Giant Tree Grub

Here is the sketch I did for an npc inspired by the demon/dark souls games.  I was thinking the grub would either not be in the tree at all at first and would either climb up the back of it to reveal itself or be curled up in a ball only revealing it's face after you action the tree (or break one of the eggs at the base of the tree).  As for the eggs I was thinking they would either be the offspring of the grub or fallen enemies that it has put into cocoons (explaining why you could buy items from him?) I was thinking the tree would be a mixture of bug like arms and organic growth mixed in with the roots.  Another idea I still need to sketch out was having one of the arms (either from the tree or the grub) extended out to the player with either a human-like mask or a "scarecrow" like figure that it would use to talk to the player.  Also like all npcs in the series if you break too many of it's eggs it becomes hostile and your only choice now is to kill it.

I love the idea of the human mask or scarecrow to communicate with players. Creepy in the best way. You also mentioned revealing it's face after you action it, I think that would be cool, particularly if part of how it was camouflaged was with the "mixture of bug like arms and organic growth mixed in with the roots" you referenced.

I think it would be worth thumbnailing a bunch of possible "grub/creature" designs, all while referencing, real world grubs, leaches, slugs, caterpillars, or any other similar real world creature, to draw inspiration from, and lend believability to your design.

Also you said the character is a grub, does that mean that this creature is meant to be the larva of an insect, or something?

I guess it could be the larva of a later boss in the game. Otherwise I was just using a grub as inspiration for this creature that lives in this tree. I didn't plan on it ever changing it's state although that would be cool to have it change through the progression of the game forcing you to eventually kill it (maybe after you create this bond as a friendly npc?)

That could be cool, then you could show what a few of the progressive stages look like.

I'm sure you have probably stumble across most of this reference, but I thought I would share anyway. Here is some stuff that might be cool to incorporate in terms of color, form, and design.

I LOVE the idea that it talks to people through a puppet. That would be the best reveal if you spend the whole game buying stuff from this weird scarecrow and then he is suddenly revealed to be a boss fight or something.

Oh my goodness, I now officially have the creepy-crawlies with all the bug photos first thing this morning! Ha ha ha!

I like the concept a lot. The grub being modified to look more like some of the examples above (more texture to the body) would be great. His form looks almost like a cloud with a stinger and bug face right now, but grubs are kinda lumpy.

The composition of the piece is awesome. I love the scale with having the human in the piece. Really gives the grub a dominant presence.

If the photos of the bugs gave me the willies, when this guy gets fleshed out, I may just have to stay out of this thread.

That's a great design, and I love the idea of your piece being a character and apart of the environment.