ENGS002 #009 : Julio/Julia Valiente!

To be completely honest, I don't really know much about this guy. I mean, yeah, I've heard his name mentioned as reference to "epic" moments, and I know he is a TV character played by Lito Lapid. Aside from that however, the details were blurred.

From what I've read, he's the Pinoy version (although his fans refer to him as the original "epic") of Chuck Norris.

Given the task to redesign Julio Valiente, I came up with this:

I think what you can immediately notice is the presence of Julia Valiente, the female version of Julio Valiente. (Is this an original idea, or is there really a character named Julia Valiente in the story? I want to know! XD)

So, with the costume design, I sort of went with the original style, making a few alterations along the way. First, the arm sleeves. From what I saw in one of the videos about Valiente, his arms were covered with a dark cloth, and to make it more modern, I discarded that detail. Along with that were the boots. I replaced them with Converse footwear! Oh yeah! It's mostly because I like Converse a lot.
Another thing I changed about the original Julio was his hair. The drawing I did seemed to deserve a guy who could wear his hair in a pony. Of course, I retained the hair color, weapons, and overall look of being a Pinoy super.

To the right, we see "Julia". While I was thinking of a good enough entry for this challenge/homework/requirement, I realized how awesome it would be to have a girl version of Julio. Why? Just because. Besides, I had fun designing her attire. ;)
Another question would be: Why only one gun and a bamboo stick for Julia when Julio gets all the great, old-fashioned weapons? Well, my Julia doesn't need weapons to stay alive. She's a natural at "fighting evil in the name of good".
Oh yes. Notice her shoes. :D

Their origin is somewhat... typical, if I may say so.

You see, Julio isn't the same Julio. Think of it as the reincarnation of this hero three or four generations after his passing. Julia would then be his sister (or something of the sort) who also inherited the knack for promoting justice. After the previous "Julio" died under government orders (being an outspoken fighter of evil), Julio and Julia began planning ways to serve proper justice, not only for their father but also for others. As siblings, they shared the same stand (and the same taste in fashion) and decided to act on the injustice they saw around them.

In short, they are just continuing their "Julio" legacy, this time in two's.