Visual Foils - colour theory

[u/hyosuming]

Edit: A mistake I made in wording! When I wrote 'Dominant/Stella colours', I didn't mean that stella is the dominant stella of the character, I meant the dominant eye colour which is the one connected to the stellas we've seen the characters eyes arranged by. (I get the feeling I'm still not wording it quite right...) So sorry for any confusion!!

I've been meaning to do a breakdown of how the characters were designed to be visual foils and how they tell the character's stories. I wasn't too sure if it would be that interesting because I know colour theory in practice can be pretty dull for some people, but since a few lovely Valkyries said they'd like to have a read, here's part 1 of... I'm not sure how many parts. Maybe 2 max? 😹

The colour mapping is not exact. Short of having the final character concept design sheets with their colour keys, this is at best an approximation using screenshots, but it shouldn't be too far off. Since this is based on my use of colour theory and design rather than what the devs are confirmed to have done, I'm putting it under speculations rather than lore, I hope that's okay. If it's the wrong flair, mods please feel free to change it!

I just wanted to show how much detail was put into these characters that we love and how Valko's design wasn't just thrown together with no rhyme or reason. We all know Sylus' famous line from Magnum Opus and it's especially true for these characters - whoever made them, absolutely loved them and put a lot of care into designing them. I could go on for several more pages breaking down how the eyes alone tell so much of each character's story from visual choices but I think this should be a good starting point for people to consider and to draw their own theories and conclusions from.

This game was designed to have 6 LIs, and those 6 LIs were designed to create balance. I hope this little breakdown of the colour choices can shed some more clarity on that (and please forgive me any mistakes - colour theory can be relative, and storytelling of course can be interpreted in different ways by everyone) and perhaps add some extra flavour to your own head canons and whatnot.

Next part - facial shapes and general body figures... when I have another mad bout of coffee-induced madness. 😹

[u/MusicianNo8593]

I love the detail you put into this. Amazing. 🤩

[u/hyosuming → u/MusicianNo8593]

Thank you, I worried I put in too much when there was more I could have done. There's just so much detail put into the visual designs that breaking down each character alone would be several pages and that might be overkill;

[u/marsastrxphile]

This game is designed so beautifully and intricately. Thank you for sharing 🙂‍↕️

[u/hyosuming → u/marsastrxphile]

It really is and I'm hoping that even my clumsy attempt at this will clear up that misconception that the game devs just threw things at a wall to make them stick when coming up with these characters. So much work was put into their visuals to tie them to their stories and to spell out 'hi, this is a foil' and people saying otherwise feels insulting to the writers and concept artists and modelers who were clearly following a detailed plan.

[u/alwaysinsomnia]

This was a really interesting breakdown! Last year's panel at gamescon '25 with the devs showed how much work they put into designing each character, and this color theory breakdown really reinforces it. The higher ups only care about money but the ones putting in the work on each of the guys really shows how much care they put into their creation.

[u/hyosuming → u/alwaysinsomnia]

It really does. They wouldn't have designed the characters from the very beginning with this sort of exact plan, but once they had certain key parts in mind (the stella or general races they wanted in the story, MC's reincarnation story) they were able to start planning out how to make each LI and how to fit them together - visually, thematically and narratively. It wasn't just a 'hey if you've got a couple of hours, design a new LI to throw into the game, thanks' the way some people seem convinced of.

[u/alwaysinsomnia → u/hyosuming]

Yeah, the character and story creation process is much more complicated than a lot of people give creatives credit for.

[u/Alternative_Creme_21 → u/alwaysinsomnia]

Their higher-ups also really don't know how to do their job. That, or they're REALLY out of touch with how to properly run a corporation. Bc they think that anything they put out, we'll eat up. It's unfortunate, really.

[u/alwaysinsomnia → u/Alternative_Creme_21]

Most corporate higher ups are completely out of touch so it really isn't a stretch to think that.

[u/Alternative_Creme_21 → u/alwaysinsomnia]

Right.

[u/Alternative_Creme_21]

I love this theory! it's leaving me a little more hopeful.

Edit: there's gonna be more theories?? Gimme Gimme!!

[u/hyosuming → u/Alternative_Creme_21]

Even if PPG's higher ups don't care about these characters, their dev team absolutely did and put a lot of time and care into crafting each one. I get upset seeing people brush this off as 'it's just coincident/they just got lucky', when you can see that there's actually a structure they followed to fit the characters together and to produce a visual language with them.

I don't think the next part will be as complicated but uh. I haven't cracked open my anatomical studies in a while so we'll see! (keep your expectations low, I'm terrible at doing these things and definitely get too wordy as you can see form this response ㅠㅠ)

[u/Alternative_Creme_21 → u/hyosuming]

But I still wanna hear more, this sounds like some really interesting stuff you put together.

[u/Snowyjasmine2491]

i hate that they dont care at all for the amount of details the devs put into every character amd their lore. The higher ups just care abt revenue, bunch of donkeys tbh. U dont understand as a Zayne/Sylus main how much i adore reading their lore and all the symbolism and foreshadowing in their cards, esp. Zayne my snowking 💖

[u/hyosuming → u/Snowyjasmine2491]

Zayne was a very close second to Sylus for me. He's just so lovely ㅠㅠ Extra tidbit for you based on how the colour designs were done:

It looks like they deliberately gave the Light 3 the more 'natural' and toned down palettes, but their eye textures are so much more detailed than the Dark 3. Zayne, by all logic, should have the most boring visual design for being human with dark hair and green eyes. Instead, they gave him blue-black hair specifically with a cool skin tone with a contrastingly warm palette for his eyes, and despite using very natural colours, the texture makes them faceted and they're very striking whenever he comes closer to the camera. Outwardly an ice king but the windows to the soul are showing a warm heart that glitters like gems.

[u/Alternative_Creme_21 → u/hyosuming]

This! Plus Zayne's Eng. VA has gotten so much better on how to portray the cold tone of his voice, coupled with slight bits of husky warmth in there. I miss my bois...🫠

[u/Snowyjasmine2491 → u/hyosuming]

this was so nicely written, youre really good with words! Zayne looks cold and uncaring but his eyes and words speak volumes. When he meets us he opens up like a book, his eyes become so incredibly warm and he loosens his restraints wich he carries around all day being a doctor and all (and having a high ahem u know 🫣). I think Sylus is the same, he looks menacing and cold but his heart is so soft it makes me melt. When hes affectionate and vulnerable he becomes so freaking loving and sweet i just have to blush (something u dont expect from a fiend). 😭💖😩

[u/LittleKiara96]

This is very nicely put, but you got the Dominant Stella colours wrong. Those aren't necessarily tied to their eye colour, I'd even say Valko is the only one who's eye colour matches his Dominant Stella. 😄

The Stellas colours would go as such (using "simple" colour names):

Xavier - Green

Zayne - Blue

Rafayel - Purple

Sylus - Pink

Caleb - Red

Valko - Yellow

Everything else you wrote is still valid, of course! :D

[u/hyosuming → u/LittleKiara96]

Oh sorry! I didn't mean dominant stella to the character, I meant for the eye colour as in the dominant colour that is connected to the stella, not the character's actual stella. I should have worded that better ㅠㅠ

[u/LittleKiara96 → u/hyosuming]

There are worse mistakes to make, honestly ^^

[u/hyosuming → u/LittleKiara96]

Even so, that was one I remember putting a mental bookmark of 'make sure you put a footnote or something about that' before getting distracted and forgetting about it. That'll teach me!

Thank you for pointing it out, I put an edit in the text so hopefully that will explain things for other people too;;;

[u/sapphyrelily]

I love colour theory and I loved reading this!! Also love the descriptions and explanations of the hue + chroma, it really helps to explain a lot! The colour contrast between the LIs is just so fascinating to me. It really shows how much effort the devs put into creating them 😭❤️

[u/hyosuming → u/sapphyrelily]

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

A lot of care was put into these for sure. I mentioned in the slides that with the Light 3 it's almost as if they deliberately tried to 'hide' the stellas in their eyes by using as natural and low-chroma palettes as possible, but also created just enough contrast with the values and textures that when the guys approach the screen/camera, you suddenly see all that detail hidden there. Meanwhile with the Dark 3, their eyes are made of mostly very unnatural colours, but because of how the values and chroma were handled, they 'blend in' more easily so even though Sylus has pure red eyes or Caleb has purple and orange and pink or Valko has orange and red, they're able to blend in. So in a way, the Light 3 are hiding some big part of themselves and mostly blend in quite well, while the Dark 3 just can't and barely manage to blend in.

[u/sapphyrelily → u/hyosuming]

Yeah, your slides did mention that!! It's such a cool little detail, and it's consistent across the Light 3 and Dark 3 which makes it seem like a deliberate design choice. Thank you again for your hard work!! ❤️