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DCLeadboot β Profile - Boaz
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Published: 2017-01-06 12:00:08 +0000 UTC; Views: 898; Favourites: 13; Downloads: 0
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Description
A reference picture for Boaz the Harvest Mouse, along with a couple of short paragraphs about his personality, strengths and weaknesses.Profiles for all of his friends will follow over the next few weeks.
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Comments: 52
Awww, thanks very much!
Indeed, wanted something that instead of just re-enacting the Bible, I instead had a premise that applied Scripture to life problems (like dealing with a crow-bully or something)...
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No problem 
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He looks very relateable which is good if the character is the main hero. It's like with Frodo and Aragon from Lord of the Rings; Aragon is perfect hero material who would have no problem getting the Ring to Mountain. But as much as everyone likes him, readers wouldn't cheer for him as much as they would for Frodo. Why? Because Frodo is like us, he's the unlikely, small, inexperienced average person who gets thrown into an extraordinary and dangerous situation. He's tested, hurt and put under a lot of mental strain but he carries on. Seeing someone struggle and fight for their goals is someone who we, the reader, admire and strive to be like.Β
It's the same with Boaz; he's a prey animal with not much of a way to defend himself with but he's someone who you'd want to root for. The little guy who beats the bigger guys using their so called disadvantage to their advantage. Β Β
Β Β
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Thanks very much!
Certainly, while I might like otters or hares, Brian Jacques always favoured mice as the main heroes (nearly all the time)
Indeed, whether fighting off bullying crows or teaching foolish moles a lesson, Boaz has the Lord on his side...
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No problem!
I think he favoured them as he liked stories of small, seemingly weak people overcome giant challenges and winning despite doubters saying that it was impossible. It's a storyline that is extremely old but remains a firm favourite.
Boaz has faith on his side and with a little help, it can go a long way.Β
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Heh yeah... reckon I first had the idea when I considered Boaz possibly becoming a foil to an elephant...
Boaz is small, but has the faith as big as an elephant... while the elephant has practically no faith at all... and I had the vague idea of him saving the elephant from some ivory poacher's pitfall trap by encouraging him to use a vine he dropped to him to climb out.
Of course, this meant having to have enough faith to trust the vine not to snap...
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That's an interesting idea, though if the main cast are mainly British animals, an African animal might seem out of place. Saying that though, Aesop's tales managed okay with mixing animals from different parts of the world.
Maybe Boaz could also have his own faith tested as he is worried that the vine wouldn't hold the elephant's weight or can't undo the noose trap that is around the elephant's leg. But after taking some time to think (and pray) he succeeds, renewing his faith. Β Β
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Well, this was a very early prototype idea, before I really developed Boaz in the vein of what I have now...
Talking of a noose though, I also had some consideration in mind for an idea where Boaz is a "good Samaritan" to a fox that previously tried to hunt them but then got himself caught in a trap... and they meet each other halfway when they realise he was only hungry and give him an alternative option that doesn't involve eating anyone...
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He is just so cute, though. You've really created a creature who looks like he's made up entirely of "innocence", for lack of a better word. Not only is he round and soft and small, but every single color on him can be affiliated with goodness:
Ever hear of the trope "Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold"? I'll bet that would apply to Boaz (though it'd have to be "Fur of Gold" instead 
So, in short, Boaz looks every inch a nice guy.
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Heh, heh... thanks very much, Kel!
Boaz sure is every inch a good guy. Of course, he doesn't have a lot of inches to him... but greatness isn't measured by size, fortunately!
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You're welcome very much, DC!
Heh heh, yeah... Actually, I think his small size only enlarges his hero status, if that makes any sense. Course I'm mostly thinking of your Castle Calamity comic, where Boaz, the tiniest critter to attack the castle, managed to take it all down with a gentle poke.
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Yeah, Brian Jacques always said that the small unassuming mice were his favourite heroes...
Of course, I always liked the hares and otters myself, but yeah...
With Castle Calamity, Boaz was just there to create a visual gag... that after all that failed effort to destroy the castle, it was the unlikeliest character possible who finished the job by pure accident...
(
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And yet most of his mice were all bad@$$es; there was nothing small or unassuming about their personalities.
Haha, yeah, I loved the otters and hares; they were all arguably even more bad@$$ than the mice!
Either way, it worked.
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Heh, indeed... especially Martin!
Love those buff otters... Finbarr Galedeep, Deyna Taggerung, Grath Longfletch...
And those wacky hares, like Basil, Clecky, Hon Rosie...
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Oh yes. ^^ One Martin to rule them all...
I can only think of four or five otters in the whole series I didn't really care for, but other than that, if its a Redwall book with an otter in it, chances are I'm gonna love them.
Hah, and I can recall even fewer hares I didn't like, so, yeah.
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Martin and Gonff... a right old pair!
And any otters in particular? I seem to like the big muscular heroic ones...
All the eccentric hares?
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Haha, yeah...
Any otters I don't like? Well, I don't particularly care for Skipper Banjon from "High Rhulain" or the skipper from "The Rogue Crew." Nor did I ever really like Skipperjo from "Outcast." I don't know, they all seemed like jerks.Β
Actually, the only hare I remember not liking specifically is Jodd, again from "Outcast." I remember finding a lot of the woodlanders (mostly just the ones who lived in or around Redwall) to be charmless in that particular book.Β
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Heh, yeah... the Rogue Crew otters were a wild bunch... and they were needlessly cruel to that little stoat Crumdun... perhaps the one character I remember caring about as the very last heel-face-turned vermin character in the entire series... due to Brian Jacques dying before he could put out any more books...
Yeah, the Redwallers in "Outcast" were pretty soulless... then-Abbess Miriam was rather too bland to reign in the prejudice towards ferrets, old Bella of Brockhall was too much living in the past to think that vermin of the present generation could be anything but evil, Bunfold was too quick to accuse Veil even before Bryony saw the evidence, in fact they always said no good would come out of him even when he was still a kit... Veil never stood a chance...
Part of Frederick's creation was a rebellion against that sort of stereotyping, having him raised by otters because they're good guys, whilst proving ferrets can be good if raised properly. (Otters are firm family creatures in my world. A good telling off is always in order for wayward pups, and Todd wouldn't be above giving Cedric or Frederick a smacked bottom if they really earned it)
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Yeah, I never liked how the Rogue Crew treated Crumdum (though thankfully he had the Long Patrol hares looking out for him). It was kind've annoying, because the Rogue Crew never got character growth or learned any new or important. Or at least that's how I remembered it, its been a while since I read the book. Although one thing I noticed about Crumdum was how BJ mentioned "not all vermin are as lucky as Crumdum." And that has been *very* true for pretty much all vermin, reformed or not, in this series.Β
Ugh, I hated Abbess Meriam. You know something I noticed about her, though? It always seemed like she was giving a "rare smile." She just seemed so cold and unloving, and not really as wise as the novel played her up as. Heck, I didn't like *any* of the Redwallers from "Outcast", they were all so surprisingly unlikable and jerkish. Heck, I recall Barlom, the grandson of Timballisto, telling Bryony not to waste any tears on Veil, "He'll only break your heart", and I'm like, "Dude, you're talking about the ferret that Bryony *raised* ALL HIS LIFE! You expect her to just turn her back on him in a heartbeat and not shed a single tear for him?" Granted, Veil was accused of trying to kill somebeast, but even so, Barlom was expecting Bryony to just give up on her adoptive son without a second thought.Β
But that's the funny thing, though: its made clear that at the end of "Outcast" that Martin's spirit would return to the abbey, and I got to wonder, were the Redwallers' prejudice and hatred and general unlikable-ness all attributed to Martin not being there? I mean think about it: in "Mossflower", Martin ordered that the vermin be set free and not executed. "To show them that we are not evil" were his words. Had the new Redwallers forgotten this way of thinking after Martin's death? It certainly seems possible, since I don't believe there was any other time in Redwall's history where the abbey was so gosh darn harsh towards a vermin character (except maybe "High Rhulain", but I don't want to get into that right now).Β
But I'm glad you created Frederick. He's an awesome character and I love his backstory.
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I only read it once, so really all I remember was Crumdun and the fact that it took TWO Redwallers to actually finish off the insanely overpowered bad guy...
I don't even remember the characters...
And indeed, not many vermin were that lucky... a lot of them seemed to have poor backgrounds? So if they weren't just bad "for the evulz", like the majority were, they were just bad because they weren't brought up proper... oh, so poor and low-clasd people are inherently bad? At least for vermin... poor woodlanders could go up in the world, though...
EvenΒ those with no fighting experience could even pick up a legendary Sword and suddenly fight hoards of bad guys without breaking a sweat!
Yeah, that's what I meant with Miriam being so bland; there was no personality at all!
I always imagined her with a Julie Andrews voice because of how aloof she sounded...
Hmm, yeah... good point there... I know Martin had only died recently, but he certainly didn't seem to have much to do with the first-generation Redwallers... maybe the powers-that-be assigned him at that point to watch over the Abbey BECAUSE they needed a guiding spirit to tell them, "Stop being such jerkoffs!"
Frederick: Awww, thanks matey!
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Actually, its "Crumdum", not "Crumdun." 
Well, I remember that whenever vermin were "poor", they took up thievery and joined violent gangs. When woodlanders were "poor" they were usually just living quiet lives on farms. Though sometimes even poor woodlanders would do bad/evil things - particularly if they were voles.Β
Though about Martin's sword, meh, I don't try and think about that. I just relax and go along with things on that one.
Really? You think Julie Andrews has an aloof voice? ^^
Or maybe Veil's spirit asked Martin to go and watch over Bryony? And make certain what happened to him, Veil, didn't happen to any other vermin? I personally like that theory, it gives Veil's death more meaning.
You're very welcome, matey! ;D
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Actually, sorry to correct you again there... it WAS Crumdun!
redwall.wikia.com/wiki/Crumdun
But yeah, a ship on wheels sure sounds crazy...
Didin't Martin do that as well, in the third act of Legend of Luke?
Heh, and I wonder if Brian Jacques was a feminist...
Yeah, seems there were a lot of mean-spirited voles and crazy hedgehog hermits out there... especially in the later books...
They all said "It's just a sword" but it seems Martin the Warrior's spirit was housed within it somehow...? If it was from the videogame world, it would be the Master Sword, the bane of evil... and Cluny the Scourge would be little more than Ganondorf's puppet!
Well, Julie Andrews has a posh accent anyway...
Heh, maybe... possibly Veil and Martin got acquainted in Heaven or something?
Despite Jacques' insistence on "no religion" I can't help thinking of Martin as a guardian angel. Of course, this is why he can only speak in riddles... because that's all that God gives him to pass on at a needed time!
Nobody should know too much about their own destiny.
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*goes and reads the actual book* Oh wait, you were right, it WAS "Crumdun"! 
Yes actually, they did do it in "Legend of Luke"; after finding out what happened to his father, Martin and the gang attached wheels to a ship and road it all the way back to the abbey. Although I believe it was put back out to sea in the epilogue, explaining where it went.Β
Who knows? His books certainly were *filled* with powerful female characters, and a lot of them were rulers even. And there was even a female abbey champion, so... yeah.
Yeah, I noticed that too in the later books, how hedgehogs were frequently turning up as evil or just unpleasant.Β
Meh, I think that "its only a sword" thing only applied in the first book, when BJ had no plans for a series. Afterwards, I think the sword more than that.
To an American, any English person has a "posh" accent.
God gave riddles/signs to the prophets of the Old Testament, but its all explained in the New Testament. So I don't think it's good to explain it all like that. ^^
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Heh, no problem!
I must admit, it's been a while since I read these books... 
A pity Triss wasn't the most memorable of the books...
Yeah, weird one, that... what was with hedgehogs going mad like that...?
Heh, glad that Zelda parallel works then...
Actually, I had also considered how Martin the Warrior could assume the role of Frisk in Undertale, considering the mouse and his huge concentration level of Determination...
Heh, okay... though there's like a million different accents...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=riwKuKβ¦
Hmmm, still... I wonder just why it is these spiritual guides were never quite 100% clear with their prophesies...
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Its been a while for me too. I'd like to give them all a read again.Β
Yeah, but at least there were some memorable stuff about Triss: Triss herself, Princess Kurda, Plugg and his freebooters, Sagax, Kroova, Shogg, Scarum, the re-discovery of Brockhall, the three twisted up adders... yeah. X)
Maybe BJ was getting sick and tired of all the complaints about the "good woodlander/evil vermin" dynamic, and decided to spice things up a bit more? Except he's arguably had an evil woodlander and good/nice vermin in almost each of his books since the beginning. ^^
Well, maybe.
Hah! Well, I'm thinking of the type of English accent that's most commonly heard over here in the U.S.Β
Cuz it would make for a boring story if the heroes didn't learn anything for themselves?
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Same here... I really need to get back into reading!
Working obsessively on artwork, I barely make time... and then get to bed at 1am or worse after leaving my usual job of washing up till the last possible minute! (Because chores are at the bottom of my list of priorities...)
Yeah, some good characters at least... I liked Plugg and always felt his death was unjustly gruesome for one of the more endearing villains... and kinda hated Kurda for how her obsession with catching Triss indirectly ruined Plugg's career...
Hmmm, yeah... for all his talk of "no grey areas" there certainly were a lot...
Yeah... no fun in having ALL your problems solved by a Deus ex Machina...
These days, that trope seems to work better if it's lampshaded? (Like in my Prince of Persia spoof, at the end... if you remember...)
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Heh, I'm just as bad as you - even worse, since I tend to be even less productive. 
Yeah, Plugg should have died more towards the end of the story, he died way too soon. The book just felt hollow once he left. Actually, that's the same reason why I find the book "Salamandastron" so hard to read, because for me, Dingeye and Thura made the story, so once they die, the rest of the story just feels hollow - especially the celebratory feast at the end. I couldn't enjoy it because I kept on thinking how much the two stoats would have loved it - and what it would have been like had they challenged Pikkle to an eating contest. Sigh...
Yes indeed. I would have liked for somebody to call BJ out on that, although I do have a little bit of a theory to explain all that: he never meant for the vermin/woodlander characters to be seen as "baddies/goodies"; he wanted the readers to judge the characters by their actions, and label them as such. Although its possible he (like many others) misunderstood that "gray" means "morally ambiguous".Β
Exactly.
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Heh, heh... I seem to have been a late riser lately... despite Mum insisting I should get up at 8am, I often oversleep! Especially recently since winter set in and we were waiting for the day our central heating got fixed by a local indie gas-repair man. To my shame, I also find myself nodding off at church because of the late nights...
But still... got to try and get my chores done sooner, and take a break now and then to read a book...
Indeed, it seems that Brian Jacques always killed off the best or most promising characters... and seemingly without good reason...
Guess that's what comes of having too many characters...?
As for Danbuster's world, I tried to get away from the Redwall and folklore stereotypes and have more equal characters... even Danbuster and Boaz aren't infallible.Β The hare is crazy, impulsive and tends to enjoy torturing folk with his puns a little too much... and the little harvest mouse can be a little gluttonous and lazy in his own small way, when there isn't something that seriously needs doing...
On the other hand, I originally wrote Retsubnad as a villain, but he also has some hidden good in him...
As for Prince of Persia... I had a YouTube link...
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Ah, well, I hope your central heating gets fixed real soon - or did it already?
Maybe. Or maybe BJ just had a different idea of who the best characters were? After all, he never killed off Basil or Constance or Mariel or... well, there were a lot of "best characters" he kept alive. So it all evens out, I suppose.Β
I think you do a real good job with not letting your characters' species rule what their personalities are like. 
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Yes, the heating system was fixed in December. We just had a long wait for that to happen.
I suppose... seems to be the ones that died we remember more, though...
Heh, thanks! Just something random and crazy.
Seems I so rarely animate these days... with too many ideas, it just takes too long.
I really need to consider a Dan Clan comic series though?
Wally: Master really is amazing, isn't he... 
Retsubnad: Just being "myself"
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Well that's good, glad you guys have heat now. X)
Yeah, that's true.
You're welcome! Heh heh, nothing wrong with the occasional random and crazy.
Heh heh heh, yeah...
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Yeah... if I can only get this current Boaz story finished, I shall have to think in terms of how I can make future books faster... and try and branch out with Danbuster - possibly starting with a Dan Clan origins story that is told from Frederick's viewpoint...
Retsubnad: Hmmm, y'know... we really need to get back to taking over the world...
Wally: Of course, Master... we need something to do with ourselves in daytime...
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That sounds cool, I like that.
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Wally: Well, everybody needs a hobby...
Retsubnad: And mine happens to be world domination...
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Retsubnad: Hehe!
Wally: Mmhmmm...
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Nice work on Boaz here, I like the design of this profile.
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Thanks very much, Bru!
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Thanks very much!
It certainly helped using Flash to trace over my lineart in vector form. I can set a thickness too.
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You're welcome.
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If there's anything similar between Boaz and I, it's that we both like to eat and lazing about.
But in all seriousness, nice reference art for Boaz.
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Heh, yeah... I like taking things easy myself!
Though I'm not as fat as Boaz... though I have been concerned I ought to keep an eye on that lately...
Thanks very much!
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You only have to look at Boaz to see that he's got a cheerful, if a little too laid-back, personality.
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Thanks very much, Mark!
Yup, his friends will be along during the next few Fridays...
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Thanks, Kyo!
(Finally, a nice comment instead of just an impersonal drive-by fave-bomb)
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No problem.
(wait, did someone insulte your artwork lately?)
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No, it's not that I've had bad comments... just that I get a lot of faves from people who don't even bother themselves to leave a comment
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Ah so you mean, more fav than comments. ^^
Yeah, it's pretty annoying. That happen to me too many times.
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