Chrono Guy — Eco Allies Artist Commentary
For every Ally, I’ll be releasing a commentary on my artistic choices for the character, inspiration, and a bit more detail about how they fit into the Eco Allies Story. You can view all the allies released on the EcoAllies website.
While not the first EcoAlly drawn, he was on my mind since the beginning and excited me the most. He ended up being a labor or love as I spent quite a bit more time on him getting him right. I was so happy with the end result, I ended up making him the first Ally to hit the scene on SuperRare.
Chrono Guy is the epitome of a Chaotic Neutral Superhero. He works for no one so is unbound by society’s restrictions, and isn’t concerned with ‘doing good’ by present day standards. He’s seen and been far into the future and understands the implications of world events, the butterfly effect and what ultimate outcomes arise. Communication with citizens of Earth, 2019 is minimal and he rarely takes sides in “good vs evil” conflicts unless to prevent ecological disaster. “Order must be maintained” is one of the few phrases heard from the man. What that means exactly is anyone’s guess. From our perspective as average joe citizens, his order is unpredictable and rather chaotic.
Being shrouded in mystery, Scorpio was the obvious choice for his default astrological orientation. Secrets, and powerful manipulation, often without being seen are almost always favored over direct conflict.
I drew on some of my favorite childhood sci-fi characters and themes to bring him to life. I remember receiving a copy of “The Time Machine” by H.G. Wells in 7th grade for reading the most pages in class. The theme of a future dystopia with two completely divergent races captivated me and has been a recurring interest in later sci fi books, like the Hyperion series.
Artistically, I leaned heavily upon the Ghost, a futuristic looking soldier with powerful psychic abilities in the PC game StarCraft. Every EcoAlly has some feature as the focus in the foreground. For Chrono Guy, it’s his heads-up display coming from his wrist. If you guessed this was inspired by the 1987 “Predator” movie, you are correct! I must have watched this movie 100 times, usually on “Movies, for Guys Who Like Movies” every Thursday on TBS as a kid. I knew I wanted the date to be 1984, largely because of the great dystopian book by George Orwell. I read about the Bhopal disaster for the first time and realized that was the event he was shifting back to stop.
While all the allies are sort of working towards similar goals of helping restore Gaia, they are loosely organized and don’t necessarily work together. Chrono Guy is one of the most independent, and sees many of the other allies as naive minor players in the game, even if that’s a heavily skewed interpretation.
If you enjoyed this, check out the EcoAllies website for all the latest info. You can also find me on Instagram — ecoalliesofgaia . You can also get in touch with via email.
