Fantasy Hetty

"If Mata Hari and Genghis Khan had a daughter, it'd be Hetty."
"Or General Patton and Joan of Arc."
    -Eric Beale and Nell Jones, S:4-E:8

Created using Dwarf Scene Maker on Doll Divine

Following in the footsteps of my first two series' of TV characters (NCIS and Bones), I decided to take the plunge and drape the agents of NCIS: Los Angeles in the fantasy mantle.

As far as spin-offs go, I tend not to be a fan unless the stories they add to the original material are both sophisticated and believable (that is to say, in line with the established canon). In this case, however, not only were the characters equally well-developed, but the dynamics and environment of the show were different enough from the original NCIS series to offer a completely fresh take on themes and ideas I had already admired for some time.

In line with my previous series', I tried to choose colors, shapes and styles for the characters that reflected their personalities, skills and role within the team. Enjoy.

Henrietta "Hetty" Lange, credentials:
•Operations Manager of NCIS in Los Angeles
•Connoisseur of fine teas and expensive scotch
•Skilled in multiple martial arts and with many types of weapons
•Exudes an aura of power and authority completely belied by her physical stature
•Can be surprisingly maternal when it comes to her agents
•Takes her job very seriously but can be more than a little mischievous when the chance takes her
•Has a long (and colorful) history of both military and civilian accomplishments, which has resulted in a legendary reputation
•Generally of a mild disposition but someone you piss off at your own peril
•Foreign languages: Arabic, Czech, German, Hebrew, Farsi, Hungarian, Mandarin, Pashto, Romanian, Russian, Spanish and Welsh

Is some ways, creating this piece was as difficult a process as Hetty herself is an enigmatic character. Strictly speaking, there's not much that's distinctly feminine (or, some would say, beautiful) about her, so I wasn't really sure what program to use. I'd had ideas about using the dwarf setting on the Game of Thrones program, but the hair and clothing options were not what I needed.

The arrival of Dwarf Scene Maker opened up a whole slew of possibilities, but it was still tricky to get a good likeness. The glasses, hairstyle and facial expression were easy enough, but what about the clothes? I remembered that in the episode "Ravens and Swans" Callen compared Hetty to "hand-painted silk", so I took that elegant notion as the basis for her outfit, and chose colors that harmonized well together. The rather large knife in her hand is self-explanatory, and I thought this background nicely replicated the Los Angeles field office (how did they score such a nice building, anyway?).