Blur Havok: Paragon War
THE BLUR HAVOK TEAM
Each of the Blur Havok team’s armor/attire is based on a specific kind of warrior throughout history and is tied to the way they fight in battle:
Alastor’s armor is a cross between Medival Knight armor and a World War II soldier trench coat. His attacks are always up close and sword centric. Even his one firearm is a 1911 pistol; which was standard-issue during the War.
Melonie’s armor is loosely based on the ninjas of Feudal Japan. She moves and strikes quickly, using momentum to carry her from one enemy to another. Her daggers allow her to latch onto enemies and engage in rapid consecutive stabs or slashes.
Ozzi’s armor is based on bomb squad armor from the War in Iraq. His armor can take hits and small scale explosions that none of his teammates can withstand. His armor can even withstand a possible catastrophic malfunction of his explosives and firearms. This, of course, comes at the cost of speed. Ozzi is the slowest member of the team but packs the most punch with his heavy weaponry.
Bria’s attire is based on modern-day military attire. Having no armor, Bria is often fighting from a distance. Just like modern-day military snipers, Bria has advanced training in CQC (Close Quarters Combat) for the occasion in which keeping her distance is not an option.
The main Blur Havok team has regularly been a team of four; two males, two females. (Keep an eye out for this format throughout the franchise)
Alastor, Bria, Ozzi, and Melonie have been the main team for Blur Havok since 2012.
ALASTOR
Alastor’s personality was designed to be a cross between Deathstroke and Bugs Bunny; a snarky, foul-mouthed soldier with sharp wit and a blade to match.
The Alastor in the Official Canon is actually the most level-headed version of the character ever. Make of that what you will.
Alastor’s warp ability was inspired in part by the Charge ability in Mass Effect 2 (2010).
Alastor’s fingers on his armor are sharp and talon-like to give him a more intense and roguish look.
In this older, non-canon bio, it is stated that Alastor’s nickname was “Blur”. It has been completely stripped from the Official Canon.
Alastor uses the 1911 because it is the author’s favorite handgun.
Alastor’s body shape was inspired by Bumblebee’s body from the Transformers (2007-2018) film series.
In the flashbacks, Alastor is donning his original outfit from one of the old canons.
Despite what it appears, Alastor is not a self-insert for the author. Contrarily, Alastor was designed to be exemplary of many of the author’s past negative traits. See “Production/Development” for more information.
Alastor has had three different fantasy voice actors since 2012: first was Arin “EgoRaptor” Hanson (NSFW) (2013-2014), second was Nolan North (NSFW) (2014-2017), and last is Donald Glover (NSFW) (2018-Present).
MELONIE
Melonie was purposely designed to be as innocent and non-threatening to the reader as possible without bringing her competency in combat into question.
Melonie was also redesigned to have motherly features, such as wider hips and a more traditional hairstyle. Originally, Melonie was slimmer and younger-looking, but it conflicted with the nature of her character. Given her role as the Communications Officer and unofficial “shoulder to lean on”, this helps tremendously with keeping her audience calm and giving them a sense of safety.
Melonie’s old personality was more akin to Bria’s personality in the Official Canon. That old personality has been split into two; the abrasive side was given to Bria (amplifying what was already there) and the comforting side remained with Melonie.
Melonie’s overall body design was inspired by YouTuber Rosanna Pansino and her facial design was inspired by the character Roxanne from A Goofy Movie (1995).
In The Bureau, Melonie is wearing her outfit from one of the old canons.
Melonie’s original design was created in the character creator in the game Rock Band 2 (2008).
To match the aforementioned younger look from the old canon, Tiffany “IHasCupquake” Herrera was Melonie’s fantasy voice actress until 2018, where Melonie was given a much older look. Scarlett Johannson was then deemed more appropriate.
OZZI
Ozzi, second only to Alastor, is one of the oldest characters made for Blur Havok. He is an assimilation of many characters from previous non-canon entries that all had similar personality traits and combat roles.
In the old canon, Ozzi has vacillated between “too much of a perfectionist to finish anything” and “too scatterbrained to finish anything” (as seen in the non-canon bio). This led to the idea that Ozzi was an incompetent inventor and engineer. The two extremes had to be rebalanced so Ozzi could be conveyed as competent at his role, leaning more towards “efficient perfectionist”.
Ozzi’s body type and body-to-armor ratio was inspired by War Machine from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, specifically the heavier armor from Avengers: Endgame (2019).
Ozzi’s armor is 100% newly designed for the Official Canon.
Ozzi’s fantasy voice actor has been Mark “Markiplier” Fischbach since 2013.
BRIA
Bria’s sexuality was never meant to be the focus of her character. Actually, Bria wasn’t a lesbian until 2014.
Spoiler! (Also, NSFW)
In Bria’s non-canon bio, Bria is labeled as a misandrist due to prior events. This was removed, as it felt cartoonish and unrealistic.
Bria’s full name is a tribute to the author’s first female best friend. “Blur Havok” Bria is similar to the real Bria in name only.
Bria’s design has been consistent for over eight years. This Concept Art was from 2012. Bria’s scar was added in 2017.
Bria’s physique was inspired by the adult body for Alita in Alita: Battle Angel (2019).
Bria has always been foul-mouthed, but the timbre and tone of her voice was changed. Originally, Sumalee Montano was going to be Bria’s fantasy voice actress in 2013, but was switched to Tessa Thomspon after the release of the film Creed (2015).
RYZE
Ryze went through several stages before reaching his final design. The very earliest version of Ryze was named “Synthetic Blur”, a character from the old canon that did not survive the transition for obvious reasons. After a name and color change at the start of writing the first draft, Ryze was created.
Originally, Ryze had a layer of grey Synthetic skin over a metal, skeletal face. This felt unnatural, as it clashed with the more grounded aesthetic of this version of Blur Havok.
As seen in the Synthetic Blur bio above, Ryze was toned down from a genocidal villain to a fuming antagonist with standards, values, and boundaries.
Ryze was also bulked up tremendously from the original “Synthetic Blur” character. A main inspiration for the large size disparity was a single shot from Bumblebee (2018) where Blitzwing is capable of holding the main protagonist Bumblebee up by his throat with one hand.
Speaking of Transformers, Ryze’s face is designed similarly to the Cybertronian faces of the characters in both Bumblebee (2018) and Transformers: Fall of Cybertron (2012). Another inspiration was Cayde-6 from the Destiny franchise. Due to the aesthetic of Blur Havok, a highly articulate face for Ryze with no visible metal plates for articulation would prove difficult to suspend disbelief.
Synthetic Blur’s fantasy voice actor was going to be a flanged and vocoded version of Alastor’s original fantasy voice actor Arin “EgoRaptor” Hanson, but was changed to Patrick Seitz when Ryze was finalized, based on his performance as Scorpion from the Mortal Kombat series (primarily from Mortal Kombat X (2015)).
PRODUCTION/DEVELOPMENT
Blur Havok: Paragon War was written mostly in a “bubble”; while the larger scope of the trilogy was planned out before writing Paragon War, the lore and backstory of Valhalla and the surrounding universe were developed after the first draft. Any references to lore (such as the Synthetic Revolt) was added in after several world-building writing sessions.
Paragon War was written during National Novel Writing Month in November of 2018. An average of 1,667 words was written per day in order to complete Paragon War.
Paragon War “went gold” on June 19th, 2019.
Paragon War had 4 beta readers and 1 Editor.
Paragon War was the fifth attempt to officially release a Blur Havok story.
The five main characters are all designed around somewhat negative aspects of the author’s personality that the author used to experience:
Alastor represents feigned cockiness and the need for control over what he cares about.
Melonie represents passiveness and lack of self-worth.
Ozzi represents social dissonance and a preference for being alone and self-sufficient.
Bria represents envy and impulsiveness.
Ryze represents anger and vindictiveness.
The reason behind this design choice is to give the characters things to improve on and a direction to grow throughout the trilogy. Also, many of these emotions and states of being had to be resolved by the author to better understand how to write these characters.
Some of the concepts and design choices from the older Blur Havok canons were brought over into the Official Canon:As seen in the Synthetic Blur biography, Synthetics were taken apart by humans and repurposed for Synthetic Implants since at least 2014.
Alastor Hacon’s ability to warp has been a consistent part of his arsenal since 2010.
Spoiler!
The name of the country of Valhalla has been consistent since 2010.
Bria has been the sniper of the team since her creation in 2011.
The Official Canon for Blur Havok is actually much darker and more realistic than the old canon. There were several supernatural and fantasy elements that were in the old canon, but were removed to give the Official Canon a more focused vision.
Although only the main five characters have been revealed to have fantasy voice actors, unofficially, all of the characters have fantasy voice actors:
Alastor: Donald Glover
Melonie: Scarlett Johansson
Ozzi: Mark “Markiplier” Fischbach
Bria: Tessa Thompson
Ryze: Patrick Seitz
Mason: Sam Worthington
Fel: Tara Strong
Targ: Michael Gough
Kazt: Grey DeLise
Councilor Vasquez: Holly Hunter
Spoiler!
Originally, the interrogation scene with Alastor, Bria, and Targ was less of an “interrogation” and moreso crossed the line into “torture”. It was removed because it made Alastor look cruel and unlikeable and also gave Bria character traits she never displayed throughout the rest of the novel. You can read the deleted scene here. What replaced it was a scene that delivered exposition in a less heavy-handed way, using a technique coined by Blake Snyder called The Pope in the Pool.