“A grim ferryman watches over the rivers and streams, Charon, dreadful in his squalor, with a mass of unkempt white hair straggling from his chin: flames glow in his eyes, a dirty garment hangs, knotted from his shoulders. He poles the boat and trims the sails himself, and ferries the dead in his dark skiff, old now, but a god’s old age is fresh and green.”
– Virgil, Aeneid, 1st Century BC
The Greek underworld is a labyrinthian location that plays a pivotal role in the tales of some of SMITE’s most beloved gods. What better way to dive back into such a thrilling and intriguing setting than alongside the one who knows all its twists and turns from Elysium to Tartarus – Charon.
The Ferryman is responsible for transporting souls across the five rivers of Hades, delivering them to their final resting place depending on their actions during life. However, not just anyone is welcome on the barge of the damned – a payment of one coin would be required, which was brought with the soul to the afterlife should they have received a proper funeral.
As a child of two primordial deities, Charon’s duty is eternal, yet he performs it without complaint. He works closely alongside the other chthonic gods to ensure order, and without him, the underworld would surely fall into chaos. Though the ever-dutiful Charon is well-respected amongst the gods, he is not typically the star of the show: often playing a supporting role in the background of some of the most popular Greek myths, including that of Odysseus, Theseus, and many others.
After the upheaval of the Season of Souls, is it only fitting that Charon must emerge from the depths of the underworld to finish what has been started. He will not stand idly by as the mortal realms are haunted by malefic spirits and ghastly ghouls.
OUR VISION
Though historically Charon is often depicted as an ugly, disheveled old man, we wanted SMITE’s depiction to truly embody the strength and prowess an ageless chthonic deity would possess in both his visuals and his playstyle.
Additionally, from minute one, we decided that Charon could not be the ferryman we’d imagined without his trusty boat at his side at all times. This conclusion drove the team to come up with creative solutions to fully realize that idea, and we are thrilled with how fun it feels to sail into battle.
CORE THEMES
Theme – Ferryman of the Underworld – Charon at his core is a being with motifs of death, water, and souls. Piecing each of these elements into place is what separates him from the likes of his fellow chthonic counterparts.
Visuals - Skeletal but Strong – SMITE’s Charon is a unique combination of traditional expectations as well as exaggerated fantastical tropes. Though he is a skeleton, he visually aligns with the typical frontliner in his armored garb.
Personality - Aged Wisdom – Charon is one of the eldest deities within Greek mythos, thus he brings experience and knowledge to the battlefield that few other gods possess.
Perspective - An Unsuspected Savior – The Ferryman arrives at the time the gods needed him most. With Maui and Anubis lost in the depths of the underworld after their defeat by Surtr’s hand, Charon is the only one that could guide them to safety.
ARTISTIC PROCESS
From the get go, we knew SMITE’s Charon should feel unique from other media representations, but we weren’t quite sure in what way. He was always intended to be a guardian, but we tried a number of different silhouettes to see how far we could stretch that idea. From floating specters to boat-taurs, our goals remained the same; make him creepy, make him cool, and most importantly, make him look tough.
We settled on a design that pushed him in a more typical humanoid direction, but we ended up falling in love with the skeletal elements from some other sketches. In traditional fantasy, skeletons are thought to be weak underlings, falling apart if a bone or two gets knocked out of place. Our challenge became making a skeleton feel like a fearsome foe – one that could withstand millennia of fierce battles.
The result featured a towering skeleton with a combination of tattered cloth and detailed armor pieces. The team initially favored a design with a full-length skirt, but considering the rigging and animation constraints of the additional boat and oar props that were yet to come, we crafted a partial skirt design that helped to both alleviate technical concerns and give him the traditional ferryman vibe.
To further hone into details that would make Charon’s identity shine, we designed coin mail elements on his skirt and pauldrons as well as a handy pouch to store all those tolls in. Additionally, the candles on his pauldrons and boat serve to both mirror the piercing blue gaze he was said to have as well as amp up that spook factor with a source of the soul energy he would use in his abilities.
His weapon was another unique obstacle: how do we make a mundane oar a weapon worthy of a god? Firstly, we had to consider how Charon would use it in his animations and abilities. With some experimentation, we decided it would be best to make him a ranged character to really amp up the magical nature of his attacks. A strong, yet graceful flick of the wrist is all it takes for our ferryman to send a deluge of water from the River Styx beneath him at unsuspecting foes.
Of course, Charon would not be a ferryman without a ferry to pilot. With such a large prop comes a number of challenges to make it feel integrated alongside the one at its helm. There were many specific touches done by our modeling, animation and FX teams to make sure the ferry felt just as epic as the man.
GAMEPLAY
Charon is a guardian intended to be played in Support but with some potential to flex into Solo. His kit features a unique combination of high control and mobility in exchange for low burst damage. Charon may choose to start an engagement or to hinder advancing foes thanks to his uniquely neutral perspective. His kit has a natural balance of effects that harm enemies alongside those that help allies.
As the Ferryman, he will be able to manipulate the flow of the spirits he comes across, but he will not be able to directly transport allies. Instead, he is able to create opportunities of disruption and a field of influence that will help allies traverse the battlefield.
UNIQUE GAMEPLAY FEATURES
An ability that generates gold and an additional unique effect by collecting the ferryman’s toll from the deceased
A skillshot that can explode, creating damaging trails of harrowing water
A marking debuff that rewards allies for fighting alongside Charon
An extended dash ability with different durations of Crowd Control depending on how accurately it is hit
A global projectile ability that can provide allies with effects to help them charge into battle while enemies are disrupted
With souls running amok in the land of the living, Charon has arrived to guide all restless spirits to a peaceful afterlife. After 8 years of anticipation, the Ferryman is finally here to row it down!
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