Virex (Original ememy design)

A new enemy I've invented that is going to be one of the main adversaries in my Doctor Wii sprite series, which also exists in the gaming universe.

"If I had to describe the Virex in a word it would be ‘evil’ there is no better word to describe these creatures. If there was ever a book to the galaxy like a hitch-hikers guide it would tell you to stay away from these creatures especially when out enforce.

"They are cybernetic organisms built from mostly organic materials but are very resilient to outside attack, especially energy attacks. Their outer shell is tougher than steel making them almost impregnable, plus magnetic and shield barriers make them greatly resistant to energy blasts and attacks. Their weapons are also overly cruel, the power in their weapons is dialled down just enough to kill their target but for the last few microseconds of life the target feels their nervous system burning out.

"It’s hard to imagine how the natural process of evolution could've produced such a creature that is so like a living weapon of war. The only conclusion that can be draw was that it was produced by an alien intelligence, possibly trying to artificially manipulate DNA to create these vial creatures, however barring more evidence it cannot be said how these creatures came to exist.

"Their culture is rather simplistic and their philosophy is akin to that of a virus or bacterial culture. Just like a Virus their aim appears to be to multiply as fast as possible, once on the surface of a planet they attempt to assimilate as much resources as possible to multiply themselves. If just one arrives on a host planet it is imperative that it be destroyed before it can locate the relevant materials to duplicate itself. However, they are still dangerous on their own but in a group they are almost unstoppable. They believe their whole race is superior to any other creature in the universe and are determined to destroy or enslave creatures who have the capacity to disagree or fight back.

"They refer to any other creature they feel are beneath them as ‘infidels’ -which is all of them- they suffer from a superiority complex and appear to both fear and hate any creature that can compete with them for resources. If they come across such a creature their first instinct appears to be to destroy them but not before screeching ‘infidels’ or their battle cry of ‘exterminate’ this is possibly as a scare tactic to spook their target before killing them.

"Due to their immobile shell they cannot perform certain tasks, to get around this problem they take some ‘infidels’ as slaves to perform the more dexterous tasks they cannot do themselves. The slaves are badly treated, provided only enough food, water and rest to survive, but once the slaves start to become exhausted, sick or collapse due to exhaustion they are replaced, and the originals are taken away and destroyed, usually boiled down for their protein chains and amino acids so they can be used as building blocks to make more of themselves.

"Though they are very cruel they are also very intelligent but that intelligence is only applied to finding more ways of making life more unbearable for the creatures of the universe, ensuring their own survival, but at the cost of those who they conquer. So though they are heavy on intelligence they are rather low on true ethics or morals, this condition doesn't appear to be the result of ignorance or propaganda as most warmongering creatures are bombarded with to view other creatures with such contempt, this behaviour appears to be instilled in each generation of Virex that are created, this makes their species very un-diverse in terms of ideas or thoughts. They are of a single mind and as a result makes them incapable of empathising with creatures with foreign ideas. If there was ever a Virex with the capacity to empathise with alien creatures it would be detected by their system and eradicated before it can pollute the species with its genes.

"This is probably one of the few examples ever found in the universe of evolution in all its forms being halted to ensure the purity and unity of its species.

"However, they do have their weaknesses. First is that they are slightly vulnerable on the underside, but they are most vulnerable in the head piece, the slits have sensory organs in them and are very soft, under which is the central nervous system. If a projectile can pass through the protective shield and between the slits then the creature will die instantly. However built in protective shields do not make this task easy.

"How impenetrable their outer shells are I cannot say as I would need a sample to examine, but from what I've seen nothing short of extraordinary forces at the level of an atomic explosion will crack their shells

"Baring more information I leave this section open to be updated later."

-Taken from Doctor Wii’s 500 year diary.



Design and inspiration

These were inspired by the Doctor Who villains the Daleks, a xenophobic, racist species what was mutated and placed into mechanical tanks with their only driving force to destroy all that is unlike them. But the virus aspect of the Virex characters I came up with myself to add some originality to the creatures so I wasn't just drawing on the Doctor Who source material.

The main inspiration for their design was that of a virus of which the common thought of one is of a crystal like body with spiky, pointy edges. Though this is probably a more artistic view of how a virus looks than what it actually looks like, but regardless I took inspiration from it to make these creatures look spiky and pointy, in contrast to their Dalek counter parts who were round and smooth.

One accidental part of their design that was pointed out to me was that the tall, spiky head made the top half look like the hoods of the KKK, which considering they and the Virex have a similar, prejudice philosophy might have turned out to have been a happy accident.

Let me know what you think in the comments below.