"The fate of the galaxy shouldn't be in the hands of 5 twenty-somethings, but- eh, well, it is."

​

I'm super into color theory and what colors can represent in stories. There are certain things you can bet on any color representing (red meaning passion, or purple meaning mystery), but in particular, I love when a story creates its own color motifs, specific to itself.

​

I was introduced to the trope of the "five man band" while I was doing research for a new project. The "five man band" is a term used to describe a phenomenon where groups of five main characters in a story each assume a different position in one of five recurring character types: a leader, a lancer (the leader's "foil"), the heart (the emotional core), the "big guy" (the strongest/toughest), and the "smart guy" (the smartest, usually a nerd). You can find these character dynamics in the likes of Sailor Moon or Avatar: the Last Airbender. The characters tend to be color coded to hammer home their individual qualities and set them apart from each other. I wanted to play with this idea of the popular "five man band" dynamic and create a team of five characters who would each fill one role in the beginning, but through their adventures and their growing relationships with each other, fill a different role. Instead of color coding the characters themselves, I'd color code their role in the group, a distinction that thus far hasn't really been made in popular media because those two ideas are so closely connected.

​

I used green to represent the leader, blue to represent the heart, red to represent the lancer, purple to represent the "smart guy", and yellow to represent the "big guy". Audien starts out as the "big guy" because in a non-combat setting, big guys are marked by their loyalty and deep friendships with everyone else on the team. When one tough decision needs to be made and the leader's decision rubs him the wrong way, he ends up becoming more of a lancer, questioning the leader when moral decisions hit a serious grey area. Cat starts out as a lancer, ultimately being incredibly vexing and ignoring even her own better judgement, but she becomes the smart guy when she gets over some suppressed insecurities and embraces the advantages of her street smarts and life experiences. Kris starts off as the heart of the group, there to keep everyone grounded. Over time, they learn to appreciate the powers they'd previously been too afraid to use and ultimately they become the group's "big guy". Luka starts off as a leader-type because he exhibits all the stereotypical traits of a leader: charisma, an authoritative tone, quick-thinking. These traits, however, are extremely superficial and his qualifications for leading such an important group are quite unfounded. He learns this the hard way and through intense self-reflection, becomes the heart of the team. Lastly, Jasper starts off as the "smart guy". Unlike Cat, he's more book smart than street smart. This proves to not matter a whole lot, given that the galaxy doesn't much care what your textbooks say about it. He's still an incredibly soft-spoken and well-meaning individual though, and ultimately assumes the position of leader in the group. The color of each character's superhero outfit correlates to the role they'd fill by the end of the series, where the color of their more casual attire is how they begin.

​

In terms of the actual story, I planned for this to be a one-season cartoon. It would begin with Audien, Kris, Luka, and Jasper (four friends living on an enormous space ship that the last of humanity calls home) walking on an abandoned planet during a pit stop and stumbling upon a small old ship called "Siren", named such by the last five pilots of the ship who acted as a sort of inter-galactic vigilante justice unit. The name "Siren" came from the old Earth concept of firetrucks turning on their sirens when on their way to help people. I still have a lot of t's to cross and i's to dot in terms of specifics, but the story would begin with them each being given a gem that gives them a specific ability. More than that, the power they're given also gives the ship certain attributes. For example, if the yellow gem (electricity) is activated, the owner of the yellow gem can also arm the ship with defensive ammunition in case the ship is attacked. Their first mission is to find Cat, the last remaining member of Siren's last crew. With her gem granting her invisibility, she can also camouflage the ship. The over-arching goal of the season is for the team to defeat Volucris, a bird-themed supervillain who's been wreaking havoc across the galaxy. They just so happen also want to help out any planets-in-need that they come across along the way.

​