VG Cats

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VG Cats
Link Finally Snaps
The VG Cats strip "Link Finally Snaps" parodies the video game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Author(s) Scott Ramsoomair
Website http://www.vgcats.com/
RSS web feed
Launch date September 9, 2001 [1]
Genre(s) Video game, Parody, Gag-a-day

VG Cats (short for Video Game Cats[1][2]) is a webcomic written and drawn by Canadian Scott Ramsoomair. Published on its own website, it features the adventures of a pair of anthropomorphic cats, who often play the roles of characters in popular video games that are parodied in the strip.[3] Strips are usually presented in a large format and in full color. The author generally sets Mondays as days for updating the comic; he mocks his tardiness in updating in one strip [4].

The VG Cats website also hosts Adventure Log, the official Final Fantasy XI webcomic written and drawn by Ramsoomair, and SUPER EFFECTIVE, a Pokémon webcomic.

The comic series often includes video game-based humor[5] and satire targeting the video game industry.[6] Ashton Ruby of The Rocket, Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania's student newspaper, described VG Cats as sometimes exhibiting "a little twisted humor."[7]

Contents

[edit] History

Ramsoomair said that he began the strip due to boredom at work; he created comics during his lunch breaks.[8]

The first VG Cats strip was released on September 4, 2001 [9]. Prior to taking the VGCats.com domain, the comic was hosted at vgcats.cjb.net on Cjb.net [10].

For a period, VG Cats was affiliated with BuzzComix [11].

During April 1 (April Fools' Day), 2003, Ramsoomair posted a "Krug" page in place of the regular home page [12] [13].

Some guest strips are no longer available on VGCats. They include:

[edit] Characters

VG Cats is not a storyline-based comic. There are several characters that are staples of the comic.

Ramsoomair said that all of his characters "relate" to him "at some point."[14]

Recurring characters in VG Cats include:

Leo Leonardo, The Third
Leo Leonardo, The Third

[edit] Leo Leonardo, The Third

Leo Leonardo, The Third [15] is a green-eyed male cat with grey fur. Leo, enthusiastic but credulous, is typically the more foolhardy of the two cats. While he usually projects a general air of idiocy, he has shown signs of a deeper intelligence, or at least marginal quantities of common sense. In some strips, including strips involving Leo starring in the roles of other video game characters [16] [17]. Leo was named after one of Ramsoomair's real cats; Ramsoomair describes the association as "in name only." [1]. Leo was introduced on September 4, 2001 in Strip 1, "Feelin' Gassy" [9]


[edit] Aeris

A blue-eyed female cat with pink fur, Aeris is friends with Leo, though she hardly ever tolerates his stupidity. Though easily the most sensible character, she has a look of cuteness about her but a quick temper and little patience for the foolishness that surrounds her, and is almost always upset with the other characters. She is typically depicted as a sardonic voice of reason, or a sadist when encountering people who she feels are annoying. She is a fan and writer of slash fan fiction [18], and yaoi [19]. Aeris is also named after one of Ramsoomair's real cats; Ramsoomair describes the association as "in name only." [1] Aeris was introduced on September 4, 2001 in Strip 2, "Pika?" [20].

Krug
Krug

[edit] Krug, Lord of the Unpleasant

A horned red demon of limited intelligence, a childlike demeanor, and a voracious appetite (occasionally eating companions), Krug can act in a violent manner at times and tends to talk in the third person. His alter ego is Dr. Van Kruglor, and is the arch-nemesis of Pantsman [21]. Krug was introduced in Strip 26, "The Incredible Krug" [22].

Pantsman
Pantsman

[edit] Pantsman

The alter ego of Scott Ramsoomair, Pantsman is an incompetent superhero who conceals his identity by wearing trousers and sometimes underpants on his head. His greatest weakness is vodka cooler, which causes him to drop his trousers and transform into "Peter Pantsless" [21]. He also wears a pair of jeans around his neck, to provide a two tailed cape. He was introduced in Strip 37, "I Like Bunnies." [23] to help explain the inconsistent updating of the comic.

Johnny Evilguy
Johnny Evilguy

[edit] Johnny Evilguy

Johnny Evilguy is a greedy and unscrupulous antagonist named after an example character in the Neverwinter Nights scenario creation guide [24]. He usually appears as a shop owner, in various circumstances, often trying to rid himself of a surplus of testicle-based produce [24]. He was introduced in Strip 52, "Nutsack" [24].

Dr. Hobo
Dr. Hobo

[edit] Dr. F.G. Hobo

In strips 64 through 183, Dr. F.G. Hobo[25] is an alley-dwelling lunatic given to telling absurd, rambling stories. He tends to speak with a drunken slur. Dr. Hobo was introduced in Strip 64, "Oh Canadia!" [26]. In Strip 183, "Gin City," some men find Dr. Hobo during a snowy night. One man touches Dr. Hobo's hand. The next several panels portray Dr. Hobo's body being placed in a body bag and taken into an ambulance.

Ternaldo
Ternaldo

[edit] Ternaldo

Ternaldo is a collectible card game fan oblivious to the finer points of social interaction. He is a Galka, a playable character race in Final Fantasy XI. Ternaldo enjoys Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game, Beyblade, [27] and other collectible trading card games [28]. Ternaldo is often used to represent the ubiquitous newbie in gaming circles - someone who is overenthusiastic and completely clueless. Ternaldo was introduced in Strip 90, "Card Sharks" [29].

[edit] Minor characters

Most of these characters are named after video game consoles, and are drawn to physically resemble an anthropomorphized version of the consoles they represent.

  • GameCube, usually very cheery but extremely anti-online [30], but regardless good friends with PS2. He dies "due to a lack of original and exclusive releases" in Strip #221, "Operating Buddy" [31].
  • PlayStation 2, GameCube's more popular but somewhat simple friend; equally cheery.
  • PC and Xbox seen once in the comic appearing to be good friends, manage to trigger GameCube's anti-online attitude [30]. An Xbox is featured speaking in "Box only want friend!" without any anthropomorphic traits [32]. In "Open Cheese Night" Xbox and Xbox 360 appear in a comedy routine [33]
  • Nokia N-Gage not often noticed [30] [34], and later becomes a rather successful poet [35].
  • Mrs. SNES is the mother of GameCube, Dreamcast and Wii [36] [31].
  • Sega Genesis, married to Mrs. SNES and the father of GameCube and Dreamcast. He is extremely disappointed at Dreamcast for 'dropping out' [36].
  • Game Boy Advance & GBA SP are depicted as stereotypical hip-hop street punks [37].
  • Nintendo DS shown as a pervert with an obsession of having people touch him/her "down there" [37] [38].
  • R.O.B. the doctor who fails to save GameCube's life due to his lack of mobility [31]. The R.O.B. is one of the NES robots originally released with the NES.
  • Dreamcast son of Mrs. SNES and Genesis. He is very angry at his father for always criticizing him. He is said to have "dropped out" because the real Dreamcast was taken off the market after only two years. [36].
  • Major Payne. Pantsman states that he was expelled out of the army for being a masochist [39] Payne was introduced in Strip 69, "Boundaries of Good Taste" [39].
  • Mr. Potatomoto. Ramsoomair described him as a "a little tiny potato Shiggy Miyamoto."[14] Potatomoto represents Nintendo in several comics.[40] [41][42][43] Ramsoomair said that Potatomoto is his favorite character.[44].
  • Mr. Kutarchini. A joke on Ken Kutaragi's name and a representation of Sony. He is a zucchini.[42][43]
  • PSP - PSP is un-wanted and un-used by his owner, Pantsman [45].

[edit] Print version

 This article or section contains information regarding scheduled, forthcoming or expected future book(s).
The content may change as the book release approaches and more information becomes available.
Books

Ramsoomair has stated that the print book, scheduled to come out in early 2007, will instead be postponed to the holiday season, due to work on a new project. The same comixpedia.com interview indicates that the project in question is something that fans have often tried to do [44].

[edit] VG Cats: The Animated Series

The logo for VG Cats: The Animated Series
The logo for VG Cats: The Animated Series

Chris Boe, a friend and associate of Ramsoomair, created an animated version of VG Cats [46] [47]. Boe wrote and animated the episodes. The series, VG Cats: The Animated Series, is produced by Boe and VGCats.com.

As of 2008, the first half of one episode, Episode 1: A Tale of Two Kitties, has been produced. The first episode was released on January 21, 2006. [48]

On November 16, 2006, Boe said that he halted production so he could focus on his other works. [49]

Voice actors include:

  • Chris Boe as Krug and Major Payne [50]
  • Cris Mertens as the Police Officer [50]
  • Nicholas
  • Marie
  • Eddy
  • Kevin
  • Scott Ramsoomair as Scott Ramsoomair/Pantsman [50]

[edit] Bad Mushrooms

Bad Mushrooms, a sprite comic created by Ramsoomair prior to the creation of VG Cats, is hosted on VGCats.com [10].

[edit] Super Effective

A relatively new line of comics (April 2008) making parodies of the hit game series Pokemon. It is also hosted on the VGCats website. The strip originally intended to update on Mondays at the same time as VGCats, but Scott decided to change the time to Thursdays.

[edit] VG Kitties

VG Kitties, a 2003 spinoff, consists of three comics and a wallpaper portraying Leo and Aeris as talking domestic cats [51] [52] [53] [54]. Ramsoomair posted VG Kitties as a reward [55] for voting for the strip in BuzzComix [56].

[edit] Merchandise

In 2003, Ramsoomair designated CafePress as the provider of the VG Cats store; Ramsoomair soon ended the relationship with CafePress. On June 16, 2004 Ramsoomair announced that he established his store on Hyperion Press [57] [58].

As of 2008 ZeStuff hosts the VG Cats Store [59].

As of 2008 CafePress sells VG Cats merchandise even though Ramsoomair is no longer affiliated with CafePress. [60] [61] [62] [63] [64]

[edit] Awards

VG Cats has been nominated for several Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards, winning 2 awards in 2005 and 1 in 2006.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c "All About the Site," VG Cats
  2. ^ "Internet provides new way to get daily dose of funnies." The Rocket. 2.
  3. ^ Maragos, Nich (2005-11-07). "Will Strip For Games: Gaming Comics Online" 3. 1UP.com. Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
  4. ^ "Humiliation Tube," VG Cats
  5. ^ "Geeks' favourite Web comics." New Straits Times.
  6. ^ "Interview: DC's Web Comics Imprint." IGN.
  7. ^ "Internet provides new way to get daily dose of funnies." The Rocket. 3.
  8. ^ "NYCC 2008 VG Cats Interview." Tokyopop.
  9. ^ a b "Feelin' Gassy," VG Cats
  10. ^ a b "#01 Bad Bushrooms," VG Cats
  11. ^ "archive of the home page of BuzzComix
  12. ^ "welcome to kgug!," VG Cats
  13. ^ "Main.htm," VG Cats
  14. ^ a b "Gonzo Gaming: An Interview with Scott Ramsoomair of VG Cats." ComixTalk.
  15. ^ "Behind the Scenes, Part 1," VG Cats
  16. ^ "A Night On the Town," VG Cats
  17. ^ "Ozzy," VG Cats
  18. ^ "Stranger than Truth," VG Cats
  19. ^ "NSFH, Not Safe For HUMANITY," VG Cats
  20. ^ "Pika?," VG Cats
  21. ^ a b "It's Lightish Red",' VG Cats
  22. ^ "The Incredible Krug," VG Cats
  23. ^ "I Like Bunnies," VG Cats
  24. ^ a b c "Nutsack," VG Cats
  25. ^ "Behind the Scenes, Part 2," VG Cats
  26. ^ "Oh Canadia!," VG Cats
  27. ^ "Ode to a Python," VG Cats
  28. ^ "Skittles," VG Cats
  29. ^ "Card Sharks," VG Cats
  30. ^ a b c "Hypothetical Situation," VG Cats
  31. ^ a b c "Operating Buddy," VG Cats
  32. ^ "Box only want friend!," VG Cats
  33. ^ "Open Cheese Night," VG Cats
  34. ^ "Just a Flesh Wound," VG Cats
  35. ^ "Next Week on VH1," VG Cats
  36. ^ a b c "Dinner with the Folks," VG Cats
  37. ^ a b "You Got Theeerved," VG Cats
  38. ^ "Touch It," VG Cats
  39. ^ a b "Boundaries of Good Taste," VG Cats
  40. ^ "Veggie Tales (Crystal Chronicles)," VG Cats
  41. ^ "Hold the Future," VG Cats
  42. ^ a b "Vegonomics," VG Cats
  43. ^ a b "Going Online," VG Cats
  44. ^ a b "Gonzo Gaming: An Interview with Scott Ramsoomair of VG Cats," ComixTalk
  45. ^ "Extra Baggage," VG Cats
  46. ^ "Reeeeeeally Old Entries," VG Cats
  47. ^ "VGCats.htm," Chris Boe
  48. ^ "VG Cats: The Animated Series Episode 1 part 1 & 2, " SheezyArt
  49. ^ "Chris Boe's Art Thread," VG Cats Forum
  50. ^ a b c "VG Cats Voice Audition Extravaganza!!!," VG Cats Forum
  51. ^ "Kitties1.gif," VG Cats
  52. ^ "Kitties2.gif," VG Cats
  53. ^ "Kitties3.gif," VG Cats
  54. ^ "Yawn_wallpaper.jpg," VG Cats
  55. ^ "Old News," VG Cats
  56. ^ "Vote for VG Cats," VG Cats
  57. ^ Main Page, VG Cats
  58. ^ "VG Cats Items," Hyperion Press
  59. ^ "VG Cats," ZeStuff
  60. ^ "VG Cats Online Store: Krug Keel," http://www.cafepress.com/cp/store.aspx?s=krugkeel. CafePress
  61. ^ "VG Cats Online Store: Pac Cat," http://www.cafepress.com/cp/store.aspx?s=paccat. CafePress
  62. ^ "VG Cats Online Store: Pantsman," http://www.cafepress.com/cp/store.aspx?s=pantsman. CafePress
  63. ^ "VG Cats Online Store: Snowy Day," http://www.cafepress.com/cp/store.aspx?s=la_snowyday . CafePress
  64. ^ "VG Cats Online Store: Grr Baby/Kitty Thong," http://www.cafepress.com/cp/store.aspx?s=grrbaby. CafePress
  65. ^ 2003 ceremony of Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards. Retrieved on 2008-05-15.
  66. ^ a b c d The 2004 Cartoonists' Choice Awards. Retrieved on 2008-05-15.
  67. ^ Outstanding Use of Color. ryanestrada.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-30.
  68. ^ Outstanding Anthropomorphic Comic. ryanestrada.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-30.
  69. ^ Outstanding Gaming Comic. ryanestrada.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-30.
  70. ^ The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards - 2008 Winners & finalists. Retrieved on 2008-05-15.

[edit] External links

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