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| VG Cats | |
|---|---|
 Logo with the two main characters, Leo (left) and Aeris (right) | |
| Author | Scott Ramsoomair |
| Website | http://www.vgcats.com/ |
| Launch date | September 1, 2001[1] |
| Genre(s) | Video game,parody,humour |
VG Cats (short forVideo Game Cats[2][3]) is awebcomic written and drawn by Canadiancartoonist Scott Ramsoomair. Published on its own website, it follows the adventures of a pair ofanthropomorphiccats, who both have an interest invideo games, and often play the roles ofcharacters in popular games that are parodied in the strip.[4][5]
TheVG Cats website also hostedAdventure Log, aFinal Fantasy XI webcomic written and drawn by Ramsoomair, andSuper Effective,[6] a webcomic parody of thePokémon game series.Adventure Log has not been updated since 2008 and "Super Effective" was on hiatus from 2014, recently resuming updates on September 8, 2024.
The comic series often includes video game-based humor and satire targeting the video game industry.[7][8]
Ramsoomair said that he began the strip due to boredom at work; he created comics during his lunch breaks.[9] The comic's protagonists, Leo and Aeris, were both named after Ramsoomair's real life pet cats,[2] who were themselves named after characters fromFinal Fantasy. The firstVG Cats strip was released on September 1, 2001. (His answer on the FAQ page said it was bad timing, probably in reference to theSeptember 11 attacks that happened that same month.)[1] Prior to taking the VGCats.com domain, the comic was hosted at www.vgcats.cjb.net.[10] For a period,VG Cats was affiliated withBuzzComix.[11] During April 1 (April Fools' Day), Ramsoomair replaced the regular home page with fake pages, like a "Krug" page in 2003[12][13] or aMyspace profile forSolid Snake in 2007.[14]
In 2006, Ramsoomair made a strip depicting creatures fromMaxis' video gameSpore, and Maxis created a version of the strip replacing all the drawn characters with in-game versions, and sent him custom figurines of the creatures.[15]
In February 2022, Ramsoomair announced the end of the webcomic in a now deleted post on Patreon.[16] However, he later began to update the main Patreon account again on July 20, 2023,[17] and released a new comic strip in December of the same year[18][19]
Ramsoomair said thatVGCats was "basically ... along the lines ofPenny Arcade." The comic originally focused on 2 gamers;[2] Ramsoomair said by 2006 that within the preceding one to two years he began focusing upon parodies of video games instead of the two gamer format[5]
VG Cats is not a plot driven comic, though there are several characters that are staples of the comic. Ramsoomair said that all of his characters "relate" to him "at some point."[20]
Joystiq has defined them as "adorable characters who feel most at home with violence, language, and sexual innuendo".[21] Central characters inVG Cats include:
Aeris is a blue-eyed female cat with pink fur. She has a short-temper, and frequently verbally and physically abuses Leo. Her violent behavior extends to how she interacts with other characters, often assaulting other characters in the strip, as well as makingsarcasticquips towards them. She is also shown to have an interest infan fiction, as well as both reading and writingyaoi.[22][23] Aeris made her first appearance on September 4, 2001 in Strip #2, "Pika?".[24]
Leo Leonardo, The Third[25] is a green-eyed male cat with grey fur. Leo is shown to be unintelligent, impulsive, and to have a loose grasp of reality It is implied that Leo may have been born withIntellectual disability.[26] He does, however, occasionally show signs of intelligence,[27] and even takes part in similarly violent behavior as Aeris.[28] Leo was introduced on September 4, 2001 in Strip #1, "Feelin' Gassy".[29]
Thealter ego of Scott Ramsoomair,Pantsman is an incompetentsuperhero who conceals his identity by wearing trousers and sometimesunderpants on his head. His greatest weakness isvodka cooler, which causes him to drop his trousers and transform into "Peter Pantsless".[30] He also wears a pair of jeans around his neck, to provide a two-tailedcape. He was introduced in Strip 37, "I Like Bunnies", to help explain the inconsistent updating of the comic.[31]
Chris Boe, a friend and associate of Ramsoomair, created an animated adaptation ofVG Cats.[32][33] Only the first half of the first episode, ": A Tale of Two Kitties", has been produced, and was released on January 21, 2006. Boe wrote and animated the episode.[34]
Bad Mushrooms, asprite comic created by Ramsoomair prior to the creation ofVG Cats, is hosted on VGCats.com.[10]
Adventure Log, the officialFinal Fantasy XI webcomic written and drawn by Ramsoomair.[35] It has not been updated since 2008.
Super Effective, also done by Ramsoomair, began in April 2008 as a comic parody of the popular game seriesPokémon.[6] It is also hosted on the VGCats website. It has not been updated since 2014.
After comic #380 in 2018, Scott created aPatreon account forfurry-themedpornography based on Leo and Aeris among other video game related characters titledVG Lewds.[36] On the same day as the aforementioned comic, Scott stated in a blog post that the site's advertising revenue was no longer able to sustain him financially, and asked his users to help "support me in this newest venture".[36]
As of March 2022, theVG Lewds Patreon was shut down without comment, with Ramsoomair later stating that he wanted to focus on an ending for the strip.[37][16]
In 2003, Ramsoomair designatedCafePress as the provider of theVG Cats store; Ramsoomair soon ended the relationship with CafePress. On June 16, 2004 Ramsoomair announced that he established his store on Hyperion Press.[38][39] AfterwardsZeStuff hosted theVG Cats Store.[40] As of 2008 Shark Robot hosts the VGCats store.[41] As of 2008, Ramsoomair was no longer affiliated withCafePress, but it still sellsVG Cats merchandise on its website.[42]
VG Cats has been nominated for severalWeb Cartoonists' Choice Awards, winning two awards in 2005 and 1 in 2006.
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