On August 10, 1994, Squaresoft’s localized release of Breath of Fire for Super Nintendo blazed onto store shelves in North America, thereby introducing a Western audience to game developer Capcom’s first foray into the traditional RPG realm.
RPG hopefuls scouring the shelves of their local Toys ‘R Us, Sears, Kay-Bee Toys, or Walmart in mid-90s North America may have taken notice of a certain blue-haired, dragon tattooed, muscular protagonist named Ryu and his massive palm popping out to them from the front cover of Breath of Fire. He’s accompanied in the background by a fish man named Gobi and his clenched fist, the grimacing, flexing Ox, the intense glare of half-serpent sorceress Bleu, and a soaring winged princess named Nina. This epic scene is punctuated by a mountainous, sunset background.
While Breath of Fire fans would eventually come to know the incredibly varied (and oftentimes checkered) history of westernized Breath of Fire box covers and their significant differences from their Japanese originals, there’s no denying the original Squaresoft-sanctioned North American box art for Breath of Fire grabbed the viewer’s attention. It may very well have been a significant contributor in pulling in folks eager for a new fantasy-filled role-playing adventure on their SNES, especially with Squaresoft’s Final Fantasy III (known in the West officially as Final Fantasy VI since 1999) still another two months away.
Today, on the 30th anniversary of the North American release of Breath of Fire, Dragnier is proud to present an interview with the man behind the legendary Western box art: Dev Madan!
Many thanks to the folks in the Breath of Fire fan Discord for sharing your burning questions with us to ask Dev!
Editor’s Note: This email interview has been lightly edited for clarity and accuracy.
(Image: DC Comics)
When did you first get into art? Are you self-taught? Did you ever go to school for drawing?
Dev Madan (DM): I was first inspired to pick up a pencil late in high school after stumbling into a recently released copy of Dark Knight Returns. Iād been a Batman fan since I was a kid, but my only memory was from the TV show, so that book really captured my attention and didnāt let go.
That book had a huge impact on me in so many ways: The incredibly moody and painted artwork, the elevated storytelling and tone of it, and then discovering that someone actually got paid to create something like that. I started mimicking the art from it as well as other comics I started collecting at the time and then trying to make my own characters and comics.
My high school offered 2 types of art programs: Fine Art and Commercial Art. I was drawn more to the Commercial Art program where I learned about photography, typography, and printing and how to apply my art with those tools.
I moved to Seattle after completing high school, where I attended the Art Institute of Seattle and got some proper instruction on figure drawing and cartooning. But I was also exposed to all kinds of other disciplines like Graphic Design, Typography, Illustration and color theory that I would apply to my comic work whenever possible and graduated in December 1989.
When did you first start drawing as a profession?
DM: I managed to get some comic work for the small press just before graduating art school, but my first job was at Taito Software working on an Indiana Jones NES game in January of 1990. I worked on game art and some level design.
Was the Indiana Jones game called “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”?
DM: Yep that’s it! š
I remember having a small VCR/TV on my desk with a worn out copy of the movie Iād freeze frame for reference.
Iād plot out images on graph paper and then recreate them on the computer using proprietary software (these were the days before Photoshop). I was limited to how many colors I could use and how many colors could be on a 16 x 16 pixel tile (Iāve referred to it as “drawing with Light Brites”). I think the game took about a year to make and I had started work on a Flintstones and Jetsons game before the studio shut down. The studio shut down shortly after the game shipped in 1991, which served as my introduction to the games industry. š
I continued to develop my portfolio and found work with advertising agencies in town doing illustration, marker, and sketch comps, as well as submitting my comic work to publishers.
(Image: Capcom / Nintendo | Artist: Dev Madan)
(Image: Square Enix / Nintendo | Artist: Dev Madan)
(Image: Dev Madan)
What are some of your most favorite projects you’ve worked on?
DM: Oboy. I have been so incredibly lucky in my life to have multiple projects that come to mind and name for various reasons, but for this conversation weāre having Iāll say:
Humongous Entertainment: I got a chance to help launch this company with Ron Gilbert in his living room, storyboarding the Putt Putt and Fatty Bear games by day and then barbequing in the evenings talking about his new company. I served as Art Director, hiring the foundational art team, setting up the production pipelines as well as define the looks for Putt Putt, Fatty Bear and Freddi Fish games.
Breath of Fire / Final Fantasy: The Breath of Fire cover was one of my first freelance jobs and pretty much kicked off my freelance career. It also led to me work on a full campaign for Squaresoftās second game they had in the queue for US release, Final Fantasy III.
Young Heroes in Love: An 18 issue superhero soap opera series with DC Comics as a co-creator. A heavy character and story based series that was a real lesson in so many things, but most importantly, learning how to let something go and move on as well as pacing my work on a monthly book as a young artist. In other words, what you DONāT draw can be just as important as what you do draw.
Sly Cooper: This series would have to be up there as the personal highlight for so many reasons. A gift that just keeps on giving through the years. I have such wonderful memories of making those games and this era of games in general (Iāve seen it referred to as the 6th Gen, 1998-2005). I recently had the opportunity to produce a poster celebrating the 20th Anniversary (!), and got a chance to revisit some old files, watch gameplay videos and poke around a very active community to refresh my memory which brought back so many awesome feelings and memories.
That series was a combination of all my biggest influences rolled into one while working with a special crew (including the woman who would become my wife!), with the sole purpose to look for a gag and make each other laugh whenever possible. A really great time of my life, I could go on for hours about this. š
In 1993, Capcom released Breath of Fire in Japan. It was then brought to North America by Squaresoft a year later, in 1994, for Super Nintendo. Can you recall when and how you were approached to create the North American box art for the game?
DM: As crazy as it might be to think about now, back then North America, Europe and Japan were considered separate markets with their own unique aesthetic tastes (anime and manga were considered exotic imports!).
From what I recall, Breath of Fire was a title licensed from Capcom to help lay the foundation for a publishing arm Squaresoft was looking to establish in the west, as well as begin to develop games for the American market.
With that in mind, Squaresoft hired a design agency to market their games and the agency identified a demographic that overlapped with the gaming audience; a comic book audience. Again, keep in mind the time; it was early days for video games and they were considered to be a small part of the toy industry and not the industry with a built in audience that we have today. Both games and comics were still sort of underground in the groundswell stage, with the explosion to happen a few years later.
I was made aware of the opportunity through a local art rep and submitted my work to the agency, along with a few other local Illustrators and I was lucky enough to be selected. I remember being told at the time that expectations were low for the title, so while they pay was decent, it wasnāt a full budget as they were hoping to use the single image for the box cover art as well as the advertising campaign.
Can you recall the name of the design agency that you and Squaresoft worked with for the marketing/promotion of Breath of Fire?
DM: Unfortunately, I canāt recall the name now.
When did you start noticing a shift towards more wide acceptance of the Japanese anime/manga art style in the West?
DM: Iām sure this will differ depending on who you ask, but I had started noticing it in the mid 90s as guys like Humberto Ramos started showing up in comics who had a clear Japanese influence in his work. With the rise of PokĆ©mon, most comic stores had manga and certain anime videos on their shelves by the late 90s and imported models from Japan. A pretty exciting time!
(Image: Squaresoft, Capcom / @peachflavor3d | Artist: Dev Madan)
The North American artwork features a very Western, cartoon / comic book style, featuring the characters Ryu (The Hero), Gobi, Ox, Bleu*, and Nina. Did Squaresoft give you any art direction or were you given free reign to create the artwork in your own way?
DM: As I mentioned, they were looking for a western interpretation of their characters. I was provided color copies of the characters from Capcom as reference, and was given free reign. It was a straightforward job, with feedback from both the Agency and Squaresoft along the way. I submitted thumbnails, then a tightened pencil sketch and then moved to full paints. There were really no big changes or issues that came up and the whole thing took about 3-4 weeks. The only big change I remember was adjusting the sky from a mid afternoon blue to the more dramatic sunset colors in the final image. Overall, it was a really great experience with a super friendly group of people, and a real boost for a young illustrator like myself.
*Editor’s Note: Gobi, Ox, and Bleu are named Manillo, Builder, and Deis respectively in the original Japanese release.
Were you also in contact with Capcom with regards to the artwork or was only Squaresoft involved?
DM: Although I knew many folks on the art team at the Squaresoft studio from school, I never spoke directly with them; they would relay all feedback through the agency. There was no involvement or feedback from Capcom as far as I was aware.
When creating the artwork, did you get to see or reference any in-game graphics, scenes, or Japanese artwork?
DM: In the provided reference, I remember there were a few images from the game included but unfortunately not as useful as the detailed 2D concept art of the characters.
Were any character bios or backgrounds for Ryu, Gobi, Ox, Bleu, and Nina also shared with you so you could get an idea of their personalities/traits?
DM: Unfortunately, no, there was no write up or character specific information. Just the color copies.
Were you familiar with the original Japanese box art for the game? What’s your take on it?
DM: Iām seeing the Capcom cover for the first time, which seems to be a composite of the color copies I received as reference all those years ago. Putting on my Art Director hat, I might have a few suggestions about some odd tangents with a few of the elements as they overlap and some color value choices. š
I still think the character designs and stylizations are wonderful! Whatās not to love about the giant abacus strapped to Gobiās chest?! EPIC!!
(Image: Capcom / Nintendo | Artist: Tatsuya Yoshikawa)
(Image: Capcom / Dragnier)
Did you also create the comic-book style speech bubbles for Breath of Fire’s back-of-box and promotional ad?
DM: No, that was all handled by the agencyās design team and I saw it for the first [time] in a magazine some time later (Might have been GamePro?).
(Image: Squaresoft / Retromags | Artist: Dev Madan)
Have you ever gotten the chance to play Breath of Fire? If so, what did you think of it?
DM: I have not. My personal game tastes are more on the twitchy control/platformer style, so my experience with RPG games are a little too slow paced for me. As an artist, Iāve always felt the camera was too far out for me to see the character and environment details, but it totally makes sense for the type of gameplay. I have always admired the gorgeous concept art of those games though (and still do!).
(Image: Capcom / Nintendo | Artist: Unknown | Package Design: Moore and Price Design Group)
Rather than working with Squaresoft again on Breath of Fire II, Capcom handled the publishing of the sequel themselves. The North American artwork for the sequel bears some similarities to your Breath of Fire artwork, most notably the way the characters are positioned. Were you involved at all with the artwork of the sequel?
DM: I was not involved with the sequel, and was unaware there was one! As I mentioned, my memory is that Square had licensed BoF to help pad out their publishing schedule and there wasnāt much of an expectation for this game to do well. So I canāt imagine Square thought to lock up the rights for a sequel in advance.
What are some of the things you are currently working on that we can look forward to?
DM: I have recently returned to freelancing and have been working on some pretty fun projects, but unfortunately I am unable to talk too much about them as theyāre still unannounced. But in the background Iāve been working on a sequel to my graphic novel Zombie Camp.
Other recent projects include:
- Art Direction on Crash Team Rumble
- Environment work on Return to Monkey Island
- …And a poster celebrating Sly Cooperās 20th Anniversary
If you have any final thoughts or anecdotes on the Breath of Fire artwork you created and your experience working on it, as well as any thoughts regarding the style and presentation of video game box art in the 90s, we’d love to hear them!
DM: Some random thoughts!
I still own the original artwork for BoF! A number of years ago, there was a video game art show during PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) and I fished it out from the garage to display. Shortly after that, my wife got it framed more swanky with the box art as a birthday present. As I mentioned, this image is pretty special for me as it was one of my first “real” pieces on my journey as a professional illustrator.
(Image: Dev Madan)
DM: As I mentioned above, when I turned in the final painting, the original sky in the background was a bright blue and the idea of a sunset in the background would add a great sense of drama. It was the day of the deadline and needed to go out to [the] production house to get scanned and I didnāt have the time to drive all the way back to my studio to make the changes. So I ran down to my old art school a few blocks away where I crashed an airbrush class and borrowed a studentās supplies to make the corrections and was able to return to the agency within an hour.
What a rush! Also, that framed Breath of Fire artwork gave me chills; it’s such a joy to see the original artwork framed and honored in this way!
DM: Thanks and Iām glad you enjoyed it!
With the BoF cover, I remember talking with the designer who told me that Square had received special permission from Nintendo for Ryuās hand to break the standard image area and into the black border space. I know it wasnāt the only game to do that, but it was supposed to have been a big deal at the time.
Ryu’s palm breaking “out of bounds” on the SNES box/cartridge label is really interesting, as it really does “stick out” to the viewer! Given that my father bought the game as a surprise Christmas gift for me in 1995, I imagine the artwork made a good impression on him, as well!
DM: Ha, thatās awesome š
Some have noted that it kind of looks like Ryu is attempting to “grab” the Squaresoft logo. Amusingly, Squaresoft’s logo is featured twice on the cartridge label, which has confused some fans for all these years. Do you happen to have any insight into why the logo might’ve been shown twice?
DM: Yeah, thatās an interesting observation of the hand over the logo, it totally does look like heās about to grab it. I have no insight into that placement or why the logo is there twice.
(Image: Capcom, Squaresoft / Near)
(Image: Dev Madan)
DM: A bit of a detour: Breath of Fire was a surprise success for Squaresoft upon release (which is perhaps why Capcom decided to release the sequel on their own?). Square believed the image I created had an impact on the sales, and a few months later they requested me to help out on with their next game scheduled for release, Final Fantasy III. They obviously wanted the image to look different from BoF and more painterly, so I did a try out piece without the standard comic linework and leaned more on the airbrush and paints.
I remember the feedback on it was that it was a “little too edgy” with the earrings and saliva. š
And I still own the FF work too! Hoping to get these framed up as well at some point:
Final Fantasy III (SNES) Artwork
(Images: Dev Madan)
DM: As far as box art from that era goes: I felt there was such an importance to it in those days because the in-game graphics werenāt super sophisticated, so the cover had to be the bridge between your imagination and what was on screen. An incredibly painted dragon from the box cover would be the image that stuck with you when an upside down question mark showed up on screen and you were told āa dragon approaches!ā and you were captivated! For me, a game box cover had the same kind of importance as a movie poster or album cover, and was the dream gig any artist could hope to ever get. I will always be so grateful that I was lucky and privileged enough to be able to do more than one in the course of my career.
Dev, thank you so much for your amazingly detailed questions! They were an immense joy for me to read as someone who’s loved your Breath of Fire and Final Fantasy III/VI artwork since childhood.
DM: THANK YOU (and whoever else might have been involved with these questions) so much for the interest in my work, as well as the opportunity for me to spend a little time to reflect on some wonderful memories and a really exciting time in my career. I hope the answers were satisfactory and werenāt too rambling. āŗļø
All the best!
Dev
