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Description
This is part of my "Gizoid Imitator" series, where I take a random character, and draw them as a Gizoid, who are powerful robots from Sonic Battle and Sonic Chronicles, that are able to copy the abilities of those they fight, to create unique Gizoid designs. It's as if these mimic masters decided to fully embody those that they copied. I based the framework design on my current Emerl and Gemerl Redesigns, which are more complicated than their original designs in Sonic Battle and Sonic Advance 3, respectively.
I do not intend to take requests, though don't let that stop you from dropping ideas. If I like the idea, I might take it, and add them to my list to work on later.

This took too long. This was intended as my third and final Halloween piece, but I couldn’t finish it in time. The whole project ended up being bigger than I first planned.

So, Zeke von Genby, the Bringer of Chaos! Probably my favorite character from Xenoblade 2 (alongside Poppi). I decided I wanted to make him into one of my Imitators, but as I actually began to plan this piece out, I was starting to feel that I couldn’t leave out Zeke’s Blade, Pandoria.

If you haven’t played Xenoblade 2, there are Driver and Blades. Blades are weaponized lifeforms that are formed from Core Crystals. A Driver can summon a blade by bonding with a Core Crystal and bringing them to life. From there, a Blade can form a weapon for their Driver and provide them power. As you might expect, each main character Driver (your playable characters) has at least one main Blade that is partnered with them.

And for Zeke, his main blade is Pandoria, and thinking about it, it didn’t feel right to me to make only Zeke. This is what made the project so big, that, and the fact that Xenoblade characters have lots of details, making them complex to work with.

But, this is actually my first duo Gizoid piece! I know I started the Imitators series with two characters, Undyne and Bowser, but those are two separate characters from two very different games, so those were two separate pieces. So I don’t count those two, just because of my purposeful timing.
So, yeah, Zeke and Pandoria, in one piece, make up the Gizoid Imitators 9 and 10. Just so you know, even before coming to Zeke, I was thinking of making Gizoid duos, particularly, without revealing who they were, a popular duo of characters, who could easily be made separately (one in particular), but I feel that I should make them together. And maybe add a third, related character in a separate piece? I don’t know yet, and I don’t plan to do these characters for a while.
Also, pretty sure this is the first time I’ve picked a second character from a series I’ve already done a character for, as far as the Gizoid Imitators series is concerned. I did Shulk from Xenoblade 1 before, so Zeke is my second Xenoblade character (and that made Pandoria my third). I do want to do more characters from series I’ve already touched, but not RIGHT after I made a character from that series. Though, it might be time to start looking at earlier series I’ve done.

So, now onto the characters themselves. For Zeke, I decided I wanted to get some of his eccentric personality in his posing, so I mimicked his hand pose in his promo art, while his other hand has his sword.

That sword was important to me. See, in the game, you’ll see that the massive blade is actually a stand of sorts, and when Pandoria uses it, she pulls out the handle, and uses it as a wand of sorts. Only Zeke uses the entire thing as a massive sword. In the promo art, the drivers don’t have weapons, as the weapons really belong to their individual blades. But with Pandoria’s promo art, she is only holding the handle / wand. And that is disappointing, because as far as wielders of large swords go, Zeke is on the same kind of level as Cloud Strife. That’s something you shouldn’t ignore. So I had to make sure Zeke had his big ol’ blade.

Now, Zeke’s design is mostly about mixing Zeke’s clothing with my style of drawing Gizoids, especially how I handle the robot’s forearms and shins, which I make to look like gauntlets and armor-boots. I especially love that the underside of Zeke’s gloves has a unique color. I don’t like getting super wild in my designs, so I usually end up with a similar dark gray or brown color for the fabric of the hand's underside when making a Gizoid, as those always fit best. I love making such a simple difference. I also colored the other finger plates differently, to match Zeke’s fingerless gloves. I also added belts on the Gizoid's thinner limbs, like how Zeke had below his gloves (though I decided to skip the buckles. Couldn’t be bothered, honestly, and I think it looks fine).

But if there is anything I’m not completely happy about, it is the shoulder guards. I think the design is fine, though I didn’t have the foresight to make them more functional, as they clearly work differently than my normal Gizoid shoulder guards.

Finally, for Zeke, let’s talk about his eyes. Zeke is known for his eye patch, and he says that it conceals the “Eye of Shining Justice”. It is even an ability Zeke has in the new game plus, where it appears as a blue flame (though Zeke doesn’t actually take off the eye patch). This sounds similar to the Gizoid’s third eye, where it opens during a point of evolution or reaching peak power.

Realistically, I could’ve just left the third eye to function of the Eye of Shining Justice, but the eye patch is more than that. It’s also an iconic look for Zeke. So I kept the eye patch, just making it more mechanical, removing the strap and making it seem like it’s clipped on, to better fit the robot design. Though I did copy the eye patch’s pattern to the horn.

And, as you will notice, I did add flames coming out from Zeke’s eye patch, the flames of the Shining Justice, supposedly. Getting the glow right, slipping through the fingers, was annoying, as it wouldn't load properly in my program (I use Inkscape, specifically an earlier version, as I don’t like the changes of the current versions). But it felt right for the eye patch, not the third eye.

(Keep in mind, that I did the same thing with my Undyne the Undying, with her shining eye, keeping it separate from the third eye, as it fit better, though I did stylize those eyes with broken panes and cracks on them. Heck, it’s also kind of funny, Undyne and Zeke have a similar thing going on with the “Justice” and “eyes” stuff. Undyne wears an eye patch (same eye even), and when she transforms into Undying, the patch is gone, and light streams through her eye. Heck, one of her theme songs is called “Spear of Justice”. Considering Undertale came out before Xenoblade 2, it would seem Zeke was taking notes.)

So, now onto Pandoria. While much of what I can say about her design is the same as Zeke's (namely, the mixing of clothing and robotic body, and the glove coloring), though are a few things to point out specific to her. Firstly, her light bulbs. Her design is decorated with these, with even her shoulders being light bulbs. And I of course worked this into the Gizoid design, especially the shoulders, making them functional for a robot.

But I just had to make her horn a flat-ish light bulb. I was trying to think of a good horn design for her, and that came to mind, and I felt it was the best choice to fit her character together. Even though Pandoria already has a light bulb on her head, which I, of course, kept. And while we’re on the topic of her face, like Zeke’s eye patch, Pandoria's glasses are also clip-on, to fit the robotic theme better. (Good to try the design, as I have a Gizoid Original that is planned to have glasses, so it’s great to get an idea on how to make it work.)

The only other thing I can think of to mention about Pandoria is her copper platting. She has this copper / bronze with her light bulbs, as they are old-fashioned, and decided to work with that with her colors. I gave it a lighter shade to help differentiate it with her color shading, though at first, it was much lighter. But once I got a better look at the lighter copper color, I realized it looked like a light skin color... which I didn’t like. Unless the robot is made to look human, I don’t think skin colors (particularly light ones) belong on a machine. It just looked wrong.

Oh, and for the background, that is the kanji the appears when Zeke uses his "Ultimate Lightning Fury Slash MAX" (or ULFS Max) in cutscenes. I believe the kanji is "kyoko", which means "ultimate". Felt appropriate to add.

Here is my previous Gizoid Imitator, Percival de Rolo from the Legend of Vox Machina:

Here are my next Gizoid Imitators, with two versions, the Supreme Titan mixed with Sage, both from Sonic Frontiers:

Here is a link to all my Gizoid Pieces

Here are my Emerl and Gemerl pieces:

And since they were mentioned, here are the first Gizoid Imitators, Bowser and Undyne the Undying, as well as my first Xenoblade Imitator, Shulk:

Description
This is part of my "Gizoid Imitator" series, where I take a random character, and draw them as a Gizoid, who are powerful robots from Sonic Battle and Sonic Chronicles, that are able to copy the abilities of those they fight, to create unique Gizoid designs. It's as if these mimic masters decided to fully embody those that they copied. I based the framework design on my current Emerl and Gemerl Redesigns, which are more complicated than their original designs in Sonic Battle and Sonic Advance 3, respectively.
I do not intend to take requests, though don't let that stop you from dropping ideas. If I like the idea, I might take it, and add them to my list to work on later.

This took too long. This was intended as my third and final Halloween piece, but I couldn’t finish it in time. The whole project ended up being bigger than I first planned.

So, Zeke von Genby, the Bringer of Chaos! Probably my favorite character from Xenoblade 2 (alongside Poppi). I decided I wanted to make him into one of my Imitators, but as I actually began to plan this piece out, I was starting to feel that I couldn’t leave out Zeke’s Blade, Pandoria.

If you haven’t played Xenoblade 2, there are Driver and Blades. Blades are weaponized lifeforms that are formed from Core Crystals. A Driver can summon a blade by bonding with a Core Crystal and bringing them to life. From there, a Blade can form a weapon for their Driver and provide them power. As you might expect, each main character Driver (your playable characters) has at least one main Blade that is partnered with them.

And for Zeke, his main blade is Pandoria, and thinking about it, it didn’t feel right to me to make only Zeke. This is what made the project so big, that, and the fact that Xenoblade characters have lots of details, making them complex to work with.

But, this is actually my first duo Gizoid piece! I know I started the Imitators series with two characters, Undyne and Bowser, but those are two separate characters from two very different games, so those were two separate pieces. So I don’t count those two, just because of my purposeful timing.
So, yeah, Zeke and Pandoria, in one piece, make up the Gizoid Imitators 9 and 10. Just so you know, even before coming to Zeke, I was thinking of making Gizoid duos, particularly, without revealing who they were, a popular duo of characters, who could easily be made separately (one in particular), but I feel that I should make them together. And maybe add a third, related character in a separate piece? I don’t know yet, and I don’t plan to do these characters for a while.
Also, pretty sure this is the first time I’ve picked a second character from a series I’ve already done a character for, as far as the Gizoid Imitators series is concerned. I did Shulk from Xenoblade 1 before, so Zeke is my second Xenoblade character (and that made Pandoria my third). I do want to do more characters from series I’ve already touched, but not RIGHT after I made a character from that series. Though, it might be time to start looking at earlier series I’ve done.

So, now onto the characters themselves. For Zeke, I decided I wanted to get some of his eccentric personality in his posing, so I mimicked his hand pose in his promo art, while his other hand has his sword.

That sword was important to me. See, in the game, you’ll see that the massive blade is actually a stand of sorts, and when Pandoria uses it, she pulls out the handle, and uses it as a wand of sorts. Only Zeke uses the entire thing as a massive sword. In the promo art, the drivers don’t have weapons, as the weapons really belong to their individual blades. But with Pandoria’s promo art, she is only holding the handle / wand. And that is disappointing, because as far as wielders of large swords go, Zeke is on the same kind of level as Cloud Strife. That’s something you shouldn’t ignore. So I had to make sure Zeke had his big ol’ blade.

Now, Zeke’s design is mostly about mixing Zeke’s clothing with my style of drawing Gizoids, especially how I handle the robot’s forearms and shins, which I make to look like gauntlets and armor-boots. I especially love that the underside of Zeke’s gloves has a unique color. I don’t like getting super wild in my designs, so I usually end up with a similar dark gray or brown color for the fabric of the hand's underside when making a Gizoid, as those always fit best. I love making such a simple difference. I also colored the other finger plates differently, to match Zeke’s fingerless gloves. I also added belts on the Gizoid's thinner limbs, like how Zeke had below his gloves (though I decided to skip the buckles. Couldn’t be bothered, honestly, and I think it looks fine).

But if there is anything I’m not completely happy about, it is the shoulder guards. I think the design is fine, though I didn’t have the foresight to make them more functional, as they clearly work differently than my normal Gizoid shoulder guards.

Finally, for Zeke, let’s talk about his eyes. Zeke is known for his eye patch, and he says that it conceals the “Eye of Shining Justice”. It is even an ability Zeke has in the new game plus, where it appears as a blue flame (though Zeke doesn’t actually take off the eye patch). This sounds similar to the Gizoid’s third eye, where it opens during a point of evolution or reaching peak power.

Realistically, I could’ve just left the third eye to function of the Eye of Shining Justice, but the eye patch is more than that. It’s also an iconic look for Zeke. So I kept the eye patch, just making it more mechanical, removing the strap and making it seem like it’s clipped on, to better fit the robot design. Though I did copy the eye patch’s pattern to the horn.

And, as you will notice, I did add flames coming out from Zeke’s eye patch, the flames of the Shining Justice, supposedly. Getting the glow right, slipping through the fingers, was annoying, as it wouldn't load properly in my program (I use Inkscape, specifically an earlier version, as I don’t like the changes of the current versions). But it felt right for the eye patch, not the third eye.

(Keep in mind, that I did the same thing with my Undyne the Undying, with her shining eye, keeping it separate from the third eye, as it fit better, though I did stylize those eyes with broken panes and cracks on them. Heck, it’s also kind of funny, Undyne and Zeke have a similar thing going on with the “Justice” and “eyes” stuff. Undyne wears an eye patch (same eye even), and when she transforms into Undying, the patch is gone, and light streams through her eye. Heck, one of her theme songs is called “Spear of Justice”. Considering Undertale came out before Xenoblade 2, it would seem Zeke was taking notes.)

So, now onto Pandoria. While much of what I can say about her design is the same as Zeke's (namely, the mixing of clothing and robotic body, and the glove coloring), though are a few things to point out specific to her. Firstly, her light bulbs. Her design is decorated with these, with even her shoulders being light bulbs. And I of course worked this into the Gizoid design, especially the shoulders, making them functional for a robot.

But I just had to make her horn a flat-ish light bulb. I was trying to think of a good horn design for her, and that came to mind, and I felt it was the best choice to fit her character together. Even though Pandoria already has a light bulb on her head, which I, of course, kept. And while we’re on the topic of her face, like Zeke’s eye patch, Pandoria's glasses are also clip-on, to fit the robotic theme better. (Good to try the design, as I have a Gizoid Original that is planned to have glasses, so it’s great to get an idea on how to make it work.)

The only other thing I can think of to mention about Pandoria is her copper platting. She has this copper / bronze with her light bulbs, as they are old-fashioned, and decided to work with that with her colors. I gave it a lighter shade to help differentiate it with her color shading, though at first, it was much lighter. But once I got a better look at the lighter copper color, I realized it looked like a light skin color... which I didn’t like. Unless the robot is made to look human, I don’t think skin colors (particularly light ones) belong on a machine. It just looked wrong.

Oh, and for the background, that is the kanji the appears when Zeke uses his "Ultimate Lightning Fury Slash MAX" (or ULFS Max) in cutscenes. I believe the kanji is "kyoko", which means "ultimate". Felt appropriate to add.

Here is my previous Gizoid Imitator, Percival de Rolo from the Legend of Vox Machina:

Here are my next Gizoid Imitators, with two versions, the Supreme Titan mixed with Sage, both from Sonic Frontiers:

Here is a link to all my Gizoid Pieces

Here are my Emerl and Gemerl pieces:

And since they were mentioned, here are the first Gizoid Imitators, Bowser and Undyne the Undying, as well as my first Xenoblade Imitator, Shulk: