Besides the initial tree branch that she used to wallop Prof. McRaven, Starla was eventually given one of the spear-like weapons from Chance's dojo, which she mysteriously was able to wield quite well for someone of her age with (supposedly) no training. She is about 13 years old. Character Design Notes: There are two distinct designs for Starla: A child version and an adult version. The reason for this is extremely complicated and would probably require me to explain the entire story of that episode, which (by the way), was actually much longer than a typical IA episode because I was thinking of it as being more like a "movie". For now, let's just say it had something to do with a character discovering how to evolve (and purify) people using the Great Spirit's magic. Starla wears a blue dress, but it's torn in her adult form. Starla in the RAU Gallery: Starla Wildflower had one cameo appearance in Ancient Secret Desert-Elf Magic. Because the original IA episode she appeared in was actually meant to take place after the original series ended with the destruction of the final tower and the defeat of Zimosa, it is anachronistic with the new RAU Gallery's timeline, which is also supposed to take place directly after the wars were over. For this reason, it is not likely Starla will make any official future appearances.
Starla hiding behind a wall or something.
This scene is Starla Wildflower's main claim to fame. First she turns to run, but didn't seen Nucleo standing behind her and smashes right into his shoulder. The kindly professor asks if she's allright...
...but having never seen a mountaindevil before, she mistakes him for a monster...
...and proceeds to beat the crap out of him with a tree branch.
And I love that classic response to her apology. It's too bad I'm missing the panels of Chance screaming out the door at 'Cleo, but you can see that this wasn't very well-preserved. It's not even a final draft because it doesn't quite match the script. Nucleo's hands were supposed to be full with several bags of "groceries" and a lantern, which explained why he didn't just grab the branch out of Starla's hands. And the fact that I didn't draw in his wings makes it seem less likely that Starla would've mistaken him for a Grimm.
Starla talking with Nucleo after her barbaric assault on his mountaindevil hide. The orginal dialogue here was:
Crappy, crappy old design of adult Starla with the Fire God, Karma.
A couple of adult Starla sprites (far right in the first picture).
Child Starla head and sprite.
Starla and Jack have a slight disagreement.
These two have some really interesting conversations.
See what I mean?
Starla reading a scroll.
Two profile shots of Starla. There are only minimal differences between these two pictures.
Similar picture to the one above. I'm still not too fond of the way Starla is drawn.
Starla is confused.
I'm not sure what the hell they're doing, but at least she's not battering him with a stick anymore.
Some more storyboards of Starla and Nucleo. In the left one, they're discussing an issue of morality with other (offscreen) IA characters. In the middle one, Starla is attempting to reason with a very moody Jack Sheen (also offscreen). In the right one, Nucleo is finding it difficult to believe what Starla tells him about her place of origin.
I purposefully posted the picture of Karma from this by itself earlier so I could have a larger version that focused completely on it, since it's the best thing about this drawing. The rest of the drawing...doesn't make a whole helluva lotta sense. Well, the "adult" version of Starla being with Karma makes sense (sort of), but that thing in the middle that looks like a cross between Crow and the Grim Reaper probably doesn't belong there.
Recent recreation of that infamous shoulder-bashing scene.
Recently-drawn practice Starla sketch.
Group sprite picture. The adult version of Starla is the first character in the second row from the top.
In a moment that indicates his cat-like nature, 'Cleo is resting on a countertop and notices a depressed-looking Starla by herself behind it.
Nucleo and Starla are way too amused by Honen's sleeping habits. You might be, too, if you spend any amount of time trying to figure out the physics of that situation. Or how what was scripted to be "a large pile of sugarsacks" became one big amorphous nondescript blob.
More storyboards from the Jack, Starla, and Grimms saga.
Having just drank Alice in Wonderland's potion, Starla laments that she didn't get a chance to ask Jack his name and shrinks.
Starla is the most racially-insensitive Image Arcane character in history. She beats up a benevolent mountaindevil after mistaking him for a monster, she's amused by the sleeping habits of a frustrated and seriously overworked Oni, and now in this panel, the most she can think to say to the waterlily dragon that just saved her life is "What are you?". Not "WHO", but "WHAT"?
Starla sketch.
Starla sprite sketch. |
Backstory From My Old Comics: Starla is a young girl that Jack rescued from Grimms (small gremlin-like creatures) in the Dark Forest of Nispatia. Jack tried to lose her afterwards, but she was fascinated by him, having never seen a Waterlily Dragon before. She tried to follow him, but ran into Nucleo, whom she mistook for another Grimm because of his bizarre appearance. In one of the most hilarious scenes in IA, she grabbed a tree branch and proceeded to beat the crap outta' the poor old professor. Soon after though, she apologized for her brutality, to which his response was, "Oh, that's nothing compared to what Cory does to me when she gets mad!" The script for this episode was never completed, as I was working on it around the time I quit writing. She was meant to be sort of a "love interest" for Jack. You see, Jack was always getting on Chance's case for his prejudices against non-humans, but it turned out that Jack had some prejudices of his own when he realized he couldn't return Starla's love because she was a human and not a Waterlily Dragon like him. This episode was supposed to force Jack to deal with this irony, but I never finished it.
