What is/are your favorite design interpretations for "public domain characters" such as deities, famous figures, mythical creatures, etc?

I'm specifically talking about multiple properties that use this as their main schtick:

• Smite. A real-time MOBA analogous to the highly popular League of Legends, this game mostly (if not entirely) employs various deities as its playable characters.

• Fate series. Beginning with the visual novel Fate/Stay, this series has encompassed both anime, manga, and more recently, a "gacha"-type mobile game, Fate/Grand Order. Notably, they've involved famous figures in both history and lore, the most notable examples being King Arthur, Alexander the Great, Leonardo da Vinci, and even a Paul Bunyan.

• Shin Megami Tensei/Persona. A cyberpunk fantasy originating with the novel "Digital Devil Story" by Aya Nishitani, this is one of the more prominent JRPG franchises, only rivaled with Pokemon, Final Fantasy, and Dragon Quest in multiple broader aspects. Oftentimes, the games feature various demons, but also mythical creatures, manifestations of certain concepts, angels, and deities from all sorts of mythologies, such as Amaterasu and Atropos. At one point, even some monsters based on Steven King's Christine and Beetlejuice appeared. More recently, in Persona 5, more characters have been based on famous figures, such as Arsene Lupin and Carmen, the latter being from the famous opera. Also to note is that some designs are refreshed from time-to-time, as certain older designs are replaced with more stylized ones.

We can also talk about other designs such as those in Yokai Watch, or even Pokemon, as some Pokemon draw strong inspiration from real-world deities and mythical creatures. For example, there are indeed several Pokemon based on Japanese yokai, but in addition, the Pokemon Celesteela is almost like a manifestation of the Tale of Princess Kaguya, being a bamboo rocket-ship with what appears to be a multi-layered kimono, and even having a Japanese name of "Tekkaguya."

Great design resource

100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People (Voices That Matter) Submitted September 04, 2017 at 11:33PM by YabukiJoe http://ift.tt/2x5Li3B