Hey guys! I realized after seeing a comment on the story that it might be a little hard to really wrap your head around what Xanxaske looks like! He's not exactly the least complicated monster man I've ever come up with after all, and the text description for monsters with lots of details can be a little much.
As it so happens, I actually did an art piece of Xanxaske way back in 2017 when I was still posting on Tumblr (some of you that followed me over from there might even remember it).
And so, without further ado, let me just.... show you all what the sweetheart ancient boyfriend looks like!
**Important Note: Please do not refer to him as a Wendigo, as that's not what he is and was never intended to be. There are plenty of other skull-headed creatures to use for inspiration without potentially offending Native American spiritual beliefs. Thank you for understanding.
In truth, more than anything else, Xanxaske was inspired by the Slavic Leshy in personality and general background, and his visual design is inspired the The Witcher's interpretation of the Leshy, as well as the Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2's interpretation of Agreus. It was really seeing those designs that inspired me to create Xanxaske in the first place. He's not really supposed to directly represent any of the above, but is more an amalgam of the ideas within the mythology.
Anyway, that's all! Just wanted to add this little afterword with the visual reference of what the big man himself looked like. I hope you've enjoyed his story!
~Minty