Samus Aran as a Cat

Armored Cat Suit:
Feline/Nintendo cosplay #6

Samus Aran, "an intergalactic bounty hunter," originally hails from the 1986 game Metroid.
Once again, I am slightly perplexed as to how my sons have become so familiar with this character. The continuing interest in 1980's pop culture in video games that has been communicated to them ("Ready Player One" anyone?) seems bizarre to me.

Remarkably enough, Samus is a female character, although it seems this was originally hidden from Metroid's players unless the game was defeated within a prescribed time frame.

Stuffing a realistic feline physique into her small waisted "power suit" was a challenge. And I felt that I had to draw her bareheaded...

...because when you are wearing your power suit, nobody knows you're a cat... or a woman.

(as opposed to: "On the internet no one knows you're a dog)

Captain Falcon Cat

Feline Falcon Punch:
Cat Cosplay #4

Our sons have been flailing around the house shouting "FALCOOON PUNCH!!" for a long time.  While I did know that this Falcon Punch was "A Thing" not just specific to my kids, until last night, I was ignorant of the source and the wide distribution of the concept.

For those of you even less informed than I, (I'm talking to you, mom) the Smash Bros Wiki explains,"The move consists of Captain Falcon throwing a powerful punch, with his fist engulfed in flames shaped like a falcon. It is one of the most powerful moves in all five Super Smash Bros games."

The question of who is this Captain Falcon guy seems to be recursive, at least as far as my sons are concerned. Captain Falcon is the guy who throws the Falcon Punch.  We don't need to know more than that. I read on the Wiki that he also has a reverse Falcon Punch, and even a Falcon Kick, but these seem merely to muddy the purity of the concept as far as I am concerned.

The falcon punch seems to play the same role as "Fus Ro Dah" in my sons' life...and the internet at large.

It is always fun to imagine possessing an overwhelming force....or failing that, at least to imagine a cat who possesses an overwhelming force.

Kirby Kitten

Insipid in Pink.
Cat Cosplay #3

I'm not sure this qualifies as feline Nintendo video game character cosplay. It's certainly not one  of my better drawings. But my older son assures me that the point of Kirby is to overwhelm one's enemy with cute cheesiness, so perhaps it is appropriate.

Feline Robin From "Fire Emblem"

Stylish Medieval Feline Intersexual:
Cat Cosplay #2

While Mario was the obvious next choice for cat video game character cosplay, our younger son requested this character from the Nintendo series Fire Emblem instead. I know almost nothing about this game, but Wikipedia tells me that "The Fire Emblem series is known for its innovation and for being one of the first Eastern style tactical role-playing games, with a strong emphasis on Western forms of medieval fantasy."

The kids made this character's acquaintance through "Super Smash Bros," a melee style game that uses Nintendo characters drawn from the company's entire history. I don't think they know much about Robin besides the fact that he or she wears some cool clothes and has an impressive sword. There has been a long running debate at our house about whether Robin is male or female.  Having done 90 seconds of research last night, I was finally able to resolve the question: In Fire Emblem, Robin can be played as male or female. The main difference in the character's appearance seems to be hair length.

Since the cat doesn't have a human haircut, I guess s/he can go either way.

Eren Jaeger and Link

"Legend of Zelda" meets "Attack on Titan"
Back to Back Badasses Team up:

When I thought about drawing my kids' two favorite sword wielding heroes, it seemed like they should be posed back to back. Unsurprisingly there is an "official" TV trope of action heroes posed this way called "back to back badasses"
Regrettably, "badass" was my sons' favorite word last week. Their enthusiasm does seems to be waning, finally.... But I certainly did not mention the name of theTV trope when I offered up the napkin.

Speaking of badasses...I do find it winning that Eren and Link do not seem to need to be macho in order to be effective heroes. One might even describe them as being a bit girly.

Girly Badasses.

Attack on Titan Legend of Zelda Mashup

Link meets Colossal Titan Ganon:

My not very successful attempt to execute my older son's request for today.

Our sixth grade son eats in the cafeteria during the school year, so it is a special event for him to take a packed lunch with a napkin. There was much hand wringing last night about what sort of image he would want. 

I suggested a "Frozen"/"Attack on Titan" mashup as he has been belting out "Let it Go" constantly in recent weeks.  That idea was terribly abhorrent to him, of course, but led to the Link meets Colossal Titan concept.

I had been afraid that I was not capable of pulling off the Frozen/AoT combination on a two napkin evening....Clearly this combination was beyond me as well.

Archer looked at the napkin this morning and said, generously, "Well....It's KINDA cool...."

Attack on Link

Link takes on a Colossal Ganon:

Apparently we can plug practically any story into the "Attack on Titan" model with satisfying results.

This one is based on the "unofficial" poster for the forthcoming live action movie of the AoT franchise. 

Somehow I have managed to dodge learning much of anything about the "Legend of Zelda" universe.  For those who know even less about it than I do, (and Mom, I am talking to you, because I assume that anyone else who takes an interest in these sorts of things already knows chapter and verse on Zelda)  I can only offer that Link, the blond, pointy eared guy in the Robin Hood outfit, is the hero of the franchise. His ultimate nemesis in "The Ocarina of Time," is a guy named Ganondorf who morfs into a large boar creature at the end.  This facet of the Zelda story hails from a 1998 Nintendo game which was the 5th in the Legend of Zelda series, and according to Wikipedia, is "now considered by many critics and gamers to be the greatest video game of all time."

Ansel says that few in the second grade know anything about Link and Zelda. But there is one cool kid who has an 8th grade sister and is therefore up on the game.

Since one cool kid might get the reference, this napkin was OK for today.

Fierce Deity Link Alternative Costume

 

Ansel requested this particular version of Link for today's napkin.

I will have to admit my almost complete ignorance of "The Legend of Zelda" in general, and this character in particular. The kids have been playing "Super Smash Bros" a fighting game that includes 50 some characters from a variety of other games. Link is playable in multiple "skins" including this particularly strange one.

I asked Archer for insight into what this "Fierce Deity" skin was about.

He explained helpfully, "Well, he is a deity!...And he is fierce!"

Dark Link and Link from Legend of Zelda

Over the weekend, the boys developed a sudden interest in The Legend of Zelda game and the "Dark Link" character in particular.

Neither of them have ever played the game, and I don't think Ansel has ever even seen it played.  But the idea of the black-clad doppelganger of a hero is always enticing for him... And yes, he using the word "doppelganger" when discussing Dark Link, although his pronunciation is iffy.

Regrettably, I based this drawing on a blurry snapshot of our sons acting out a "Link battle"- ie, bludgeoning each other with Nerf swords and shields.  They were both quite displeased with the results.  Archer was put out that his character (regular Link) did not have a visible sword, Ansel thought they both looked "weird" and was concerned that the characters would look too much like him and Archer.

And even before this general griping from the juvenile critics, I had to awkwardly flip the image from right to left, because Link is left handed, don't you know?  I did not.