A NEW mural has been unveiled in Edinburgh to celebrate the launch of the first ever Scottish character in a successful online video game.
Valorant, which is played by millions of players each month, is a first-person tactical shooter game.
The new playable character, Clove, is the 25th to be introduced in the game and is the first to call Scotland their home.
Several of the other characters in the game also come from real world locations, such as the US, Norway, France and more each with their own unique abilities and identities.
Isla Campbell, the voice artist behind Clove, says it was brilliant getting to voice an “authentically Scottish character” which seeks to avoid stereotypes.
“Voicing Clove and working with Riot has been the best experience,” they said.
“Getting to be unapologetically and authentically Scottish, not a stereotype, not overplayed, is so important and such a privilege that people like my friends who play Valorant will hear Clove’s voice and go ‘hold on that’s actually how I speak’.
“Scottish accents are a common stereotype in the media so getting to speak in my voice while putting my own little stamp on it makes the character so much more authentic, which is just great.
“I know that it’s going to make a lot of people feel seen, and that’s just an amazing feeling. I hope everyone enjoys meeting Valorant’s new little Scottish troublemaker.”
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Clove’s is described as a modern, young, non-binary Edinburgh native and the character is tied into Edinburgh’s well documented tradition of ghost stories.
The artwork, completed by prominent Edinburgh street artist Elph, has been erected at Quality Yard – an outdoor exhibition space located in Leith that houses numerous street art pieces from local artists.
Speaking to The National, the artist (below) explained he was pleased he was able to strike a balance between putting his own spin on the mural and staying true to the new character.
“It’s pretty cool for Scotland to be part of this. When I was researching it, I realised wherever the character is released they have a mural so it’s good to be part of that world now,” he said.
“You’re just used to things being in your own city but hopefully this will travel a bit further afield with all the photographs and video.
“With the character being Scottish, I think they wanted a Scottish artist to paint the mural.”
The artist explains he didn’t know much about the game beforehand but that the opportunity was too good to turn down despite not really playing video games anymore.
“People who I work with, his kids still play games so they were able to fill me in a bit on what was happening.
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“There was good concept art already and so much good reference for all the backgrounds and the effects that happen in the mural so that was a great starting point to work on it from.
“The character themselves wasn’t too far out of illustrations I’d done in the past for club flyers and things like that so it was an easy work flow.”
He added: “I think once I start to draw stuff, it just evolves from there. My style seems to take over a bit anyway.
“It has the elements of the character obviously but there’s obviously my work in there as well.”
The mural is made up of four panels which are accompanied by cinematic projections to illuminate the piece at night with each panel telling a different story of the character’s journey from death to rebirth, tying in with their unique in-game power of self-revival.
Also at the mural’s official unveiling was the University of Edinburgh’s Esports society, who said: “We are all big fans of Valorant and play the game competitively in the university Esports circuit.
“A number of players on the team are non-binary or LGBT+ so it feels extra special to see ourselves represented on multiple levels in the game that we love,” Alex Fung, president of the Eclipse Esports Society said.
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