Diesel
From WikiFur, the furry encyclopedia.
Dr. Diesel Leslie Leon, or just Diesel is the former lynx fursona of Graham 'Heathcliff' Pierrepoint, a contemporary poet and spare-time cartoonist from Huddersfield, England. His player also uses his character in many art and fiction-based works - Diesel is mainly depicted in fatfur and inflation-related work, predominantly artwork, but stretching to prose, poetry and an interactive trail in the past. He is also the deputy-editor of The Furtean Times. Diesel has since been retired following Pierrepoint's return to the fandom from a year-long 'walkabout'.
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[edit] Diesel as a fursona
Diesel was known to many as a 'Belliologist' and 'International Stuffing Co-Ordinator' with a phD in Stuffing Sciences. A friendly, though extremely modest character, and one of great mystery and ambiguity, Diesel was notorious for his elusiveness. He began furry life quietly in the spring of 2005 via the oekaki boards at The InflatioNation, and had remained a rather sombre, retiring fur ever since.
His player has since stated that Diesel's fursona adequately represents himself, though with 'several inches more self-confidence, and cooler hair'.
Diesel's status as his player's fursona has since been retired in favour of a new, less-complicated character, known currently and only as Dare.
[edit] Diesel as a character
In the fatfur and inflation community, Diesel was depicted as an inflator rather than an inflatee, though in the past the character hasn't escaped the weight gain he dishes out on a regular basis, featured in his creator's story Lisa and Torchwood Lose Their Feet as well as several roleplay ventures. Though his role as 'feeder' could be intimidating for some, his demeanor is often less-than-serious and has a commendable bedside manner.
In the summer of 2006 Pierrepoint released Diesel Revealed?, an interactive trail built for readers and viewers of his art to discover and piece together the deep, convoluted past of Diesel, through 'newspaper cuttings', conversation transcripts and diary entries. Giving no specific answers, the trail has supposedly been left unfinished for completion in 2007 - with ambiguous symbols, several unknown identities and a cyclical approach to storytelling, the trail is inherently mysterious, but is asserted to be possible to solve with the information currently given. The entire trail can be viewed via Diesel's Fur Affinity page (see links).
In 2007 Diesel gained his 'own' series, portrayed as the central character to Ghostriding to Minneapolis, a weekly serial. Unlike Lisa and Torchwood, this project is slated to be 'deeper, darker and more shocking', whilst remaining witty and irreverent. Pierrepoint has said that this series will tie up all loose ends created via the Revealed trail, and picks up where the last piece of evidence left off. It has been stated that even in the series' prologue (released in March 2007), one of the big mysteries surrounding Diesel's character was revealed - the death of his partner, Elizabeth.
Pierrepoint has since stated that although Diesel's character traits and identity represented within GTM and Diesel:Revealed are identical to the character he embodies through the fandom, he has urged that the situations and character histories given within the works are not canon to the fursona; and that he is, as Diesel, 'playing a character role'.
In summer 2008 following Pierrepoint's retirement of the character, he has made it clear that we have not only seen far from the last of the doctor, but that he both expects to be and is happy with being referred to as 'Diesel' for some time yet.
[edit] Appearance
Diesel's appearance has changed no less than five times in the past year and a half, maintaining a feline identity but changing hairstyles, outfits and demeanor (especially during his second phase, in which he was distinctly 'emo'). He currents sports a red, scruffy haircut, a large goatee and predominantly a black short-sleeved shirt and white tie. He also tends to wear black or blue slacks and is bare footed. He has always remained a white cat, normally with a flirtatious grin in hand. His player has since stated that his appearance as of 2007 was largely inspired by Green Gartside, the lead singer of low-fi pop act Scritti Politti.
Diesel's appearance ultimately does not stray from his player's appearance; particularly in the sense of their sharing of a goatee beard (which is arguably the lynx's most notable feature).
[edit] Trivia
- Diesel Leon is named for his player's favourite word, and a fictional Nintendo character - 'Diesel' due to its spelling being completely removed from its pronunciation ([dI:zul]), and 'Leon' after the mysterious pilot of the Space Angler in F-Zero X and F-Zero GX.
- Diesel's middle name, 'Leslie', is a direct reference to a scene in the Aardman/Dreamworks feature Flushed Away; in which the henchman character Whitey ponders over his cohort Spike's proclamation that 'danger is my middle name' by dully responding, 'I thought it was Leslie'.
- Diesel's art has never been coloured by hand, and for earlier works, was inked using a black biro.
- Diesel's artistic style is, bizarrely, heavily inspired by the UK Dennis the Menace cartoon series, particularly in the case of facial expressions.
- For a period, the character wore a shirt bearing the 'Dharma Swan' logo - a reference to the television series Lost, and perhaps a further edge to the character's mythology.
- Diesel has a Scottish accent, whereas his player does not, and tends to write in dialect.
- His player has said that Diesel's appearance changes with his current tastes and opinions, and may never stick to a permanent design.
- Diesel's player is currently toying with the possibly controversial prospect of axing his character in a non-fatal way during the second series of GTM.
[edit] Links
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