded on the planet Solstice, he first believes the native life forms are unintelligent, and they seem to prey on each other regularly. He later realizes that the creatures only combine, separate, and then recombine to sustain and nourish each other. It's also how they communicate. He tries to "build a being", but is never completely successful. But soon after Herman's meddling, the separate creatures get the idea and come together to form Athena. The butterfly/flowers soon learn to speak. Their "legs" are formed from large lampreys, the feet are simple, shoe-like snails, and the body and head are one unit, like a large, uh, potato with a beak. The beak is actually a large claw the body pod uses to drag itself over the ground.
After pages and pages of sketches, I finally committed myself to their forms and proportions. The figure is just under 9 inches tall, carved from styrofoam, wire and plaster. I also roughed out a Herman Bear figure to get a definite size relationship. I'm struggling to make him more refined as well.
I'm working on the next model, with more detail and posable joints. At any rate, when these seven organisms come together, they become the forerunner of a new species on the planet Solstice. She/they eventually become the good will ambassador of their world, the possible matriarch, and perhaps even the custodian of the planet's future. And Herman Bear has a companion, so he isn't left alone on the planet. She/they teach how to survive. And more.
I must admit, I got the inspiration for this from the old animated Star Trek series episode "BEM". (Bug Eyed Monster). But I think I'm original enough with this creature, and her motives and origins are quite different. http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Bem_(episode)
(Now I even see parallels to Voltron, and other anime' where separate components come together to form a greater being. But this isn't quite the same case here.)
All images copyright Ken Roskos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Crj0V_R77Ns
