It seems to me that the Wikipedia page is a lot more unequivocal in classifying the grootslang as a snake rather than an elephant, so I'm worried that the designs that don't immediately register as snake-like won't service the actual mythos well. However, also realize that Minotaur Hotel reaches a western-influenced audience, where snakes are seen as evil by default. Looking at Themba's personality, this is something that I think really needs to be taken into consideration. If you go too far into the snake aspect, people might mistakenly think he's evil, but if you don't go far enough he might not register as a snake at all. That's a hard balance to strike, I think. A small change that could help is making the tail more visible. That really helped me understand it but it took a few looks to actually notice that it's not a regular elephant tail. Maybe feature a scene where he knocks over a large object with it?
3 years ago(+2)
Hey, thank you for your input and for your suggestion! Juggling all the design elements has been quite a challenge and your idea of the writing emphasising his tail, simple as it may be, is both great and very viable. I took note of it and I'll try to keep it in mind as much as possible in his scenes. Once more, thank you.
Also, we tried a new shape for his tusks (middle one). We aren't decided yet but we're considering it as a possible way of adding another snake-like element to him.
