Generation of Character Designs Based on Pre-Islamic Beliefs of Turks

Abstract

Turkish communities had lived under the belief system of Turkic mythology, known as Tengriism, in a significant part of their history. It is noteworthy that Turkic mythology elements, which have taken such a place in the cultural life of the Turks, are not sufficiently used as visual design tools. Considering the significance of preserving cultural heritage, Turkic mythology is rarely shown in animations, video games, or movies. The primary gods, goddesses, and supernatural creatures of Turkic mythology are not directly depicted, despite the existence of some animations relating to Turkic cultures such as Keloğlan, Nasreddin Hodja, and Dede Korkut. The main concern of this article is that the elements of Turkic mythology are unable to find enough depiction. Therefore some dominant creatures belonging to Turkic mythology were transformed into character designs. As the method, two-dimensional computer-based modelling techniques were selected to compose character designs of selected Turkic mythology creatures.