ALL HEROES – CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.
September 20, 2011

First draft - Robo Dan/Jonah.

All Heroes Character Development - Elliot Francis Stewart.

Here's a quick look behind the scenes during the character development phase of our all heroes project. After discussions with the players (which you can see parts of in the all heroes short film), Elliot began to create various concepts behind each character, taking into account their feedback as well as implementing his own ideas alongside experimenting with poses, superpowers, and general character concepts. As I pointed out in the previous post, I'm a huge admirer of Elliot's art & pencil work - all derived from his childhood obsession with illustration & comic book heroes. Here are a few pages out of his sketch book.

Initial character concepts:

Dan Carter (DC10), Overall team concept drafts.

Initial drafts & concept - "Super N8tive", Liam Messam.

First Jonah Lomu concept.

Dan Carter, rough concept/animation board.

First finished inked drawing - Jonah Lomu.

First fiinshed pencil draft - Liam "Super N8tive" Messam.

After a month or so of discussion amongst the team, we finally settled on each individual hero's powers & alter-egos, and then developed each one based on further consultation with the players themselves and Elliot, combining everyone's ideas into one and developing each character's identity.

Here's a closer look.

Finished inked drawings of the four characters & concepts:
Pencils/inks by Elliot Francis Stewart

ALL HEROES 2011.

Most of New Zealand grew up listening to the tales of the men in black; undefeatable on the field and leaving their competition shaking their heads in a daze, with dreams of one day putting on the hallowed black jersey themselves. As the future nears, a new breed of superpower enabled fighters/players have emerged; the elite of the elite to lead the way into a new stage of combat on the field and continue the legacy. Each endowed with unique abilities, they have been scouted and nurtured by secret training programs to lead the ultimate team. These are their stories. All Blacks, All Heroes.

ALL HEROES #1 - JONAH "JUSTICE" LOMU

You wouldn’t like Jonah when he gets mad. The big man draws power from being physically hit, his super blood rushes through his veins and he increases up to five times his normal size to charge at the enemy lines and protect his fellow team members. A gentle giant that can change into a raging bull at a moment’s notice, Jonah moves with the agility of a gazelle but with the ferocity of a lion and a strong sense of justice. Jonah loves to settle a score, so just make sure you’re not in the right place at the wrong time.

ALL HEROES #2 – LIAM “SUPER N8TIVE” MESSAM

Hailing from the mighty Waikato, Liam Messam combines speed with his deadly forcefield as he flies down the pitch towards the try line. After first discovering his super powers as a teenager on the marae, Liam draws on his super power of unlimited energy and the power of his warrior ancestors to burst through the enemy defense lines; utilizing forcefield arcs which emit from his hands as he gears up for super speed.

ALL HEROES #3 - SONNY BILL "SB-DUB" WILLIAMS

Sonny Bill is the team’s all-rounder; able to float like a butterfly and sting like a rhino. SB-DUB fends off would be tacklers by dropping his indestructible shoulder armour, crafted from the rarest metals on earth as he rushes at super speed at the enemy and deceives opponents by using his devastatingly fast offloads and sidestep. Sonny Bill is the lynchpin of the all heroes team, whether he’s passing the ball onto Liam to run down the flank, or supporting team leader Dan Carter in his attack plans.

ALL HEROES #4 – DANIEL “DC” CARTER

As the highest international points-scorer in the history of the game, Dan “DC” Carter is the man who calls the attacks, directing the super powers of the three other team members through his super vision & intuition. Half man, half machine, DC is the product of a top-secret government experiment to build the ultimate figher, drawing on his unlimited fuel energy cell to power his bionic legs, whether it’s kicking a 90m drop goal or flying across the pitch to assist his comrades.

All of Elliot's characters/drawings will be featured in special trading cards produced alongside the Campus 80's in this project. Only 350 will be made of each character, and inside each lot of 350, 35 will be printed with special edition gold foil accents. Available in double packs (two cards in one pack), they will be included in every All Heroes Campus 80's, given as a gift for every single adidas Originals purchase in September/October from Qubic Store, as well as being available to purchase individually in store.

Collect them all?