Mascot Enemy Design (Monkoblin)

This is the design I made for a mascot enemy in a student project. The basic concept is, aesthetically, a high-fantasy version of a JRPG called Earthbound. With this in mind, I had the idea for a “mascot enemy,” a weak early game enemy that is meant to be cute and charming in appearance. Before making a design, I decided between two stock enemy types: a goblin or slime. Because slime enemies were incredibly common as mascot enemies, I chose a goblin as the base. However, I still needed to make it stand out. So, with the knowledge of goblins being mischievous fairies in folklore, coupled with the fact that monkeys are stereotypically portrayed that way, the “monkoblin” was born, a cross between a golden lion tamarin and a goblin. Both the final render for the art, and the sprite, as well as the rough draft are pictured above in the slide show.