CHARACTER DESIGN- SATAN

Satan can be found in the final circle of hell in Dante's Inferno. He has 3 faces crying a lake of tears, and his beating wings keep the lake frozen.

I did a preliminary helmet/mask sketch for Satan's character. I dipped into animal symbology here after struggling to find a historical context rich in symbolism (despite it being biblical, there is little room for metaphor) for my characters. I got the idea of the animal symbology from looking at different religious symbols -  I decided that the pentagram was too stereotypical to represent Satan, so I found an alternative branch of Satanism that had the head of Baphomet as it's symbol.

Since 1856, the name Baphomet has been associated with a "Sabbatic Goat" image drawn by Eliphas Levi (a French Occult author, artist and ceremonial magician) which contains binary elements representing the "sum total of the universe" (e.g. male and female, good and evil, etc.) However, Baphomet has been connected with Satanism as well, primarily due to the adoption of it as a symbol by the Church of Satan.

I also did some studies of horned creatures at the Norwich Castle museum taxidermy section. I found this exceptionally useful!

I think adding horns to Satan's helmet could break up the silhouette a bit more than simply having a form fitting, face tight helmet.  I based the 'panels' of his helmet on a goat skull, and left a gap for the nose section. I think this makes for a very sinister looking design that is quite effective in conveying my research, and conveying that he is a reflection of modern Satanism.

I am not keen on the eye-shape, I think he looks far too friendly. The design actually reminds me a lot of Sauron's helmet from the Lord of The Rings film series: