In general, this little chibi man has shaped much of my childhood.

Phantom is the legendary thief of Maplestory and pretty much every aspect of his character has stood out to me since day one. His story, his aesthetics, and even his gameplay are all intrinsically interesting and unique to the point where it’s difficult to even find something else like him (trust me, I’ve tried). His background is that of a street-rat turned master thief to the point where he can steal and copy the abilities of other heroes. But his story takes a turn when the lovely Princess Aria creates a rumor of a legendary gem by the name of Skaia. Phantom must have it and in the process ends up falling in love with Aria through their games of cat and mouse. She is tragically murdered, sending him into a spiral to eventually become one of the six great heroes of Maple World.

 

The aesthetics of Phantom are incredible. This legendary thief’s motifs are unique and draw clear inspiration from different eras of human history. His mask, feathers, and star motifs draw from the Renaissance Masquerades. Meanwhile his suit, hat, and general drapery draw more from the Colonial and Baroque eras. What would the greatest thief be without an incredible steampunk airship? The Lumiere, the aircraft in question is the epitome of an over exaggerated pleasure barge with large engines and moon motifs across the ship. Even his abilities resemble moons, stars, and cards, bringing in mystical tarot imagery to emphasize his more mysterious nature. It’s hard to not immediately fall for this guy’s aesthetics, even if he has cheesy lines to go with them.

 

I first discovered Phantom in my early teens. I was constantly flying back and forth between my parents during this time and rarely had decent internet. Because of this, all I had to enjoy the long hot summers of Texas was my playstation 2 and a really intermittent internet connection. I discovered Maplestory shortly after arriving at my mothers and it really didn’t need a strong connection for long periods of time. So I tried it out, really got into the vibes of the game and enjoyed myself. This eventually led to me trying out Phantom as a hero and immediately after his incredible intro, I was hooked. His style, his cool demeanor, and all of the more dramatic cinematics he had changed me forever. Much his story reminded me of Anakin Skywalker from Star Wars in later years, a character that I cherished greatly for some odd reason. Except, unlike Anakin, he was less problematic and was easier to look up to.

 

Since I discovered him, I’ve known little peace when it comes to video games. In short, having this unique character in a game for a young teen in the 2010s who was trash at video games, it broke me. Not only did I find a roadblock in the form of being unable to play him, but I also found that no other online game had anything remotely similar. The closest thing I could do was make a mage-like or rogue-like character and attempt to dress them up similarly. In my younger years, how I played games was my form of self expression. That was, until I started to roleplay in World of Warcraft and take up various event running positions in online communities. My flair for the dramatic really showed through, allowing me to express myself in ways I hadn’t before. Despite this, I still try to find little bits of him in every video game I play; consciously or not.

 

Becoming an artist and writer was the greatest way I could pay homage to him. Around seventeen to twenty years old, I was engrossed in Warcraft roleplay. This allowed me to create many different characters, one of which was a direct recreation of Phantom named Femont. Later on, I would create Fordaux Llane, my viera from Final Fantasy XIV and then Star Spectre as my world-build character. Both resembled Phantom in various ways with Fordaux being a Blue Mage, which was a similar concept of class. Meanwhile Star Spectre took on his battle for an idealistic future and had a stronger focus on a soft romance. Once I became an artist, Phantom showed up often in my works. I can’t quite seem to shake his motifs or aesthetics from my work, even having a cosplay of him show up in some of my recent paintings. It’s clear Phantom’s impact on me was incredible, I only wish I could do him as a character justice.

 

Phantom’s impact on my life is profound, seeping into my psyche and work. If he hadn’t showed up, I really don’t know what kind of person I would be or what kind of things I’d be interested in. I’m not so obsessed as to say he’s my only muse as that just wouldn’t be true. But his design has really shaped much of how I approach things going forward despite just being a few pixels on a screen.