A little series of monsters done for each day in the first week of April. I was too impatient to wait for Halloween.
April Ghouls! '17
Black Cat
As a witch’s familiar, the black cat is a vessel for raw nagic, an encyclopedia for spells, and a real good mouser. For protection (of all that magic, that is) the fell feline has been granted 9 Lives, on top of its natural ability to cheat death.
The cursed kitty has learned a way to replenish lost lives by sucking the breath out of a sleeping baby. As these can be hard to come by (much less without a protective mother), the miserable moggy takes a life every chance it gets instead of waiting for when it’s nearly out, though mercifully the terrible tabby cannot exceed 9 at any given time.
HAZMAT
The HAZMAT suit makers promised it’d keep everything out. Unfortunately for Sam, the parasite was only looking for a support frame...
Necromancer
The Necromancer is here to make you refight the bosses all over again. But not any of the really fun ones, nor the one with cool secret shortcut you only found out after you beat them the ‘right’ way, not even the super easy ones that really could’ve benefited from a second, harder round. Nope, Mr. Necro-man’s bringing back all the other ones, the painfully forgettable and the unforgettably painful bosses. Yes, even THAT one, especially that one...
At least once you’re through you are free to thrash the Necromancer in any way you see fit, and given his pechant for hanging out in over-the-top torture chambers you can be very creative... although he somehow always manages to pop back up in the sequel. Is there a necromancer for the Necromancer?
The sprite is indeed a beta design for the Necromancer. I had intended to update it, but then again the whole fun with these kinds of things is seeing how much the character evolved.
Possessed Painting
It starts off normally enough. Someone finds a painting that speaks to them on some level and they decide to take it home, even if said painting was in a dumpster or washed up on some beach or in the ruins of a house. The artwork instantly becomes a centerpiece, shown off to every single guest --everyone that passes by the house, really-- even if nobody else gets the charm and in fact finds it rather eerie.
The “rescuer” (as they inevitably style themselves) soon becomes obsessed with their find, staring at it for days on end, utterly oblivious to the way the piece slllloooooooowy changes. Sometimes the painted objects decay, sometimes they reverse-age, sometimes something altogether weirder happens; regardless, many do not realize until it’s far too late and they find the affect has also happened to THEM!
A fortunate few are able to snap out of this trance or have a concerned friend or neighbor help them out, and the possessed painting is promptly disposed of, sometimes with woodchippers and bonfires. No matter what happens, though, the spectral picture magically recovers and waits for the next poor fool...
Initially I wanted to use a photo of actual peepers in the peepholes here, but it wasn't working for a number of reasons and I think the drawn eyes managed to pull off the "unnaturally natural" look far better anyways.
Also, the picture isn't always "portrait of some Victorian guy." As it's literally paint on a canvas it can be whatever it wants to be.
Hellhound
The hellhound is the fearsome guardian of, well, Hell, and naturally his job consists more of keeping souls IN rather keeping anyone OUT. Yet there are some desperate fools that do try to break in for one reason or another, and they all soon learn that the hellhound is both unkillable and still able to eat them despite his head being torn in two.
Eerie Elevator
The eerie elevator is a kind of poltergeist that can manifest from any elevator, typically just for one trip before mysteriously vanishing. The mechanical miscreant always starts things off by simply closing the doors, leaving just enough time for the chosen victim to rush in and believe they’ve somehow won at life (haHaHAhahAAhA). The rider soon regrets not taking the stairs when the elevator starts plummeting down, rocketing upward, flying sideways, moving in directions that shouldn’t be, even somehow going past the dimensions of the building it’s in. The elevator just might drop off passengers in a different reality altogether, but usually it takes them where they wanted to go... if it remembers. As a final jab, the doors always end up on the exact opposite side of where one expects them.
Sazae-Oni
The Sazae-Oni is a peculiar youkai that has a thing for pirates. She pretends to be a drowning maiden, and is more than willing to sleep with the entire crew that 'saved' her as a reward. Of course, come the morning the pirates find that they’ve all been robbed of something precious, something they were deeply attached to. The macabre thief turns out to be the 'rescued woman,' who reveals she’s just part of a monstrous snail ogre. She (they?) then offer to return the pilfered bodyparts for a price: jewels for jewels. Naturally, the Sazae-Oni has gotten rather wealthy off this scheme. She’d gladly do it just to see the looks on peoples faces when they realize the entire ploy amounted to a bad pun, but she’s got a reputation to uphold.
Although the "maiden" and "monster" forms are one being, they do have different personalities; the maiden being sassy and outgoing while the monster is stern and down-to-business.
