Demon Lord Derpahim

Skyward Sword. *sigh*

So many good things, so many bad. One of which (which I'm sure a vast amount of the general public agrees with me) is Ghirahim. Demon. Lord. Ghirahim. Write it in the sky in gossamer teardrops- Demon. Lord. Ghirahim.

A mixture of unparalleled flamboyancy, stereotypical emo trash and wrapped up in a vomit-inducing concoction of bad animation, worse fanart and hellishly terrible monologues, Demon Lord Ghirahim is probably the worst design for a pre-Ganon puppet bad-guy that the Zelda franchise has introduced thus far. Now don't get me wrong, I'm a HUGE fan of the LoZ series and have been since I could hold a gameboy/N64 controller. I guess to get on with it, a friend of mine asked (in response to my ranting and raving on Ghirahim's poor design) "well, how would you picture him?" Blah blah, snowballing effect, now I would like to do a painting on my idea of what "Demon Lord Ghirahim" should look like. I need to finish the game of couse (halfway through the Fire Sanctuary now...I'm stuck at that part with all the spikey water plants everywhere and the frog statue you have to throw water on.. Can't.. get the fruit... to the frog...)

Anyways, for those of you who are unfamiliar with "Demon Lord Ghirahim" in Skyward Sword...

Oh, and don't forget the risque, semi-revealing white leotard that clashes with his complexion and plays too obviously off of his "demonically white hair". Only the most unique bad guys have WHITE HAIR.

To move on once again, I'm starting with some concept art as to what I think a demon lord should look like. I do appreciate how Ghirahim's personality has this in-and-out insanity that comes and goes while he talks. Calm, collected and almost cool, Ghirahim has this facade that can creepily melt away into a fit or tantrum that does make you kind of want to scoot away and just say "forget it", but his design is just too ridiculous to really play that up. There's too many distractions around his eyes that pull away from any sudden emotion shifts he could make, and DAT HAIR. Covering up half of his face with an asymmetrical bob/emo bangs doesn't add to the "mystery" that is Ghirahim. It's annoying. If I were a demon lord, I'd buzz my head and call it a day so I could go on with my demon-y ways without having to worry about my obstructed vision and impaired sense of depth.

So here is what I've started with. Hopefully to be further embellished with color and, well... a body.