VulpinePilot

VulpinePilot is the fursona and artist username of a furry artist who draws himself as three different anthropomorphic red foxes: VulpinePilot, who lives in a science-fiction themed world; VulpineWarrior, who lives in a fantasy setting world; and VulpineArtist, a completely accurate fox version of the artist.

The artist
Andrew Lyman is the artist and creator of VulpinePilot, VulpineWarrior and VulpineArtist. Vulpine Artist is himself in every aspect only is a fox. He first started drawing himself as an anthropomorphic fox in 2000, as an 8th grade student in middle school. Since then, his artistic skill has increased greatly, albeit without any more direction that Art2 in High School. He has gotten a few online galleries.

He has taken one year of Multimedia at Boulder TEC, and has graduated High School from Chinook Alternatives, a program at Arapahoe Ridge High School. It was a school based on individualized learning and self motivation. He has not taken any college classes, but intends to attend a Technical college or Art Institute with a heavy interest in Game Art and Design or Animation.

Andrew identifies as (mostly) gay, polyamorous, a furry artist and a cuddleslut.

Although VulpineArtist is the fursona most like the actual artist, Andrew uses the title of his first fursona, VulpinePilot, as a handle for everything from instant messenger to any of his galleries. VulpineArtist was actually the last of Andrew's fursonas for him to draw. VulpinePilot came first, then VulpineWarrior then VulpineArtist. In all three forms as a fox, including VulpineArtist, Andrew goes by the name Andrés.

Vulpine Pilot
Vulpine Pilot is the first of Andrew's self-identifying fursonas.

The comic
Vulpine Pilot: The Search for a Plot has been a comic strip since before it was called "Vulpine Pilot." It is a comedic comic, unlike most of the artist's Vulpine Warrior comics. The first issue of the strip (2 pages and a title page per "issue") had several titles crossed out (as a joke) before it settled on "The Chronicles of: ?" One of the crossed out titles was "Andrés, Foxen Pilot." "Foxen" isn't a word but there IS a word that means the same thing: Vulpine. Unfortunately, all the originals of The Chronicles of ? have been lost and are unscanned. A remake was started before they were lost, but only the first page was finished, which is before any of the characters are even introduced.

The character
Andrés (or VulpinePilot) is the Pilot of a science vessel. Most the inspiration for the idea came from Star Trek Voyager. He (like the artist) chats online constantly, and is addicted to any solitaire game out there. He plays them on his wrist computer, located on his left wrist. In front of his left eye, protruding from his muzzle is a scouter (much like those in DBZ, only it measures more than "power level"). He can use this scouter to locate life forms, navigate buildings (such as malls), and any varety of other helpful uses. The Scouter is a removable lens in front of his left eye that is connected with the brain, and is inserted directly into the skull. Andrés often seems like the only sane character in the comic. He is slightly more realistic in how he acts than the other characters, but he still has his quirks.

The setting
The home planet of Andrés and others of similar anthropomorphic canine species (dubbed Incisretwars in this reality) is a very urbanized planet called Prionace Glauca. Much of the inspration for the planet is derived from Couruscant from Star Wars. Prionace Galuca is smaller, with a higher density, and unlike Couruscant it has an ocean. Prionace Glauca's ocean wraps around its equator, with the cities of the planet separated into two massive continent sized cities. The largest building in this ocean is near the equator, and is the Universal Science Center (USC), a very tall and huge tower protruding from the water. From there, Science Vessels embark all over the galaxy to document new discoveries, observe life on planets as it evolves, and learn more about anything and everything the galaxy can teach.

Prionace Glauce is not only home to Incisretwars, but also to telepathic and incredibly intelligent Sharks. The ocean of Prionace Galuca was irreversibly polluted during its industrial age (the air was eventually cleaned), but these vastly intelligent sharks managed to use a vulpine scientist to escape the doomed ocean before it became uninhabitable. They now utilize hovering pads on their fins and body to levitate through the air, and a filter set on their forehead to supply continually oxygenated water to their gills as well as formulate their brainwaves into vocal words, so as to communicate to the less telepathically inclined Incisretwar mind. Because of these Sharks' intelligence, they are able to memorize coordinates all over the galaxy and were thus employed by starship manufacturers as pilots. They became known henceforth as PilotSharks. But some companies, including the USC, still hire Incistretwar pilots. Vulpine Pilot, is one of them, the vessel he pilots is Science Vessel A-421.

Related characters
Andrés is only one member of the crew of Science Vessel A-421. The first character introduced in The Chronicles of ? (and subsequently in every other Vulpine Pilot strip ever begun) is the captain: Samson. Based loosely on an old friend of the artist named Sam, Samson is incredibly egotistical and proud of his rank of captain. In The Chronicles of ?, Samson and Andrés encounter "The Crew" in issue 3 or 4. In the comic, the crew are unnamed Incisretwars who were forgotten to have crewed the vessel. In future Vulpine Pilot comics, they were grounded into three nameless characters. A Dingo (being very muscular), a Coyote (being rather naive and "shrimpy"), and a Black Lab (who wears glasses and spends all his time in an actual lab and wears a lab coat). In all, those 5 characters are the main cast of Vulpine Pilot. However, when a friend of the artist named Brian created a fursona, that fursona became the roomate of Andrés in an apartment he lives on during his stays back home on Prionace Glauca.

Hoverbikes
Also introduced into my world was the idea of a hoverbike. Andrés susequently ended up owning one, and having it as his primary transportation while on Prionace Glauca. They are basically the aerial equivalent of motorcycles. But since they ARE aerial, they require a special suit to ride, this being a Chute Suit. It has armor so if one DID crash in it, the suit would protect theit pody from the bone shattering speeds that hoverbikes usually travel at. If it senses a sudden decline in altitude, the Chutesuit will automatically deploy a parachute. Alternatively, one can activate the parachute by a cord on the belt, or in an emergency theres another cord on the parachute itself.

Vulpine Warrior
VulpineWarrior's name is also Andrés. He lives in a fantasy realm created to house not only him, but all of the artist's other fantasy characters in addition to his Dungeons and Dragons campaign. Andrés has a backstory as well as several comics, and a few other stories starring him. VulpineWarrior has gone through a little artistic evolution since he was first drawn. When first drawn, it was because the best friend of the artist at the time was into armor making, specifically chain mail. VulpineWarrior was originally merely the artist wearing chainmail. He has since come to symbolize many of the qualities that the artist has. Also a lot of his backstory symbolizes things that have happened to the artist. An inability to get over one's past, and losing a loved one are both similar to the artist's own life. In addition to why he was drawn, how he is drawn has evolved. There are different versions of Vulpine Warrior. His hair has changed length depending on the artist's, and his outfit has changed according to characters the artist was interested in at the time. He has settled into his latest form for now.

The character
Andrés or Vulpine Warrior is a lone swordsman in a fantasy setting very similar to that of Dungeons and Dragons. He dislikes having a companion with him because he will sometimes go into a "berserker rage" and be unable to control himself. During these rages, he has an incredibly high pain tolerance and inhuman strength. One of the only reasons he has survived as a lone warrior as long as he has is thanks to this rage. His body is riddled with scars from the battles he has seen. Andrés wears an anti-magical ring around his neck given to him just before he was exiled from his hometown. Because of it, he is immune to any and all effects of any magic (it is a very powerful ring). Unfortunately this includes healing magic as well. But it is just as well because Andrés can't use magic. He often uses healing potions, and because of the effect they have on him, he looks much older than he is, and his hair is unusually long and straight.

Although Andrés is a loner by nature, he occasionally will elope with another.

Andrés carries with him the a bastard sword, with a simple hilt and an Aries symbol on the pommel. The same Aries symbol adorns the buckle of his belt.

The backstory
''spoiler alert!! the following will make known the plot of Andrés' backstory''

Andrés was orphaned as a young child, though it is not known how his parents died. He was taken in and adopted by the Town's lord. Andrés grew up in a town of red foxes, so everyone from his youth was the same species as him. Eventually, an enemy of the Town's lord sent a Mage assassin to murder the Lord's son, Samuel. Andrés had fallen deeply in love with Samuel, but was never able to express his love. The young fox vowed vengeance. Paige, a fellow orphan adopted by the Town's Lord, urged Andrés to not find and murder the assassin. However, the town's Scribe gave to Andrés a ring of great power that would counter the effects of any magic cast upon Andrés. The Scribe knew the assassin was a Mage, and although he also wanted revenge for the death of the town Lord's heir, he knew better than to carry it out himself. Andrés happily sought out his love's murderer and killed him with his quarterstaff. However in doing so, he was cast from the Town for his crime.

After a long period of wandering the wilderness, Andrés found himself in a druid's forest. The druid was a female red-coloured horse named Epona (the name and appearance of this character was taken directly from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time). Epona befriended Andrés and the two were lovers for a time. But Andrés longed for the comforts of civilization again. Also, he always felt like he was being watched by Epona, who often seemed to apear unexpected from the forest. Andrés left the forest in search of civilization.

Once he found a town, Andrés was treated like a beggar. His clothes were worn and unkept, his hair was wild, and he had no money. But after saving a Smith's life with his staff (and subsequently snapping the staff in half), he was granted chainmail armor and a bastard sword free of charge. Thus his career as a mercenary began.

In time, Andrés grew to hate killing others for money. He saw himself as no better than the Mage who had killed Samuel. However, he excelled at killing for a living. He vowed to never kill unless certain they deserved it. Andrés went back to being more like a ranger than a mercenary, never actively seeking to use his sword for profit.

Sometime during his life Andrés met Cabás, a male equine warrior. Cabás is a lot more easy-going than Andrés and a lot more selfish, but the two became close friends, and for a time were lovers. They parted ways, because Andrés feared he would hurt Cabás during a berserk rage, but the two love each other still.

The ending to VulpineWarrior's tale has not been written.

spoilers end here

Origin
As stated, VulpineWarrior was first drawn because of the interest in armor making of a friend of the artist. But his inception may very well have been long before that. in 1997, Andrew had five personas that he used to describe parts of his personality. a Scribe, a Page, a Warrior, a Mage and a Tyrant (the Tyrant later evolved into a less tyrannical Lord).

Warrior obviously became Vulpine Warrior once Andrew came across the furry fandom. As time passed, Andrew imbued more and more of himself into VulpineWarrior, even writing a backstory for the character, something he had not done for his first character VulpinePilot.

Versions
As time passed, the appearance and outfits of VulpineWarrior have changed.
 * ver. 1.0 The original "Warrior" wore a tan tunic, had short curly hair, and a short gray cape.
 * ver. 2.0 The first drawn version of VulpineWarrior had a chainmail shirt with armor on the shoulders and thighs, a simple bastard sword with matching belt, and a dark green cloak.
 * ver. 3.0 The second drawn version of VulpineWarrior was heavily inspired by the release of Dungeons and Dragons 3rd edition. he wore leather armor, and had a backpack full of adventuring supplies.
 * ver. 4.0 The third drawn version of VulpineWarrior was heavily inspired by Marth from Super Smash Brothers Melee, he wore the same green cloak as ver. 2.0 and had the same sword and belt, only the scabbard of the sword was slightly adorned. He was gauntlets on and a coloured tunic. He had longer hair that was parted and straight.
 * ver. 5.0 The fourth drawn version of Vulpine Warrior was heavily inspired by the release of Lord of the Rings extended edition, which detailed the costume of Strider. it has the same cloak as 2.0 and 4.0, but with a bigger hood. Also had the same sword and belt. This is the only version of VulpineWarrior to smoke a pipe, and the tunic is very similar to that of Strider in LotR. This version's hair is longer and in a ponytail.
 * ver. 6.0 The most recent drawn version of VulpineWarrior takes inspiration from many things including other furry fantasy art, Legend of Zelda, Dungeons and Dragons, and it also draws greatly on the other versions of VulpineWarrior. The outfit is the most complex. The boots are like those of Link from Ocarina of Time, the pants are a turquoise-blue and have a strip along the seam and a string belt built into the upper lip, the tunic is tan like that of vers. 1.0 but with longer sleeves and is stitched back together and/or magically repaired often from cuts or rips, on the arms are wrapped cream colored strips of fabric all the way along the forearm, and underneath Andrés wears an oak armor breast-plate and oak bracers. His hair is very long and very straight, scars cover his body, and he had two gold earrings in his right ear and one in his left.

Other characters
The Scribe, Paige, the Mage, and the town Lord are all reference to Andrew's original 5 personas.

Samuel is based on a friend from Andrew's youth.

Epona is a reddish mare druid in Shadoland Forest and was a lover to Andrés. Inspiration for Epona's name and appearance was derived from the video game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Cabás is a male equine mercenary and was a lover to Andrés. He is featured as one of the main cast of another comic by Andrew entitled "Poincare Saga"

The Smith who made Andrés' bastard sword is a reference to the friend who inspired Vulpine Warrior to begin with.

Vulpine Artist
Vulpine Artist is more or less a carbon copy of Andrew, the artist, only as a fox. Andrew did not start drawing this fursona until he had already established both Vulpine Pilot and Vulpine Warrior. The title "Vulpine Artist" was given to this fursona to keep it in theme with the artist's other fursonas. Again, Andrew goes by Andrés as Vulpine Artist.

This fursona changes in appearance much more than either Vulpine Pilot or Vulpine Warrior. As the artist's appearance changes so does Vulpine Artist. Vulpine Artist is only wears clothes the artist owns, and has a small pewter castle necklace around his neck, also owned by the artist.

Vulpine Artist has been drawn both digitigrade and plantigrade. His genitalia are always zoomorphic.