FTL Mantis by nigillsans

Woo, buuuuuuuuuuuuuugs!
The mantis are FTL's bug Klingons, which is a pretty fun concept to work with. The pixel art makes them seem very similar to the kind of mantis you'd find on earth, so I wanted too keep that familiar look while still presenting something that functions in a more alien way.

J-Omega2 Featured By Owner Edited Jan 6, 2017 Hobbyist Writer

"I wonder which eye I should be looking at."
These guys remind me of the Nulians from the other FTL.

rafaelzrt Featured By Owner Jun 30, 2015 Digital Artist

Great work on FTL fan art, really cool. Just missed the Lanius

Mudkipy Featured By Owner Jul 4, 2014

You easily rank up first in my favorite interpretention of the mantis from FTL in fan art

BrossUno Featured By Owner Dec 11, 2013

Man, what a great portrayal of those ship-raiding jerks. I've always liked the idea of space bugs, especially since they're so freaky on earth. All the little alien touches like the pincers and the eyes are a great too.

Ddraigtanto Featured By Owner Jan 3, 2014 Professional Writer

...And yet the game names them names like Martin or Nigel. Scary bug monsters named Nigel. That gets a chuckle from me.

knuxpwnsstuff Featured By Owner Jun 18, 2014

i always get a mantis named Mr Buga XD

Ddraigtanto Featured By Owner Jun 18, 2014 Professional Writer

Hehe, really? I've never got that. I did make a story off-DA about a TypeB Kestral named the Fairweather, where a mantis female named Kaleska had married the human captain, named Mark Fairweather, and they had a mantis child, named Susan... They died in a fire.

knuxpwnsstuff Featured By Owner Jun 18, 2014

oh no

, children and spacecraft are not the best combination, and fires are how most of my crew die, that and

1. lack of oxygen

2. boarding parties

3. random occurrences (giant space spiders, diseased miners etc)

and damage from missiles/bombs

Ddraigtanto Featured By Owner Jun 18, 2014 Professional Writer

Yeah. There were some other crewmembers, including some Lanius, but in the end, they got chewed up by the Flagship. As normally happens when I play, sadly...

knuxpwnsstuff Featured By Owner Jun 18, 2014

ermahgerd i know right, i just got to the rebel flagship and had such a good crew, then i died from that stupid triple chuck norris powered missile launcher Rage

Ddraigtanto Featured By Owner Jun 19, 2014 Professional Writer

Yeah, I hate that thing.

Erednay Featured By Owner Nov 9, 2013

Really cool drawing. I really like the mouth... or mandibles? The carapace is really well done - reflects why they are considered the "warriors" in the game, well done.

nigillsans Featured By Owner Nov 9, 2013 Professional Digital Artist

Thanks. On the mandibles, I figured a species with giant knife hands would probably need some way to manipulate objects, so I kind of imagined some real elongated mouth parts that they could use to hold things in place while they used other horrible mouth bits to work out the finer details.

Erednay Featured By Owner Nov 24, 2013

Ah that does make sense, well, look forward to your eventual crystal men portrait

useraccount Featured By Owner Jul 26, 2013

If the Mantis are like Klingons, would that make the Slugs like the Hutts? (Slimy, greedy, manipulative, are often total jerks)

nigillsans Featured By Owner Aug 7, 2013 Professional Digital Artist

You know, the Slugs always reminded me of another race but I could never quite decide what it was. Now that you've mentioned the Hutts I feel kind of stupid for noticing the similarities sooner.