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HELP: Planning for future series, need help

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Wow, it's been a while since I was last on this area of the forums. Anyway, let me cut to the chase. My current story series: Psychic Duelist Django, is nearing completion. I'm on the fifth and final season of the series, although I'm only about a quarter done with what Final Numeron needs to cover, if not less, so it'll be a long one. However, since writing helps relieve stress for me, and while I'm taking a small break from PDD (I tend to do things in bursts, like writing 13 chapters within the span of two weeks as of recent), I've begun to try planning out my next project. And this is where I need some help. For starters, it'll be completely original, though it does borrow elements from certain series (Rising of the Shield Hero and Dragon Quest, to be exact), along with borrowing elements from a long-dead series that failed to get off the ground during my early college years. It'll also be one of my darker series, given the setting and nature of it, though it'll still have lighthearted moments, too. This is the general groundwork I've got so far:

While I haven't come up with a name for the series (especially one that isn't so... obvious as the previous one), it basically is about a 19 year-old name Celtic (who is bit of an oddball to others, as well as a "jerk with a heart of gold") who is forcefully summoned into another world (along with four others) by a rather nasty kingdom run by ambitious Light Elves, to become the Five Heroes in order to stop an inter-dimensional demon from returning. Each one of them is "assigned" to one of five Legendary Gear: Sword, Spear, Axe, Bow, and Shroud. Celtic, of course, get's the Shroud, which instantly earns him the ridicule of the other four Heroes, as the Shroud Hero is not only generally associated with darkness (something that Light Elves actively hate, and it is called the Shroud of Shadows), but it means he's not "designed" to be an "attacker" type of fighter, as such is considered a liability. Plus, the rules of the Legendary Gear prohibit him from holding a weapon (which he gets around by modifying his robotic prosthetic arm of his own design to transform into various weapons at will a la MegaMan.EXE, thereby exploiting a loophole in the "rules"), but is still rather looked down upon.

He is then tricked and accused of a terrible crime by the Light Elf princess, Veronica, having his name dragged through the mud and generally portrayed as a monster, thus the entire kingdom shuns him, further jading him and crippling his ability to trust others. Plus, as he needs comrades to fight off the waves of enemies that the demon, known as Infinator, produces every so often, no one wants to help him because of his "crimes", and the other four Heroes (especially the Spear Hero) see him as worthless and believe his "crimes" as truth. His first "comrade" is actually a slave girl named Skye, also a Light Elf, that he buys with what little resources he has, as he doesn't have any other options available. However, it turns out that Skye is not only the "discarded" Light Elf princess (betrayed and sold to slavery by her family because she kept "getting in the way" of their "get-more-power-quick" schemes), but has a very personal agenda against the Light Elf Kingdom, especially her older sister: Veronica, and when she realizes Celtic is Veronica's latest "victim", she agrees to work with him and help clear his name.

Thus, because they've both been victimized badly, they share a white-hot hatred for the Light Elf Kingdom and seek it's downfall (something that the rest of the world shares, mind, as the Light Elves have caused a lot of damage/trouble over the years), as well as both knowing that Infinator is a serious problem, they bond quickly, helping ease some of Celtic's misery and giving him the ability to start trusting others. Skye suggests that they abandon the Light Elf Kingdom entirely and go to one of the "true" kingdoms, in this case Delgunner, for support, as not only are they the largest central power, but they also have greater resources and have actively stopped many of the Light Elf Kingdom's "get-more-power-quick" schemes in the past. Plus, she knows that the Shroud Hero is virtually a linchpin to 30 different races and even more nations, boarding being considered a deity, thus having his name dragged through the mud could spark a global war with the 30+ nations/races on top of the current crisis. Agreeing to that, they start their journey to Delgunner in hopes of clearing Celtic's name, uproot the evil Light Elves, and still fight against Infinator's armies, as well as the other Heroes, at the same time.

Okay, this is what groundwork I've gotten so far. Yes, as you can see, Rising of the Shield Hero gets a fair amount of reference in it, though I haven't decided on what the "crime" is and such yet, plus the previous dead series of mine from years ago had similar elements, too. And, like I said, I haven't even thought of a title for the series yet (chapter titles I can do just fine, series titles I have trouble with, hence the rather... dumb name for my Yu-Gi-Oh series). Other groundwork that I've already ironed out are the main characters (there will be seven of them, not including the other four Heroes), their races (as they'll each be a different species), side characters (including the four other Heroes), main antagonists, and so on. Also, unlike Shield Hero, Celtic won't end up with a harem (he had no desire for one anyway), with Skye being "his" girl, as well as the fact that Skye is the only "slave" in his group. Also, there will be a fair amount of fanservice/sexual innuendo in it (Skye's outfit of choice, for example, is almost identical to Princess Solonge from Code of Princess, plus she uses her appeal to trick and immobilize monsters for easier kills a la Jessica Albert). Plus, like any fantasy adventure series, blood, gore, violence, and so on will be common, so it'll be at minimum T-rating, potentially M-rated as a result. There will be lighter moments (including a running gag or two), but overall it'll be darker and gritter than most of my works.

In any case, if anyone has suggestions for it, such as title names, possible story elements, events that take place in-universe, and so on, feel free to post your suggestions. I still have a fair amount of time before this series actually "airs", as I still need to finish PDD, but I like to get as much planning elements out of the way as possible so it makes actually writing the series easier. Thanks in advance to anyone who decides to post an idea or suggestion.
 
Okay, small update. I've come up with a few rough idea names for this series, but I'm not sure which one to use. So, I'll lay out my ideas so far and see which one you lot feel is the best.

Name 1: Shroud of Chaos
Name 2: Chaos Rising
Name 3: Hero of Chaos
Name 4: Chaos Destiny
Name 5: Warrior of Chaos

As you can obviously tell, "chaos" is the general theme. And by that I mean the "element" of chaos (light and dark fused together), though the other "natures" of chaos will be very much present. As such, some of the theme focuses on striking a balance between the two elements. It should also be noted that, in-series, light is generally portrayed as destructive (the Light Elves and Infinator are examples), while darkness is portrayed as benevolent (best shown by the Shadokor, a race of noble, darkness-aligned demons, as well as the Shroud of Shadows itself). There are more "classic" examples of good light (such as Druids), and evil darkness (certain species of demon, including some of Infinator's "generals"), so it shows that neither element is truly "good" or "evil" by default, hence the whole "strike a balance" theme.

Well, that's the update for now. If anyone has any other ideas to include, including possible title names (in case mine are lame, which is very possible), please let me know. Until then.
 
I agree with LightningTopaz- of the ones mentioned I think Chaos Rising has the best flow to it. Two other ideas I had were Chaos Unsettled and Maelstrom!
 
New update.

For starters, I've decided to go with Chaos Rising for the series name. Not just because people here liked it, but I also posted a blog elsewhere and Chaos Rising got the highest "votes", so to speak, so that pretty much settled it. So, that means I now have a fair amount of groundwork done. However, the next issue is deciding on a certain character.

By the time we get to a certain part in the story (probably around the first 1/5th, roughly around the 3rd Infinator wave attack), Celtic will have acquired a party of six. However, I want to make it a party of seven, though the 7th will come at a later date. This is where the problem comes in. I have two characters that I felt could fit as the seventh and final party member, but I'm not sure which one to use. Depending on which character is chosen depends on which scenarios play out. Here's where you lot come in. Which of the two following characters do you think would fit best? They are as followed:

Character 1: Lulu: A Human/Druid hybrid and the daughter of a human lord. She was originally in the Axe Hero's party after he rescued her from nearly being "sold" to a bully lord and joined him, but because of her timidness and clumsy personality, she was put at the bottom of the pecking order and treated more-or-less like a pack mule. She gets kicked out because she, during a crucial moment in one of Infinator's waves, ended up outshining the Axe Hero (who had been knocked unconscious at that point), causing the party to turn on her for "stealing" the glory. Because she's part Druid, she's not a very adapt fighter, but has the natural ability to reduce the power of evil entities by a certain percent (called Druid Aura) just by being present in a fight. Despite that, she is capable of brilliantly rising to the occasion and is capable of powerful Wind, Nature, and Light magic, as well as having an affinity for war fans, she just lacks the confidence and courage normally. Celtic takes her in to train her, as during said crucial moment, she helped him greatly during his fight with Infinator's right-hand woman, Sylph, forcing her to retreat, as he sees her potential and understands how it feels to be treated poorly by the other Heroes, giving her another chance to prove her worth.

Character 2: Zozo: Zozo is a Succuryn, a type of mid-tier demon (demons are ranked by the number of hearts they have, as they're the only race with multiple hearts: Zozo has 5 hearts, meaning she's mid level). She's a morally grey character, having no interest in either faction, but takes an interests in Celtic after he's the first one to actually hurt Sylph during the 3rd wave, being the first person to do so in 1500 years. Succuryns like Zozo are the polar opposite of Sylph's species, Succulites, thus are enemies by nature, hence why Zozo doesn't want to join Infinator's army. Zozo is only really interested in fighting and killing Sylph, but because she gained respect for Celtic, she appears every now and then to exchange information or give him warnings. She eventually gets her fight with Sylph but is brutally beaten, but Sylph spares her life just to crush her pride further. After that, Zozo, still injured, eventually bumps into Celtic and co, who had just returned from cleaning up yet another mess caused by the Spear Hero, who heal her and offer her a place with them, as her pseudo information broker tendencies helped them, and she did partake in the fight against the power-made High Priest, albeit unwillingly. Zozo agrees as it would give her a second chance to beat Sylph. Zozo becomes similar to Blackarachnia from Beast Wars or Tiger from Monster Rancher, where she's the morally grey member of the team, but also shows that she has moral standards (ie: doesn't put innocents in harms way) and hidden depths (ie: likes children), meaning that, at the end of the day, she is a decent person deep down. As a Succuryn, Zozo is a 497 year-old darkness-aligned demon that specializes in dark energy-enhanced close combat skills, along with levitation abilities and some Dark magic. She's also a nudist as per her species nature, though her dark energies cover her naughty bits (think Derieri from Seven Deadly Sins), though she will wear bikini armor if the situation calls for it, as she does understand that armor has its benefits. Despite her joining for pragmatic reasons, she does eventually see the group as a family of sorts and willingly works with them to fight off Infinator, as even the other demon races see him as insane and dangerous.

These are the two characters. Which one do you think I should use? Depending on which character is chosen will determine which scenario plays out, as it's either one or the other. Let me know which one you think would work best. Thanks in advance.
 
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