Torn Suit Konoko

The standard version.

Higher resolution, uncropped, with transparency.

Torn Suit Konoko is the name used by fans for an image of a battle-ravaged gunslinger version of Konoko drawn by Lorraine McLees. The art piece Fully Armed Konoko, typically used as the cover art of the game, was derived from this one and restores her bodysuit and armor to good condition.

Although she cannot do so in the game itself, Konoko carries three weapons:

• The shotgun is the all-too-famous Franchi SPAS-12.
• The machine gun seems to be an amalgam of the Russian AKMS (shoulder stock, grip) and the American M60 (characteristic perforated bipod).
• The handgun is a fairly generic revolver and doesn't match what she uses in-game. See Konoko's gun for elaboration on the different handguns she can be seen carrying in various art and screenshots.

All 3 guns have been modeled by fan Seventeen Seconds and are available in low-poly OBJ HERE.

Origin

Lorraine said of this work: "I'm proud of it technically, but I wish I'd never drawn that cheesecake picture of her all torn up with three guns on her, wrapped in bullets – it's not the way I wanted to see Konoko portrayed." Comments by Lorraine and other Bungie staffers confirm that an overall goal for Konoko's character was to avoid making her a sexualized heroine. Torn Suit Konoko is nevertheless a fan favorite. It has been used in multiple wallpapers, and served as the cover for Marty O'Donnell's brief re-release of the soundtrack.

The initial motivation for drawing Torn Suit Konoko came when Lorraine was asked to create a promotional art piece for Oni which could be used on the cover of PC Accelerator. "Known for its Maxim-like humor and photography", the magazine wanted Konoko to be naked and only covered by her weapons. Lorraine initially designed the pose seen in this art so that it would cover a nude Konoko if she was only equipped with weapons. However, feeling that the piece was going to be too risqué, Lorraine's compromise was to draw her clothed in the battle-damaged bodysuit and missing most of her armor. In the end, PC Accelerator only used a thumbnail of Konoko's head as part of a collage of Oni images inside the July 1999 issue. Lorraine found this highly disappointing considering that she incurred carpal tunnel damage creating the highly detailed image which included about 70 individually drawn bullets.

An interesting predecessor to this piece is the following concept art by Alex Okita:

• 

While conceptually similar to the piece that Lorraine was originally asked to draw, it is likely a coincidence. Okita's artistic influence was Ghost in the Shell and similar works of the '80s/'90s. The request for sexy cover art from Lorraine was typical for 1990s video game magazine culture. When one considers the reader demographics for sci-fi anime/manga and for video game magazines, it's clear that there was a lot of overlap; thus we could consider the art concept of "nude Konoko covered by her guns" occurring on two separate occasions to be a less than astronomical coincidence.