Ringling College of Art and Design Thesis 2025

Daemon’s Folly (3D Models)

by

Jason Bates

jbates@c.ringling.edu

artofjasonbates@gmail.com

I conducted my research on reincarnation, focusing on the traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Jainism. Through that research, I found that while many different cultures have different traditions of reincarnation, they all have some fundamental similarities. First is that the soul changes and grows during its time in a living body. Another similarity is that each has another life lived after death. For some, it is back on Earth, for others, it is another realm. The idea is that the soul grows and changes, becoming closer to a perfect state. 

My thesis consists of 3D models of my main antagonist and secondary protagonist as well as a scene from my original script “Daemon’s Folly”. This is the story of a woman who is possessed by the god of war from the previous era’s pantheon. This god was imprisoned by the current gods, but has escaped and is looking for a body to possess until he regains his strength. Unfortunately for him, he misses his main target and gets a woman with an indomitable will. She also suffers from autoimmune disease and cancer. Now this former god of war must see the current era through the most human eyes.

In my story, we follow this unlikely duo through the changes that all mortals go through during a cycle of reincarnation. In the end, the change is so great for this god that he must go through his own reincarnation and give up the divinity he was trying to reclaim. The ideas of reincarnation are worked into the story and even aspects of the character design. The character Kur was designed to look old, in part because he had lost power but also because he was to represent the end of the cycle. The main antagonist, the “Emissary,” is stuck due to his immortality. He has old fashion and hairstyles, and even his “new” clothes are decades behind what is current in this world.