Updated: 6/20/2020
Son of Warriors, Child of War
Although it’s quite rare for these his kind of elves to get involved in Imperial politics and the military forces, Honz Cerberus II rose up quickly in imperial ranks thank the support of his elven family. Coming from a very privileged family, Cerberus was taught in the arts of diplomacy, espionage, arcane, and warfare, but be found the the art of warfare to be the most interesting career path to pursue.
He earned the title of War Hero and the rank of Commander for fending off attacks from “the Greendrake Jaws”, a tribe of raiders that attacked the Imperial Capital Planet of Imperium using wyverns, explosions, EMP devices, and confiscated weapons. The raiders used the planetary Shield to keep out imperial reinforcements and trapping the Imperium people, including the the young and inexperienced Emperor.
Through his cunning, deception, and leadership kills Cerberus was able to rally soldiers and successfully fend off the raiders for weeks, until imperial reinforcements managed to break through and the raiders recreated were driven off.
‘Commander Cerberus’ was then awarded with custom red and gold armor on behalf of a majority of the council at the time and Imperium people. He fashioned a ancient spear to display the might and power of the Empire, which he claimed “will penetrate through any obstacle and endure any and all battles.”
However, in the aftermath of the attack Cerberus’s family and the young Emperor were discovered to have mysteriously disappeared. To address the concerning vacuum of power and lack of heirs, the imperial council took over operations in the Empire for time. For several month, Commander Cerberus, his brother, and their loyal troops searched for Cerberus’s family and the absent Emperor.
Cerberus and his troops returned to Imperium without his brother and reported that his brother and family were KIA, but stated he found no trace of the Emperor. In the meantime the council decided that they would all together continue to lead the Empire rather than resort to choosing one lord. Cerberus was denied a seat on the council but, thanks to the rallying of the imperial people he saved and troopers under his command, was compensated with a personal squad of troopers to do as he willed.
Five years later, Cerberus and his troopers has been very outspoken about not tolerating solar systems seceding from the Empire, which has begun to loosen it’s control and allow systems to secede. Cerberus believes that the current Imperial council that currently controls the Empire isn’t enough to keep the Empire safe – thus, ensuring the longevity of the Empire through any means necessary is all that matters to him.
Being an elf, Cerberus offered to negotiate borders and galactic security concerns with the seceding elf colonies, which the council accepted.
Design and Inspirations
Design and inspirations
For a long time Cerberus was conceptualized as amanipulative Orc Rebel known as ‘Sir Beris’. However this idea was quickly shelved since it fed into the ‘Orcs are bad’ trope, just didn’t make Cerberus at all memorable or even have a reason to be Lilian’s antagonist. He was just ‘bad’, and that’s not enough.
Re-watching the character arc of T’Challa and Killimonger in Black Panther 2018 gave me a better idea of what I wanted Cerberus to be; A version of the hero who was more extreme and had a some similarities in the hero’s philosophy as well as some differences.
Both he and Lilian are elves want to do the right thing for the people in the galaxy, but they have opposing goals with Cerberus going to extremes that Lilian won’t. Lilian is just trying to survive and suffers from self doubt while Cerberus is going all out on his goals.
And that’s another thing; the Villain must change the hero in some way to become better over the course of the story, or at least leave a huge impact on the hero. Sometimes it’s adapting to a philosophy, changing strategy, or testing the hero between giving up and giving another shot.
The first designs for Cerberus’s outfit were inspired by Megatron and Darth Vader, since those were popular ‘tragic heroes’ in media, with the former becoming a freedom-fighter-turned-insurrectionist leader and the latter being a noble-general-turned-overlord.
However (much like the all-evil orc idea) the design didn’t feel ‘legit.’ and drew from too many existing tropes that have been done before; red blades, red eyes, angry face, dark grey armor…
Some of my favorite Villains don’t see themselves as bad guys, they see themselves as good people doing what they think must be done but go to unacceptable extremes. They make you see the villain as the protagonist of their own story.
Two words that came to mind during Cerberus’s redesign were, “Heroic” and “Might.’ Major inspirations for his new design included The honor Guard from Halo 2 and Ornstein from Dark Souls. These designs spoke authority and power.
I also wanted to contrast his armor with Lilian’s Colors of blue and magenta, aiming for bright reds contrasted by a shadowy purple. If you are ever thinking about colors to differentiate villains from heroes choose the inversion or darker/lighter version of the hero’s colors.
The most oblivious elements of Cerberus are the flowing Plume and the Plume and glowing Spear; Though in-universe they are more ceremonial elements of his design, the plume is a quick visual identifier of Cerberus’s political, social, and military status. The giant spear represents the huge dedication he carries – on personal and professional level – of what he sets out to do as Commander and his image of the Empire.
All these elements combined give you a sense that Cerberus is someone that is looked up too, someone people *should* know, someone who demands respect, and someone you don’t get in the way of.
Overall, Cerberus is the manifestation of the power that Empire can overcome anything – and do as it wills.
Straybard Art 
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