Enigma Reference Sheets
This was a set of references sheets from Ada_Oz, a very skilled artist I was fortunate enough to commission. Though the symbiote form is something I don’t bring out frequently anymore as I delve into other potential stories and plotlines, I still frequently make use of these reference sheets to this day when commissioning artists.
For archival purposes, I will include a transcription to make each reference sheet easier to read. However, I will mark lore that is out of date or potentially out of date with an (*) to make that more clear for future readers.
Normal Enigma
The first is of Enigma’s “base” (now canonical) form. The biographical information may be out of date at this point, as my feel for the character has changed over the years, but a surprisingly amount of it remains the same. To my knowledge, this is also the first mention of the Theorum Magistrum, which has grown to become an important aspect of the world of Crossroads.
One thing I definitely wanted though was for Enigma, despite being an athletic character, to not have visible abs. He wasn’t a bodybuilder, just an adventurer who keeps in shape largely through his choice of lifestyle and hobbies.
Transcript Below:
Professor Rabrandt “Enigma” Cyanis, Age 26(*)
Height: 6’1
Center Color: Blue
Color Identity: White/Blue/Black
Planeswalker, able to travel to other worlds. Uses this ability to explore and learn about other worlds and cultures.
Expert in mind magic, illusions, and criminal science. Also, adept at lockpicking and infiltration. No truth shall escape him.
In his home plane of Crossroads, he’s a teacher at a Theorium Magistrum, a prestigious university. Abroad, while on other planes, he works as a freelance detective to pay for his travel expenses.
Athletic build due to physical training and constant travel.
Knows some martial arts and swordplay, but would be defeated in a “fair fight” against a soldier or warrior.
Professional, but will refuse jobs that are morally compromised. Has no preference towards or against law enforcement, and will perform illegal acts if he deems them morally acceptable.(*)
Born in a small village to a poor family, Enigma was scouted at a young age for his unique magical abilities and raised in various academic institutions. Regularly sends money to his birth family.(*)
Nickname “Enigma” derived from his uncanny ability to solve any riddle or mystery.
“Imperfect Bond” Enigma / Companion, the Symbiote
Next up is Enigma’s “Imperfect Bond” form, as I called it back then. It is the form he took when, rather than unite with his symbiote Companion, he instead chose to allow it to take over and assume control of his body. Generally, because the symbiote is not long canon, this entire biography is “out of date”. But it is also part of the history of how the character grew to what he is now, so it’s worth preserving here for the record.
As a fun fact: Between these three sheets, this one is the only one that is marked mature on FurAffinity, and it is exactly because of the bulge that I didn’t catch when I first commissioned the sheet. I can only laugh when I think about it.
Transcript Below:
Companion (Imperfect Bond), Age Unknown
Height: Varies (Max: 8’2)
Symbiotic organism to whom Enigma plays host.
Initially hostile, defeated by Enigma in their initial encounter and since made into an ally.
Possesses no memory of its life prior to bonding with Enigma due to psychological damage from their initial battle. Has since taken the name “Companion” to reflect it’s relationship with its current host.
Enigma may allow it to take control for various reasons, like if he’s mentally exhausted or needs to focus on casting a spell. Occasionally seen patrolling at night while Enigma is sleeping (with Enigma’s permission).
Capable of completely coating host organism and altering their physiology, drastically improving strength, durability, and agility. In this state, host physiology is highly malleable, able to move the location of vital organs, mildly shapeshift and adjust size within limits, and perform movements impossible for ordinary lifeforms.
Can detach parts of itself from host organism to act independently of the host body. Those parts may even temporarily bond themselves to new hosts in service to the “main” body.
Can form prehensile tendrils, extending out of any part of host organism even when not transformed.
Often serves as both a literal extra set of eyes, and a soundboard for Enigma when he needs somebody to bounce hypotheses off of.
Both Enigma and Companion are aware of how monstrous they look in this form, and may play it up it certain situations.
“Perfect Bond” Enigma
And lastly, Perfect Bond Enigma, by this point no longer called “Combat Mode”. In retrospect, I don’t think I would have made Enigma any taller when assuming this form. I would probably keep him at his base 6’1. (An entire extra foot of height is way more than most people think it is.)
What I liked most about this concept was how the result merge referred to himself as “I” instead of “We”, because he was a singularly entity combining the best traits from both Enigma and Companion. It seemed more appropriate to me, only suffering because I just couldn’t reconcile it with the direction I chose to go instead.
And because this is more of an ideal body, supernaturally enhanced, it’s allow to have much more defined musculature than the base body.
Transcript Below:
Height: 7’0
The result of Engima and Companion fusing completely in body and mind.
Refers to himself with singular (masculine) pronouns. Goes by “Enigma” for the sake of convenience.
Enigma’s body serves as a base, with symbiotic matter reinforcing, fortifying, and strengthening it from within, resulting in a bulkier, enhanced physique.
Treats himself as an entity similar, yet different from his two components. Will refer to both of them as his “wolf half” and “symbiote half” respectively.
Combines the malleable nature of symbiotic matter and knowledge of illusion magic to conjure whatever tool he needs for a given situation. Items are so well-crafted that they cannot be distinguished from the real thing except by their black tint. However, as they are composed of symbiote, they may be treated as extensions of his body.
Enigma and Companion (and thus the fused form itself) thinks of it as their “ultimate form”, and tends to want to stay in this form.
Impossible to stay in this state permanently. Eventually, one of the two will be too exhausted to maintain this form and it will dissolve.
Confident, but known to have a bit of a playful and showoff-ish side. Unknown if this is the result of the two personalities blending together or of their new physique… or both.
Much of what I’ve built in the time since has come from these reference sheets, and they still see a ton of use whenever I get something commissioned of Enigma.
As for the image that serves as this page’s header? That is a height reference, showing how tall each form is with respect to each other. Again, I think in hindsight I would have had Perfect Bond be as tall as Normal Enigma, but I’m otherwise happy with how all of this looks and looked.
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