Chapter 2: Visual Verbs Per Genre

Created by Sarah Choi (prompt writer using ChatGPT)

Visual Verbs per Genre — Genre Toolkits for Character Concept Artists

What Are Visual Verbs?

Visual verbs are the action‑words your designs whisper before a character moves: float, throb, clank, rust, hum, snag, glide, gnash. They translate genre logic into observable behaviors encoded in shape, edge, value, and palette—and then passed cleanly to rigging, VFX, audio, and shaders. A great design reads its verb at a glance and keeps repeating that word under animation, at gameplay distance, and across biomes. Treat visual verbs as a spec: name them early, encode them in forms and materials, and verify they survive camera, LUT, and LOD.

How to Encode a Visual Verb

Start with silhouette because it carries the loudest part of the verb. Floating verbs prefer lifted masses, negative‑space gaps, and tapered terminations; clanking verbs need interlocking plates, stepped forms, and contact points. Next set edge families: soft rolled edges imply yielding materials that throb or pulse; crisp chamfers with stacked tolerances imply clatter and rattle. Value then sets rhythm: grouped mids with periodic bright “beats” signal throb; alternating light/dark bands at joints cue clank. Palette adds temperature and hierarchy: warm cores feel alive; cool rims feel inert or machined. Finally, annotate PBR rails so production can reproduce the behavior: roughness gradients for soft verbs, tight highlight widths for hard verbs, and emissive etiquette for glow verbs.

Fantasy — Float, Throb, Glint

Fantasy verbs often emerge from mythic forces and artisanal construction. If a healer must “throb,” concentrate mass toward a warm core—the chest emblem, the palms—and let edges relax into long S‑curves that dissolve into lost edges near cloth hems. Group values into two broad bands to keep the magical pulse readable when torches flicker, and let palette ride warm undertones against cooler metals so the life‑energy stays central. A knight who should “clank” wants stepped plate overlaps at the shoulder and hip, bevel denominations that repeat like a drumline, and darker value interstices that suggest cavities between plates. To “float,” lift the silhouette with cape loft and feathered trims, lighten the value at the lower edges, and avoid heavy shadows at the feet; if levitation is literal, ensure emissive accents aim downward to sell lift without drowning albedo.

Sci‑Fi (Hard) — Clamp, Vent, Click

Hard science fiction prefers verbs rooted in engineering. Characters who “click” advertise precise interfaces: fasteners repeat on a grid; panel gaps are uniform; highlight widths are consistent and narrow. Values step cleanly at access panels so UI/VFX can snap to them without ambiguity. When a suit must “vent,” create directional cutlines that radiate from heat sources and embed darker occlusion wedges where louvers open. Palette tilts toward cooled neutrals, saving saturated accents for hazard or service points; a single high‑chroma stripe across the torso is enough to keep the verb from fragmenting. Avoid painting color into metals; let specular behavior carry the click. If propulsion needs to “thrum,” shift the roughness gradient outward from core to limb and cap emissive nit levels so bloom does not erase panel logic.

Sci‑Fi (Soft) — Glide, Bloom, Morph

Soft sci‑fi verbs lean into continuous surfaces and organism‑adjacent motion. A pilot who should “glide” benefits from monocoque forms, elongated arcs, and minimal silhouette interruptions; edges stay rolled and highlights stretch into ellipses that travel along the body under motion. Values prefer broad gradients over banding, and palette explores gentle harmonies with a few strategically placed cool glows to suggest smart materials. To “morph,” design nested shapes that can slide without revealing mechanical teeth—overlapping gel‑like panels, petal openings, and living seams that re‑seal. Keep emissives limited to one or two hues and document how they shift under state change so tech art can animate without inventing new colors.

Cyberpunk — Buzz, Snap, Flicker

Cyberpunk verbs are urban, saturated, and layered. If a runner should “buzz,” broadcast tension through taut straps, cable arcs, and high‑frequency micro‑edges concentrated at device clusters while keeping the base jacket silhouette simple so the noise has somewhere to live. Value lives in low‑mid key with neon punctures at wrists, jawline, or spine—places the camera sees even in crowds. Palette enforces allegiance: corporate buzz uses clean cyans and surgical whites; street buzz uses warm sodium pops against oily blacks. A brawler who should “snap” wants sharper V‑terminations, squared knuckle guards, and contrast spikes at the hands. When gear should “flicker,” decay emissive masks at the edge with granular noise, but keep albedo flat to prevent moiré under motion blur.

Historical — Creak, Swish, Bridle

Historical verbs arise from authentic construction and material fatigue. A cavalry officer who should “creak” reads through leather under tension: broad belts that cinch around volume, rolled edges darkened by burnish, and hardware that nests into flattened areas polished by use. Value falloff along seams and shoulder planes suggests stress, while a restrained palette of natural dyes keeps the verb honest. If a court dress must “swish,” layer skirts with clear topography and long unbroken arcs; let edge behavior soften toward hems and concentrate contrast near bodice or sleeves where hand gestures live. For “bridle,” as in controlled restraint, align straps, toggles, and stays along functional lines and avoid gratuitous buckles; the verb comes from order and repetition, not clutter.

Horror — Drip, Twitch, Creep

Horror verbs are designed to unsettle. A creature that should “drip” needs wet roughness zones pooled at gravity points, soft edges that break into specular rivulets, and value that compresses into almost‑black with narrow high‑value knives at liquid highlights. Palette desaturates to sickly cools with selective warm contamination near wounds or orifices. A victim who must “twitch” is built with fragile silhouettes and uneven edge cadence: one side straightens while the other collapses, creating asymmetry that animation can amplify. To “creep,” keep forms low and spreading, let edges disappear into the background, and let only small, deliberate glints arise at claws or tools to puncture the softness. Annotate gore and rating boundaries and keep emissives rare so darkness retains its power.

Post‑Apocalyptic — Scrape, Rattle, Scorch

Post‑apoc verbs emerge from scarcity and repair. To “scrape,” design tool contact zones on forearms, hips, and boots with directional wear that exposes under‑layers. Edge logic alternates between soft cloth frays and abrupt scrap‑metal bites. Values bias toward dusty mids; polished highlights exist only where hands habitually touch. If a scavver must “rattle,” hang kit from rigid anchor points and leave deliberate gaps where objects can collide; stepped plate edges and mismatched fasteners tell the story. Palette remains sun‑bleached with one conserved accent hue per character; the accent placement—bandanna, tape wrap, or canteen—becomes the beat the audience tracks. To “scorch,” burn in outward‑fading value halos and shift roughness down at heat‑kissed edges, keeping chroma low to avoid comic‑book fire.

Whimsical — Boing, Sproing, Twinkle

Whimsical verbs rely on friendly physics and clean megashapes. A companion who should “boing” uses compressed ovals that store and release energy; edges are generous and rounded, and highlights are big and stable so the bounce feels plush. Values hover in the mid‑high key with just enough shadow to stage the bounce, while palette favors cheerful harmonies with a single high‑chroma pop on the face or hands. A gadget that should “sproing” gets visible, oversized springs and stepped geometry that feels safe rather than sharp. When a hero must “twinkle,” confine spark accents to a small cluster near the eyes or emblem, avoid noisy glitter across the body, and keep emissive values low so the charm reads without blowing out UI.

Turning Verbs into Production Specs

A visual verb is only useful if it translates downstream. Write a one‑line verb statement on the sheet (“Hands buzz; torso quiet”). Pair it with numeric rails: bevel denominators, roughness bands, emissive caps, and texel‑density targets. Provide a grayscale value plan where the verb lives in shapes, not paint tricks. Add a small reference‑sphere strip lit with the project HDRI to show the intended highlight size. If the verb implies motion, attach a micro anim brief—two or three thumbnails that show how edges change under a step, swing, or idle. For audio/VFX, point to contact zones and verb cadence so beeps, clanks, and glows land where the design promises.

Camera Survival and Distance Audits

Verify verbs under the real camera and LUT at three scales: gameplay body, mid‑shot, and portrait. If “clank” disappears at 128 px, your plate rhythm is too fine; consolidate into fewer, larger overlaps. If “float” collapses under hard noon light, reduce foot shadow density and increase rim lighting allowances in the value plan. Under motion blur and TAA, avoid alternating micro edges that shimmer. When the verb is emissive, test against VFX intensity to keep legibility.

Avoiding Trope Traps

Verbs can become clichés if repeated without context. Instead of defaulting cyberpunk to neon “flicker,” locate the character’s trade—med‑tech, courier, demolitions—and select verbs that stem from function. Historical designs should not equate “creak” only with leather; linen and whalebone speak too. Post‑apoc “rattle” is different in coastal salvage versus desert convoy cultures; let environment filter the verb through specific materials and binding methods.

From Concepting to Production: Team Roles

Concept artists should propose two verbs for every character—primary and secondary—and present a paintover that proves both at gameplay scale. Production artists should convert the paintover into geometry and shader decisions that honor the verbs: build bevels to the documented sizes, map roughness gradients where the verb lives, and place decals only where they reinforce motion or contact. Tech art should sanity‑check verbs against rig limits, and lighting should create presets that preserve value rhythm in typical scenes. Marketing can push microcontrast in posters, but the verb must still read without inventing new specular behavior.

Practice Drills

Pick a neutral base mesh and express five different verbs from the list above using only silhouette editing and grayscale value grouping—no color. Then add palette once the read survives at 128 px. Next, convert one of the studies into a PBR handoff: include roughness rails, bevel sizes, emissive policy, and a two‑frame anim beat that shows the verb in motion. Finally, run a lineup audit: mix genres and see if each character’s verb is still legible without labeling; if two verbs collide (buzz vs flicker), adjust edge frequency and palette to make them distinct.

Final Thought

Visual verbs are small words with big consequences. When you encode them into shape, edge, value, and palette—and back them with numeric rails and camera tests—you give every department a common language. The result is a cast that feels alive on the loading screen, coherent in gameplay, and unmistakably on‑genre, whether it floats, throbs, clanks, rusts, or twinkles.