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The 99 and Villains
Noora The Light
CHARACTER EVOLUTION
As the leader and mentor of The 99, Dr. Ramzi Razem directs the quest to find the lost Noor Stones of Baghdad, which is the comic book’s main plot line.
Dr. Ramzi was one of the more difficult characters to design. His original look reflected his academic background, though his ethnicity was left deliberately vague (not wanting to imply that one country might be superior to another). This design, however, was rejected as looking too old and lacking a certain heroic quality.
The creative team liked this younger, better-looking Ramzi, but they wanted to keep his glasses and thought it was unusual for an adult Islamic male not to have facial hair. They also thought the loose tie made him look too disheveled.
This sketch won over the team. Ramzi was now handsome and stylish but also projected an educated and serious demeanor. The team joked that the final sketch looked like an idealized version of The 99’s creator, Dr. Naif al-Mutawa, even though the artist who drew it had never met or seen images of him.
Dr. Ramzi’s nemesis in the strip is the 500-year-old Rughal. After the fall of Baghdad, when the Noor Stones were created, they were kept safe in a domed fortress. In the 1400s, Rughal was one of the guardians of the fortress and began to understand the power of the stones. Trying to harness that power for himself, Rughal blew up the fortress, and the Noor Stones were released. Although Rughal’s physical body was destroyed, he survived as an energy force. Like Ramzi, Rughal searches for the gemstones, but rather than using them for knowledge and unity, he wants their power to control the world.
The first illustration showed Rughal as a traditional "villain": old, ugly and clearly evil. But he was not inherently evil, more an antagonist, and the team wanted more subtlety -- a character with a strong belief in his own methods, someone whose cause could be just as attractive as Ramzi’s.
Rughal needed to reflect a timeless quality and also show something of the time in which he was born. He also needed to appear of indeterminate age, anywhere from 30 to 50. While he was not meant to be the “stock villain,” the team felt his character should always look somewhat predatory and almost feral.
Unlike Ramzi, who has no special powers, Rughal would be competing with the characters who did have special powers, so he needed a costume besides his usual civilian garb. This design led to the evolution of how Rughal's power worked. The fact that he is made of energy held together by sheer force meant that he would sometimes need hard body armor to support his presence in the modern world.
The 18-year-old daughter of a wealthy businessman from the United Arab Emirates, Noora realizes her power after she is kidnapped. As she tries to dig her way out of imprisonment, she discovers a gemstone. The stone allows her to manipulate light and create holograms, and she uses her new powers to escape. She can also now see the "Light of Truth" within others but also their dark side. With her ability to see the ugly side of human nature, she adopts a more nihilistic view of the world and struggles with depression.
Noora’s look has not changed much from the original sketches first presented by artist Dan Panosian. The editorial team wanted to be consistent with the values of Islamic culture and avoid the look often portrayed in American comics that features revealing costumes and exaggerated anatomy.
Noora’s color scheme reflects her desert heritage and was designed to offset the primary colors of her teammates. The design team did take issue with the deep green eyes she was originally given, as they are not an Arab trait. Noora was given a mixture of brown and green eyes in the final version.
Character outlines are always the artist’s interpretation. When The 99’s creative team asked artist John Paul Leon, who has worked on Superman, Batman and the X-Men, to give his interpretation of The 99, he chose to draw Noora. While it was simply an artistic exercise in adding a more fantastic, darker side to the children’s version of the story, Leon’s drawing offers another vision of the possibilities of The 99.
- Dr. Ramzi
- Rughal
- Noora
As the leader and mentor of The 99, Dr. Ramzi Razem directs the quest to find the lost Noor Stones of Baghdad, which is the comic book’s main plot line.
As legend has it, when the Mongols sacked Baghdad in 1258, they razed the largest library in the city, Dar al-Hikma. To erase any record of the civilization, they threw the books into the Tigris River, which ran black with ink. But the caliphate guardians, in a desperate attempt to save the vast knowledge of the library before it was destroyed, concocted an alchemical solution that would absorb the contents of the books. The solution solidified into the 99 Noor Stones, which supposedly contain the lost knowledge of the Library of Baghdad.
Ramzi believes the legend, including the idea that the stones activate superpowers within certain people. He conducts his search through the nonprofit 99 Steps Foundation, and although possessing no superpowers of his own, he helps other characters to use theirs. Dr. Ramzi was one of the more difficult characters to design. His original look reflected his academic background, though his ethnicity was left deliberately vague (not wanting to imply that one country might be superior to another). This design, however, was rejected as looking too old and lacking a certain heroic quality. The creative team liked this younger, better-looking Ramzi, but they wanted to keep his glasses and thought it was unusual for an adult Islamic male not to have facial hair. They also thought the loose tie made him look too disheveled. This sketch won over the team. Ramzi was now handsome and stylish but also projected an educated and serious demeanor. The team joked that the final sketch looked like an idealized version of The 99’s creator, Dr. Naif al-Mutawa, even though the artist who drew it had never met or seen images of him. Dr. Ramzi’s nemesis in the strip is the 500-year-old Rughal. After the fall of Baghdad, when the Noor Stones were created, they were kept safe in a domed fortress. In the 1400s, Rughal was one of the guardians of the fortress and began to understand the power of the stones. Trying to harness that power for himself, Rughal blew up the fortress, and the Noor Stones were released. Although Rughal’s physical body was destroyed, he survived as an energy force. Like Ramzi, Rughal searches for the gemstones, but rather than using them for knowledge and unity, he wants their power to control the world. The first illustration showed Rughal as a traditional "villain": old, ugly and clearly evil. But he was not inherently evil, more an antagonist, and the team wanted more subtlety -- a character with a strong belief in his own methods, someone whose cause could be just as attractive as Ramzi’s. Rughal needed to reflect a timeless quality and also show something of the time in which he was born. He also needed to appear of indeterminate age, anywhere from 30 to 50. While he was not meant to be the “stock villain,” the team felt his character should always look somewhat predatory and almost feral. Unlike Ramzi, who has no special powers, Rughal would be competing with the characters who did have special powers, so he needed a costume besides his usual civilian garb. This design led to the evolution of how Rughal's power worked. The fact that he is made of energy held together by sheer force meant that he would sometimes need hard body armor to support his presence in the modern world. The 18-year-old daughter of a wealthy businessman from the United Arab Emirates, Noora realizes her power after she is kidnapped. As she tries to dig her way out of imprisonment, she discovers a gemstone. The stone allows her to manipulate light and create holograms, and she uses her new powers to escape. She can also now see the "Light of Truth" within others but also their dark side. With her ability to see the ugly side of human nature, she adopts a more nihilistic view of the world and struggles with depression. Noora’s look has not changed much from the original sketches first presented by artist Dan Panosian. The editorial team wanted to be consistent with the values of Islamic culture and avoid the look often portrayed in American comics that features revealing costumes and exaggerated anatomy. Noora’s color scheme reflects her desert heritage and was designed to offset the primary colors of her teammates. The design team did take issue with the deep green eyes she was originally given, as they are not an Arab trait. Noora was given a mixture of brown and green eyes in the final version. Character outlines are always the artist’s interpretation. When The 99’s creative team asked artist John Paul Leon, who has worked on Superman, Batman and the X-Men, to give his interpretation of The 99, he chose to draw Noora. While it was simply an artistic exercise in adding a more fantastic, darker side to the children’s version of the story, Leon’s drawing offers another vision of the possibilities of The 99.You will need Flash 8 or greater to view this animation
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