I officially request for a second round of this contest to be held over Christmas.
While I would like to organize another Angel Contest very soon, realize that I'm the one who has to organize this event. And with the Human Design Contest underway, along with real life, I have to spread out the scheduling for it.
But stay tuned for more news on that!
Well, back to business:
The Awards for the Angel Design Contest Summer 2008:Today:
The
Award for the Best Fighter went to the Angel who was, overall, the most formidable combatant among all of the entries. Our Judges looked for the kinds of weapons and abilities the Angel used as well as its defenses and its skill in combat situations.
The Top Nominees for the Award for
Best Fighter are:
Uriel, Angel of Knowledge by TheAyanamiOtaku
Kushiel, the Rigid One of God by AsukaChan
Jophiel, Angel of Beauty by IrkenEvangelion
Dumah, Angel of Deathly Silence by NemZ and Rhyno
And the Winner is:
TheAyanamiOtaku for
Uriel, Angel of KnowledgeUnderneath the massive amounts of text and sketches lay a powerful beast indeed. If one were able to navigate through the somewhat disorganized word salad that was Uriel's description, one would find a quite formidable combatant with a large array of bells and whistles and a wide and varied arsenal of weapons. His personal experience combined with a seemingly limitless and unpredictable array of fighting skills makes him a powerful foe. It makes one wonder how anyone can make sense of Uriel, much less fight him.
Our runner-ups were no slouches in the hurt department either. Kushiel excelled in very graceful, unique and unconventional weapons that greatly added to its appeal, though limited and not too imposing. Jophiel's unique form allowed it to produce drilling and sawing weapons at will, which was an interesting idea - though a bit questionable in appropriateness for an Angel. Dumah was quite formidable, practical, and insidious, whose combat abilities seemed to form the core of its concept. Alas, it could not keep up with the winner's versatility and ferocity.
Names I felt should have been on the list were Avatar of Dreams' Erikael and Omegagouki's Metatron. Erikael's toughness and wide-effect, which is sure to give it dominance over the land in short order, makes it a very tough and very unconventional monster to fight. Metatron's collection of direct attack weapons, though pretty standard, are nonetheless very practical. Metatron just goes to show that you don't need style to kick ass as long as you can kick ass.
The
Award for the Best Use of Symbolism went to the Angel that made use of its title as a messenger/agent of God or represented a certain important idea. The use of symbolism (religious or otherwise) served to enhance the feel, characterization, and quality of the design.
The Top Nominees for
Best Use of Symbolism are:
Kushiel, the Rigid One of God by AsukaChan
Jophiel, Angel of Beauty by IrkenEvangelion
Erikael, Angel of Nature by Avatar of Dreams
And the Winner is:
AsukaChan for
Kushiel, the Rigid One of God Like the Character Design award, determining the best use of symbolism was subjective in this line up. The eventual winner was an interesting take on the concept of Kushiel, a Jewish Angel charged with punishing individuals in Hell, according to
Wikipedia. The stiff structure and the whip-like wing gave it an amazing composition and gave cleaver nods to it origins. A few of its details, such as its ability to spawn other creatures, seem a bit out of place, and the lack of a personality leaves some untapped potential for more symbolism.
Erikael's heavy use of plant and nature symbolism really helped define the role and idea behind the concept and left a great impression. While not related to a real Angel per se, the theme of the design was made readily apparent. However, it seems to only represent plants exclusively - perhaps in time it can include effects on the environment, such a wind and precipitation. One has to wonder how much the Designer's girlfriend is really in it. Finally, Jophiel's design vaguely resembles the old illustrations of its
religious counterpart. And while it looks nice, I wonder where the beauty aspect in its characterization is. Perhaps it doubles as the Angel of Drills and Chainsaws?
Another name I feel should have been mentioned was Dumah by Team New Guys. Its symbolism not only defines its theme and concept, but how and why it fights as well. The symbols are pretty strong; it really does make things deathly silent!
Tomorrow:The winners of the
Best in Contest Award and the
Quirky Award. And I'll try to think of something for fanservice...