Concept sketches of Munky

One of the things I really wanted to do with the new site was the reintroduction of Kimble and Munky as major characters in the Deadpan universe. And the way to do that was to give them actual personalities instead of leaving them as just stuffed toys that sorta appear in the videos in cameo roles every now and then. So there was that whole little shtick about Shiven and Chris animating the two toys as their Familiar and sidekick... which allowed me to explain why Kimble and Munky were suddenly living sentient entities instead of soft toys who just sit around looking all cute and shit.

Every character in the Deadpan universe has majorly negative issues, and to me Munky represents a whole lot of jealousy and insecurity. After all, he was the first toy that was ever given to me (thank you, Jess!) and the first one to start making regular appearances in the videos (well, technically Tails was... but he's only ever appeared in HotD2 so he's not really a regular). Yet Kimble was always the one who received more attention: I made him the Deadpan mascot by using him in early title sequences and plastered his image all over the original site. Now if Munky really was alive, he'd definitely be all jealous and shit and would totally want to kick my ass.

But he can't just be a jealous asshole who just wants everything for himself, so I made sure I gave him some niceness in the way that he really doesn't hate Shiven for overlooking him and bailing on him. The only person he really dislikes is Kimble for stealing all the attention from him. And ultimately, all Munky wants is to go back to the good ol' days when it was just him and Shiven. I'd probably liken it to a situation where a significant other dumps you and starts dating some ratty dipshit, and you start hating the ratty dipshit while still harboring positive feelings towards the ex.

In that sense I think Munky compliments Chris' character really well in that they're both people who just feel unappreciated and overlooked all the time, and want a little bit of recognition. Chris wants to rectify the situation at any cost, even if he has to totally unnecessarily destroy the world in the process, and Munky keeps him in check by reminding him to focus his frustration and anger on the things that really matter... like ratty dipshits. And likewise, Chris is there to teach Munky that feeling all depressed and sorry for yourself by brooding in a dark corner doesn't help the situation if you don't stand up and vent your anger once in a while.

There are actually quite a lot of different sketches of Munky, because I really didn't know what I wanted him to look like. He went from being ultra-cute (like that pic of him in the top right corner) to a psychotic little shit with messy fur. I don't normally draw monkeys, so I wasn't sure what sorta look to give him. I looked at cartoons like The Monchichis which had these fat little furballs running around with heads the size of their bodies (like the lead singer from 3 Doors Down). But Kimble was already going to be the little cute Pokémon styled cartoon with teeny arms and feet, so I wanted Munky to have a more human proportion for his body. Because his appearance in The 4th Place featured him with a gun, I started giving him the John Woo double-pistol look.

I always intended for Munky to have a sorta crazed look to him, because he was supposed to be the complete antithesis to Kimble, who is all moody and depressed and inactive. So the first thing I gave Munky was his ever-present crazed grin/smile, which is kinda half modelled after the Joker's and half derived from Judge Death's.

In the end I kept Munky with a sorta furry look instead of the smoother look that he sported in earlier sketches, so I can start playing with the coloring side of things and give him fur effects. Maybe someday I'll be able to make him as furry as Sully from Monster's Inc. but I highly doubt it. Oh well... dare to dream :]