Last summer when I first subscribed to Midjourney, I started saving all my results in a single Dropbox folder. For the month or two here and there that I’ve been subscribed since then, I’ve continued stashing everything in that same folder. As you might imagine, it didn’t take long for it to become a complete mess.
For those who might still be unfamiliar, Midjourney and programs like it use artificial intelligence to generate artwork based on prompts and descriptions from the user. As these programs have grown in popularity, a few legal and ethical issues have been raised in regard to the source of the artwork generated and whether or not the user should be allowed to profit from it (e.g. using it on book covers, which are then sold). But I still found it to be an incredibly fun and useful tool for generating personal concept art for my stories, especially future ones I have in mind that aren’t fully fleshed out yet. It was neat to be able to visualize new characters and locations. I only scratched the surface in terms of what Midjourney was capable of (different settings, styles, etc.) but I managed to get some pretty cool results out of it. None of them are 100% perfect; getting too specific with the cosmetic details tended to complicate things. But for general conceptualizing, it was great.
Anyway, I finally got around to going through my Dropbox folder and organizing everything into sub-folders. It was no small feat—I had the middle subscription tier that allowed for unlimited prompts/generations, and I definitely got my money’s worth out of it 😅
I’ve got at least a couple of visuals for (almost) every named/speaking character throughout the series, and I thought it would be fun to share some concepts of the characters who don’t get nearly as much attention as they probably deserve in a sci-fi story: the aliens.
While all the main Haphezian characters are technically aliens, at least in terms of not being quite human, there have been several other races/species mentioned throughout the series that are arguably less human, so that’s what we’ll focus on today.
Let’s dive in!
SARDONS
We’ll start at the beginning with the baddies from Dakiti. The Sardons are described as being humanoid but semi-amphibious, with leathery bluish-gray skin, almost reptilian-looking eyes, and no hair whatsoever. The following concepts are for Dane Bothum in particular, so they’re all wearing very dramatic black leather Villain Attire™. The first one is my favorite in terms of mood, but the third one would probably be most realistic. Click each image for a larger view.
““Who are you? Where am I?”
“Ah, how rude of me,” the man replied, rising back into a standing position and motioning for Enrik’s captors to let him do the same. Aside from the accent, he had leathery bluish-gray skin and eerie reptilian eyes. A sleeveless shirt revealed toned, wiry arms, and it didn’t appear that there was a single hair on his body. A Sardon.
”
COBIANS
Next, we have the secondary bad guys from Nexus. The Cobians are pirates and mercenaries, described as being humanoid but short and stocky with thick, armor-like flesh around their shoulders. They have pale green skin, large reddish-brown eyes, and tentacles on their heads in place of hair. These were incredibly difficult to render. You would not believe how many variations and descriptions of “tentacles” I had to use in order to get the placement right. There were a number of results that were far too alien, and then some that were too human. I definitely got Predator vibes from some of them. Out of the images below (again, click for a larger view), I think #4 is probably closest to how I’ve seen things in my head.
“She wasn’t entirely sure how she managed to spot him—maybe she’d just been looking in the right place at the right time, or maybe she’d subconsciously picked out something familiar in this foreign environment. Either way, she found herself frozen in place, eyes glued to the humanoid creature making his way through the crowd twenty or so meters ahead of her. The tell-tale tentacles on the back of his head were bundled into a crude ponytail, and he turned his face slightly to reveal large, reddish-brown eyes that contrasted greatly with his pale green skin. A Cobian. The Cobian.”
DURUTIANS
Okay so the Durutians are technically human, but with all their cybernetic body modifications, most of the galaxy’s human population treats them otherwise (hence why the Haphezians refer to them as ‘borgs in Ronan). They come from a barren, rocky planet and don’t have much going for them, so they get all these modifications to give them an edge and then hire themselves out as contractors. They often have visible cybernetic implants on their faces and heads, and the vast majority of them have silver eyes as a result of their ocular implants. I included specific concepts of some of the prominent Durutian characters below; Taran and Mae are obviously missing some cosmetic details, but I like how their appearances turned out.
Taran Reddic
Mae Nasser
Jaide Nasser (we’ll meet her later)
““What do you want?”
“Let’s forget for a moment that you tried to have my agents here executed. I seem to recall demonstrating what happens to people who get in my way—” her gaze shifted to his cybernetic arm “—and I would have thought you’d learned your lesson.”
”
ELSARA
The Elsara have been mentioned a few times throughout the series and have appeared “on screen” only briefly. The only thing we really know about them from the books is that they’re docile, have beady eyes, and that they “chatter” (i.e. communicate primarily in a language other than Standard). They’re also space-faring, or they at least make use of intragalactic transportation. Despite the lack of any substantial physical descriptions, I’ve always pictured them in my head as being kinda tall and gangly with short white/gray fur. I also always pictured them as having four eyes (perhaps two primary ones and two smaller secondary ones), but I realized it never specifies in the books—somehow “beady” just gave me that idea, I guess. I think concept #2 below is my favorite, but YOU GUYS, the number of nightmare-inducing creepy results I had to wade through to get these cannot be understated.
““What is this, some sort of creepy Elsara life-debt thing?”
“Maybe.”
“Did I ever mention how much I utterly detest the Elsara?”
”
RAMA
The Rama have been mentioned even less than the Elsara—all we really know about them is that they have pointy ears and are very short (at least compared to Haphezians). But I’ve always pictured some sort of cross between a rodent and a cat. Bipedal, but perhaps still capable of climbing, burrowing, etc. Think of a larger, more alien version of Rocket Raccoon. I’m not sure if any of these concepts really capture what I was going for, though the idea of them having longer arms like image #1 is interesting. #4 might be closest. There were a number of super creepy results here too.
“She brought her palm up to his face and ran her thumb over his left eyebrow, pausing on the short scar cutting through it. “What’s this from?”
The thought elicited an audible chuckle. “It’s, ah...not as exciting as you might think. I walked into a door frame out on Xater Prime on the first day of last year’s independent service term. You know how short the Rama are.”
”
GUHR HOUNDS
Native to Haphez, guhr hounds are canine creatures that scavenge on the outskirts of cities and settlements and are occasionally domesticated and kept as pets. I mentioned in that world-building blog post I wrote a few years back that their concept is based on coyotes (with a dash of fox thrown in) but that I imagine they might be bolder out in the forest and pack hunt like wolves. I love how the fur turned out in concept #1, but I really like the feral look in #2.
““You seemed familiar the first time we met——not in the director’s office, but when I first saw you outside the elevator bank.”
“You mean when you were ogling me like a half-starved guhr hound?”
”
