2015 will mark the year that Morgalla turns 20. No, not in the literal sense, in the books she's in her early 20's already, but that I created Morgalla in 1995. Above is the oldest surviving drawing of her.
As you can see, a lot as changed:
It was a little idea that turned into something else, growing into a trilogy (and possibly more) that I wanted to share with the world.
It started off as a short story, told mostly from the point of view of the male protagonist's point of view, in this case, Jasper. It was a romance where a human finds out his new girlfriend is actually a demon. Hilarity ensues, originally being a black comedy of sorts inspired by the writings of John Landis and Phil Foglio.
I went to work for Disney for a while and I did nothing of a creative nature and Morgalla remained "on the shelf", as it were. When Florida didn't work out, I found myself asking the question I think a lot of us have in our lives: "What now?"
Well, I remembered the little story I had. I converted it to a screenplay, then back to a short story, but it needed more. I continued to add and Morgalla grew into a trilogy: a story of a young woman wanting a normal life which is kinda tough when she has horns half the time.
The overall theme and Morgalla herself hasn't changed that much: A woman who is trapped between two worlds, who longs to smile and has a short of a dry, quirky personality but often has to hide it and force herself to put on a false face, both on Earth and in Hell. When one sees Morgalla smiling and even acting silly, that's her true persona emerging.
Another element that has not changed is romance. She falls in love with a human, a man who finds an inner strength that he never knew he possessed. He's the diamond in the rough who is forced to be brave. They become the ultimate power couple.
Morgalla's inspirations primarily came from some elements of comics and anime. Some anime and comics titles were filled with shallow versions of women who were no more than just window dressing or mindless t&a. I wanted Morgalla to be a bit more. Back in 1995, there were hardly any examples of this in the mainstream to her number one inspiration over all was what I wasn't seeing in all elements of our pop culture. I, on purpose, made Morgalla different from everything that mainstream audiences saw...at the time, anyway.
Which brings us to modern audiences and characters. Had Morgalla been picked up when I started my trilogy, she would be seen as a leader of the trend but now she's seen as a follower. In 1995, Morgalla was ahead of her time and in many ways, she still is.
I'd say she's aged well and will continue to do so.
