{{Short description|Cuphead character}} {{sources exist|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox character | name = Cuphead | series = Cuphead | image = File:CupheadCharacterPose.png | image_size = 150px | caption = Cuphead as seen in ''Cuphead'' (2017) | firstgame = ''Cuphead'' (2017) | creator = Chad Moldenhauer | voice = Tru Valentino (''The Cuphead Show'') }} '''Cuphead''' is the title character from the 2017 video game ''Cuphead''. He, alongside his brother Mugman, served as the main protagonists in which they lose a game of dice against the devil and they made a deal with the Devil. He was created by Chad Moldenhauer to replace their placeholder character in which Chad and Jared Moldenhauer has brainstormed and sketch lots of character ideas.
Cuphead has been generally positively received, with one critic comparing him and his brother to Mario and Luigi. Cuphead would also appear in other games, including ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate''.
== Conception and characteristics == {{multiple images|total_width=350 |image1=Mickey Mouse (poster version).svg |image2=Cuphead Japanese Inspiration.png |footer=Cuphead is inspired by Mickey Mouse and this character from a 1936 propaganda short film called Evil Mickey Attacks Japan. }} During the early development of the game, Studio MDHR needed a main character to replace a “little weird green guy” with a hat they been using as a placeholder according to Jared Moldenhauer. 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Leone |first=Matt |date=2017-12-07 |title=Cuphead artists illustrate the game's five-year dev cycle |url=https://www.polygon.com/features/2017/12/7/16745144/cuphead-artists-illustrate-five-year-development-cycle |access-date=2024-04-01 |website=Polygon |language=en-US |archive-date=2019-08-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190802151229/https://www.polygon.com/features/2017/12/7/16745144/cuphead-artists-illustrate-five-year-development-cycle |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Osborn |first=Alex |date=November 16, 2017 |title=How Cuphead Came to Have a Cup for a Head — IGN Unfiltered |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2017/11/16/how-cuphead-came-to-have-a-cup-for-a-head-a-ign-unfiltered |access-date=2024-04-03 |website=IGN |language=en}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cork |first=Jeff |date=February 3, 2015 |title=Cuphead's Creator Opens Up His Sketchbook |url=https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2015/02/03/cuphead-39-s-creators-open-up-their-sketchbook.aspx |access-date=April 1, 2024 |website=Game Informer |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Furuya |first=Yoichi |date=May 8, 2019 |title=『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 |trans-title=We ask developer Studio MDHR and localizer GameTomo about the key points behind Cuphead. |url=https://www.famitsu.com/news/201905/08174681.html |access-date=2024-04-02 |website=Famitsu |language=ja}}</ref> 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."<ref name=":0" /> Once him and Jared Moldenhauer came up with the character, they knew that they had something special.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gilyadov |first=Alex |date=June 29, 2017 |title="We quit our jobs, remortgaged our houses" - how relentless passion made Cuphead a reality |url=https://www.gamesradar.com/we-quit-our-jobs-remortgaged-our-houses-how-relentless-passion-made-cuphead-a-reality/ |access-date=2024-04-01 |website=GamesRadar+ |language=en}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Murray |first=Sean |date=2020-06-02 |title=Gaming Detail: The Reason Why Cuphead Has Yellow Gloves Sometimes |url=https://www.thegamer.com/gaming-detail-cuphead-yellow-gloves/ |access-date=2024-04-02 |website=TheGamer |language=en}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Stone |first=Sam |date=2022-02-17 |title=The Cuphead Show! Stars Break Down the Hero's Wacky Voices |url=https://www.cbr.com/netflix-cuphead-show-tru-valentino-frank-todaro-interview/ |access-date=2024-04-01 |website=CBR |language=en}}</ref>
== Appearances == 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Miszczyk |first=Maciej |date=March 11, 2018 |title=Cuphead |url=http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/cuphead/ |access-date=2024-04-10 |website=Hardcore Gaming 101 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Knezevic |first=Kevin |date=January 17, 2020 |title=Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Is Adding Cuphead As A Mii Fighter Costume |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/super-smash-bros-ultimate-is-adding-cuphead-as-a-m/1100-6472810/ |access-date=2024-04-03 |website=GameSpot |language=en-US}}</ref> He also appeared in 2020 video game ''Fall Guys'' as one of the player's costume.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Peppiatt |first=Dom |date=2021-02-22 |title=Cuphead and Mugman are coming to Fall Guys |url=https://www.vg247.com/cuphead-mugman-fall-guys |access-date=2024-04-13 |website=VG247 |language=en}}</ref> Cuphead has appeared in the animated televison series ''The Cuphead Show''.<ref name=":2" />
== Reception == {{multiple images | total_width = 350 | image1 = CupheadCosplay.jpg | image2 = Cuphead 2022.jpg | footer = 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Norman |first=Jim |date=2023-02-21 |title=Cuphead Gets The Nendoroid Treatment Later This Year, Pre-Orders Closing Soon |url=https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2023/02/cuphead-gets-the-nendoroid-treatment-later-this-year-pre-orders-closing-soon |access-date=April 10, 2024 |website=Nintendo Life |language=en-GB}}</ref> ''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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Singleton |first=Kayla |date=2022-03-22 |title=The Cuphead Show!: The 9 Best Characters From The Netflix Series |url=https://screenrant.com/the-cuphead-show-best-characters-netflix/ |access-date=2024-04-23 |website=Screen Rant |language=en}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Zotomayor |first=Carlos |date=2022-07-25 |title=Cuphead and Mugman Have a Lot In Common With Mario and Luigi |url=https://gamerant.com/cuphead-mugman-mario-luigi-brothers-aesthetics-mechanics-comparison/ |access-date=2024-04-01 |website=Game Rant |language=en}}</ref>
''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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hanson |first=Ben |date=March 21, 2019 |title=Cuphead's Creator Dreams Of Having Him In Super Smash Bros. |url=https://www.gameinformer.com/gdc-2019/2019/03/21/cupheads-creator-dreams-of-having-him-in-super-smash-bros |access-date=2024-04-01 |website=Game Informer |language=en}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist|2}} == External links == * {{Commons category-inline|}} {{Template:Cuphead}} Category:Male characters in video games Category:Video game characters introduced in 2017 Category:Fictional characters who have made pacts with devils Category:Cuphead Category:Shoot 'em up game characters