S Words

Worked all weekend on sword designs for the BFA, here's a low-res sneak peak

The idea was to come up with something that would feel futuristic, but still be identifiable as a sword. In the story, the sword is found stuck in a rock by some waterfalls. So I've been wrestling with keeping that detail from the story (cuz I think its awesome) and creating a science-fiction weapon - for example, in the future, they obviously wouldn't use plain, old metal swords. If they used any kind of hand-combat weapon, it would have to be much stronger and probably made out of some sort of crazy energy (like Halo's energy sword, or lightsabers from Star Wars). What kind of energy would it be? Light? Plasma? Electricity? And how would the hilt be designed? Would it be bulky? Slim?

All this considered, the sword has to look unique, one-of-a-kind. Its supposed to be a legendary weapon with hidden spiritual power - it can't look manufactured.

Sketches for my Show

I need your help: here are some sketches for characters I've been working on for my BFA show. I want your reactions to them - leave a comment, send me a message, email me, etc. about 2 things:

1. What costumes, designs, hair, any details that you like or don't like (ie what is appealing?)
2. What you think works with the context that I've written on each character, and/or any suggestions you might have to better fit that context

Here's the context for these:
The characters are reboot designs of an old fantasy video game called "Secret of Mana." Here's the original game art (and yeah, that's pretty much all of it). I wanted to redesign the characters in a science-fiction setting but still keep some of the fantasy feel to it. The 3 main characters are a boy, a girl, and a "sprite" child; here are there descriptions from the SNES game that I want to visualize

Boy: All physical ability, no magic, specializes with the sword. In the game, he comes from a small village, is somewhat timid and unsure of himself, and doesn't say much. He's resistant to his adventure at first but eventually accepts it, more out of a sense of duty than anything else.

Girl: Some physical ability, uses healing/defensive magic, specializes in martial-arts combat. She's the daughter of a nobleman in a large kingdom and is very talkative, but she's also hot-tempered and often lashes out recklessly.

Sprite: Low physical ability, uses offensive magic constantly. The comic-relief character who is somewhat unaware of emotional tension around him. Has an untamed, wild feel to him. Likes to play jokes and trick people. In this science-fiction version, he uses advanced technology instead of magic