Finally, I found time to draw something.
If you remember my Star Fox: RACER concept, well, these two are my primary protagonists. Tanner was my first one, a rookie racer in her first season of All-Lylat Grand Prix air racing. It’s the top she aims for, and she aims to get there fast, her incredible talent making her one of the highest-scoring rookies (male or female) of all time, and she’s in position to win the championship throughout most of the story. She learns a great deal about racing in her first season, as she’s quite literally the apprentice to the legendary Kevin Tsu, one of the greatest racers of all time, and now a team owner after a crash which put him on bionic legs for the rest of his life.
Tanner is young, aggressive, and easily excitable, but has her heart in it, and usually won’t resort to tactics like bumping, wing-tapping, or other dangerous stunts. She has been known to stick her racer into a spot where it shouldn’t go, and make risky passes.
The suit she’s wearing is fully sealed when she has her helmet on, since the racers have no life support other than a simple oxygen supply. I’ve also come up with a novel idea for strapping her in: instead of covering her up with huge belts, I’ve got it so that the suit attaches to the seat directly using small straps on the belt and shoulders. The torso of the suit itself is reinforced in order to take crash forces. Tanner’s helmet has a HUD, and also connects to the back of her suit in order to keep her neck from snapping in event of a crash, ala HANS device. I kind of styled hers after a NASCAR driver’s helmet, with the side oxygen inlet, but I can imagine a hundred different ways this could be done, what with different anatomies and pilot preferences.
Her fighter, the Lightning, is right beside her, and in the game it’d have fairly good statistics.
Darin Clipwing, the Arctic Fox/Wolf (now that I’ve drawn him I can’t decide,) is the other primary protagonist. Darin’s a former Cornerian pilot, stationed on Fichina, his homeworld, when he was called to investigate a possible murder plot against another racer, a former Androssian soldier. I can’t take complete credit for this idea, but I did make the character to fit the situation someone had suggested to me. He’s sponsored by the Cornerian Military, and is surprised at how well he can fly. He’s also surprised by that little Vixen rookie…who seems intrigued by him. The two’s stories cross, and eventually lead to a relationship at the end.
I based his suit somewhat on what I could remember of the Cornerian pilots from Star Fox: Command. His boots, in fact, are the same as those I drew for Fox McCloud, earlier. You can see the suit-harness concept much better, here. I figure he wears something similar to Tanner Helmet-Wise, or perhaps an open-face helmet with oxygen mask, like a modern Fighter Pilot.
A quick question before I wrap things up: Would anyone be interested in an Art Contest? I know Fox-McCloude approached me about it, and I’d like to see if there’s any further interest.
Tanner Speedwing, Darin Clipwing, SF Racer Concept (c) Jim Prower
Star Fox, Corneria (c) Nintendo
For more info, see Journal entry here ==>
http://www.sheezyart.com/journal/399670/ 
