Jin & Johan

Biography

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Jin was born with a monster in his head. His body would deform and twist malforming his muscular and human body into a thin monstrosity, this alternate creature called himself Johan. Where Jin was warm, Johan was cold. Where Jin enjoyed the sound of life and nature, Jin enjoyed the harsh winds of an empty landscape. When Jin cried, Johan would laugh. At any moment Jin could freely take control the body and destroy any friendship or attempt at a life forcing Jin into seclusion.

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A woman found him, Lillian, and for the first time accepted Johan and Jin for what they were. Jin and Lillian became close, with no one else to talk to he dreamt of her and one day he asked her out and to his delight she said yes. Days went by as Jin slowly reintegrated into society and Johan never took control of the body. Lillian and Jin spent ten perfect years together. An unfamiliar feeling brought about by this consistency and stability; Jin felt happy.

 

Johan was gone. Everything was all a lie.

 

On their tenth anniversary Johan took control and slaughtered Lillian. Jin opened his eyes to see Johan's masterpiece; Lillian's corpse hung her a scarecrow, hey eyes plucked from their sockets, her nails torn off each finger, her face sewn into a smile. Johan was simply patient, always waiting for his moment.

 

A murder of crows flew from the scene upon hearing the guttural scream of anguish escaping Jin's mouth. His fingerprints, his blood, his everything covered the corpse and so there was no time to mourn only to flee and return to complete isolation. He vowed to never talk to anyone again, to never grow close to anyone again, to never be human again.

 

And whenever Johan takes over the body he now wears Lillian’s dress to celebrate his torment. ​

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Looks

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Jin and Johan are both elderly men who represent opposites and that’s what I tried to find in their designs. Jin exudes masculinity; he only wears a jacket proudly displaying his musculature and broad body, he has a moustache and a beard. Juxtaposing this is the feminine look of Johan who can willingly alter his appearance. He has a thin body and he’s much taller than Jin with long hair and spindly fingers. He chooses a more feminine form for the purpose of tormenting Jin further about the loss of Lillian.

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I made Jin and hence Johan old as I very much wanted them to represent a certain generation of masculinity that I have had a lot of personal experience with that often neglects their own mental health and holds onto very traditional masculine values. The way that Johan continues to dress feminine is supposed to show the way that so many men almost villanize their femininity and are so ashamed of it and Johan preys on this insecurity further.

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Story

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The story that I would plan for this character although following many traditional fantasy storylines would be of accepting the feminine qualities of himself and actually dealing with his own issues of happiness with help but talking about them unlike the relationship with Lillian where mental health was put to the side as she was “used” for happiness.