Twisted Princess by Jeffrey Thomas
Normally I think the “fun and innocent turned creepy” shtick is uncreative, but this is an example of it done really well. The pieces by themselves aren’t that innovative until you read the biographies behind them. Mulan’s, for example:
The story behind her design is the Huns destroy Mulan’s village, killing everyone…including her. Her ancestors send Mushu to retrieve the spirits of their fallen family. Upon collecting Mulan’s spirit, she begs Mushu to restore her spirit to her body so she can defeat the Huns and avenge the death of her family. Mushu does so, but in order to bring her back to life, he must fuse his body with hers. When he does, he becomes a living tatoo on her body, his appearance altered by Mulan’s rage and hatred for the Huns.Go to his blog for all 16 of them, or click here for his DeviantArt page which includes the biographies.
