EXPANDING THE CAST

You've seen Disney's Robin Hood, but you found yourself wondering what happened to Robin's other Merry Men (besides Little John)...and, perhaps, some of the other characters from the old legends.  Here's your chance to bring them to life (at least here on Robin Hood Source!)

 

Now, there are a handful of original fan-created characters already posted on Robin Hood Source, and you are welcome to peruse them if you wish.  However, this contest is not about creating original fan characters, but in fleshing out (in the manner and style of Disney's animated Robin Hood movie) extant characters from the original Robin Hood legends and ballads.  So the rules here are going to be pretty well-defined, and you'll need to follow them implicitly in order to have a chance at winning. 

If you have any questions, feel free to post a comment below or send me a private message.  I'll do my best to answer them for you, or to point you in a direction where you might be able to get the answers you seek.
 

Here's What You Need To Do

If you're game to give this a try, what you need to do is select one, or more, of the characters listed below...each of which is an actual character who appeared, at one time or another (or often) in the various legends and ballads of Robin Hood, but not in the Disney movie.  You're going to create a character sheet for each (within the standard rules of Animation Source), and taking into account any rudimentary information noted below.  Look at the links provided to get a summary of each character, and then it will be time to put your imagination, as well as your writing and/or artistic talents to good use!  You'll be creating a character suitable for inclusion in Disney's Robin Hood cast (NOTE: this is not an actual Disney contest, nor will it be included in the official movie cast list.  It is only for Robin Hood Source, and is neither sponsored nor authorized by the Disney company).

At the conclusion of this contest, three winners will be selected for each character (if there are enough entrants for each): a first, second and third place winner for each.  We have no substantive "prizes" to offer other than the recognition, on Robin Hood Source and Animation Source (via a fan news), of the winners.  And then, of course, your character will appear on Robin Hood Source, in the character section, for as long as you want it to be there.

The Rules

1. You may not create any original characters to post as either members of Robin Hood's band of Merry Men, or as villains or other ancillary characters.  Your design(s) MUST be selected from one or more of the existing characters listed below.  And you can do your own design/bio for a character someone else is working on or has already submitted.  Remember, we're looking for the best submissions for each (and there are only a limited number of characters to choose from anyway).
    
2. The characters must not be unrealistic.  I realize that the anthropomorphic animals who are in Disney's Robin Hood cast are, technically, unrealistic.  But they are based firmly upon real animals with foundations in the real world.  In other words, the animals don't have wings, glowing eyes, unnatural skin or fur colors, two heads, four arms, ten tails, etc.  And there are NO dragons, unicorns, chimeras or other fantasy or science fiction creatures. 
    
3. Your character cannot be a human or humanoid (no humans, no elves, no dwarves, no goblins or trolls or anything like that).
    
4. Your character must be an animal which exists on Earth, in the real world, and in the present day.  It cannot be an extinct animal (in other words, no dinosaurs, no sabre-toothed cats, etc.).  But they can otherwise be ANY animal which exists in the present-day real world.  (Under the character creation page, when you get to "Animal/Human Type", if the animal does not appear in the list, simply use "other".  Don't use "unknown".  If, however, it is a type of bird, for example, but the specific species is not listed, please use "bird".)
    
5. You must flesh out your character with a good written biography.  Give them a decent backstory and description.  Good spelling and grammar DO count!  Take the time to edit and spell-check your work!
    
6. You will need to provide both a head shot and a full body shot for your character.  These must be original artwork either created by you or by another fan artist who has agreed to do this for you.  You MAY NOT use artwork without an artist's permission!  (Trust me, I'll check on that.  There must be credit given to the original artist, and a link to some gallery of theirs either on Tumblr, DeviantArt or another site, so that this can be confirmed.  If the artwork is yours, you must prove it.)    No photographs!
    
7. Absolutely NO gory, bloody, violent, sexually-deviant or profane material will be accepted.  And anything submitted of that nature will be reported to the moderators for deletion.  Keep in mind the nature of Disney's Robin Hood movie.  Blood, gore and death are not shown, nor is anything which is blatant and/or sexually-explicit or profane.  Keep it clean and above-board please.  And let's keep the issue of sexual preference down to the barest minimum (I don't care whether it's heterosexual, homosexual, bixsexual or transgender).  You can discuss romantic affiliations, but keep in mind, again, that you're fleshing out EXISTING characters, whose romantic feelings, to varying degrees, have already been established within the boundaries of European medieval and renaissance cultural norms.  We're not reinventing the wheel here.
    

Some Helpful Examples

If you're in need of help in designing characters, there are some resources for you that can give you ideas (each will pop up in a new browser window).  First, here is a topic, from the Animation Source fan forum (under "General Fan & Roleplaying").  This was written by former long-time member Nattikay and, while a bit on the long-ish side, is a fantastic resource for character development!  Check it out:

/board/natti-s-guide-to-creating-characters-t34118.html

There are a few original fan characters on Robin Hood Source which have been created by Animation Source members.  Two of them, specifically, are excellent examples of what you can do with a character biography:

/robin_hood/en/chars/Fiona_Fi_AWJ/47951.html

/robin_hood/en/chars/Dayne/54962.html
 

You don't specifically have to design your characters like the ones above, but these give you a good idea of what a member of Animation Source can do with a character biography when they really are being quite creative!
 

Finally--The Character Selections

Below you will find the choice of characters you can work on.  You can do as few or as many as you wish, but only one bio for each character, taking into account what has already been noted (and provided) above.  Please also note the deadline for the contest.  And good luck!  I can't wait to see what you guys come up with!
 

ROBIN HOOD'S MERRY MEN: Well, beyond Little John, we don't really get to see any of the well-known members of Robin Hood's band of "Merry Men".  We DO see Allan-a-Dale but, in the Disney movie, he's not portrayed as a member of the band, but rather as a narrator and occasional participant in the action.  Here are the other equally-famous members of the band who appeared in the various versions of the legend over the centuries:

- Will Scarlet

- Much, the Miller's son

Aaand then a look at some of the lesser-known members...(with names such as "Will Stutley", "Gilbert with the White Hand", "David of Doncaster", "Walt o' The Crabstaff", "Gamble Gold", "George-a-Greene" and "Arthur-a-Bland")
 

VILLAINS: There aren't many additions really.  Robin occasionally ran into a corrupt priest or lord, but the most noteworthy villain who has been seen, in different forms (and sometimes portrayed by some actors better than others), is:

- Guy of Gisborne

There are also, occasionally, wives or lovers of the merry men (and even of villains), but they are usually not specifically named (though, in the modern day, certain female characters have been added in movies and television series, and occasional novels).

Look through the links above, for the specific-named individuals, and you will find a working foundation upon which to build a character for them.  Again, good luck!

Members who have joined the contest :

Mighty

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Entries submitted :

• /robin_hood/en/chars... by Mightybalto1925 (March 10, 2016)

Last comments

BaltoSep pala	March 11, 2016
	O' Cap'n My Cap'n!

Thank you for the contribution, Mighty! I commented on the character page. It's really quite a good interpretation!

BaltoSep pala	March 10, 2016
	O' Cap'n My Cap'n!

Definitely! Thanks - looking forward to it!

Mighty	March 10, 2016
	Site Builder (Content), Site Builder (Gr...
	M-awesome

I have my entry sent! Once he's activated, do you want me to link him here?

BaltoSep pala	March 06, 2016
	O' Cap'n My Cap'n!

Ah thanks. Corrected.

Mighty	March 06, 2016
	Site Builder (Content), Site Builder (Gr...
	M-awesome

I'm not the greatest at witting stuffs (creativity-wise), but I'm just doing this for the fun of it. By the way, I noticed a small error in your instructions. Instead of writing "look at the links provided", you wrote "Look the links provided". It's under "here's what you need to do".

BaltoSep pala	March 05, 2016
	O' Cap'n My Cap'n!

Awesome! I look forward to seeing what you come up with, Mighty!

Mighty	March 05, 2016
	Site Builder (Content), Site Builder (Gr...
	M-awesome

I think I may give Will Scarlet a go.

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