Welcome, cozy coven! 🌸
Today we have a special 🍬TREAT🍬 for you, just in time for Halloween: an in depth look at our fuzziest romanceable character, Westley Vuk! 🐺💕
Westley, the romantic werewolf bookseller, is one of our most beloved characters, and I had the privilege of chatting with several members of the team involved with bringing him to life, including Iona Vorster (concept artist), Desiree Cifre (narrative director), Mike Taylor (animator) and Ray Chase (his voiceover artist).
We discussed all things Westley including his inspiration, design, and what makes him so popular (and dreamy)! Enjoy! ✨
Writing a Werewolf
Questions answered by: Desiree Cifre (Narrative Director)
Audrey: Can you start by telling us a little bit about Westley?
Desiree: Westley is a bookish werewolf originally from Alaska. He became a werewolf due to a case of mistaken identity. His identical twin brother, Lou, was a marksman for a logging company, and shot at a werewolf who then returned and attacked Westley one full moon. Once Westley turned into a werewolf, he vowed to keep his distance from humans to protect them and himself, and found safe harbor in the magical village of Ravenwood Hollow. He hopes to find a cure for his lycanthropy and in the meanwhile, prove that werewolves can be positive contributors to the magical community.
Audrey: What was your process like, including inspirations and challenges, when creating Westley?
Desiree: Our original scope for the narrative limited the characters to the members of the coven and the other, non-magical villagers, so I was delighted when Amanda and Alex told me we would have the budget for a magical village with four residents. I knew right away that I wanted one of them to be a werewolf and that I wanted him to be a romantic interest for Tara. A bookseller seemed like a natural fit so that he could sell Tara the parchment and incantations she would need for her spellwork, and when Iona drew up some concept art of our nattily dressed Westley we all knew that was the right direction for the character. Once I learned we could support him having both human and wolf forms, that opened up the space to create a little mystery around his first appearance in town, and then we got to dive into his backstory a bit more later in the game.
Audrey: Do you have a favorite line that you wrote for him?
Desiree: Well, I was expecting players to love Westley, but even I couldn't have anticipated how much of a fan-favorite he would become. I have to say one of my favorite lines is one that only plays if you are partnered with him: "Tara, you're looking ravishing today! Not that I want to, or would, I mean, you know." The actor who plays him, Ray Chase, gave such a hilariously brilliant reading of that line and it makes me giggle every time I hear it! The thirst is real.
Drawing a Werewolf
Questions answered by: Iona Vorster (Concept Artist)
Audrey: What was the process like for designing Westley? How did you incorporate his personality and backstory into his design?
Iona: Initially I started with sketching out ideas for all the Ravenwood Hollow characters in tandem. I wanted to make sure they would sit well together, and since they are all (mostly) fae, I wanted to make sure they felt consistent across their designs while figuring out “what do the fae look like in the world of Wylde Flowers.” Once I had a good idea of what they’d generally look like, I took each character one by one to work out the specifics.
With Westley, the process was a bit more complicated because I also had to figure out what his werewolf anatomy would be like and how far we wanted to push it. Since Westley is a romanceable character, I wanted his werewolf form to still feel personable and able to emote like the rest of the characters, so going very wolf-like with his design didn’t feel like the best option!
As with all the characters, I did have a wonderful character background to reference for Westley, written by narrative lead Desiree! A facet of his personality is that he likes dressing well, so along with him being a bookseller, a suit seemed like the natural choice!
Audrey: Which did you design first, werewolf Westley or human Westley? Did you have to put any considerations into giving him a (relatively) consistent appearance between the two forms?
Iona: I started with his human form, since I knew his werewolf form would need R&D on aspects of his anatomy like his face and legs. However, eventually I moved back and forth between the two, because parts of his werewolf form, like his fangs and his fur, informed design decisions on human Westley. I wanted to hint at his werewolf form when he was in human form, and vice versa/
I also wanted to keep consistency in his outfit, especially since there’s the comical details of his suit not quite fitting his massive werewolf frame, which accentuates the differences between the two!
Audrey: What is your favorite part of Westley's design?
Iona: His fangs! Designing all of him was fun, but I love that he has fangs in human form.
Animating a Werewolf
Questions answered by: Mike Taylor (Animator)
Audrey: What did the collaboration (if any) look like between you, Desiree and Iona?
Mike: I wasn't involved very much in the concept of Westley. As with all characters, I was asked for feedback on each concept, but the concepts are always so good, I have very little to add, and Westley was no exception. Soo-Ling (Wylde Flowers’ 3D Artist) and I would discuss his model more and especially the hair, since we knew that was a big part of his design. We would work together to decide how to structure Westley's hair so we could have the most movement as efficiently as possible.
Audrey: What types of personality bits or other considerations were you trying to showcase in his animations, and how did you achieve them?
Mike: Desiree and Elizabeth put together Casting Notes for all the characters, citing specific actors and/or roles that best exemplified the character. I always started there as the basis. For Westley in particular, I know I felt that he should be a little withdrawn and maybe a little brooding. He's an intellectual who has been cursed with being a werewolf, after all. From that I thought his walk - which is the animation that gets the most personality - should be pretty subdued, compared to the other characters, and he should be looking at the ground rather than straight forward. It's subtle, but hopefully reads just a little.
Audrey: And for Wolf Westley?
Mike: For Wolf Westley, the goal was to make him more feral, without going too far. To do this, I added some exaggerated chest breathing to his idle, arched his fingers and turned his hands inwards, then made his walk very 'stompy' to highlight the extra weight he was carrying around.
Giving a Werewolf a Voice
Questions answered by: Ray Chase (Voiceover Artist)
Audrey: Can you describe the direction you were given when portraying Westley? What types of personality traits, emotions, etc. did you need to convey?
Ray: Westley is a really deep character - and one who I was immediately drawn to. Going back through my auditions for this game, it looks like I only chose to audition for him and the reverend! I love how genteel he is - there's a huge part of me that wants to go run my own bookstore in a small village, so I'm playing out my own fantasies when I'm playing him. :D The voice director, Krizia, was a big help in dialing in just the right amount of werewolf into this character. He shouldn't be frightening, but rather be a warm wolfy snuggle.
Audrey: Westley's fans have become quite passionate From an acting perspective, what do you think is the secret sauce that makes him so appealing?
Ray: I'm definitely using my bedroom voice most of the time for this guy. I have heard that it can be...most enticing....
Audrey: Are there any lines or beats with Westley that stick out to you?
Ray: I'm a vegetarian, so it's always quite alarming when I have to do his butcher shop quotes! I can't believe he eats that much meat... But I guess it's better that he buys from a friend than go roaming the woods at night…
Big thanks to the incredible team for chatting with me! What other topics or characters would you love to see us cover? Tell us in the comment below.
As a final treat, I leave you with this amazing Halloween illustration of Westley and the kids created by our very own Content Creator, Tim Wilde!
Happy Halloween! 🎃
✨Audrey & the Studio Drydock Team
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