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The Times Before the Mind Mage

In a time before Enigma the Wolf Mind Mage and his world were even conceived (back in August-September of 2011), I had an entirely different concept in mind.

The concept was an Urban Fantasy world where supernatural creatures like vampires and werewolves team up in small squads, both to protect their kind both from humanity at large and those within their community that threaten to harm or expose them.

My lead character (and fursona) would have been a werewolf named Charles Darkfang. Nerdy kid by day, and werewolf-fencer by night. Since werewolves can regenerate, he would’ve paired himself up with a vampire (never designed) who could use him as a steady and ethical source for blood. And during the day, Charles could either protect him or act depending on what was necessary, since werewolves didn’t need sleep either.

These sketches are of that character. At the time, I had encountered an artist who went by Spazzoid (now Xander/SpectroFox on FA/Twitter/BlueSky). I was reluctant to spend money on furry art at the time, and he was looking to improve his skill at art, so I requested that he give me characters a shot.

Before were the sketches, and I still smile looking at them, even if I ultimately chose never to take the concept further.

And the combined sketches put together:

Additionally, I requested another piece of our two characters engaging in a friendly spar:

This was my first true foray into the furry fandom. I had followed artists before, but I had never asked for art of my own characters before.

Years later, in 2018, I caught word that Xander was taking paid commissions. For that reason, I chose to have him redo this spar, this time with Enigma instead of the old Charles Darkfang concept, and his updated character.

I don’t think I have to spell out how much he improved over the seven years between both pieces. It’s beyond obvious, and I was more than happy to showcase that.

This blog exists to serve as a way to document my world and lore in a location I own and control, separate from FurAffinity and GoogleDocs. Of course I have physical backups of all my files, but I want this place to share the history of Enigma, the Wolf Mind Mage.

And though these old concepts of Charles Darkfang weren’t used, you can see the beginnings of Enigma in them. Therefore, it would be strange to omit these sketches from the record. They’re as much a part of the story of Enigma as the true canon.

A canon that I’m ever eager to share with you.