Project Wardens: Introducing Liam
Art by Koseki
The Champion’s Apprentice
Glorified by the Anarch as an unkillable bringer of destruction and judgement upon the errant and the wretched, Vincent is an icon of merciless might and perhaps one of the greatest, most terrifying warriors ever to be found in Slayer’s Valley. Vincent himself cares little for such hollow things as reputations or impressions. Instead, his heart and mind are pledged to the child he has kept safe in the shelter of his shadow.
Liam was found as an infant in the arms of his dying father by Vincent shortly before his rise to Championship. Under Vincent’s wing, Liam has trained in the arts of combat and survival from Vincent with reverent fervor, adopting his discipline while adopting his own techniques and philosophies, some inspired by Vincent and others exclusively of his own design. With time, Liam will no doubt become a warrior on par with his teacher and guardian.
Despite his promise, however, Vincent seems hesitant to let Liam in on the full extend of his Champion duties, enacting strict curfews and bringing him along for only the safest, most routine missions. Although he never questioned it before, Liam has begun to worry that Vincent does not think him ready for the burdens of champion. Liam is determined to prove his worth as a warrior and show Vincent that he can stand by Vincent’s side, but such a demonstration means jumping into unknown territory and perhaps even rebellion against his mentor.
Who is Liam?
Rejoice! The unnamed apprentice is unnamed no longer!
Liam is the main character of Project Wardens’ first book and shares the role of protagonist with Vincent across the entire series. While not foreign, he is still fairly fresh when it comes to the day-to-day ordeals of the Western Anarchies.
Estimated to be around 15-16 years of age, Liam has spent almost his entire life under Vincent and respects him as a swordsman, instructor, and father figure. His relationship dwells within a murky middle ground between professional and familial—neither Liam nor Vincent are sure what to make of their feelings—but Liam is more likely to call Vincent “sir” than “dad.”
Under Vincent, Liam has inherited a similar set of moral values, albeit with the small luxury of exposure to the Western Anarchies’ virulence from a safe distance (unlike Vincent, who was literally dropped into the Anarchies). Now, Liam believes he is now old enough to strong enough to experience the world for himself, but Vincent seems very keen on keeping him out of most of his Slayer’s Valley-related affairs.
Outside of Vincent, his relationships are somewhat sparse, if not contained into the Anarch’s inner circle. Violet herself acts as a second mentor, freely sharing insights on the Western Anarchies that Vincent would either not have shared or not known in the first place. Liam’s closest friend within his age group is a fellow apprentice and the daughter of champions from a neighboring junta, Kappa Vulti. When brought together by circumstance, the two share a strong connection as both supportive confidants and good-natured rivals, sharing thoughts, gossip, and perhaps a spar or two if time permits.
In regards to fighting styles, Liam’s arsenal of choice is a broadsword and a wrist-strapped buckler shield. Knowing he lacks the size, strength, and inhuman tolerance for pain that Vincent possesses, he instead vouches for a more adaptive approach, taking what he’s learned from Vincent to build a more agile and precision-focused technique while retaining strong defensive composure as well. When a weakness reveals itself, Liam capitalizes on it with a skillful, high-velocity offense incorporating both sword strikes and martial blows.
Behind the Scenes
While Vincent is an old staple to the development and Violet is a more recent addition, Liam is somewhere in between: a new incarnation of an older concept. Earlier incarnations of Vincent were usually accompanied in the story by some sort of teenager, but said character has varied in origin, temperament, gender, etc. as I tried to figure out what would best suit Vincent, the story, and the character in question. As you saw, I couldn’t even decide on a proper name for the character until very recently.
The “Bad*ss and Child Duo,” as named by TVTropes, has been pretty common in media as of late. Booker and Elizabeth, Joel and Ellie, Mando and the Child, Hunter/the Bad Batch and Omega, Kratos and Atreus, Brutus and Pixie, and plenty more examples in between. When done well, it allows both characters to thrive as two parts of a greater whole, matching a cool, take-no-sh*t antihero attitude with an innocent counterpart to teach, protect, and in turn provide comfort and a moral comfort. If it’s done poorly, however, neither character benefits, personalities become oversimplified and/or flanderized, and the tag-along potentially ends up as little else but baggage or an annoyance.
To that end, I wanted to make sure Liam was actually written like a character and not just an item or an escort mission, so I decided to make them more of a full-on teacher-student/guardian-child relationship. Rather than meeting each other and changing their lives suddenly, Vincent and Liam have been together nearly as long as the latter has been alive. Instead of being helpless, Liam is fully combat-trained and self-sufficient to a fault. The main driver of their relationship, then, is Liam’s drive to grow and meet Vincent as an equal.
Liam’s design, while not final, is planned to embody Liam’s identity as a warrior-in-training: A lightweight, youth-invoking outfit suitable for an apprentice and meant to go with form-fitting and flexible pieces of bronze plating.
UPDATE 6/1/2022: As of today, this blog post now features Koseki’s art sketch of Liam!
More to Come…
That wraps up introductions for Project Wardens’ big three characters. Next time I talk about Wardens here, it’ll probably involve lore, locations and organizations. In the meantime, I’ll be zeroing in on Project Wardens and making sure it’s ready for its early ’23 release window. Thank you as always for your support and look forward to what’s up next!