October 19, 2009

Forensic Reconstruction of Famous Skulls of Fiction

I recently saw an amazing example of forensic reconstruction. A skull had been found, but police were unable to figure out the person’s identity. So a forensic artist examined the skull and created an illustration of what the person may have looked like while alive. When the person was finally identified, photos of the person looked strikingly similar to the artist’s rendition.

This got me thinking: What would a forensic reconstructionist make of some famous skulls of fiction? There are characters in film, television, and video games who we’ve only ever seen as talking skulls. Surely they couldn’t have grown to adult size without once being flesh and blood, right? So what did they look like?

To answer the question, I’ve enlisted the help of an amateur forensic reconstructionist (okay, it was my wife, who never did any forensic reconstruction before but can draw better than I can). Provided with three images of fictional skulls, here are the results:

1. Skeletor

2. Manuel Calavera

3. Jack Skellington

Comments

Ha, the Manuel Calavera one is awesome, I love the hair and ‘stache.

There’s lots of this sort of thing around. For example—-

http://corcholat.com/!UqE

Also, check this out.

Very cool!

I’d like to request Sinistar, please.

Tim Schafer would love that drawing of Manny. Have you tried sending it to him?

great illustrations but all three fared better by stripping their skin off their faces.

But you forgot Murray from the Monkey Island series!!!

But you forgot Murray from the Monkey Island series!!!

Skeletor with skin reminds me eerily of Peter and Nathan’s mother from Heroes.

jack skellington looks like shmegal, pre-golum

Does anyone else think Skeletor looks an awful lot like Janet Reno?

E, that’s EXACTLY what I was thinking!

How about the Red Skull?

They’ve released action figures of Skeletor in human form (His name was Keldor)
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&um=1&sa=1&q=Keldor&btnG=Search+images&aq=f&oq=&aqi=&start=0

What a great idea :) These turned out fantastic.

Awwww i was hopin Jack would be cute =/
^^

skeletor looks scarier with skin.

Skeletor might look more menacing if he were bald. Perhaps.

Skeletor == Billy Corgan?

Awesome, but how did Jack come out looking like Alfred E Newman?

May I request Skulduggery Pleasant??? ;D Pweeeease!!!

Jack looks a little like Valentino Rossi: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentino_Rossi

Ha ha, Meg I was thinking the exact same thing!!! I love him! XD

I love the pictures