Hovark

Here is my latest concept for The Extra Mile universe called Hovark. This is the character we developed with the students of cohort 5 during the live sessions of the program and here is a little bit of the back story in case you are interested:

Hovark, the Last Warden:
Hovark belongs to a formidable race known for their brute strength and unparalleled ability to tame the untameable. For generations, his kind served as beastmasters — training and commanding terrifying creatures for warfare, labor, and bloodsport. Hovark rose through the ranks in one of the galaxy’s brutal coliseums, where beasts were pitted against each other in front of roaring crowds. He was revered not just for his control, but for his uncanny bond with even the most volatile species.

But Hovark was different.

While others saw the creatures as tools, Hovark saw companions... beings of instinct, emotion, and ancient memory. Over time, the constant cycle of pain and death broke something in him. The final fracture came when a juvenile predator he raised — gentle and trusting — was forced into a rigged battle it couldn’t survive.

Hovark snapped.

He sabotaged the pens, triggered a stampede, and fled under the chaos, taking with him a handful of rare and wounded creatures. Since then, he’s lived in hiding among the overgrown wreckage of an abandoned facility in the giang rocks of the deserts, tending to endangered species — some of which may be the last of their kind. His life is quiet, deliberate, and fueled by redemption.

It was during this exile that he encountered Kudu — young, cornered, and desperate to escape an off-world compound. Without hesitation, Hovark gave him a way out: a bonded creature swift enough to outpace the patrols. In return, Kudu later smuggled some of Hovark’s most vulnerable beasts to safer grounds, away from bounty hunters and traders.

The two never spoke of alliance, but they share an unspoken code — protect what others exploit. Hovark keeps to the shadows, but he’s not forgotten. In certain circles, whispers of a “ghost warden” persist — a massive figure with kind eyes and iron arms, who walks among giants and shields the forgotten.