FINAL FANTASY IV
ZOMBIE PROJECT #634 CREATED: AUGUST 2019 Through some means not entirely understood by Baron science, undead Zombies were former humans who had died and were since ressurected as vicious, post-mortem monstrosities. Zombies occasionally patrolled the Watery Pass en route to Damcyan, blocking the path of those who would traverse its dark, damp passageways. While the old wizard Tellah was unable to make it through the Watery Pass alone, once he joined forces with Cecil Harvey and his traveling companion Rydia, together the group discovered an effective means of dispatching these vile monsters. Zombies, in particular, remained highly susceptiple to fire-based attacks, as well as the curative magic available to both Tellah and Rydia. Zombies also popped up during Cecil's exploration of Mt. Ordeals, accompanied by even stronger unliving creatures such as the Ghoul and Revenant. (Unlike a lot of other monsters, the Zombie kept its original name in all the various incarnations of Final Fantasy IV.) To build the Zombie (as well as the Ghoul and Revenant and the Ghast), I used the Frankenstein's Monster figure from the Scooby-Doo toy line by Charter, Ltd. I cut off the figure's hands and repositioned them, did a lot of cosmetic work to add details like ripped clothing and torn-up shoes, and also added a visible rib cage and musculature using Sculpey. I completely rebuilt the head and face, carving out the shape of its beck, addings hairs to the top of its head, and using sewing pins for eyes. The original game sprite for the Zombie used a dark red color as the highlight color for the purple coat it wore. Normally, Nintendo of America had pretty strict rules about depicting blood and gore, so I imagine this was more a reflection of the limitations of the 16-bit graphics than anything else. Despite this, I don't often have the opportunity to paint bloody-looking monsters, so I deliberately interpreted the red color on the coat as splattered blood (from one of its victims, no doubt), and painted the toy accordingly. |
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