AQWorlds
Artix
| Monday, August 24, 2026
Greetings, friend!
I want to share something special with you. A mysterious package arrived from Japan. It had Danny Choo's Smart Doll logo on it and... THIS WAS INSIDE!
Danny Choo and the incredible team at Smart Doll created a truly special, one-of-a-kind Gravelyn, arguably one of the most iconic characters from AdventureQuest Worlds, and gifted her to our indie studio. She is absolutely amazing!
If you have never seen one before, a Smart Doll is a highly detailed fashion dolls designed by Danny Choo and handcrafted in Tokyo, Japan. They are made for collectors, artists, photographers, and people who enjoy creating clothing and accessories for characters.
Inside the doll is an articulated skeleton that allows its arms, legs, hands, torso, and head to be moved into natural-looking poses. The outer body is made primarily from soft vinyl, giving it a smoother and more life-like appearance.
Each Smart Doll is unique... but this...
This. Is. Gravelyn!
Our jaws are still on the floor. Danny and his team created her with incredible attention to detail. They custom modeled Gravelyn's armor, then 3D printed the pieces with resin. Gravelyn's armor is made from 20+ unique parts.
The cloak and front tabard were custom sewn. Her hair was specially selected and colored. Every part of the Gravelyn Smart Doll was painstakingly designed to match Dioz's original artwork of Gravelyn from the Doomwood Saga.
Look closely. the runes of the blade. The wings on the boots. The trim of the armor. The Shadowscythe arm spikes. All of those little details are in there... and it is beyond remarkable. This commitment to quality is one of the things I have always admired about Danny and everything he creates.
Sepulchure: "You are not leaving the Undead Flying Dragon castle dressed like THAT! Go back to your room and change right now, young lady!"
Gravelyn: “But Daaaaaaaaaad!”
However, Gravelyn will be traveling with us to conventions to help promote the game and show our eternal gratitude to Smart Doll. So, hopefully you get a chance to see her for yourself.
They say the eyes are the gateway to the soul. Gravelyn's eyes have quality that is hard to put into words.
It was a dark and stormy knight....
We were still building AdventureQuest Worlds the first time I learned about Danny Choo. There was a YouTube video where he was dressed up in Storm Trooper armor, dancing in the streets of Akiba on Youtube. (The real Akihabra in Japan, not the one in our games.) Danny was running the world's most popular blog about Japanese culture. He directed and hosted on a TV show called Culture Japan. He wrote the book on Otaku culture.... literally. He created the OTACOOL series of books.
You can (and should) read Danny's story.
There are so very few people I truly look up to, but Danny is one of them. For 17 years Danny Choo has been a role model and a tremendous inspiration to me. Everything Danny does... he does with a level of excellence and commitment that just... it just makes me want to make.... everything I make.... better.
So in 2012 when he suddenly announced that he was dropping everything and going all-in creating Japanese Ball Jointed Dolls... WHAT!? O_O
I did a double take. He had made his first Smart Doll based on his mascot charcter, Mirai. (Pronounced "Mee... Rye" and means, "Future!") Roughly 10 seconds later, I purchased one. I believed so much in who and what he is, that I would have supported him no matter what creative en devour he pursued. And yes, Miria is standing next to Gravelyn, here, as I write this.
One day at the Secret Underground Lab, Yergen walked into my office to tell me something. He looked down at my desk, his eyes went wide.
"Did you print a picture of Danny Choo and a girl cosplaying as Mirai taking a selfie with all of the people attending his panel at Anime Expo and tape it on your digital picture frame?" (OK, that was not an exact quote... I added words so you got the full picture in your mind)
I slowly turned and replied, "Life goals".
So when I found out Danny Choo was returning to America for another Anime Expo, I flew out to California just to shake his hand. What an honor to finally meet him. Nulgath, Eonaleth, and a party of AE players were also there. Man, that is a great memory.
The following year, Danny invited to be a part of another convention called Anime Impulse. Dage, Faith, and I flew out to run a booth, help in any way we could, and give a presentation on the stage. I really like when Danny Choo presents. He always spends about half his talks giving some sort of deep and useful advice... useful things that have nothing to do with the things he is creating.
His caring is sincere and so are the actions he takes help people. That is one of the things I admire most about him.
So in 2024, Nulgath and I went on a trip to Japan to visit the Smart Doll Headquarters. WOW!
There were Smart Dolls everywhere.
The 3D printers. The studio. The incredible amount of craftsmanship and attention to detail that goes into every doll.
Upon seeing how much attention he paid to every eyelash... the smallest detail, it left me thinking, “Okay... I need to go home and take my games to an entirely new level.”
And now, somehow, one of those incredible creations has become Gravelyn.
Seeing a character that Dioz crafted for AdventureQuest Worlds brought to life with this much care and craftsmanship is something I never would have imagined when we first created her back in 2008.
Seeing a character that Dioz crafted for AdventureQuest Worlds brought to life with this much care and craftsmanship is something I never would have imagined when we first created her back in 2008.
But I think that is one of the coolest things about being creative... you never really know where something you make is going to lead.
A character you doodle might become an indie studio’s most beloved NPC. A game you make in your bedroom with your friends might become an actual world that people grow up with. Someone whose work inspires you might one day become a friend who sends you a special gift from Japan. And, if you are incredibly lucky, that person might take one of the characters you created and pour their own creativity, skill, and passion into bringing it to life.
That is what Gravelyn means to me and the team. She is so much more than just a Smart Doll. She is a little piece of a very long creative journey that somehow went from AdventureQuest Worlds to the real world to Japan and back again.
I am sincerely grateful to everyone at Smart Doll for making Gravelyn come to life, and for all of the inspiration Danny Choo has given me over the years. Gravelyn is going on adventures and quests with us in the real world. And hopefully, you will get to meet her there, too.
Battle on!
Artix
