Anyways, this is my ancient San'Shyuum warrior. This specimen's physicality is not mangled by years of inbreeding and old age. One of the things I wanted to get across with this was the fact that the Forerunners and Humans described the San'Shyuum as being muscular and beautiful. So I wanted to make their facial features much more human, less wrinkled and smushed.

With the clothing/armor I was heavily inspired by an art book called "Art Deco Fashion Masterpieces". Originally I was going to go with a personal armor system like the Forerunners because I figured they would've already reverse engineered some of the Forerunner tech found on the Keyship. However, I felt that the influence of Art Deco in their design worked perfectly with their culture: grandiose, luxurious, indulgent, and oppressive.

There's at least three little design easter eggs with this guy. I'll give you one since it's a bit obscure: the knives on his waist are based on the knife that the Prophet is wielding against the Sangheili in this image.