Stinging Ant Monster Based on an Enemy from Altered Beast

I’ve been making it a point to take inspiration from classic game characters. Having revisited old games like Mega Man, Altered Beast, and even Zelda, I’ve noticed there is a level of originality in those games that, my opinion, just isn’t achieved anymore in sci-fi culture. Quite often, most modern sci-fi concepts have a root in what was produced in the 80’s. A perfect example, of course, is how Riddly Scott’s Alien movie set a standard and a foundation for the majority of sci-fi culture afterward.

So, I was playing Altered Beast with my son, and noticed these strange ants that walked upright with their stingers protruding outward. I found them wonderfully original, if not a little goofy. But, strange though it was, I looked past the pixel-depiction and saw something truly scary and hellish.

Here is a creature inspired from that upright-walking-wasp from Altered Beast. The screenshots from Zbrush might seem a little dark, but these are still in production, yet to be retopo’d, rigged, and animated.