Waking up on a cold hospital bed with no human presence in sight for miles while wearing nothing but sneakers and a pair of leg-hugging shorts only to find out you’re suddenly painted with black glowing tattoos all over your body and a random spike sticking out the back of your neck, is an introduction to Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne’s post-apocalyptic world. Here are 30 creepy but inspiring SMT Nocturne fan art drawings.
For starters, I’m a huge gaming nerd. I love all types of games, especially if it has unique gameplay, great art, and a compelling story. Video games have been immensely inspirational for me in creating my art. And SMT Nocturne was one of them.
Table Of Contents
- Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne Background
- 30 Inspiring SMT Nocturne Fan Art Drawings (By a Concept Artist)
- How Does SMT Nocturne Relate to Positivity?
SMT: Nocturne for Switch & PS4 Game Overview
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne was released in North America in 2003 and was published by Atlus for the Playstation 2. It was a ‘sleeper hit’ Japanese RPG (role-playing game) that went under the radar when released in North America. It is the third game in the Shin Megami Tensei series. If you’ve never played these games, I’ll say this: they’re hard. And not just hard. Screaming at your screen and controller-smashing hard.
Quick Plot Overview:
Earth has been turned into a desolate planet after an apocalypse was set on by a demonic cult. The apocalypse’s purpose was to remake the world, to give it a ‘clean slate’. The human race is basically extinct except for a few characters. Oh yeah, and Earth has been overrun by demons. Did I mention the main character (Hitoshura) gets turned into a Demi-Fiend: half demon, half human? As you traverse through a post-apocalyptic Tokyo, you meet other powerful demons. Many are your enemies but some you can recruit to your party. As the Demi-Fiend you have the power to shape the world in any way you wish. Not the happiest story, especially during these times. But with the right decisions, you could create an outcome of your choosing. Even if it took me 85 hours to complete!
30 Inspiring SMT Nocturne Switch Fan Drawings
*All artwork posted is drawn by me. The characters & IP depicted are Copyrighted by and are Property of Atlus/Atlus Sega. The character designs depicted were created by Kazuma Kaneko and the concept art team for the developer(s) and publishers of the game at the time of making SMT Nocturne.
Though the story and characters are quite grim, Nocturne’s ideas, gameplay, and designs are engaging and thought-provoking. SMT Nocturne was one of the games that inspired me from a young age to become an industry artist and work in video games. It played a big role in shaping my artistic style and the stories I create. Since I enjoyed the game so much, I decided to draw some SMT Nocturne fan art of my favorite characters and scenes. This post features sketches, color variations, and even a few finished pieces. (I was originally going to make a fan art book based on SMT Nocturne but have been quite busy with my other projects. Hopefully it will be a project I can fit into my schedule when I’m not as busy.)
Keep reading to check out some of the fan art I drew. These were mainly done for fun and drawing practice as I don’t draw characters as much as environments.
Moirae Sisters at the Obelisk
I wanted to draw this scene because it was so memorable and epic. But not because it was all good.
Honestly, the battles during this dungeon was one of the hardest and most unforgiving in Nocturne. I really wanted to scream at my tv. That’s why I remember this part so much!
I wanted to turn a somewhat unsavory experience into something inspiring and fun to look at.
Characters 1 – Atropos and Sakahagi Sketches
I loved these characters because of their unique designs.
Atropos’ cloth headpiece is distinct and I love her scissors. I drew them a bit bigger, with a gestural swoosh for movement (I love how movement is illustrated in artwork). She has such a feminine yet sleek and bad-a$$ design. Definitely one of my favorite female characters.
On the left, is Sakahagi. I drew and colored him in the “Persona” style. He’s one of the rogue darker characters in SMT Nocturne. If you’ve already played it, you’ll know what the faces on his outfit are – creepy!
But I always liked him because he has well, a kinda mohawk, for starters. You could say he’s a rebel in his society.
It’s All About the Demons
You can’t have an SMT video game without your demons, fiends, and pixies! After all, you need them for your party.
I drew some of my favorite familiars on this page.
The top left is a demonic horse with eyes on its neck. It’s the steed to Rider (top middle), one of the Hunters of the Candelabra. I don’t like skeletons but I do like them when they’re drawn in a stylized way. I like sketching them because they’re easier for me to sketch than drawing a regular person. I’m not great at sketching muscles but bones . . . well, THAT I can draw! The definition, detail, and boniness of a skeleton helps me map out my anatomy more precisely and it’s easier for me to draw in bone structures as it’s more rigid and less gestural at times.
On the bottom row is another memorable SMT Nocturne scene but it’s more hopeful than other events in the game. And yes, I had to draw a pixie. They’re the Shin Megami Tensei staple of demon that have been in EVERY SMT game. This wouldn’t be true SMT Nocturne fan art if I didn’t throw in a pixie.
On the far right is one of my favorite SMT Nocturne characters, Setanta. Most, if not all SMT demons are based on mythological characters and creatures from all sorts of worldly lore. And Setanta is no exception. He’s based off an Irish mythological figure who was famed for being a boy warrior whose father was the sky god, Lugh.
He’s one of my favorite characters in SMT Nocturne mainly because of his scarf and his ‘Beatles’ haircut. He has such a bad a$$ design and wields a spear. Nice. Definitely one of the cooler looking characters in the game (in my opinion).
Lachesis
Again, more Moirae sisters fan art, specifically Lachesis. She made such an impression on me when I first saw her. But only because she was a nightmare boss (at least when I fought her).
I created the bust below to help me paint characters better as it’s not something that comes easy for me. I added the trademark Nocturne square design in the background with a red/pinkish tint and some black wisps, sticking to Nocturne’s main color aesthetic. If you look closely, the SMT trademark eyelashes are in there.
In true concept art fashion, I draw characters in multiple poses and expressions. Doing this helps with replicating the subjects and drawing them over. This is a skill that’s absolutely necessary and is required in concept art. So I tried doing this with Lachesis. I also need a bit more practice drawing women as I mostly draw men. You’ll be seeing more of her in this post.
Lachesis Sketches and “The Jacks”
This page shows digitally painted sketches of some of my favorite SMT Nocturne characters. On the bottom left are Pyro Jack, Jack Frost, and Black Frost. The top right is a first color pass of a Hitoshura sketch (main character). Jack Frost is basically the mascot of SMT Nocturne and the SMT series. It’s so comforting seeing such cute ‘demons’ in a world where that’s filled with scary monsters. The “Jacks” have very fun designs.
Here’s a brief look at my drawing process. I start with very rough sketches (below). It doesn’t need to be perfect as long as it gets the point across. I then do a solid color fill (above) and from there, digitally paint in soft shadows and highlights. There are also color palettes by the drawings to help speed me up when painting and to stick to a particular color palette.
The Main Character: Hitoshura or Demi-Fiend
Can’t have SMT Nocturne fan art without the main character, Hitoshura.
As a concept artist, I’m used to creating multiple variations of one drawing as part of my design process. It’s something the job requires you to do as it’s extremely idea and design-based, but not every variation needs to be perfect. You can see below I made different color palettes for the character. Each bust looks slightly different in terms of color and gives off a unique feel.
The bust on the right is larger because it’s my focal point and the final color design I chose. I like the cooler shadows with a slight blush color on the skin. Some details are left out, as this is mainly a sketch and for color purposes.
Below is the final image of Hitoshura with a Nocturne aesthetic in the background – reds and blacks. Sorry I didn’t put in those extra stripes on his face. Hopefully I can when I have the time to go back into it.
Why SMT Nocturne?
I enjoy drawing things that inspire me. I especially love characters and environments that have unique designs I’ve never seen that challenge reality. I’ll admit, I’m guilty of leaning into some of the more creepy ideas and images. I don’t like scary or horrific images but I do enjoy things that are a little out there and different. Honestly, when I first saw Nocturne’s character designs when I was 17, it creeped me out.
I remember when I was around 12 inside a Funco Land (now Game Stop). I searched the rack of PS1 games. And then I saw it . . . A girl and a boy on the cover where the female had glowing hearts on her “chest pockets”. I’ll be honest, I didn’t like the art at first. It didn’t fit into my expectations and ideas of what game art was supposed to look like. But that’s what made it so unique. Little did I know that game series would become one of my favorites and insanely popular world wide, the Persona games.
It was such a unique style, that it felt inaccessible to me. But as I started playing more games in the series, I began to appreciate Nocturne’s style more. Its art has really grown on me over the years. I hope you enjoyed these images.
But SMT Nocturne is Scary, How is that Positive Inspiration?
On Drawism, I do my best to provide positive ways of tackling art, artist problems, and the mental obstacles of creativity. One of those being positive inspiration.
“But SMT Nocturne can be kind of depressing, not to mention all the scary looking skeletons and demons running around in a world where humans are basically extinct.”
I totally agree, Nocturne is a dark game and not for everyone. It’s an acquired taste.
Positive inspiration isn’t just rainbows and unicorns. It’s the villains, the impossible challenges, and the unknown frightening possibilities that make us want to create and inspire for the better.
This doesn’t mean when bad things happen, they’re okay. They’re absolutely 1000% not okay. But these happenings can and have inspired positive change in wanting to make the world better.
“Positive inspiration isn’t just rainbows and unicorns. It’s the villains, the impossible challenges we face, and the unknown frightening possibilities that make us create for the better.”
– DRAWISM.com
Check Out More Exciting Fan Art & Pop Culture Inspired Drawing Tutorials
For even more imaginative pop culture inspiration, art, and freebies, check out these other amazing and easy drawing tutorials + game related articles below!
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- How to Draw an Adorable Yoshi Egg in 3 Minutes for Beginners & Kids | Post
- Free Studio Ghibli Inspired Backgrounds Download for Breathtaking Landscape Art | Post + Freebie
- How to Draw a Stylized ‘Six’ Character Design from “Little Nightmares” | Post + Freebie
- ‘The Matrix’ Photoshoot: 12 Cinematic Pics for Heroic & Imaginative Inspiration | Post
- 10 Things to Draw When You’re Bored to Jumpstart Your Creativity | Post
- 9 Fantastic Drawing Exercises to Instantly Improve Your Art + Free Printable Drawing Sheets | Freebie
After all this creative talk and fun imagery, I hope you enjoyed these SMT Nocturne fan art drawings. If there’s something that inspires you, try drawing it or making your own fan art. Thanks for reading and see you in the next post!
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