Lyn wasn't always meant to be the protagonist of Fantasy Network. Early in development, we considered a customizable character, but this created some difficulties with animation: having to accommodate different visual elements made the character feel a little too flashy and, more importantly, less dynamic and expressive than we wanted.
So we chose to create someone with a strong identity of her own instead.
So, who is Lyn?
Visually, she was conceived as a mix between a human and a lynx, inspired by a long tradition of anthropomorphic characters in animation and videogames, from Mickey Mouse to Sonic, Crash Bandicoot and Star Fox. We wanted that same freedom to create someone immediately recognizable, without worrying too much about whether she followed conventional ideas of what a protagonist should look like.
But Lyn's difference isn't only visual.
She's energetic, eccentric and instinctive. She doesn't care much about fitting in, which makes her an interesting contrast to a society increasingly fascinated by popularity, appearances and being seen.
And that's where one of the contradictions at the heart of Fantasy Network comes in.
Lyn uses social media, technology and the Talent system just like everyone else, but becoming popular isn't really her dream. It's something she is asked to do. During her journey, she is essentially given the task of becoming famous, gaining followers and using that visibility to reach her goal.
Left to herself, Lyn would probably rather experience the world freely, skating with the wind, listening to music and leaving other people's opinions, expectations and fear of judgement somewhere behind her.
This is also why we never wanted to design Lyn to be universally appealing. We wanted her to be distinctive, perhaps even a little risky. Someone with her own personality, imperfections and strange energy.
Because, in the end, while Lyn is our protagonist, the real protagonist of Fantasy Network is the society around her. Its people, its contradictions, its obsession with appearances, its talents, its technology and the different ways people choose to live within it.
Lyn is the lens through which the player observes all of this.
In a world where everyone is trying to build the perfect image of themselves, Lyn doesn't really want to become an image at all.
Maybe choosing a protagonist like her was a risk too.
But we're okay with that.
Sometimes we'd rather put on our skates and run with the wind. ☂️ -Vincenzo