Rocksteady is a villian from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This image was created for the Comicon Challenge at GameArtisans.org where it garnered 1st place. The challenge was "Take your favorite “action-based” comic book super hero or super villain and create a fan-based representation..."

My goal was to re-imagine the character as a more aggressive, sadistic and disfigured mutation yet not stray so far from the original design that he not be immediately recognizable. I wanted him to be as bad ass to me now, as the original was to me as a child.

I always try to tell stories through design details. In this case I wanted to play up the human punk side of the character, so he has more facial jewelery, The Clash concert shirt, and the rock buckle.

His right arm has been branded, with the symbol of the Shredder, like ranchers brand their cattle, demonstrating that he is subservient to the Foot Clan.

And I tried to express his twisted mental state. He believes the cries of dying turtles will lure the Ninja Turtles out to fight him so he hacks up turtle after turtle, throwing their bodies down the sewer hole. Definitely not the dim witted, comic relief he was in the cartoon.

There was so more I wanted to do with the character but the deadline restrained me. He is sorely missing his machine gun.