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Post by Harkovast on Jan 2, 2022 15:23:29 GMT
So maybe you enjoyed hearing about my take on an 80s cartoon adventure show (or maybe you didn't, but its my forum so I can talk about what ever I want. You aren't the boss of me!) But that got me thinking... if that was my take on an 80s show, what would be my take on a 90s show? The 90s was a time of anti heroes, pushing boundaries, more grey morality and real bad asses.
So on that basis-
"When Detective Amanda Jin is drawn into the secret world of the paranormal, the only one she can trust is Edge Lupine, a mysterious werewolf who fights to protect the people of a city that fears and hates him. Hunted by humans, battling the supernatural and driven by an oath to his only love, Edge is a monster...an outcast...a hero."
Edge of Darkness- Xtreme Werewolves.
So the city, which I haven't named yet, is a dark and foreboding place in modern (90s) America, where it is basically always night and the sky is usually red. In this world, monsters live alongside humans, but most humans are unaware of this, as most monsters can take on human form. There are secret monster shops and areas of the city, but they remain magically concealed. Supernatural creatures aren't always evil, but they are rarely safe! There are sightings of monsters and a general sense of fear, but this is covered up by the Containment Bureau, a powerful government organisation that deals with super natural threats. Detective Amanda Jin starts investigating a strange attack by a mysterious, wolf-like creature. Eventually this werewolf comes to her rescue, saving her from bad guys and monsters. However, during the battle she gets affected by the power of an artefact the bad guys were trying to steal and gains the ability to see the hidden monsters. The werewolf, realising the artefact is powerless now, goes and seeks out Amanda again to help him and reveals he is Edge Lupine, one of the last werewolves. He's a mysterious, brooding loner, battling evil forces while trying to stay ahead of the authorities.
We learn that the werewolves swore an oath hundreds of years ago to protect humanity from the supernatural, but over time their numbers have dwindled (there were no very many to begin with) so Edge is not even sure if any others still exist. As the show progresses we will learn that Edge's wife, Silk was killed by humans. However, as she was dying she made Edge promise to keep their sacred oath and always protect the humans. Edge does not know why she asked this as her final wish, but he is going to keep his promise to her no matter what.
Amanda and Edge join forces as unlikely allies and work together to protect the city from evil forces. Edge is being hunted by the Containment Bureau and their top agent, Captain Susan Tracker. She calls in troops and helicopters to try to capture or destroy Edge whenever she can, as she thinks all monsters are evil and must be wiped out. However, the head of the containment Bureau, Director Remus, is secretly an evil werewolf, who manipulates the Bureau to actually help his agenda to open a portal to the realm of the Elder Beasts, where his brother Romulus was trapped hundreds of years ago. Remus plans to free his brother and together they will gain the power of the Elder Beasts and rule the world. He has supernatural minions, as well as human criminals all secretly under his control, so the Bureau has no chance of stopping his plans. His got enough wealth and political power that he is basically untouchable. Only Edge and Amanda can hope to stop him before its too late.
Edge meanwhile has virtually no resources, other than being an incredibly bad ass werewolf on a mission. So basically, the bad guys better be scared.
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Post by Harkovast on Jan 2, 2022 15:52:11 GMT
This is Edge Lupine. I drew him using as many straight lines as possible. I imagine the show to be really angular! Its also got a bit of Batman the Animated Series vibe to how it turned out, which I like. You can't catch being a werewolf in this show, the werewolves are an ancient, rare race of beings who defend humanity. Their natural state is their wolf form, but they can transform into humans to disguise themselves. This takes effort to do, so they can't keep it up all the time. Edge doesn't usually want to be around humans, both because he needs to remain secret and because he resents them for killing Silk Lupine, his wife. Amanda Jin is the only human he regularly interacts with and she already knows he's a werewolf so he doesn't normally disguise around her. His eyes turn red when he is ready to fight, so he can make a cool shadowy shape with only red eyes visible. Edge a brooding bad ass who says "Radical" when he is pleased by how things have gone. Typical exchange- Amanda "So if you're a werewolf, if you bite me will I grow fur and a tail?" Edge "I don't know. If you bite me will I start asking stupid questions?" Edge has been alone fighting evil for a long time, so Amanda brings some much needed human contact to Edge, and helps him to open up and form connections again. When she meets him, he has no human's he really knows, and while he knows some monsters as allies or informants, he keeps them at a distance so they couldn't be considered friends. The ancient ways of the werewolves are very important to him. The oaths they swore are considered sacred by Edge and he continues to uphold them, even if he is the only one that still remembers their lost culture. Being a werewolf isn't just being a big monster, its a way of life and a code of honour to Edge, that he has to uphold. Amanda "So you're like a...big dog?" Edge "Wolf" Amanda "Oh I'm sorry, is dog offensive to you?" Edge "I don't talk to humans enough for it to become an issue." The death of his wife has left a terrible wound in his psyche that he cannot fully recover from. Amanda "How long ago did she die?" Edge "324 years ago." Amanda "Wow, that's a long time." Edge "To you, maybe." He is super strong and super agile, running and leaping amongst the roof tops and climbing on the sides of buildings. He is very tough and able to recover quickly from injuries. Were wolves do not die of old age, but can be killed through violence. Edge is also super good at fighting, with awesome combat skills and lots of other skills he's picked up over his long life (like riding motor bikes, speaking different languages etc). He is not aware that Remus is werewolf when the story begins. Fun fact, this show started with me saying "The hero is a werewolf in a big black coat, who runs on rooftops and broods a lot. He's called Edge Darkness". (I decided the last name was a bit much, but that was the initial concept as it came to me.) Edge is frightening. If you are a bad guy and he's comes after you, you should be afraid. He might be a hero, but he's still a monster. The forces of evil better not get too comfortable and keep an eye on the shadows, because nothing is going to stop Edge from keeping his oath.
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Post by Harkovast on Jan 2, 2022 17:31:08 GMT
If you don't understand why xtreme werewolves are better than regular ones, or indeed better than extreme ones, then I can't explain it to you.
In the 90s this kind of thing was just self evident.
A big difference between the feel of an 80s cartoon compared to a 90s cartoon....
In Legend of the Ultra sword the bad guys are in power, but everyone knows they are bad, and support our heroes fighting them. In Edge of Darkness, the bad guys are in power, but most people think this is a good thing and support the bad guys fight against our heroes.
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Post by Canuovea on Jan 2, 2022 22:19:14 GMT
This is very 90s.
Hilariously 90s. Edge. Darkness. Lupine. Remus.
Xtreme. I mean, it might just be perfect.
Subtlety is for not-Xtreme people. Amanda Jin is probably the most normal sounding name there, but knowing how this works, she's probably distantly related to a Djinn.
This is to say that I like it.
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Post by Harkovast on Jan 2, 2022 22:23:39 GMT
Amanda Jin is called Jin because she is a Korean American (and I wanted to give her a name other than Kim.)
Her name has no special meaning beyond that (which is rare on this show!)
I was amused that the main characters name basically means "Edge Wolf". Cause that sums him up pretty well.
I'll draw some more art and design some more characters.
Other characters -
Cyborg Clone of Edge.
Mummy of an ancient Egyptian Queen.
Gorgon who runs a shop selling magic supplies.
Evil daemon lady with three heads but she only uses one at a time.
Evil human crime boss guy, who does mundane crime, though often in support of Remus and his schemes. He's uncultured and rude, and Remus has contempt for him but remains polite to his face.
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Post by Canuovea on Jan 3, 2022 0:39:30 GMT
Hark, for shame!
You're English, and this is for the 90s! You're being far far too considerate of actual Korean naming conventions! She should have, like, two Asian last names. Like... Uh... Kim uh... Ming. Kim Ming. Ming Kim. Something like that. You know, gotta follow in the footsteps of the greatest British Writer of the 20th Century! How can we ignore the genius of JK Rowling's "Cho Chang"? C'mon...
Ahem.
Okay, not being sarcastic now, that's good to know. She has a reasonable name that isn't a bad pun.
Also, I'm bad at doing two last names. I should try harder. Mao Kim. Can't be "Kim Mao" because "Kim" could be "Kimberly".
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Post by Harkovast on Jan 3, 2022 2:19:58 GMT
She's a normal human so she has a normal, none meaningful name, has a normal gun that fires bullets (that almost never works to solve any problems) and then gets drawn into this insane supernatural world. She's our point of view person to help us understand what's going on.
Edge is pretty unfriendly to her at first, but by the end they are really close friends. She has lots of skills and resources to call on as a detective, as well as giving him emotional support and friendship that he needs. At the start he protects humans, but he doesn't like them. She will help persuade him to soften his attitude.
Her being Korean American was pretty much a random choice. Its just how the character came into my head as I started to pin down what she's like.
I'm working on some art of her.
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Post by TempestFennac on Jan 3, 2022 6:01:12 GMT
Seems interesting so far. Is it odd that I think Edge's Werewolf form is cute?
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Post by Harkovast on Jan 3, 2022 15:34:03 GMT
Edge is scary in his fighting mode, but more friendly looking in regular mode. He's got to interact with Amanda so he can't be too fierce all the time. He needs to be approachable when he's talking to her and expressing emotions. Okay so- Opening credits. Some kind of music like this plays (starting slower and then hitting a LOT of guitars.) We'd start with a silhouette of a cross, which is then illuminated to be a grave with "Silk Lupine" written on it. Behind it we can see the vast sky line of the city, against a red sky. A dark shape in front of the grave turns to the camera with glowing red eyes. A search lights shines on the grave and figure, revealing it to be Edge. He sets off running, climbing up and leaping between buildings and then bounding between roof tops, his coat flapping behind him, as helicopters chase him and search lights shine from below. The authorities are closing in, but Edge is too fast and they can't catch him. He runs in front of a big screen, silhouetting him against the image of a news reporter with headings about monster sightings increasing. Edge pauses for a moment to look at this and then continues running. The scene changes to Amanda Jin in an alley with various evil monsters emerging from the shadows around her. As she seems to be cornered, Edge leaps down next to her, puts and arm around her waist and leaps away , carrying her out of danger. He lands amidst the Containment Bureau troops, knocking a load of them over. He doesn't stop, putting Amanda down on her feet and dashing away, moving up the side of a tall building in a series of leaps. The view switches to looking at Edge through a high tech gun sight with night vision and crosshair locking on to him. We see this is Colonel Tracker, taking aim with a multi barrelled rocket launcher. Amanda shoves Tracker, causing the rockets to go off target, exploding against the building. Edge leaps away dramatically from the blasts. He leaps past a large window that we zoom in on, revealing Director Remus in his office, looking evil and smug. A dark, wolf like shape forms behind Remus and rushes at the camera with its jaws open, causing the screen to go black. The title appears "EDGE OF DARKNESS" Edge drops into view under the title, delivering two slashes with his claws, making an X before leaping out of frame. The rest of the phrase "Xtreme Werewolves" appears alongside it, completing the title.
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Post by Harkovast on Jan 3, 2022 16:53:09 GMT
Here is Detective Amanda Jin and Director Remus. Remus is the main villain of the show. He is always smartly dressed in all white, with white slick back hair. He is polite and well mannered, but also manipulative and ruthless. Remus is supposed to be kind of the opposite of Edge, an insider who works the system to his own advantage. He's a public figure, doing press conferences and being seen as a pillar of society, sitting in a big office, controlling events. And his real form is a giant bad ass white werewolf- This image reminds me a bit of a the bad guy demons in Spawn, which is a good 90s vibe. He's bigger and stronger than Edge by quite a lot. When he drops his civilised pretences, he's an unstoppable killing machine. Remus is one half of the dread Brothers Wolf. And he's the little brother...
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Post by Harkovast on Jan 3, 2022 17:20:41 GMT
I noticed a slight oversight...those pictures don't make clear how much bigger wolf Remus is to human Remus. let me help with that... When this guy first reveals his wolf form, he's going to throw Edge around like a rag doll and punch him through walls. I liked the idea that the wolves maintain the same hair style when transformed, you can see this on Edge. Remus has slick back hair that wouldn't translate to a werewolf, but all his fur is spiked backwards as a sort of bestial version of the same style. In case you wondered, Edge has brown fur.
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Post by Harkovast on Jan 3, 2022 21:18:33 GMT
Edge has fan art? I guess he's just that xtreme My 9 year old daughter apparently was really impressed with me telling her about it and drew a picture of our valiant werewolf. I didn't suggest this, she just suddenly came up to me with a picture of him. She even remembered that Edge is made mainly of straight lines and she remembered what colour he was.
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Post by StyxD on Jan 3, 2022 23:51:06 GMT
I think the art style of mostly straight lines does surprisingly lot to make this idea pop. As seen in the fanart. But to address the elephant in the room: doesn't the whole setup sound more than a bit like that Gargoyles cartoon from Disney? But Hark, if you ever run a Werewolf the Apocalypse game, I'm up for it. She should have, like, two Asian last names. Like... Uh... Kim uh... Ming. Kim Ming. Ming Kim. Something like that. You know, gotta follow in the footsteps of the greatest British Writer of the 20th Century! So likeā¦ Tsung-Dao names?
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Post by Harkovast on Jan 4, 2022 2:04:23 GMT
It is a bit like Gargoyles, but its a dark edgy 90s hero so its going to sound like the shows of that era.
Its an effort to make the most 90s style dark and edgy cartoon I can think of, so you are going to see some things that remind you of other shows that exist by the nature of the thing.
The idea of the monster as the hero was a really big thing in the 90s (you mention world of darkness rpgs, those are a good example.)
Colonel Tracker (I changed her to a Colonel cause I think that sounds cool) is inspired by Commander Feral on Swat Kats. I like the idea of someone who isn't evil and opposes the bad guys, but also opposes the hero so ends up being an obstacle as often as a help.
I'm really keen on how Wolf Remus looks...that turned out really well.
I will try and work out a plot for episode 1 and write out a script when I get chance.
Legend of the Ultra Sword had the five man band of heroes, this show is basically the Edge show, with Amanda as his side kick and other characters helping sometimes.
I'm just not sure the werewolves in Werewolf the Apocalypse are xtreme enough for my tastes.
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Post by Harkovast on Jan 4, 2022 2:11:55 GMT
Silk Lupine, Edge's wife is also an important character and will appear when there are flashbacks, time travel and other weird shit going on. She doesn't appear a lot because she died about 300 years ago in colonial times in America, but she has a lot of impact on the story.
Though ancient stories and imagery that makes reference to Edge's activities through the ages always refers to two werewolves battling the forces of evil, one male and one female, so there will be a sense that for a long time they were an awesome team but now Edge has to keep up the fight alone.
Edge and her are eternally separated and that's the tragedy that makes Edge Lupine such a...well....Edge Wolf.
Her spirit can't rest, and waits in the netherworld till he joins her, but he can't stop battling the forces of evil and werewolves don't age.
They've both sacrificed everything to uphold the ancient oaths of the werewolves.
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