History Main / MascotWithAttitude

* In 1990, Creator/{{Acclaim}} came up with Kwirk, a tomato who sports a mohawk and wears CoolShades and white sneakers. His only video game was a localization of ''Puzzle Boy'', but he displayed more of the typical traits in his appearances on the ''Series/VideoPower'' cartoon segment ''The Power Team''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Klonoa}}'', while designed to be one of these, is actually a subversion, as he's more of a cute NiceGuy, with his coolness being secondary. His games also have a cute aesthetic [[spoiler:albeit with some [[NightmareFuel dark elements]] on the side, the first game in particular having a DownerEnding]].

Many Mascots with Attitude were also American-made (probably because [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff Americans love Sonic]]) and, on top of less-than-stellar American designs and usually lacking some of the anime-influenced aesthetics that made Sonic unique, they also tended to be filled with Looney Tunes-esque gags or [[GrossoutShow gross-out humor]], both of which were rampant in America at the time, with the WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes themselves seeing a massive resurgence in popularity around the same time, and the premiere of ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' a few months after Sonic's own debut. (Sonic himself notably had neither of these things in his games, though the American cartoon Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog included Looney Tunes-style {{slapstick}}).

* Bubba, the shades-wearing CoolCat mascot of the Latinamerican Bubbaloo brand of bubblegum.

However, with the advent of the 2010s came a nostalgia boom for the 90s, and some of the Mascots with Attitude that aged well saw renewed popularity. A good few of them received revivals or re-releases, a trend that really picked up with the massive success of VideoGame/CrashBandicootNSaneTrilogy. Another effect was a wave of indie [[SpiritualSuccessor spiritual successors]] that sought to [[GenreThrowback recapture the cartoony character-driven worlds of these games]].

* ''{{WesternAnimation/Reboot}}'' is set inside the computer city of Mainframe, whose inhabitants sometimes had to compete against the [[HumansAreCthulhu User]] whose video games would damage Mainframe and [[FateWorseThanDeath nullify any Mainframers caught in the game]] if they won. One game the User played was "Rocky The Rabid Raccoon", who could be described as a cross between Sonic the Hedgehog and Bugs Bunny. His game played like a WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes cartoon, and he was more of a ScrewySquirrel than a hero. He was also a regular DeadpanSnarker and had incredible speed similar to Sonic's.

Nowadays, outside of Sonic, this trope (and advertising mascots not targeted to children in general) is all but {{discredited|trope}}, except in parodies, with ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'' providing the final blow (although ''Conker's Bad Fur Day'' was more a parody of cutesy [[WoodlandCreatures woodland animal]] cartoons/games in general). [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools But it's not all bad]]--for every weak ''Sonic'' ripoff out there, there were always a few Mascots with Attitude who managed to be entertaining characters in their own right. The trick is to [[{{Flanderization}} keep the attitude from eclipsing their entire character]], and to merely make it one of their many traits. Audiences do still like "cool" characters, [[GodModeSue just so long as "cool" isn't all they are.]] Diversifying your gameplay doesn't hurt either, as many of the Mascots with Attitude that survived the '90s tended to play, er, [[TotallyRadical radically]] different from Sonic.

** Banjo came really close to being this, as [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/banjo_1_0.jpg this picture depicts]]. He was originally supposed to be typical skateboarder-themed teenager, which somewhat explains his school backpack.

** Banjo came really close to being this, as [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/banjo_1_0.jpg this picture depicts]]. He was originally supposed to be skateboarder-themed, which somewhat explains his school backpack.

** Banjo came really close to being this, as [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/banjo_1_0.jpg this picture depicts]]. He was originally supposed to be skateboarder-themed, which somewhat explains his school backpack. This was before Kazooie as a character came into fruition and Banjo became a simple hick.

* Bubba, the CoolCat mascot of the Latinamerican Bubbaloo brand of bubblegum.

* Bubba, the CooLCat mascot of the Latinamerican Bubbaloo brand of bubblegum.

* ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'' is something of a [[SubvertedTrope subversion.]] Both characters are adventurous [[FunnyAnimal funny animals]], but Banjo is portrayed as a clueless and easily duped country boy. Kazooie has a sharp tongue and a tendency to snark at anyone and anything that crosses her path, in a manner typical of "straight" examples... but all the other characters (except Banjo) ''realize she's obnoxious'' and usually can't stand to be around her.

# They're a FunnyAnimal, usually with a SpeciesSurname. ''(e.g., VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog, Franchise/SpyroTheDragon)''

During their heyday in the 90s, almost all Mascots with Attitude were created in order to [[FollowTheLeader capitalize on the success of]] one ''Sonic the Hedgehog.'' The reason that most of these failed is that they tended to come across as TheThemeParkVersion of ''Sonic''. While Sonic has attitude, it isn't his defining trait, and his other aspects like his heroism and empathy are part of why he is so beloved. By contrast, a failed Mascot with Attitude would have said attitude at the expense of a real personality; they were frequently unable to say anything ''not'' snarky, and tended to overuse their gimmicks to the point of being {{Flat Character}}s.

Many Mascots with Attitude were American-made (probably because [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff Americans love Sonic]]) and thus also tended to be filled with ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes''-esque gags or [[GrossoutShow grossout humor]], as were popular in America at the time (Sonic himself notably had neither of these things in his games, though the American cartoon ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' included ''Looney Tunes''-style {{slapstick}}).

* The ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'' [[https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Krkkzz_Zappl_(Prime_Earth)?file=Krkkzz_Zappl_01.jpg Krkkzz Zappl]] is clearly based on Sonic. He's also made of living radio waves imying a level of SuperSpeed besides the FasterThanLightTravel built into the Green Lanterns Power Ring.

[[caption-width-right:250: Sonic the Hedgehog that [[FountainOfExpies launched a thousand copyhogs]].]]

[[caption-width-right:250: Sonic. The hedgehog that [[FountainOfExpies launched a thousand copyhogs]].]]

* ''VideoGame/JazzJackrabbit'' is generally a straight example; his games are solid, have a bit more of a WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes vibe and have some lampshading as evidenced [[http://www.zerker.ca/zzone/files/Jazz.pdf in the manual.]]

* Skunny Squirrel from a series of 90s Shareware games, that ripped off whatever franchise seemed to be peaking at any individual moment. Watch Skunny eat Super-Nuts to reach super-speed and roll over enemies! Watch him bounce on enemies and collect coins, to rescue his TrademarkFavoriteFood pizzas from a barely-copyright-uninfringing Italian! See him take on "Sadman Insane" in inexplicably rail-shooter combat! See him race go-karts with his squad of animal friends, none of whom had ever been seen before or since, mere days before ''VideoGame/WackyWheels'' was released! Not surprising that the company who made him was called [[MeaningfulName Copysoft]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'''s Inklings are a very deliberate modern attempt at one of these: [[LittleBitBeastly squid-kids]] with attitude who participate in heated Turf War games, listen to rock music, liberally slather their dialogue with early '90s slang, and are rarely seen without some variation of the DreamworksFace... and in between all of that, they still have the capacity to look absolutely adorable. They're about 20 years late to the party, but we love 'em anyway.

* ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom'': Swifty the Shrew is what you get if you take Sonic, ramp the MascotWithAttitude personality UpToEleven, add a whole bucket of {{Totally Radical}}-ness and get ride of the Blue Blur's redeeming qualities. The result? [[CorruptedCharacterCopy An incredibly arrogant and patronizing tool with absolute no tolerance for "losers" who disagree with anything he says and who isn't above sabotaging and cheating his way to victory]]. [[spoiler:He's eventually revealed to be a creation of [[BigBad Doctor Eggman]] tasked with the objective of overshadowing Sonic and getting him banished from the village.]]