CAP 28 - Art Submissions

[HoshiArts]

WIP

First time posting on a CAP project ever! You guys have done amazing so far, I've noticed that a lot of designs lean more to the Bug-type than Dragon-type, which is not a bad thing by any means. Seeing that I decided to make my design lean more to Dragon than Bug for some variety, hopefully the beetle theme it has going on will suffice to show a connection to Bug. It is based on bipedal dragons like Haxorus, Garchomp, and Kommo-o and beetles, particularly bombardier beetles and Hercules beetles. It uses Neutralizing Mist by shooting out debilitating gases from its abdomen, which it can also use to fire off special attacks. Despite its looks, its exoskeleton is very soft, so it relies on offensive prowess and secreting gas to mark and defend its territory. This design is pretty rough and needs some touch-ups, I may end up changing it a bit or a lot along the way, but we'll see.

EDIT: Based on feedback, I changed the design and position of the abdomen. Hopefully it doesn't look inappropriate now! I also included some vents where you can see the Neutralizing Gas flowing through. Aditionally, I removed some highlights from the design, since I received feedback that it was a bit too much. Most notably, the arms do not have highlights anymore, neither the "shoulder pads" from where the wings come from. Regarding the color palette, I tried playing around with a dark green exoskeleton and orange belly, resembling some bombardier beetle species, but it looked fairly off to me. Instead, I included an alternative palette which makes the dark blue exoskeleton into a darker color, almost black. Suggestions on color palettes and everything else are very welcome! I will include links to the alternative color palette and older design.

Alternative Palette (Darker Exoskeleton)
Older Design (For Comparison Purposes)

 

[pecanbegone]

WIP

https://imgur.com/a/MXhJRjy

Hi there! This is my first time ever posting on Smogon forums, so here we go!

After a lot of brainstorming, I finally came to a design that I liked enough to try and work on. My first few designs, I felt, did NOT reflect the base stats very well. High offense is easy enough, but low defense is NOT easy to nail when the thing you envision is about 99% likely to have an exoskeleton. So I figured a long, comparatively thinner snake-like body would be most fitting, with 3 pairs of limbs to emphasize its speed. Base 89 isn't exactly a speed demon, no, but it's certainly no slouch either. I think the sizes of the limbs manages to keep this balance, even though I 100% know I want to tweak those arms and legs. More on that later.

To incorporate Neutralizing Gas, I came up with the idea of this 'mon being like a living cannon: it generates an internal gas to fire things (projectiles, energy beams, actual fire) out of its nostrils! I took inspiration from how dragons are often depicted with smoke coming out of their nostrils. This sense of "hollowness" in which the gas is created/stored is represented by how its eye is in a very noticeable socket. I know it's harder to tell without greater detail, but just think about how Lunatone's eye works and it should make sense.

Also playing off of the "cannon" aspect is the fuse-like organ on the tip of its tail. I figured that this would be the source of how it combusts its internal gas. Maybe it can swing it like a mace, too.

I actually already have a BUNCH of changes I want to make to this. To better communicate Neutralizing Gas, I think I'm going to change those dorsal spikes to nodules that also exude gas. I've also thought about making its middle less bare by adding an inflatable stomach. I know for sure I want to tweak those limbs. Finally, I feel like I maybe should probably give it more than 2 colors... right? Feedback is appreciated!

 

[Quanyails]

MODPOST

The CAP moderators and TLT have decided that, due to the flavor implications of some options on the potential Secondary Ability Poll slate, that we will grant additional time for artists to make changes to their designs. You will now have until 10 AM ET on October 1st to make your final submissions.

When making your final submission post, make sure to follow the rules in the opening post exactly to make sure that your design is eligible for voting! Feel free to message one of the art mods if you are unsure.

 

[Darquezze]

WIP


First time posting on a CAP project ever! You guys have done amazing so far, I've noticed that a lot of designs lean more to the Bug-type than Dragon-type, which is not a bad thing by any means. Seeing that I decided to make my design lean more to Dragon than Bug for some variety, hopefully the beetle theme it has going on will suffice to show a connection to Bug. It is based on bipedal dragons like Haxorus, Garchomp, and Kommo-o and beetles, particularly bombardier beetles and Hercules beetles. It uses Neutralizing Mist by shooting out debilitating gases from its abdomen, which it can also use to fire off special attacks. Despite its looks, its exoskeleton is very soft, so it relies on offensive prowess and secreting gas to mark and defend its territory. This design is pretty rough and needs some touch-ups, I may end up changing it a bit or a lot along the way, but we'll see.

This design looks amazing but I think my main issue is the unfortunate abdomen placement, i think you'll figure out what i mean if you look at it. I'm sure it wasn't intentional but it looks inappropriate.
Besides that tho, i think the shiny is just a bit too much and makes it harder to see the arms and such. As for the arms and legs, i think it'll be better to make them more simple and larger. Maybe even go all 4's and turn the abdomen 180 degrees so it looks more like a cannon being shot out of its back?

Modedit: Removing image from quote.

 

[Mega-Pokebattlerz]

WIP


First time posting on a CAP project ever! You guys have done amazing so far, I've noticed that a lot of designs lean more to the Bug-type than Dragon-type, which is not a bad thing by any means. Seeing that I decided to make my design lean more to Dragon than Bug for some variety, hopefully the beetle theme it has going on will suffice to show a connection to Bug. It is based on bipedal dragons like Haxorus, Garchomp, and Kommo-o and beetles, particularly bombardier beetles and Hercules beetles. It uses Neutralizing Mist by shooting out debilitating gases from its abdomen, which it can also use to fire off special attacks. Despite its looks, its exoskeleton is very soft, so it relies on offensive prowess and secreting gas to mark and defend its territory. This design is pretty rough and needs some touch-ups, I may end up changing it a bit or a lot along the way, but we'll see.

First off, the shininess is a bit too much. Secondly, this reminds me a bit too much of Mega Heracross. I'd suggest using a darker color scheme or basing it on a different beetle.

EDIT: also yeah, the nozzle on the abdomen looks like a penis. Might want to fix that.

WIP



Where do we even start with this concept? Absence aside, I genuinely did not expect "puppeteer spider using a dragon" to be a divisive idea. The initial Discord impression was that this guy might not count as Dragon enough - but following a few hand slips of supporting art it seemed to win people over. Disappointing? A little, maybe, but at this point I'm more amused than anything that I might actually be having even more fun than I had conceptualising my CAP 27 attempt. Maybe this lad doesn't do well in polls, I might be at the point where I'm enjoying the process too much to be upset.

There were a few iterations made on the dragon to push the "webbing" and "worn" motif I went for, which did mean that the dragon is less saccharine, not something I minded too much. Web shapes also form the "patches" on the dragon's hands, feet and places where traditional patchwork would have been, while a gap in the belly also forms a gash where Neutralizing Gas might spill from. Unfortunately the hat had to go. What else can I say? This might be the last of my sketch edits before this goes to outlining, colours and shading unless secondary ability poll pulls the rug under everyone's feet. The amount of supporting art the initial concept generated is on par with my CAP 27 submission and I hope everyone enjoys the scribbles I have below!

Supporting Art (or the Shadow's-going-to-have-a-field-day-colouring-all-this section)

Decutified iteration 1 - In this webbing attempt I added some spider babehs to the dragon's torn tummy. It would have served as an explanation for a few things: how the puppet moves without obvious strings on the legs, where the Neutralizing Gas might be made (produced by the brood), the dragon shape as a protector for the spiderlings, using Infestation as an anti-switching mechanism, etc. The response to this was... generally not keen, with the prevailing opinion that the babies overcomplicated the design. Torn gash it is! The original also had a hair formation similar to Gepetto's hairstyle from Disney's Pinocchio but all-round fantastic chap Falchion suggested that the spider himself have some dragon features, which I gave by altering his hair to look akin to a dragon's upper jaw, a la my fire dragon pot. The web patterns were also all over the place until Pipotchi suggested that they be toned down save for the eye and stomach.

Action Sketch - ArtinKernel asked for more dynamism, so I obliged with Gepspider having a swing at one of the things it's supposed to threaten. Kerpow!

Roadblock implementation - Gepspider manages to captivate some of the things that switch out. You just can't look away from one of Granpappy's puppet shows, kids!

An Adventure with Pajantom 1 - Pajantom is not impressed by my CAP 28 attempt.

An Adventure with Pajantom 2 - Surprise!

Prevo Concepts - "Why would a spider weave a dragon?" was a justified question asked of the idea and understandably plenty of folks aren't sold on the idea, but I couldn't help sketch out some prevos of a spider who uses dragon puppets to ward away predators, starting simple from sock puppets with dragon motifs before moving onto larger costumes. Dragons kinda look like socks... right? Rawr!

The original sketch - CAP 28 would have hung off the ceiling with some arms but at this point months ago I had very little idea of how the dragon puppet would look like, so here he wields a very crude marionette that many considered too artificial. Sock puppet spider was also born at this point.

Interesting take on the concept! My one gripe is the justification of NGas is a bit weak. Also you can't include prevo designs as supporting art, pretty sure that's polljumping.

WIP



At the request of the people on Discord, I decided to go with a new color scheme that's a bit less Fire-typey. I also changed the forearms into something more reminiscient of oversized work gloves to better help with the exterminator vibes of the design, and to help move it away from the more defensively-oriented stinkbug design prior. I also removed the leg spikes so that they don't interfere with the arms, and reshaped the tip of the tail to better match the othos in the supporting art. Speaking of...

Supporting Art
Larger Version

Not bad! It's not a design I'm a fan of personally (the lenses on the face might be a bit much), but it fits the stat spread and Neutralizing Gas really well!

In an effort to avoid the swirling maelstrom known as the secondary ability, I figure I'll just offload my current WiP as it stands now.


WIP




Colors take some cues from wasps, the base body form. The larger abdomen situated above the main body is what stores all this pokemon's energy, and it constantly emits a stream of gas from its hindquarters as it moves and flies, forming a sort of pseudo-tail and also evoking imagery of a jet stream behind it. I have a couple ideas for a couple other secondary abilities being discussed, but for the most part I'm just gonna wait and see before getting too attached.

Here's also some supporting art showing how it looks while grounded, as well as the vapor tail that trails behind it:

https://imgur.com/MGVCcu2


Thanks once again to everyone on discord as I try to make a cohesive design from the platter given to us lol.

Not a bad design, but it looks too much like Naganadel to me. Perhaps use a different color scheme?

EDIT: Never mind, it was just the pose. Your supporting art makes it look a lot more original, though I'm sure a different color scheme could help too. Also, the gas in your supporting art looks a bit too liquid imo.

WIP


Steam Train Isopod! All aboard!

I might be the only person who's not too worried about abilities (except Download), so I figured I'd go ahead and get this mostly complete.

LOL. Seems like it fits Steam Engine a bit more than Neutralizing Gas, but otherwise it is a very unique design.

Modedit: Removing images from quotes.

 

[Shadowshocker]

WIP

Puppet spider continues to thrill and stupefy with whether his level of detail is an issue for spriters and modelers and if he actually counts as a dragon! A few changes to the base idea were made following feedback: adding joint lines to the spider to make him more insectoid, and as gas leaking from the stomach was a bit of a miss on the Discord server some stitches did the trick to stop the dragon puppet from falling apart.

Colouring continues to be one of my weaknesses. Greying hair and wooden legs (to suggest a marionette's handles) were chosen for the spider but the dragon's scheme took... a bit of guesswork. I looked up some goofy dragons in cartoons and plush dolls before randomly picking a mix of purple and green, ending up with Barney the Dinosaur meets Five Nights at Freddy's. I've got Darquezze306 to thank for this colour selection that doesn't want to make viewers throw up as often, as well as tweaking some of the intensities and balances. I'm also trying out "Sugimori" shading for the first time and it's... turned out better than I thought. Silly comfort zones!

Funnily enough, it took me a bit to realise the colour scheme makes the puppet look like a cactus and now I can't stop thinking this old timer would look good kicking back with a cowboy hat and (heavy duty) boots. "Shoot, feller, get me an old-time vaudeville piano and I'll puppet show yer hind legs off!"

Supporting Art (and possible backlog)

Countering Amoonguss
Countering Teleporters
An Adventure with Pajantom 1
An Adventure with Pajantom 2

 

[KoA]

WIP

Redoing my old submission in favor of a rocket-powered dragon bug. Ditching the old bee body shape and switching to a more draconian body structure, it also incorporates elements of beetles especially in terms of the wing design. I figured biologically the best place for a bug to be able to house such an apparatus would be right under those hard covers, so I went with it. The pincer hands are what I settled on after a long while of trying to get arms I was happy with, I just like the visual of him using them to throttle the Slowtwins or something with them.

Palette is absolutely not final, but I ran out of time this weekend to fiddle with it. I do know for sure I wanna keep the black carapace and red banding though.

Thanks for having a looksie, and thank ya’ll for the extension. Have a great weekend!

 

[DrifblooomCF]

WIP
(final wip probably)

so, secondary abilities are nearly done so i wanted to finalize the concept before that happen and from the slated abilities i tthink this desing fits well with the mayority, excep punk rock (to which i have no plan) and thic fat (well, i can maybe stretch a reasoning like "the mound gives the termite a cover up from the heat and the cold", and i will do exactly that), but for now lets explain the changes from the last version.

*color palette is a bir more brownish in order to look more natural while still looking like the red mounds from Brazil

*changed a bit the spikes on the bottom, now they look more like the ones on the back, more like real mounds

*the overall look is more cartoonish increasing the size of the head, while i really liked the previous proportions, now it fits better with the more frail stats so thats a plus

*and the queen is no longer a queen, probably the biggest change, one that i made in order to prepare for a possible motor drive but i really ended up liking the new look so i'll explain my reasoning:
in some places in Brazil there are a lot of glowing termite mound, not only are they red but glow with a very distinguishable green light, this light isnt made by the termites, but by a larvae of the flick beetle, those larvaes are like little worm and have a head that glow, and i replaced the queen with that in mind, and also i made it look as cute as possible nearly as a joke (since those larvaes in the real world are there to murder and eat the termites i thought it was funny to have those murderous insects looking hella cute) and stylizing them a little to showcase them as "batteries"

finaly i have some supporting art, showcasing size from the mound, the termites and the impostor queen, and some moves

https://i.imgur.com/0ZKuRnd.png


thats all for today, hope the secondary ability doesnt screw me (and none of ya'll) over heh... heh..


good luck everyone

 

[metal-ankh]

WIP

https://imgur.com/3zHqB6q

Changed concept entirely to a Dung Beetle. Having been inspired by Hollow Knight's Dung Defender and his gaseous charm, I went with something that could also reasonably possess any of the second abilities as well (except Punk Rock, but honestly what could be more metal?). I also wanted something that looks like it could hit hard but not like being hit itself, possessing a soft underbelly and frail joints. Lastly, I went with a new angle on what it means to be "dragon-type" and interpreted it to mean "menacing and projecting power" not just lizard-like, such as Dragalge, the Goomy line, and the Lati twins. Thus I gave it a powerful visage, with sharp claws to grip dung and foes alike.

A supporting image, to show size and how a trainer could handle being around all that stench: https://imgur.com/FYHVG1C

 

[sun_dew]

WIP

Introducing an even more evolved-looking version of my fog machine earwig/dragon ant!

Probably will be my last W.I.P., unless 2nd abil throws a curveball i guess. One fear I have is that it looks to bulky, but I think I can probably explain that somehow when I finally get to the supporting art.

 

[Mova]

Final Submission

I did the obvious thing, but it's two words rather than one.

 

[Yokaiju]

In case Punk Rock wins, I made a sketch
https://imgur.com/a/ztyR1sJ
Sorry I can't embed, image is too big and I don't know how to resize.

 

[pecanbegone]

WIP

https://imgur.com/a/tf176vN

I basically redrew the whole thing and tweaked details. I finally feel satisfied with the limbs! I decided to not do the node thing because I realized that another CAP mon, Smokomodo, already has that! I DID, however, add the expandable stomach. I don't think I actually elaborated on this in my last post, but it's where its internal gas is created, and I think that providing greater context to the gas aspect was of high importance, considering the fact that Neutralizing Gas is, you know, a key feature.

I think this'll probably be the last one. I might alter things if the secondary ability ends up causing a substantial change, but I honestly think the bases are pretty well covered here. The stomach can justify Thick Fat, eh???

 

[Quanyails]

EDIT 2020-9-27:

I've gotten some feedback on Discord about the color palette my design should use! This one is inspired by the the red dragon millipede. If you have a moment, please fill out the survey HERE to help decide which palette this design should have!

Previous: https://i.imgur.com/PhqXsV6.png

--

Changes:

I figured my design could still use some bulking up since the last version, so it's now bulgy instead of flat.

To prepare for the possibility of Compound Eyes, I figured I had to draw my design with, well, visible eyes. I was racking my brain on how to do this, given that the deadline was less than a week away.

I started out with the gas being partially see-through and having some shapes manifest under the head, but I wasn't satisfied with that, and apparently the see-through gas was too Ghost-like. KoA gave the great suggestion of trying out eyes on other parts of the body besides the head. Inspired by Armaldo and Skullgirls's Peacock, I added eyes to the fins. This looked nice, but if they were "real" eyes, they looked too "monstrous" (thanks for the heads up, Mos and Sun), and if they were fake eyes, well, they didn't match the flavor of Compound Eyes. But people seemed to like the shape they gave the design, so I kept them. :) Yilx then gave the idea of having glowing eyes pierce through the gas, which I gave a try and felt like they worked really well. :D So I incorporated that, and I made the "fake eyes" glow, too, while downplaying how eye-like they really were.

Also thanks for AmamamA, Birkal, Gleeboop, and pip for additional feedback!

If I have time, I'd like to:
1. Rework the arms, since they haven't been changed since a few iterations ago, so they're not as good a fit, and
2. Experiment with alternate color palettes. The current one reminds me of Dreepy, Rayquaza, and Syclant.

 

[Zephyri]

Final Submission

Wow, this went by fast, eh? Guess that shortening of the process thing did really work. Welp, time to put out PANCAKEMON!!!!!!!!

Concept: ...it's a pancakemon. It's an amphitere with pancake wings, syrup/honey dripping from them, and a honeecomb tail. Not very deep, ik, but maybe it's kinda fun?

Why is it a roadblock: Honee and syrup are sticky, so it would be hard for the opposing mon to freely move around without getting slowed down or stopped

Justification for abilities: NGas works because the honeecomb exhumes a sweet scent (as seen in the supporting art below) that neutralizes abilities. At this point in time, the secondary abil hasn't been revealed yet, but we do know it's either Compound Eyes or Thick Fat (or NCA but that isn't relevant here). Thick fat works because of it's whole blobby aesthetic and the fact that too many pancakes makes you fat, and Compound Eyes work because it's a bug with eyes.

Move justifications:
Megahorn: ...it has horns
Dragon Hammer: ...it has a hammering honeecomb
Dragon Claw: It doesn't have claws persay but it does have those wing "claws"
Leech Life: It has pincer-esque things and also it's a foodmon
Bug Buzz: Its a bug that can make noise
Outrage: It can get angry, as seen in the supporting art
Close Combat: It can fight ig? There aren't really any tells for CC

Stats justification:
HP: It's got a similar build and "thiccness" to other 85 HP mons like Noivern, Mantine, Porygon-Z, and Volcarona
Atk: Athough it doesn't look very powerful, I feel like that 130-140 range specifically has a very diverse pool of mons with quite a few exceptions to the "spiky powerful" look, like Flareon, Dhelmise, Gigalith(maybe), Kingler, Copperajah(maybe) and Kyurem.
Def: I don't think it looks very physically bulky with its fairly flat body and lack of hard plating whatsoever
SpA: I think it can feasibly shoot some 115-power Draco Meteors
SpD: It has a fairly mystical feel with the blobbiness and the honee coating, so i think an average 85 SpD is fitting
Speed: I think it looks speedy enough to be in the range of Exca or Kangaskhan

Supporting material

(click the link to see the image!!)

If you want to get a better idea of the mon and it's concept, please take a look at the supporting art! It has some action poses and miscellaneous flavor info lol.

Aaaaaaaaaaa this cap was super fun, and i feel like it's a definite improvement from my last one! Hopefully this guy does well in the polls... if not, atleast I learned a bunch and had a lot of fun!

 

[Yokaiju]

Final Submission
Punk/Goth scorpion

This guy has it all for a concert- powerful singing voice, Ngas smoke machines and mic arms for amplifying his yells.

Dragons usually have fierce appearances and grouchy demeanors, which this guy has both of.

 

[Mega-Pokebattlerz]

Final Submission
Punk/Goth scorpion

Any justification for this design that you think could help it in the polls?

Also, this design screams Punk Rock. Shame that ability lost the first poll, and neither Thick Fat nor Compound Eyes really fit flavor-wise. Dope design, but you might want to retool this.

 

[Z-nogyroP]

Final Submission

Let's go lesbians, castle treehopper returns. This is basically the same design as I originally posted with a few small tweaks:

• Reworked the mandibles to be a little more beastly
• Simplified the tower (though a lot of it is covered up by the clouds now...) and the pathway
• Removed the spikes which were unnecessary
• Added "fog clouds" since NGas

Concept remains a treehopper, with their funky little shell protrusions, and a classic fairy tale dragon that kidnaps princesses and locks them away in towers. It's the dragon AND the tower.

Its basis on a building helps justify it serving the role as a roadblock, particularly because dragons go to great lengths to make sure their prey doesn't escape. Neutralizing Gas is of course justified in the fog clouds it emits, surrounding the tower, and it's a common enough trope for those kinds of medieval towers to reach up into the clouds or to be surrounded in dense, spooky fog. It even works well as Neutralizing Gas specifically because of how easy it is to get lost and disoriented in fog banks, as opposed to simply being a gas emitted. Compound Eyes is a stretch, but eh, it's a bug. Thick Fat... It's not the typical Thick Fat design, but it's definitely a thick lad, so I think it works fine.

Admittedly, this design might have lent itself to a stat spread with a higher Defense, but it at least looks like something with a monumental Attack.

Edit: changed the eyes to account for Compound Eyes as a secondary

 

[Yokaiju]

Any justification for this design that you think could help it in the polls?

Also, this design screams Punk Rock. Shame that ability lost the first poll, and neither Thick Fat nor Compound Eyes really fit flavor-wise. Dope design, but you might want to retool this.

I had a non-punk design and a thick fat design, but neither one felt right and the Scorpion seemed warmly received. Compound Eyes doesn't seem to need much justification in real designs, though thick fat does worry me.

 

[Gravity Monkey]

WIP

Last wip im gonna be posting here, final sub coming on thurdsay. Swarmceus turned into apex swarm mantis to reflect high offenses.

 

[Yilx]

Final Submission

Samurai-Scorpion thing

 

[Magistrum]

WIP
Welp I got sidetracked...
In light of the decided Stats and Abilities, I shall scrap my previous WIP in favor of...!

Both Draconic AND Insectoid in appearance? CHECK.✓
Hyper-Offensive stat build? CHECK. ✓
Their eggs expels eerie mist that makes them more sinister? CHECK. ✓
Canonically Insectoid-like Visor that hides its eyes? CHECK. ✓

Yup, the stars are aligned for the one and only Xenomorph. And in this case, I opted to base it on their Queen. I'm still playing around with color schemes but the teal highlights will definitely stay.

submission RTA lezzgoooo

 

[Shadowshocker]

Final Submission

So it's been an absolute heck of a ride, especially since I dropped out in the early phases and really only came back in when everything was getting pulled together. Selling this guy has been a peculiar journey on why it makes sense for a grandfather spider to have a dragon puppet, but the process was undeniably fun winning over people bit by bit for this charming fellow.

Supporting Material

Basis
Bug/Dragon was clearly not the easiest concept to go with as many have bemoaned the difficulty of pulling this idea together in a satisfactorily unique way. "Not quite dragon" was my approach and I ended up using an idea for a spider using his strings to manipulate prey and get in the way, selling the roadblock aspect. Using his strings he manipulates his worn, gas-bagged dragon puppet to generally obstruct the plans of whoever he comes across. Actual webs, stitches and "prints" suggest that his performing pal has seen better days but despite these efforts, the gas still regularly leaks out and defense is clearly not this grandpa's strong suit. The spider himself has chelicera in the shape of a moustache and spiky fur to go with the wacky old puppeteer look. His legs are positioned similar to a marionette's cross from which he fires strings to control the puppet and mess with opponents.

Changes Made
A bunch of people on Discord dropped feedback over the past few days, either to help sell the concept or remind me that certain moves were probably needed or that I'd goofed on my outlines again. The gas now leaks from the puppet's nostrils and bandaged bits, and the spider's hair lacks the angry dragon "eye" - just fur in the shape of wacky grandpa hair and an extra curve around his "compound eyes" to suggest glasses.

Supporting Art (Now with colour!)
Grampa doing counter work
Grampa being a roadblock
Grampa pressuring

Final Thoughts
This second CAP has reminded me that CAP is CAPable (haw) of being fun - I couldn't have gone this far without the CAP Discord community offering their kind two cents and even the ones who posed challenges to me to push the concept even further. Even the ones who still aren't completely certain about Grampa Spider (you know who you are, but I hope you know I had a blast trying to sell the idea to you too). Why not sit fer a spell and let grandpappy CAP28 tell you a story, kids?

 

[Morghulis]

WIP

Stilll making some final adjustments but the queen is back!

Some design insight:

Inspiration is a termite/dragon queen, inspo also comes from the red queen/Marie Antoinette (her beehive hairdo is similar to a termite
queen's actual body)

While the dragon aspects may be a little less obvious, her 'skirt' is actual draconic wings (which can be seen better here)

View of feet can be seen here

Neutralizing gas justification:

Termite queens use pheromones to control reproduction in their colonies/if secondary queens are able/allowed to reproduce

Made her dragon wing/skirt look akin (with the stripes) to the fumigation tents they put over houses when fumigating -- helps fit in
neutralizing gas as well/theme of using pheromones to control subjects. Gas was also designed to help invoke the skirt aspect w/o
giving her clothes

Compound eyes justification:

She has eyes. uhhhh tbh that's it but Nincada has similarly non compound looking eyes so I think the precedent is set.

Stats Justification:

I think her overall frail demeanor explains the relatively low HP and DEF, while the more mystical aspects of the design help justify a slightly high SPD. Her four clawed arms give her her high ATK stat.

Still need to do shading/some cleaning up, and maybe making the winged skirt part a bit more obvious (and ideally finishing the front-facing supplementary art). Also might need to give her a tail for dragon tail bleh but at least she can use her hair for dragon hammer.

 

[StephXPM]

Final Submission

Steam Train Isopod! All aboard!

I had a lot of fun with this new design after scrapping my mantis. I'm kind of charmed by how it looks like a toy train, haha. I wanted to convey the Dragon part of the typing with personality and spikiness. It's a little on the bulky side, but it sorta has Purugly and Volcarona proportions, which have similar physical defenses to our chosen stats. Maybe train mon also breaks down a lot, idk.

Supporting Material
Orthos