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Cuphead (character)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cuphead
Cuphead character
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Cuphead as seen in Cuphead (2017)
First gameCuphead (2017)
Created byChad Moldenhauer
Voiced byTru Valentino (The Cuphead Show)

Cuphead is the titular protagonist of the 2017 video game Cuphead, created by developers Chad and Jared Moldenhauer. After losing their souls in a game of craps against the Devil at his casino, Cuphead and his brother Mugman strike a deal wherein they are tasked with collecting on debts owed by the residents of their home, Inkwell Isle; should they return to the Devil with each debt, they may be spared.

Cuphead has been generally positively received, with one critic comparing him and his brother to Mario and Luigi. Cuphead would go on to make appearances in other games, including Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Conception and characteristics

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Cuphead is inspired by Mickey Mouse and this character from a 1936 propaganda short film called Evil Mickey Attacks Japan.

According to Jared Moldenhauer, in the early stages of Cuphead's development, Studio MDHR needed a main character to replace the “little weird green guy” with a hat they been using as a placeholder. The team brainstormed lots of 1930's-themed concepts while his brother Chad Moldenhauer started paying attention to the backgrounds in the old cartoons, instead of the characters.[1][2] Moldenhauer also designed few concept sketches of the character which started with simple ideas based on people and animals, but soon realized that these designs were common in classic animation works. Chad and Jared Moldenhauer began designing the character's head look like a light bulb, a cactus and a fishbowl and existing characters from retro video games and old cartoons as inspiration.[3][4] Chad elaborated during the brainstorming process, jested to draw something like an anvil for a head however, the two couldn't remember the exact object of inspiration. Chad randomly tried drawing a character with a cup as it head and Jared found the design was "a lot skinnier and spindlier."[2] Once him and Jared Moldenhauer came up with the character, they knew that they had something special.[5]

Cuphead's gloves are coloured white while sometimes, it was yellow due of characters from the golden age of American animation such as Mickey Mouse also having his gloves sometimes white and yellow according to TheGamer writer Sean Murray.[6] Tru Valentino got the audition from his agent to voiced Cuphead for The Cuphead Show. Since the character doesn't speak in the original game, in an interview with Valentino alongside with Frank Todaro and CBR writer Sam Stone, who he asked the two if have the benefit of having a relatively blank canvas however, Valentino said that it had to be an East Coast kind of vibe.[7]

Appearances

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Cuphead first appeared in the 2017 video game Cuphead as the main protagonist and player character. In the game, he and his brother Mugman lose a game of dice against the Devil and have to save their own souls by collecting soul contracts from bosses. By the end of the game, the two manage to complete their goals by defeating all of the bosses and their soul contacts.[8][9] In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Cuphead appeared as a costume for the playable Mii Gunner character which was released as downloadable content on January 28, 2020.[10] He also appeared in 2020 video game Fall Guys as one of the player's costumes.[11] Cuphead has appeared in the animated television series The Cuphead Show.[7] In 2026, Cuphead was confirmed to appear in a spin-off game entitled Mighty Cuphead Adventure as well as an official untitled sequel to the original 2017 game.[12]

Reception

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A cosplay of Cuphead and a firedoll of Cuphead in the quema de año viejo in Ecuador in 2022

Cuphead has received generally positive reception, with Nintendo Life writer Jim Norman noting like other video game characters, Cuphead was immortalised into a Nendoroid figure.[13] Screen Rant writer Kayla Singleton described Cuphead as "playful riffraff" and noticed that his sense of right and wrong is a "bit blurry" to him. Despite of his reckless action, he will do anything to protect his family.[14] Cuphead alongside with Mugman has share a lot in common with Mario and Luigi from the Mario franchise according to Game Rant writer Carlos Zotomayor from both of them are brothers, their behaviors, aesthetics, gameplay, and lore significance. He wrote on the article that Cuphead's influence of Mario and Luigi helped make him stand out from other video game protagonists.[9]

Game Informer writer Ben Hanson wrote that the game's co-creator Jared Moldenhauer jested in an interview with Nintendo's manager Kirk Scott about how badly he wanted to see Cuphead and Mugman in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Moldenhauer has dreamed of the game and acknowledged that "[Cuphead and Mugman] belong in there. So basically if fans want it, He couldn't see how Nintendo wouldn't want the fans to get what they wanted." Scott asked Moldenhauer of which characters would most likely to go against Cuphead in the game and he answered Ice Climbers.[15]

References

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  1. ↑ Leone, Matt (2017-12-07). "Cuphead artists illustrate the game's five-year dev cycle". Polygon. Archived from the original on 2019-08-02. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
  2. 1 2 Osborn, Alex (November 16, 2017). "How Cuphead Came to Have a Cup for a Head — IGN Unfiltered". IGN. Retrieved 2024-04-03.
  3. ↑ Cork, Jeff (February 3, 2015). "Cuphead's Creator Opens Up His Sketchbook". Game Informer. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
  4. ↑ Furuya, Yoichi (May 8, 2019). "『Cuphead』のこだわりがいっぱい詰まったポイントを、開発元のStudio MDHRとローカライズ担当のGameTomoに聞く" [We ask developer Studio MDHR and localizer GameTomo about the key points behind Cuphead.]. Famitsu (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  5. ↑ Gilyadov, Alex (June 29, 2017). ""We quit our jobs, remortgaged our houses" - how relentless passion made Cuphead a reality". GamesRadar+. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
  6. ↑ Murray, Sean (2020-06-02). "Gaming Detail: The Reason Why Cuphead Has Yellow Gloves Sometimes". TheGamer. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  7. 1 2 Stone, Sam (2022-02-17). "The Cuphead Show! Stars Break Down the Hero's Wacky Voices". CBR. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
  8. ↑ Miszczyk, Maciej (March 11, 2018). "Cuphead". Hardcore Gaming 101. Retrieved 2024-04-10.
  9. 1 2 Zotomayor, Carlos (2022-07-25). "Cuphead and Mugman Have a Lot In Common With Mario and Luigi". Game Rant. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
  10. ↑ Knezevic, Kevin (January 17, 2020). "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Is Adding Cuphead As A Mii Fighter Costume". GameSpot. Retrieved 2024-04-03.
  11. ↑ Peppiatt, Dom (2021-02-22). "Cuphead and Mugman are coming to Fall Guys". VG247. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  12. ↑ Cripe, Michael (2026-06-05). "Studio MDHR Announces Mighty Cuphead Adventure and New Hand-Animated Follow-up Are in Development". IGN. Retrieved 2026-07-24.
  13. ↑ Norman, Jim (2023-02-21). "Cuphead Gets The Nendoroid Treatment Later This Year, Pre-Orders Closing Soon". Nintendo Life. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
  14. ↑ Singleton, Kayla (2022-03-22). "The Cuphead Show!: The 9 Best Characters From The Netflix Series". Screen Rant. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  15. ↑ Hanson, Ben (March 21, 2019). "Cuphead's Creator Dreams Of Having Him In Super Smash Bros". Game Informer. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
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