IGN: Death Jr. Blog: Humble Beginnings
Micah Russo:
Death Jr. (or DJ as we affectionately call him) began as a simple sketch entitled "Todd the Son of Death." At the time, we were selecting the main character for a new technology demo we working on. The art team had generated a number of different sketches – the [un]usual slew of insect, robot, and animal-inspired creatures. One stood out from the rest.
This skull-headed misfit, an odd character to say the least but all the stranger for the immediate affection he inspired. Then Creative Director, Mike Mika (now our Studio Head), checked opinions around the studio and the response was uniform: "No one would pick him. We so have to do that!" So we made the choice to feature him in our tech demo on the Xbox."
