The paper-thin envelope please

Rodney Greenblat, the artist behind PaRappa the Rapper, shares his thoughts on the winning entries in our design competition.

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of PaRappa the Rapper and his debut on PSP, an exclusive competition has been running in the forums to design a new friend for the rhyme bustin' dog. So without further ado and in Rodney's own words we're pleased to announce the winners.

"The entries were all really creative and original. I think all of them could somehow be modified and made into a new PaRappa game someday."

"My top choices are characters that are different from any of the existing PaRappa and Lammy characters. They are characters who would really add a new dimension and even suggest a funny new story."

"One of the most important aspects of character design is that the character's appearance automatically tells an interesting story, but doesn't give away all their personality right away."

"I also looked for simplicity of design and wacky offbeat shapes. Here are my favourites."

1st place - TreeMC (by KingSize)
"This guy is so up-to-date! He is the London/NYC techno club DJ, with an environmental, peace activist side. His watch, bracelets, sunglasses, t-shirt are amazing. His little pink bird friend adds gentleness to him, and some mystery about their relationship. I can imagine TreeMC exchanging turntable licks with PJ and PaRappa, with a futuristic techno save-the-world groove."

2nd place - KiRokka The Rocker Lion (by BleachBoy)
"This guy is old school 70s or 80s heavy metal. He looks like he has had his share of hard times. His hair, sleeveless t-shirt and sandals are perfect. I can imagine him teaching PaRappa some metal/rap like the Run DMC version of Aerosmith's Walk This Way or doing some crazy hair band headbanging moves. It would be great!"

3rd place - Professor Birdenstein (by Animal)
"This character is so wacky. His patched hat and clunky wrench show that he is not very successful as a legitimate professor, and is obviously a mad scientist. His robot MC is hilarious and it is easy to put a story together. The Professor's rapping abilities are probably pretty bad so he invents a rapping robot that can beat PaRappa; of course the rapping robot would malfunction somehow."

"Thanks to everyone that entered. There is SO MUCH talent out there! Rock on!"

Rodney Greenblat

KingSize for TreeMC will receive a signed copy of PaRappa the Rapper on PSP, while all three finalists will each receive plushies of the main characters.

Thank you for all of your entries and before you go, check out all the final pieces of artwork in the gallery.