Creation Process:
When starting my character backstories I decided that for each of them, before writing, I would plan out a list of topics/areas that the biography could include when I would go on to write them. To create this list of possible inclusions, I went back to the character profiles that I had previously created, as I had listed a number of different areas in those that I could write about.

The list for the protagonist's biography is shown below:

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Concepts/events for backstory to include

• Origins? Establishing the presence of the mechanical creatures – Man-made or natural?
   

• The need to consume ships (explaining that it’s a food source)L
   

• Link to other characters? (Minion enemies, maybe even the protagonist’s father?)
   

• Roaming the seas/mainly area where rumoured island/location is – eat the many intrigued pirates/ships that arrive looking for treasure)

Two main concepts:
1. Natural appearance – was born in the world
2. Was created by the humans of the final island/location shown on the map

 

Much like the protagonist of the game, I had two main concepts for this character's backstory. I began to write out both of these different backstories until I finally decided upon one. The concept I decided on was concept 2. I decided on this concept as it was more of an interesting backstory if my antagonist was created by an ancient civilization as opposed to was a naturally born creature. Additionally, I felt that if I chose concept 2, I could also include the mechanical shark/its creators in the lore which was one of my future tasks.

Character Backstory:

The mechanical monster of cogs, gears and steel plating roams the seas in search of its next meal. It has been stalking the seas of the world for over one hundred years in search of a meal that will crave its insatiable hunger. Although the rampage of this monsters attacks have yet to die down as it has yet to find a meal worthy enough to satisfy its seemingly unending craving.

The mechanical shark sustains its life by consuming the materials of the mechanical ships that sail the seas. These are the shark’s main targets, as they contain all of the required resources, such as the various different metals which it can digest and use to prolong its life.
But this monster takes no time to consider all of the lives on board of the ships that it consumes, and all suffer a similar fate of being crushed and torn by the shark’s razor-sharp metallic teeth, along with their ships. To this steel behemoth, everything is just another meal to be consumed.

Many pirates that have been attacked by this being have tried to fend the monster off. But almost all have failed and resulted in becoming another unsatisfying meal. Few, however, have lived to tell the tale of their encounter but these tales are often believed and so many still sail out unaware of the predator that lurks in the sea.

It is unknown when and how exactly the mechanical shark first appeared in the seas. Many of the world’s inhabitants who believe of its existence believe that it is like any other creature. That it was born into this world. But they’re wrong.
The shark was actually created by an ancient civilization of humans with the purpose of using the machines that they created to protect themselves. This ancient civilization consisted of technological geniuses who made use of technology that is still a mystery to the world today. Using their technology and unparalleled minds, they created the mechanical shark and an army of smaller but dangerous mechanical creatures, moulded after the creatures of the sea.
They were successful in creating machines that the world had never seen before but they would have never expected that their greatest creation would soon be the cause of the extinction of their civilization.

At first, the mechanical creatures that they created were all that they wanted, and the mechanical creatures lived according to the commands of their creators and warded off the dangers of the seas that threatened their civilization. But this soon changed when the mechanical creations became sentient and fought back against their creators. These creatures stormed the island, with the smaller creatures invading the island, and the steel-plated shark ravaging all which tried to flee the island. But this wasn’t enough for the mechanical fiends, and so they continued to ravish the island until there remained no signs of its existence, and it soon became a location of myths and legends.
But the destruction and consumption of this one island was not enough for the mechanical shark, and so it continued to roam the seas to consume all which it encountered for the next one hundred years.