On this day, five years ago, I created Shadeith “Shadez” Nightscar—my main in World of Warcraft, and the protagonist in my ongoing webcomic, Fel and Blades!
Shadeith—originally just known as “Shadez”—-was intended to be a joke character. His name was Shadez, because he was a demon hunter who wore sunglasses instead of a blindfold. He was meant to poke fun at the edginess of the Illidari.
As I started integrating him into more and more of my stories, his character grew. First, he was just a funny side character in my fanfictions about Illidan Stormrage, mostly just there for comic relief.
But, then, in 2019, I realized that I really enjoyed writing him. So, I started fleshing out more of his story and personality. I decided to make him the brother to my other two demon hunters at the time—Visionora and Nadillii. I also gave him a romantic relationship with my worgen druid, Visiohn. This is where Shadez really started becoming the character we know today.
At this point, he was still a very funny character who provided comic relief, but he was also so much more. He was also the smart one in the group, and was usually the one to come up with solutions for a lot of the team’s problems. This was also around the time when I decided to make him the Slayer, because he just seemed like he would be a good leader.
For the next two years, there weren’t any huge changes to his character. I kept writing him the way he was in 2019, just fleshing him out a little bit more with each story.
But then came 2022…
Firstly, this was when I came up with a more original design for him. I used to always draw him just looking like how he did in-game. But, as I grew more attached to him, I wanted to make him look more unique on my drawings.
In summer of 2022, I changed his name from Shaderen to Shadeith. I just thought that Shadeith sounded better.
But why did I suddenly change his name?
Because I had a new plan for the character.
I decided to write a comic about his adventures in Legion. I wanted to use it as a way to explore more of my characters’ stories. I also wanted to have something to post on my Patreon that I planned on starting when I turned 18.
Thus, Fel and Blades was born.
Feeling very excited about this project, I finished the whole first script in just a couple of weeks. Then I got right to drawing. I aimed to work on it for about 20 minutes a day, hoping to have a ton of pages done before I started my website or my Patreon.
And, here I am now, still having a ton of pages waiting to be posted.
My plan worked perfectly!
Fel and Blades is going to be a very long project that will definitely take me years to finish. I’m just now almost done with the first of four arcs. But that’s fine, because I’m passionate about this project.
Hugely, because I’m passionate about this character I’ve created. I want to explore his story. I’ve had it in my head for so many years, I want to finally show it.
I can’t believe that I’ve had Shadeith for five years. It doesn’t feel like it’s been that long.
It’s crazy how much he’s evolved. What was first just a funny side character in my Illidan fanfictions is now the main character in my biggest project ever.