CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
Kamigawa was a very interesting process, even more involved than your typical Magic world. The theme of the block, Legends, and the Japanese-flavored setting, presented so many possibilities that it was hard to whittle it all down to even the tapestry presented on the cards.
Kamigawa was conceived as "the land of a thousand stories," quite appropriate for a Legend-heavy block. So, Magic Creative paid a lot of attention to prominent individuals right off the bat. This is because there has been a lot of thought put into who Magic heroes and villains are, and how they’re represented.
One area of concern is to make sure that the two roles are at least somewhat balanced among colors. This opens up a lot of creative space, and makes stories more interesting. Gerrard Capashen and Glissa Sunseeker heroes, for example, are easy, Kamahl, Pit Fighter heroes only somewhat less so. Blue’s lack of emotion makes heroes of that color more complicated, but it’s still possible (for example, in my opinion, Blind Seer is a good example of a blue protagonist in terms of how he worked towards his goals). Black is the hardest, given its characterization and how it’s stereotyped by Magic players. Thus Toshiro Umezawa was born as an attempt to show players how black can be "the good guy" while still staying true to its base qualities. Daimyo Konda, Lord of Eiganjo was written as the opposite on the villainous side. So what is a green villain like? You may yet find out!
The first document generated for creative writing use had four sample legends for each color and each species, to give an idea of what that color’s characters are like, and to offer possible "point of view" characters. (A "point of view" character is a non-story character who is attributed in flavor text, like Noboru, master kitemaker.) Some characters you know now were created (and even named) from the start, like Toshiro Umezawa, Eight-and-a-Half-Tails, and Isao, Enlightened Bushi. Others made it mostly intact, but refined. For example, the Brothers Yamazaki were, at one point, the Yamazaki triplets.
But there were many others who never made it onto flavor text and cards. Some ideas that ended up in the slush pile were: a twelve year old girl who ekes out a survival in Takenuma aided by an invisible oni, a young yamabushi with wild talent and a grudge against Konda, and an incredibly lucky akki who’s unknowingly protected by a kami who’s "adopted" him as a pet.
Terrain and culture details sometimes go through a similar process. One writer suggested that large portions of the Jukai Forest be so dense, that only a snake could slither between its trees (a nod to the orochi), and that this area is patrolled by a gigantic, constantly slithering, half-wurm guardian.
引用元
WORLDS OF FLAVOR Posted in Feature on April 11, 2005
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/worlds-flavor-2005-04-11
神河においては、ヴィラン（神の乱の一因）が白の《永岩城の君主、今田/Konda, Lord of Eiganjo》であり、ヒーロー（神の乱を終結させようとするもの）が黒の《梅澤俊郎/Toshiro Umezawa》です（※１）。これは、ステレオタイプなイメージに反して、黒のヒーローや白のヴィランも可能だと示す、意図的な試みだったことが明かされています。現在では、白のヴィランというとヘリカスことヘリオッドが代表的でしょうか。ヘリカスと呼ばれるまでに至った顛末は、ピクシブ百科事典などにまとめられています（※２）。どちらも神話モチーフの世界ではありますが、方や定命、方や神で、対照的なのは面白いところです。
その他、設定されたものの、没になったアイデアなどが解説されています。不可視の鬼に助けられ竹沼で生きる12歳の少女、今田に恨みを持ち野生的な才能を持つ若い山伏、ペットとして養子に出され神に守られている幸運な悪忌などのキャラクター。樹海の森の大部分は鬱蒼としており、木の間を蛇（後のオロチ）だけが通ることができ、半イモリ（半人間？）の守護者が巡回している、といった設定などです。
※１
神河当時 - 《侍の処罰者/Samurai Enforcers》のアート
https://researchofkamigawa.diarynote.jp/202011292202396096/
神河当時 - ASK WIZARDS 悪役でない黒のキャラクター
https://researchofkamigawa.diarynote.jp/202101071642155842/
※２
https://dic.pixiv.net/a/%E5%A4%AA%E9%99%BD%E3%81%AE%E7%A5%9E%E3%80%81%E3%83%98%E3%83%AA%E3%82%AA%E3%83%83%E3%83%89
【MTG】ヘリオッドがまたヘリカスと呼ばれる日
https://cuberoomblog.com/mtg-heliod-theros/
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