If you’ve read the latest page of Draconis Wicked this week, then you’ve already discovered the RingTails, those impish scamps who’s playful hi-jinx will undoubtedly cause trouble for Draconis and his crew. It probably won’t surprise you to learn that the RingTails have a history that actually precedes Draconis and his adventures.
The original RingTail stories were the one of the last things I worked on before I had the idea for Draconis. They were going to star in a fantasy series called “Zodiac Knights” (this was before I discovered the anime with a very similar title, “Knights of the Zodiac” which has nothing to do with this story, but it probably would have made me change my title at some point, had I followed through with this project.)
Basically, the original version Zodiacs were going to be this elite team of evil-slaying warriors who were also, cute, funny animals. I think I was inspired by popular fighting creatures like Pokemon and Digimon, but I wanted to make these guys even more cartoony, like if you retold a classic warrior anime, but all the fighters had the disposition of the Animaniacs. When I think back on this idea, it seems both fresh and stale at the same time. Wether it would work or not would come down to how well it was executed. I think a good writer could turn this concept into a good story. However, I have no doubt that 20-something-year-old me would never have been able to pull it off. Had I stuck with the Zodiacs, I would have written a very mediocre comic and probably would have lost interest after drawing the first 1/3 of the story.
If you’ve read this far without getting bored, you are probably wondering what the original Zodiac Nights story was about. Here’s a loose plot summary: (Please note that much of this story will be pretty obvious to anyone who watched any serial cartoons in the 80’s, 90’s, or early 2000’s)
The Zodiacs are a group of twelve warriors who command great power. The are earth’s best defense against the horrible demon army that is slowly escaping into our world. But, plot twist: The warriors, although incredibly skillful, are also cute, silly animals.
Whenever the Zodiacs complete a mission, they become sealed away until the next time they are needed. They turn into stone statues. When the earth is in danger, they can be revived again by the starlight of their namesake constellation.
It is now the modern day. Hundreds of years have passed since their last battle, but now, the demons are slowly starting to return. They have begun to wreak small-scale havoc, but they have not revealed their existence to the world just yet. Regular suburbanites do have a few new stories of unexplained damage. They warn their children not to stay out too late after dark.
One day, around sunset, a middle school girl and her little brother are out exploring the woods behind their neighborhood. They discover an old, abandoned house. The rotten door is falling off its hinges, so they decide go inside and explore. The house is full of old statues, mostly lawn ornaments, but the statues of Libra and Gemini are among them. Now that the door has been fully opened, the light of the night sky is able to fill the whole room. Libra and Gemini return to life. After accidentally scaring the children, the Zodiacs are able to explain who they are and why they are here.
All twelve Zodiacs need to be reunited to stop the demons, but only two of them were in the old house. Before they can stop the demon army, they need to find the other ten. The children decide to help the Zodiacs on their quest. Libra and Gemini can stay at their house, as long as mom and dad don’t find out.
At some point, a friend from school discovers the secret and is soon recruited to help the sister and brother on their adventure.
The team needs to search for the other lost statues. As each statue is found, another member of the Zodiac team is revived and added to the party. The purpose of the Zodiac statues has long been forgotten, so the statues have ended up in odd places, such as history museums, or art galleries, or in the lawn ornament sections of the home and garden store. Each statue rescue takes the team to another wacky location.
The Zodiacs have been asleep for centuries, so they are unfamiliar with the modern world. They are forever causing trouble by playing with things they probably shouldn’t touch or running out in public when they are supposed to stay hidden. The children have their hands full keeping them under control.
The demons become more abundant as well. Battles can break out at anytime and become more frequent and more dangerous as the episodes progress. The Zodiacs must protect their human companions, as well as any other humans who are in danger.
Finally, the twelve warriors are reunited, but the demons surge forth in retaliation. Unable to keep their existence a secret any longer, the Zodiacs and the demons have their final showdown before all of mankind. However, even if they are victorious, the Zodiacs know that they will be sealed away again, away from each other and from all the friends they have made, until the next time they are needed.
Or will they?
Yeah, you could probably imagine this kind of story that would be if it were fully developed. Nothing too new or groundbreaking, but a nice Saturday Morning Cartoon-style romp.
Of course, nowadays, I look back on this with a more critical eye and I could tell you the weak point of the story pretty easily: There are just too many characters. This story could easily be told with five or six characters. There’s no reason to draw and develop all twelve just to drag out the plot. Of course, it would look a little funny to name the characters after a set of something like Zodiac signs, then never complete the set. They probably should have been named after something else. However, what was a weakness in their original version feels like an asset in the current Draconis Wicked story. The RingTails are all just a big crowd. You don’t need to worry about meeting each one individually, but it’s nice to see hints of their personalities. That’s really all we need.
Even though the original Zodiac Knights never saw the light of day, I did draw a bunch of character sheets, storyboarded the abandoned house sequence for a graphic illustration class, and used a variation of the characters for an animation assignment, but, in the end, I was never inspired enough to finish, or even seriously start it. A few months later, I got the idea for Draconis Wicked and it just outshined all those little sketchbook ideas. I knew this was the one I would stick with. But I still liked the Zodiacs. I think I liked their concept more than I ever would have liked a polished version of them.
I think they are where they’re meant to be.
