So here is one of the major changes in the Timeless Universe... Ra's Al Ghul and the League of Assassins do not exist. Because I hate both of them, they have the exact same story arc every single time, and whenever they try to add characters like Lady Shiva or even Bane to their cause, it doesn't amplify their presence, but merely makes the plots more convoluted... So, with that in mind, originally I was going to have Ra's but he would be this world's equivalent to Dracula... But the more I got references for the design... I figured why not just have Dracula and be done with it?
So, a much more interesting character is here with the Count! I based his design off the Bela Lugosi Dracula, as well as the great Sir Christopher Lee's take on the Count, and Drac's appearance from The Batman VS Dracula, one of the coolest Batman animated movies! So he is pretty simple in terms of designs compared to other Drac designs such as the Castlevania series. But I think that fits seeing how a lot of other villains in this Timeless barrage are pretty simple all things considered!
As you see from the post, in this universe, Dracula would have been one of Bruce's teachers, disguised as Henri Ducard, where he would teach Bruce about being a great detective in order to become the greatest, but the lessons would be cut short due to Ducard's mansion being lit ablaze after Bruce used his skills to uncover the truth of Ducard actually being a vampire. Dracula would return to Gotham after stalking Bruce's activities and resettle in the abandoned Arkham Asylum, ruling from the shadows as his pawn gets everything ready for the great Dracula's return to full strength...
Professor Hugo Strange... Is straight up Giancarlo Esposito. Yes, I know, he's a very tight casted man in these calm yet scary villain roles... BUT IN MY DEFENSE... I was watching the Payday 2 Dentist trailer and was caught in the moment, okay!?
So, a lot of Hugo's design is in-turn, inspired off of the Dentist from Payday 2, as well as Isaac a bit from the Netflix Castlevania anime, which is probably my favorite video game adaptation, ever. There's not a whole lot to say about Hugo since he is pretty much what you would expect: long white coat, surgical gloves, and of course that majestic, eeeevillll beard. I do think Giancarlo would be good to have as Hugo Strange rather than what others fan-cast him as, like him as Mr. Freeze...
Gray Owl is essentially the 'leader' of the armies of Talons for the Court of Owls, who in this universe, answer under Hugo Strange. Dracula does not approve seeing how owls are natural predators of Bats, but as long as they're useful. Gray Owl was inspired by Death from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, same voice and he would also have a whistle similar to Death, but it would be more like the Talons' usual 'Hoot Hoot' from the comics!
Overall, again another really simple design, I will draw some of the Talons themselves if I do big centerpieces to get better at scene composition, but for now, have their General!
Lock-Up is, again, pretty basic but I guess that's the theme of this batch of villains, yeah? Basically just taking his classic design as first-seen in Batman: The Animated Series, but adding some things, removing others, and sticking with what stuck!
I took some design and color inspirations from Arkham Shadow's Lyle as well since I actually loved that they incorporated Lock-Up into the Arkham-Verse and made him just as vile as he was in the cartoon! That's also where I decided to give him the TYGER logo on his right shoulder pad, as I had the idea that Strange has an operative force of both militaristic, and mythological on each side of the viewpoint of Gotham! And of course, Lyle is the leader of TYGER due to his excessive violence and zero tolerance for criminals. Which also makes Arkham Asylum more of a living hell than it already was in the Timeless Universe after Dracula set up shop.
#TimelessDC - Gotham's Most Wanted - (9/10)
- Henri Ducard/Count Dracula
- Hugo Strange
- Gray Owl
- Lock-Up/Lyle Bolton
#dc #dccomics #dcuniverse #fanart #skecth #art #digitalart #artsky #batman #thebatman #hugostrange #dracula #lockupdc #courtofowls #talon #batmanfanart #au #auart #aufanart
![BANE was one of the last characters I did for this villain series, and his design is straight up based on Psycho Mantis from Metal Gear Solid. When I was thinking of concepts I literally just said to myself 'Buff Psycho Mantis...' and the rest was history.
I did take the Venom route from The Batman [2004] where he has that dial on his right hand to pump the Venom through his body, I was not in the mood to draw big Venom tubes and a shitton of mini tubes going through his body; so, yeah I got lazy, but it still looks cool, right?](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:p6p2bt532veb6nstkjhkf5z4/bafkreidgkifpelpdxzkz2ulvairhqhuyl6lygcvozkauttv5jrlrdhqc2u)
