In My Words
An in depth look at my characters and where they came from
Main Characters
Treyan "Tre" Hazaki
Tre has always been to me what many other main characters have been to others: strong, stoic, brave with a touch of compassion. Personally, what I believe sets him apart from the rest of the main character crowd is the way his attachments have been written. From his relationship to Kitt and the rest of the squad, to his pursuit of the mystery of his father, to his refusal to yield in battle, he has it all. At that same time, still holding onto that teenage aloofness that we all have in us.
When I was first developing him, I think I always had this idea of his traits being just that, but in the very first stages, he was written as very brash and almost cocky, something that I believed would throw off this rest of his character. So I toned him down and brought in a more "early age maturity" vibe for his personality.
I felt an attachment to him through the various downfalls and come ups that occurred in my life to and from the beginning of development, and those same feeling have been what has inspired me to continue his development into the future. Tre is most definitely someone that anyone who just wants to be the good guy and the hero can look at and immediately picture themselves as.
Kittanya "Kitt" Reinhardt
Surprisingly, Kitt was the very first character I ever created for the series, and probably for good reason. At the time, I originally had a male lead created, but hadn't a clue as to what to do with him. So as I developed Kitt, Tre followed in her footsteps. At first, the idea of an all human cast was originally what I was going for, but input from other friends and fellow fantasy fans alike gave me several new ideas and identities to work with. Some ideas came from video games or movies, others from novels and anime. Finally, I settled on a neko, or catgirl, for Kitt and her sisters. Several popular characters, heroes and heroines alike, shared this same identity and it seemed to resonate well with the overall fantasy genre I was writing in. Not everyone is human in my universes and I'm proud of it.
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I think when most people look at Kitt and read about her story and what happened in her past, it should give them the courage to just be who they are and not listen to anyone saying otherwise. Kitt to me is the embodiment of overcoming your obstacles in a world that may not see you as the same, especially young girls. And for that, I hope that whoever finds themselves in Kitt's shoes, they know that even in a crazy world, you'll be ok.
Kaila "Kay" Reinhardt
Kay is as strong as they come, as brave as they come, but also as reflective as they come. I think out of all the characters I have written for Elderquest, nobody changes more than Kay. Over the course of time, through tragedy and treasure, she finds ways to not only be herself but learn to grow as well. Learning from her mistakes, Kay is strong and independent, like many of the people who have inspired these characters. Kay defines what it means to have a hard exterior, but a soft and loving heart on the inside.
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Looking back on her character, I almost regret not making Kay the lead in Elderquest at the time. If I knew from the start just how much she would grow on me as a character when I first started, I definitely would have. And it is that exact reason why after the original trilogy concluded, I wanted to officially start the new universe off right by giving Kay her due spotlight in House of Dragons. Kay inspires bravery, perseverance, and knowing when to be tough and when to be loving.
Layla Reinhardt
Layla was definitely an enigma to me at first, and honestly, still to this day. I wanted a young, wild, and spunky character, but wasn't sure how to go about doing it. In the end, I wound up with a more provocative and laid back girl. To be real for a second, there wasn't too much that I had going for Layla during development. There were no significant traits to her that Kitt or Kay didn't already cover, and I almost felt forced into the corner of the "sexy" character. And because of my shortcomings in development, I unfortunately did not have the proper way to convey Layla in any other way.
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If there was one thing I could go back ten years ago and tell younger me, it would've been to give Layla something more, something better. Oops :-\
Scotty Wilson
Scotty was definitely the most fun character to write. Every step of the way, his quirkiness and pure funniness brought a smile to my face every time I would write about him. Scotty is kind of like a the comic relief/moral balance of the group. Throughout the story, I constantly found him siding with different ideas, while also keeping his funny and joyous personality.
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Without getting into specifics and certainly without spoiling anything for Elderquest, I can confidently say that while Scotty is one of the funniest characters, he is also one of the more important. So much of what he does is pivotal in not only advancing the story, but also helping in future characters' development.
Drake White
Drake was one of the last characters I created, and boy do I not regret it at all. He is such an important character to the story of Elderquest that when I first introduced him, I couldn't get enough of him. Every time I would write out a new part for him, I could hardly stop writing more parts. Even more so, one of my favorite parts of Drake was actually the initial drawings I did of him back in 2012. I couldn't tell you how many concepts for designs I went through, from clothes he wore to hi overall personality. Eventually I got exactly what I wanted: a cool, calm, collected gunslinging swordsman who could lead as well as follow.
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Being one of my favorites, I knew immediately that he would be right beside Kay in House of Dragons as the two leads. Definitely going to be seeing more of him soon!
Phoebe Hazaki
Acting as Tre's moral compass alongside Kitt, I wanted Phoebe to be a little bit of a side character, but when she was in her respective scenes, she would steal the show. There was a lot of emotion going into making her, and I wanted her to reflect the outlook of the little sister of the hero. Crazy idea, but it worked. Having a young caring person amidst the chaos of the plot really helped to balance everything out, adding an element of innocence to it all.
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My wish is to move Phoebe to a better role and to really flesh out her character more, so she will also be leading alongside Kay and Drake in House of Dragons.
Nazshi and Josef Mengele
To counter all the amazing heroes in Elderquest, I needed equally amazing villains. Nazshi is a prime example of a classic fantasy villain. Brooding and clever, powerful and ruthless. Out of all of my characters, Nazshi definitely had the most references and inspirations. Designing him was equally amazing. Something about a black and white color scheme just makes everything more "villainy" if you know what I mean.
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On the other hand, Mengele was by far my most controversial addition to Elderquest. I wanted a historical villain to add into the story, someone who would fit the desired role and traits I had laid out. After all my research, I found Mengele. I knew from the start that I would probably catch quite a bit of flak for the addition, but part of me wanted that. I wanted that traumatizing and horrifying villain, and wanted him to get a swift and rightful end. (Congrats, that will be your one and only spoiler here)
Supporting Characters
Master Haji-Biro
Probably the most main of the supporting characters here, Haji-Biro is that old wise man every hero needs to guide him along the path. Something like a mentor to Tre and the gang, there's more to him than meets the eye. I have more plans to follow him in later novels. There is so much more to him that you all don't know just yet...
The Three Legionaries: Leon Sandari, Finnigan Morrow,
and Bai Makena
Everyone likes a good trio. Each of these powerful warriors have their own personalities and fighting styles, taken from different parts of historical fighters. Leon was inspired by Norse Vikings, Finn European knights, and Bai ancient samurai. They all bring individual styles to battle, and together they can turn the tide of any battle.
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They'll be more recurring characters throughout the universe.
Mother Yvonne
Yvonne is simple yet complex at the same time. For starters, she cared for the Reinhardt sisters during part of their childhood, and spends many years being a hero in her own right. Someone with a gentle and caring soul is exactly who she is, acting like a grandmotherly figure to everyone around her.
Queen Verdana
The queen is a very...colorful character of mine. Fun fact: there was absolutely no development that went into Verdana at the time that I was planning. When the queen first made her appearance in the story, that's when the development began. I gave her a name instead of just wanting to type "queen" hundreds of times, and from their her personality was basically made up as I went, keeping in tune with a lot of royalty characters.
More characters will be added as more novels are released, so stay tuned for more insider notes from me about them! May you find someone to be while you read!