LogFAQs > #985422339

3. Cryptic (The Stormlight Archive)
NFUN

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/c6f95802.jpg

Now heres a fascinating nom. This was the only nomination from a non-visual medium (that I can think of offhand): The Stormlight Archive is a book series. This artwork comes from official supplemental material, so it was valid for the ranking.

Cryptics are a race of spren (creatures of nature) with heads made up of infinitely generating spirals, each one distinct from the others. The field guide/journal entry mentions that its impossible to capture their complexity in a drawing, but Im imagining a cooler/more fantastical version of those inflatable mascots people display outside car dealerships.

Either way Cryptics are suuuuper weird. The wiki says: They can get to be a bit much, and because they'll start talking in numbers and in mathematical formulas, they often seem like they're planning something, when in reality they're just not quite getting what's going on in the same way. This is reflected really nicely in their design; the Cryptics are, true to their name, unknowable. Also, the race is obsessed with seeking the truth, another element of unknowability reflected in the design. Theyre alien, but theyre beautiful.

If youre curious, the rest of their bodies are like a robe, with long, bony hands (though possibly without bones).

Really fun nomination, very unique and not just because of the source. I love things that exist at the intersection of known and unknown, and Cryptic was the best depiction of that.