Design Spotlight [Carver]

Off the bat, he is my favorite brother. He was the first of the Strayers to be conceptualized. When I first started mocking up concepts for UI, I kept imagining the fox guy from Darkwood and used him as a reference for things like color and tone. We’ve seen a few people mention that Darkwood style approach to characters and y’all were right! The character design from that game helped a ton with influencing RUNT’s style.

Steam post image (Early concept mock-up for the game)

To give some initial stats on Carver, he’s about 28 years old, born almost exactly 9 months after Tanner. Given this closeness in age, he and Tanner are exceptionally close and are probably the only pair of brothers that genuinely like each other. Additionally - also given the closeness in birth - Carver is actually a bit stunted in his growth compared to his brothers. He’s about 5’10, the shortest of the brothers before Runt (who’s about 5’8). This is attributed to the overworking of their mother’s body to give birth back to back.

In designing Carver specifically, the first thing that needed to be shown was his cockiness. Given that Runt as a character is not flamboyant or outspoken or cruel, we needed a character that was the opposite of that - someone who fitted nicely into this world and worked with it rather than fearing it. Every part of him needed to scream confidence. So I sketched his initial pose being very casual, loose, relaxed, but dangerous. His gun is over one shoulder, hand in pocket. He isn’t afraid of the world and certainly isn’t afraid of you.

Steam post image (Initial Carver sketch) Steam post image

(Final Carver sprite)

The idea of covering faces, but still having some aspect of emotion started here. His zipper mouth is a permanent grimace, a cruel smile. His fur coat, which he probably stole from somewhere in town, is puffed up, giving him a top heavy appearance. Flanked by thin, lanky legs and his fetching leather boots, he screams confident - proud of his stylings and casual in his approach to things. His cat ears top it all off - he’s a total tomcat, in his appearance and behavior.

Thinking about it now, I’m not sure Carver has ever actually seen a cat. Maybe in a picture book…

When I design characters, I often think about animals to help guide the process. Animals are really easy as shorthand for character traits = dogs are brave, crows are mysterious, sharks are scary, etc etc. Too often I see people translate physical aspects of animals too literally into a character design. The best designs (in my humble opinion) are able to subtly do these things, guiding a viewer’s perception of a character. Carver’s fur coat resembles a cat's cowl (around the neck and chest), where the thickest part of it gathers and their jowls. If a cat is not neutered, these parts can thicken quite a bit. This helps further illustrate Carver's personality, as he is a huge flirt. Even if you didn’t know that, the thick cowl can stir up images of kings and their ermine trimmed cloaks, alluding to being fanciful or thinking highly of one’s self. His ski goggles are reflective like the tapetum of the cat (that shining in their eyes in the dark), but never veer too deeply into the cat analogy by having painted on slit pupils. Additionally, little things like his coat belt resembling a tail or the calico-esque color discoloration alluding to the genetic mixes of a streetcat, all help further push the idea of him being a freewheeling, confidant, rakish guy.

Even his gun is meant to allude to his personality. He carries a shotgun, indicating a wide, explosive approach to problems. He’s not delicate or overtly violence, but he wants a job done quickly. His pose indicates his confidence with the weapon as well. I think he’s the only character who proudly wields a weapon.

There’s also a subtler component to his personality that's shown in his design - his sensuality. When we started concepting the game, we were aware that having a cast of characters - but more specifically a variety of brothers with differing personalities - in a visual novel, there would be people who pick favorites like in an otome game. Even in Runt’s bleak world, people find romance or get messy and thus, sexuality remains. In Carver’s design, he wears a gimp-esque mask, complete with a collar and bell. Both of these elements he crafted himself. It’s intentional on his part. There’s an unbridled power in wearing your sensuality on your sleeve, a very devil-may-care attitude that only comes from a very solid understanding of self. Carver would easily dismiss anyone who thought it was too much or strange - ‘Think it’s weird? Tough.’ Given how sly and confident he is, it's hard to imagine him having trouble getting lucky, appearing both dominant with his gun and pose and submissive with collar and cat ears. He blends what he could be to whoever looks at him and could fit into whatever townie fantasy is projected on to him - which he knows.

As for colors, yellow seemed like a perfect choice. It can be abrasive and visually harsh. It can be golden, for things like wealth and status. And yet it can also be cowardly - the phrase yellow-bellied comes to mind. Underneath all that swagger, can Carver really retain his pride if the going gets tough?

Carver is a flashy guy, so it's important to remember he makes all his masks by hand. While others assemble their masks out of bits and pieces, Carver demonstrates his planning and cunning through sewing. If you’ve ever sewn anything, you know it requires some inside-out and backwards thinking. He takes great pride in this and I think this is a fun aspect of his personality. He has things he is proud of and interests that are somewhat defiant of the masculine beliefs that are imposed on the brothers. Contrasting this care of his work vs his attitude to everyone else gives him depth (at least I hope it reads that way!). Maybe you could help him sew some stuff up~?

It's really hard to not love him - we see a lot of fanart and it's totally understandable. An asshole can be so lovable if there's enough charm to him and it's leaking out of his little cat ears. At the same time, it's also really cool to see so many people hate him for how he acts. It’s a compliment to a creator to have such a strong reaction to a character, no matter if it's positive or negative. We hope that you all continue to love/hate him and look forward to uncovering all his dirty little secrets~!

FANART

This week - and being on the topic of Carver - we’d love to show off this piece by Ryugure. It’s the best cross-over ever and one we can’t stop staring at. Thank you again~!

If you have fanart, be sure to post it to Bluesky and tag it #runtVN or @/grimstastestudio! We would love to see it~!!! Also be sure to join the DreadXP discord to discuss theories, characters, and what you are looking forward to the most~!

That’s all for now! Y’all come back now, ya hear?

Love, Soren & Yves (Grimtaste Studios)