#also I think this is the first time I've actually drawn him shirtless lmao

[tyxaar]

They'll take everything you are and make you their own.

#Here's a quick thing I made to practice drawing hands and stuff #also I think this is the first time I've actually drawn him shirtless lmao #So yeah have some surreal Scar convex possession stuff! #tyx's art #mcyt #hermitblr #goodtimeswithscar #hermitcraft fanart #goodtimeswithscar fanart

[strangerthings4theories]

i think that weird monster thing we were shown is billy…i have absolutely no evidence or reason to back that up except for the fact that i say so lololol

Lmao well I think you've picked up on some evidence already, otherwise you wouldn't be saying that.

Character design is fundamental to filmmaking. And GOOD character design doesn't just look cool; it also communicates subtle things to the viewer in the blink of an eye. (I speak from experience because I was a freelance artist for years. I actually studied this.)

I believe the monster's design is supposed to suggest Billy, and it does so in surprisingly effective ways. Let's break down the design and see how.

1) Silhouette

As an artist, one of the first things you consider in designing a character is the silhouette. If you take away the details and just leave the outline, you want it to remain readable, informative, and impactful. You also want it to distinguish that character from all the others. If you designed a bunch of characters, told me they're supposed to be different, but their silhouettes all looked the same, I'd tell you to scrap them and try again.

The monster's silhouette doesn't do much to distinguish him from Billy. And that's either a failure of design or intentional. He's Billy-shaped. Same build. Same broad shoulders. Same head shape, even. All he's missing is the hair.

If, in my artist days, I'd wanted to design a monster that's - idk - a corrupted Billy-clone (!), I would've chosen this silhouette as a base.

2) Musculature

I'm just gonna say it, y'all. That monster's ripped. And there's only one character who we've seen shirtless time and time again, as if the show wants us to remember he's ripped.

I've made the point elsewhere that Billy's design puts him in the same camp as mythic Greek heroes (Hercules, Perseus, Achilles) and superheroes. This monster's in the same camp, but in a twisted sense. He's the dark, corrupted demi-god of the underworld. (A role that Billy played first... and ultimately rejected)

3) Those damn tentacles and outstretched hands 👀🤫

Callback to Starcourt? Check. Christ-on-the-cross pose? Check. Uhhhhh yup, this is intentionally referencing Billy.

4) The eyes

Lots of people have blue eyes, of course. But, given everything else I've described above, the fact that the monster has blue eyes too is ummmmm noteworthy??

And again, as with Billy's musculature, the show has drawn our attention to Billy's eyes multiple times, as if it wanted us to notice them.

5) The "drowning victim" vibe

This guy looks like a corpse that was dragged out of the deep ocean and reanimated after decaying for several months. Which is significant when the Upside Down is symbolically the deep ocean and the people it takes are drowning victims. (My post on this here)

Billy "drowned" eight-odd months ago. Now this corpsified monster dude has metaphorically crawled out of the water to greet us. Hell yeah I'm suspicious???

...

All that to say, @kiwii-lipstickstateofmind - you're picking up on more stuff than you give yourself credit for.

#billy hargrove #vecna #stranger things theory #stranger things analysis #stranger things 4 #stranger things #answering your mail