DEATHLOOP
DEATHLOOP – Getting to Know Julianna
DEATHLOOP
Where DEATHLOOP’s hero Colt is mysterious because he knows nothing about himself, its “villain” Julianna is mysterious because she knows everything about everything, and she keeps all those cards tucked carefully up her stylish sleeves. When you know everything, sometimes the most fun you can have is playing your winning cards while laughing in your opponent’s face.
“[Being Julianna] is kind of like playing with a laser pointer with your cat,” explains Julianna’s actor Ozioma Akagha. “You know you’re controlling the laser pointer. Your cat is chasing it and sometimes you turn the laser pointer off and your cat is like, ‘Where did it go?’ Then you turn it on somewhere else. That’s what it felt like for me, playing Julianna and knowing everything. Colt is a cat chasing Julianna’s laser pointer. It’s just so fun to play somebody that says what she wants and does what she wants and is wild and has no inhibitions. That’s what made me fall in love with her, for sure.”
But being the only one who knows everything can get dull. The timeloop Blackreef is caught in causes amnesia, and Julianna was the only person who could retain information. She started to get lonely and bitter. Then suddenly (at the start of the game) Colt begins to remember things between cycles, which turns him into the most interesting thing in her world. She won’t have to be alone anymore – if only she could get Colt to hurry up and understand what’s going on. That frustration tends to come out in the form of mocking and harsh words.
“Because Julianna is so all-knowing, I think a lot of her bitterness or frustration comes from wanting Colt to be on her level so badly,” says Akagha. “She just gets impatient with the journey of getting Colt there.”
Dressed to Kill
“Julianna’s jacket is purposely loose and oversized,” says Assistant Art Director and Lead Character Artist Jean-Baptiste Ferder. “She is dressed in tight elastane pants to be free of movement, implying she is fast and agile. The gloves she wears are inspired by archery gloves to evoke the fact she’s a hunter. Her headband and earrings bring some nice pop/60s elements to her global image. Julianna’s outfit keeps visual noise to a minimum, as we decided to gather most of the intricate details into her signature weapon the Sepulchra Breteira.”
And of course, when you have such a vibrant and fashionable world rolling around in your head, it’s hard to keep your main characters confined to just one outfit. Both Julianna and Colt have a handful of skins you can unlock by playing as Julianna in the PvP, including Julianna’s catsuit and her very 60s blue dress.
“Julianna’s catsuit skin reflects the fact she’s agile, athletic and nimble, with a little bit of a Charlie’s Angels vibe,” explains Ferder. “Her blue dress look operates on contrasts: she looks well-behaved and courteous, but she is in fact your fiercest opponent in the world of Blackreef. This duality resonates really well with the way she addresses you. She’s always witty and taking the piss out of Colt. While we didn’t end up using either look for her main appearance, we did pull elements from both.”
