Trouble designing a character... help?

[Clover Heart 978]

I wasn't completely sure where to post this. Well, I've posted it here, now...

 

So, I posted this as a status, but I didn't get much response. Shoulda expected that. So, I'm asking here instead.

 

I'm trying to create an MLP villain for a comic. One of a non-pony species. The villain is the queen of a eusocial society. I've named the species Apitrist. They're a bug-like species which feeds upon others' sorrow. They gather the sorrow for the consumption of the Apitrist queen.

 

I've basically modeled them after bees. However, whenever I draw the queen, I don't really get anything beyond... giant bee... It's just a giant bee... which is a little dumb. I did try to make the stripes look sorta like a Tim Burton spiral. Sadly, I suck too much for that.

 

 

I wonder if I'm not barking up the wrong tree. Any other villain in MLP has been equine in some respect. At least, the main villain. Chrysalis isn't quite a pony, but her body is definitely pony-shaped. And Discord is a Draconequus, but again, still based on equines. Am I just trying to do something too different?

 

By the same token, though, there have been more minor characters which were not equine, such as the chimera or the orthrus. But is it because these still fall under the realm of mythology and not... y'know, just bees?

 

Does anyone have any ideas on how to improve this design? Someone recommended changing the base species, but I dunno. I think I'm a little stuck in this regard.

 

Anyway, any suggestions will be helpful to me. Thanks!

 

Also, since I'm talking about giant bees, have this song. For no particular reason. Cuz I feel like being random:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dX-0Z2yOVk

Edited July 25, 2014 by Clover Heart

[Lighting Star 93]

Well the thing is with what you're trying to do, you can only go two different routes the way I see it.

 

Route 1: You make her a giant bee.

 

Route 2: You make her a equine-like bee to be a little more creative. 

 

I get that you want to be more original, but coming up with a completely original design can be very tricky. So to be safe I would either make her equine, or human like. If you don't just want to have a big bee that is. Perhaps a centaur-bee hybrid of some sorts?