For the final in my Character Design class, I had to design four characters and draw them interacting. I decided to use the same characters from my comic class final. These characters follow tropes from the “otome isekai” genre in manga and manhwa.

The first character is Cassandra, the designated “villainess” and also the main character of my comic. She was reincarnated into the world of a novel she once read as the villainess who was fated to a doomed ending. To avoid this, she spent her new life working towards changing that ending. She manages to stay as the Crown Prince’s fiance and the future queen of the empire, but comes to regret following the rules set out for her character, seeing the new ending as just another bad ending, but at least she’s not executed in this one.

Next is Dahlia, the original main character and heroine of the novel. Originally, she was meant to be tormented by Cassandra before being saved by the male leads and getting her “happy ending” with the Crown Prince. In this new version of the novel’s timeline, she became Cassandra’s good friend. Dahlia helped Cassandra find some solace in her friendship and taught her to appreciate and enjoy this new chance of life in a fantasy world.

The next two characters were possible love interests for Dahlia in the original novel. Ruediger was the Grand Duke’s heir and Cassandra’s older brother. Like Cassandra, he is bound and lives strictly by his duty as the heir. Although in the novel world, he was the second male lead, he was also destined to become Cassandra’s executor. In the new timeline, Ruediger surprisingly became one of Cassandra’s closest ally and friend.

Lucas was the male lead for Dahlia in the novel and the Crown Prince of the empire they live in. He is more care free but greatly burdened and restricted by his duty as the Crown Prince, which is why he originally fell for the carefree Dahlia. In the new timeline, he stays betrothed to Cassandra, but also views the marriage as only his duty, both of them ultimately unhappy.