Fatten the (Cheshire) Cat

No fat cat. Just a nice, full coat of fur (still a slender kitty). I kinda like the idea about his tattoos originating as "brands" from the fire, but I think it would be a bit too on-the-nose to have a flaming cat if we're to be meeting Cheshire at the beginning (as we should) while we're still in the denial phase. Perhaps have his markings start out simply as something akin to tabby stripes, and maybe later in the game his appearance begins to change as Wonderland is being altered and then the glowing brands can come in. "How would a new form change his behavior, movements, and presentation in-game?" He could stand to be a little smaller. Personality-wise, a bit more brash, and less forthcoming with the wise aphorisms and advice. Slightly less world-weary, yet still full of cynicism and dark humor. He's still getting his feet wet in Wonderland, so to speak. A little clumsier, much more keen to indulge in his "powers" liberally, by playing around with movement and visibility. He'd be much more active in moving throughout the environment. Scaring other Wonderland inhabitants for fun, and the like. More keen to play, hunt, and explore, than play the role of wise advisor (yet still slips into it from time to time). "Here's a fun question: Does it matter which side he wears his earring in?" Left ear is right ear.

I love the Cheshire Kitten idea. But perhaps. as a few others have suggested. you could just add some patches of fur to tie into the apparently mangy later look? Mange makes animals lose fur, so it would stand to reason adding fur would make more sense than adding fat. And it could make for some interesting ideas for plushies. Fluffy is always better for plushies, and i know i would totally want a plush of a Chesh Kitten. Maybe you could make him fluffy and he sort of keeps all his tattoos? Maybe the tattoos are just a "copy" of his original markings he had as a kitten and he just wanted to keep his original markings or make his markings more stylistic when he went mangy? Or maybe he just forgot how his markings really looked and he ended up with his tattoos as they are now? A tiger isn't a tiger without his stripes after all. Just a interesting idea i had really. All you really need to know is the tiny sounds better than the "filled out" version, to me at least.

Amendment as I watch the livestream: now I get that you want that bony look in there so my apologies for the misunderstanding! The glowing, ember, brands-not-tattoos idea completely takes the cake on anything I said up there, and I support that 100%!

I'm fine with a more plump design, as long as he keeps all his tattoos, if he's not going to have all his tattoos, he needs to be emaciated imo....keep one of the two so he's more recognizable, unless you're going to show him gets scrawnier as the game progresses?

I think the plumper design you have is a bit too big, I think that you should just give him a little bit so that his bones are not as prominent. I think just maybe making him look a bit healthier would be a good decision, cause shes saying how his appearance got worse, so I think demonstrating that would be good.

I retract my previous statement about "teensy fat cheshire, but I think I'll stand by the muted/lightened versions of the tattoos that grow darker and more prominent as the game goes.

I like the idea of giving the cat a healthier physique to go along with his nature as a less damaged or corrupted entity within Alice's mind, but making him plump is, as stated, not quite the right direction to go. Perhaps making making him more lithe with a bit of muscle or flesh on his bones in a generally physically fit manner would serve to keep his silhouette intact while giving his emaciation in later Chronicles a little more impact. As far as his tattoos go, I think it would suit the dream-like nature of Wonderland to make them all or mostly present, but in a softer aesthetic that looks more like tabby cat stripes slowly forming into those hard, sharp, tribal designs, much like the way written words change in a dream when you expect something different of them or look away and back.

Jay Olsen

I agree with Raven, Cheshire slim but not overly 'fluffy' more like a Sphynx cat. Still lanky and skinny but not skin and bones. Also the idea that the tattoo's been his scar's from the fire is an pretty interesting concept. It would match Alice's own scaring in a way.

As someone said above making Chesire slim so his ribs don't stick through and obviously smaller to make him look younger is a good idea. You mentioned cosplay so I will go into that for a small bit as to why I let that also influence my answer of not showing the ribs. Currently Chesire is hard to cosplay unless you're a bit more experienced and know how to make the ribs and make it look good. Making him slim and not mangy would make it easier for those not that experienced yet and the bigger challenge would then be getting the makeup right which I think is easier to do then making a ribs in a costume. So it makes him more open to cosplay. On the non cosplay related side I also feel it would fit better for him to be slim and smaller as if he is growing along with Alice during the games. I think that would fit all inhabitants of Wonderland. I do suggest keeping the tattoos as that would keep him true to the original version while changing other parts of his appearance. And please keep the earring. It just adds to him. As for the support part I think we all know what we are backing. You state it in the info that a pitch will have to be made so nothing is set in stone yet. Will I be sad if nothing comes out after seeing all these amazing concepts? Yeah, hell yeah but that will always be a scenario and until that time I am more then willing to support you however I can and get super excited over everything you're sharing. <3

I really like this idea!

I have an additional idea. Alice wears her Ash dress with these "glowing" elements, testifying the fire she was in. Our cheshire cat has tattoos and we don't know where they came from, do we? WHAT, if we let appear them as "brands", which were new just now because of the fire, and still glowing a bit like the glowing elements in Alices dress. And his fur is a bit smoked too. I've just illustrated this idea with your concept art. Please let me know what you think: <a href="https://imgur.com/a/GdsNe" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://imgur.com/a/GdsNe</a> And there together with Alice: <a href="https://imgur.com/a/mtj9W" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://imgur.com/a/mtj9W</a>

I like the part of The Cheshire Cat being "timeless" so to me it bothers me more that he is young because it might break the "seriousness" off a bit and change the "atmosphere" of Wonderland too much. I'd rather much have him super furry or fat than young to be honest but then I again, I agree with you that the "plum" sketch doesn't work either... =/ My best advice would be, try to make a thing in between the regular and the plum version or perhaps make a furry version of him as we know him? :)

Maybe instead of fattening him up to the point where he looks more like the original cheshire, perhaps you could simply make him smaller and have more visible fur, and maybe give him less tattoos, but still enough that he still retains the cheshire you have created. And i agree that you should make him more playful (however keep his very sharp tongue sort of attitude) sense if this is a young Alice, then surely the cheshire would also represent that young attitude and personality that Alice would have.

My suggestions regarding your questions: I've understood this Alice universe of yours always as a possible continuation of the original Alice story by Carroll. In my mind, your story could have followed the original events (and in the first manuscripts, Alices Adventures Underground, her hair were dark too like in your universe, following the look of the real Alice Liddell). So I don't like the thought to do something in this universe which would be strongly in conflict to the original story, thus destroying the possible connection one can think of in his mind. Therefore I think: Yes, he should be a little more playful. And more playfulness must not contradict his earnest. Especially his playfulness makes sense in Alices first steps in wonderland where everything seems fine (although it isn't). And I would like that his appearance changes a bit, a hybrid of the original and our cat. But I agree with the others, that in order to do that, you could just cover his ribs, not making him so fat and give him a bit more fur. And to make him more tiny then is just natural. Of course the cheshire is timeless, but he is in Alices (now younger) mind, isn't he? And its just his appearance changing in front of her own mental state. Makes sense for me in Wonderland.

Following the idea of "everything cool" at the beginning... What about an healthy Chessire that slowly becomes into the tiny one as the narrative progress?

I like the idea of a younger Cheshire and agree with many of the others about maybe just making him not look as emaciated, but not overly plump either.

I agree with the others, the tiny version works best!

I like Cheshire cat the way he is. I can understand making him look younger. So if our choices are between a and b I would choose a hands down.

Matthew Nigrelli

I think the plump design takes too much away from Cheshire's iconic look--- but I can't say I'm much a fan of him being tiny in size, either. To reverse the "mangy" look of his design, perhaps giving him just enough fat to lessen his bony appearance (i.e. so his ribs aren't so noticeable, more of a "neck" so to speak as opposed to seeing each vertebrae of his spine, the tail being one cohesive piece instead of individual bones), yet still keep his shoulders and thin frame, thus preserving most of his silhouette. Perhaps a tad more fur wouldn't hurt as well? Not long haired or anything, just...perhaps a bit more texture, I suppose? As always, thank you for sharing this with us! (And to ease your worries, while all of us are excited for the potential of a game, everyone who has contributed to supporting you here knows this is all for the proposal itself- that nothing it set in stone. Nonetheless, our aim is to support you, and give this potential the best chance we can ♥. )

I think it would be cool to see a healthy Cheshire cat at the beginning and as the game goes on watch him turn into the cat we all know now

HelplessHeroes

My thoughts on the Cheshire Cat -- A. A younger, but still tiny ( not plump ) Cheshire Cat makes sense, as he is a manifestation of her subconscious. His personality? More risk-taking, less stationary, less burdened by the turmoil of Wonderland, less "be on your guard" and more "go, conquer, win!" Perhaps, a bit more "wicked" than "wise."

I like the idea of the chesire cat being timeless. he is one of my favorite characters from the series and changing his personality and appearance too much would (in my opinion) take away from this iconic character. i would definitely vote against plumping his appearance

Hi American. Just wanted you to know there are supporters out there, like me, that understand the struggle of putting something together of this magnitude. Our support is purely patronage based on the amazing skills and creativity you have and previous Alice games you have blessed us with. If this does result in Alice 3, then that's fantastic. If not, we are supporting you and I'm proud you've given us the chance to do so.

Maybe not so full just enough to not show the ribs as much and stuff like a slim cat in his younger appearance, then proceeds to become what we know as it goes as you planned? I trust in your decisions always have for all the games and Otherlands. As for the game possibly not making it in the end, that makes no difference in how I feel about the support as I know you are doing everything in your power to make it happen. I'll always be happy to support your efforts on here and kickstarters no matter the outcome.

As a long time fan, I love the original Cheshire Cat. His personality compliments the game very well. However, I’d have to agree that a slightly younger looking Cheshire would make sense (in my personal opinion). Even before you mentioned that Alice asked about the mange, that was the first thing I thought about and you could even give a little backstory (of sorts) on our furry guide. I don’t know if you should change his personality; I feel like it would take away from the Cheshire we know, unless maybe the mange is what makes him so Cheshire-y. I would never vote on the plump cat though; I’m imagining a plump Cheshire and it just clashes with his personality. Last but certainly not least, I love the earring and I should stay on the left ear. If you wanted to make an additional change, maybe add a right earring? Well actually when I just scrolled back up, if you wanted to add weight, instead of making him fat, why not just lean? I see nothing wrong by just covering the bones we see through his fur and make him muscular.

I'm a fan of keeping him skeletal looking, and younger, making him rounder just makes him look goofy, so my vote is for A

Personally I adore the original Cheshire cat in the games. His appearance and demeanor suit the games atmosphere perfectly. I don't think I could take a fatter, gentler, lovable seriously. Also the earing side debate is ridiculous! In 2017 I don't even think we can assume his gender without being scrutinized lol. Anyways, with being said, i look forward to more updates on the games progress!

Panda

I like the cat tiny! He is so cute! Perhaps just make him younger and more playful? And maybe his fur us thicker?? Or he resembles a real cat more and slowly emaciates?

The first one looks cool 👍

Don't change it, please 😢 Maybe a younger one 😺

So, this is to be like a prequel to the Original 2000 Alice? It just keeps getting better and better, Mr. McGee!

UnwaryRook28