Smiling Army - Battle of Lost Souls

Demenue- a fighter for the resistance that stands in opposition to the Smiling Army- faces off, perhaps for the first time, against one of his opponents' greatest champions: General Lightoller, the Smiling General. At this point, Demenue has been disarmed, his primary weapon dispatched by his enemy. He is by no means without defense as his protective gauntlets can not only deflect blows, but when combined with his considerable strength they can be deadly weapons as well.

Lightoller, meanwhile, feels nothing as he strikes, slashes and darts between the blows of his quarry. The General has no remaining shreds of humanity, but is instead an instrument of dark energies- the arm of an unseen, unknowable being. He will not tire and he will give no quarter.

In this state, Demenue cannot hope to defeat the General. Were he not blinded by loss and rage, he might be able to see this. He will fight to his dying breath to destroy the Smiling Army that stole his home, his life and his love from him.

I imagine that shortly after this scene, Judy or another member of the resistance would have to swoop in to rescue Demenue or at least help him drive back Lightoller so they can make good their escape. Not sure what will bring about the end of Lightoller, but I'm sure it will take more than Demenue can dish out on his own, especially without his proper weaponry.

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This is my entry for 's contest. You guys should check it out-- there's great prizes up for grabs! In the meantime, I hope you enjoy my entry.
I used a lot of color and design reference directly from ol' Zeebs to pulls this together. I've enjoyed the cityscapes he puts in the background of some of his Smiling Army artwork, so I took a stab at it-- real fun to draw.
As for the characters themselves, I love their designs. It was hard to pick which ones to draw, but I liked how both of these characters have lost themselves in this conflict in very real ways-- Demenue had his wife and home destroyed by the Smiling Army, and Lightoller had his mind and body taken over by them.

OKAY-- Check that contest:
Smiling Army Art Contest! Cash + Art Prizes WithinYo yo, friends!
If you're one of my watchers by this point you must be familiar with the New Zikantian Empire and their military the Smiling Army. Led by their king Zebesian, the Smiling Army has conquered most of their world and assimilated it into their empire. As their stranglehold on the planet tightens they turn their aim towards darker pursuits, proceeding with strange experiments and even going as far as trying to shape reality itself. As darkness looms ever higher over the world it seems that all resistance to Zikantia has died out... That won't stop Judy, an old friend of Zebesian's, from trying to get through to him though...
I'm planning on doing more with this setting soon and I figured a contest would be the perfect way to build up to it!
The rules are simple. Create a piece of art based on the characters that inhabit the Smiling Army's world! Pretty simple right? You can go as big or as small as you want and include as many or as few of the characters as you'd like. Artis
Check those references: