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Description
Template by Taiko554

Hello all, been awhile, hasn't it. A lot's happened since my last upload, but I haven't exactly been slouching in terms of artwork. Anybody in the Toku Discord Server I frequent can tell you that I've been working on this guy for a WHILE, and I've gone through quite the few variations of just his basic design. I've put a great deal of thought into this Rider and his first three alternate forms. Just for context: he was originally going to be a mostly black Rider with modular forms like Den-O/Gaim. Obviously, that isn't quite the case anymore. Though while I have spent a fair deal of time and effort on this design, I still made the decision to fall back on a few design tropes that I'm a little guilty of over-using. I'm not ashamed of it, but I will own up to it.

Runic started his life as the redesign of the old Aeon/Drakol design, and thus he is in part themed after a dragon. Not sure how clear that aspect of the motif is, but it's there at least. I like dragon-themed Kamen Riders a little too much, me thinks. I can't help it, dragons are cool. He's also got a few of those chest-emblems that I love to slap onto designs, though this time I'm at least pretending to make it relevant to his motif given the "rune" aspect of his design. It's a bit hard to make at this scale, but I did attempt to put some rune-like details on his cuffs and on the gold bands on his chest. Though this time the runes are used more for his alt forms, with his default form featuring a smaller and less prominent crest. The idea is to facilitate a hypothetical gimmick-figure line, where form changes are achieved by snapping a new chest piece over the base, and then replacing the appropriate arms (and possibly legs, when I get around to making those). While designing this gimmick, I was pulling direct inspiration from Agito and Kiva, though in retrospect it's a bit similar to that old key-themed Rider I made a very long time ago. Again, I'm not ashamed of recycling my old ideas, but I will be the first to admit that I did it.

As for Runic himself, his lore is pretty simple. He has a contract with a draconic spirit who inhabits his belt in order to fight demons, and he uses a number of Rune Stones in conjunction with the Driver to draw out different abilities and weapons. The belt's functions are pretty simple: you slot the Rune Stones into one side or the other much like Zero-One's Progrise Keys to activate transformations, and then the stones act as buttons to activate finishers. Nothing extraordinary, but it satisfies my need for a symmetrical belt.

As for what you can see here: the top row consists of Runic's default form, obviously. Not much to elaborate on here.

On the second row, from left to right, we have:
Magma Lance -- Physically stronger then Runic's base form, and allows for the use of lava and fire attacks. This form gets a spear, which often gets plunged into the ground to cause small eruptions nearby.

Frost Edge -- This form increases Runic's agility, and grants him ice-based powers and a scimitar. I've actually put a lot of thought into this form's fighting style: he wields the scimitar with his right hand, and uses the augmented left hand to throw ice spells around.

Quake Knuckle -- This form is an offensive and defensive powerhouse, and allows for Runic to use earth-elemental and gravitational attacks. This form's weapon are those two big gauntlets you see him wearing. Because sometimes you just need to punch a guy really hard. The gauntlets can also be used like shields due to their size, so there's some versatility there.

This list will be updated as I add more forms, which will be as I complete them.

The runes, in particular, were a real challenge to design. I wanted to evoke Kuuga's glyphs a bit in that there's an in-universe meaning for all of them. And, if nothing else, I'm happy with what I came up with. I also spent a lot of time deciding if the runes should have their own unique chest-shapes or if they should be uniform. Eventually, I settled on this shape. The intention was to evoke a dragon scale, but someone in the previously mentioned Discord said that it looked like a heart, and I'm not against that interpretation either. You could say he has the "heart of a dragon" and all that fun stuff.

Please do not use or repost without permission. Otherwise, enjoy.

Description
Template by Taiko554

Hello all, been awhile, hasn't it. A lot's happened since my last upload, but I haven't exactly been slouching in terms of artwork. Anybody in the Toku Discord Server I frequent can tell you that I've been working on this guy for a WHILE, and I've gone through quite the few variations of just his basic design. I've put a great deal of thought into this Rider and his first three alternate forms. Just for context: he was originally going to be a mostly black Rider with modular forms like Den-O/Gaim. Obviously, that isn't quite the case anymore. Though while I have spent a fair deal of time and effort on this design, I still made the decision to fall back on a few design tropes that I'm a little guilty of over-using. I'm not ashamed of it, but I will own up to it.

Runic started his life as the redesign of the old Aeon/Drakol design, and thus he is in part themed after a dragon. Not sure how clear that aspect of the motif is, but it's there at least. I like dragon-themed Kamen Riders a little too much, me thinks. I can't help it, dragons are cool. He's also got a few of those chest-emblems that I love to slap onto designs, though this time I'm at least pretending to make it relevant to his motif given the "rune" aspect of his design. It's a bit hard to make at this scale, but I did attempt to put some rune-like details on his cuffs and on the gold bands on his chest. Though this time the runes are used more for his alt forms, with his default form featuring a smaller and less prominent crest. The idea is to facilitate a hypothetical gimmick-figure line, where form changes are achieved by snapping a new chest piece over the base, and then replacing the appropriate arms (and possibly legs, when I get around to making those). While designing this gimmick, I was pulling direct inspiration from Agito and Kiva, though in retrospect it's a bit similar to that old key-themed Rider I made a very long time ago. Again, I'm not ashamed of recycling my old ideas, but I will be the first to admit that I did it.

As for Runic himself, his lore is pretty simple. He has a contract with a draconic spirit who inhabits his belt in order to fight demons, and he uses a number of Rune Stones in conjunction with the Driver to draw out different abilities and weapons. The belt's functions are pretty simple: you slot the Rune Stones into one side or the other much like Zero-One's Progrise Keys to activate transformations, and then the stones act as buttons to activate finishers. Nothing extraordinary, but it satisfies my need for a symmetrical belt.

As for what you can see here: the top row consists of Runic's default form, obviously. Not much to elaborate on here.

On the second row, from left to right, we have:
Magma Lance -- Physically stronger then Runic's base form, and allows for the use of lava and fire attacks. This form gets a spear, which often gets plunged into the ground to cause small eruptions nearby.

Frost Edge -- This form increases Runic's agility, and grants him ice-based powers and a scimitar. I've actually put a lot of thought into this form's fighting style: he wields the scimitar with his right hand, and uses the augmented left hand to throw ice spells around.

Quake Knuckle -- This form is an offensive and defensive powerhouse, and allows for Runic to use earth-elemental and gravitational attacks. This form's weapon are those two big gauntlets you see him wearing. Because sometimes you just need to punch a guy really hard. The gauntlets can also be used like shields due to their size, so there's some versatility there.

This list will be updated as I add more forms, which will be as I complete them.

The runes, in particular, were a real challenge to design. I wanted to evoke Kuuga's glyphs a bit in that there's an in-universe meaning for all of them. And, if nothing else, I'm happy with what I came up with. I also spent a lot of time deciding if the runes should have their own unique chest-shapes or if they should be uniform. Eventually, I settled on this shape. The intention was to evoke a dragon scale, but someone in the previously mentioned Discord said that it looked like a heart, and I'm not against that interpretation either. You could say he has the "heart of a dragon" and all that fun stuff.

Please do not use or repost without permission. Otherwise, enjoy.