Cuphead

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Cuphead
File:Cuphead.png Official artwork of Cuphead from Cuphead.
Universe	Cuphead
Debut	Cuphead (2017)
Smash Bros. appearances	Ultimate
Most recent non-Smash appearance	Cuphead: Tesla Edition (2019)
Console/platform of origin	Microsoft Windows, Xbox One
Species	Cup
Gender	Male
Place of origin	Inkwell Isles
Created by	Chad Moldenhauer Jared Moldenhauer

Cuphead (カップヘッド, Cuphead) is the eponymous main character of the indie-developed run-and-gun platformer, Cuphead. He is an anthropomorphic teacup whose design pays homage to vintage cartoon characters like Felix the Cat and Mickey Mouse.

Origin

During the game's development, several ideas were brainstormed for the main characters' designs ranging from cats to lightbulbs. The Moldenhauer brothers desired to steer clear of animals seeing as they were quite common in 2D platformers, opting to find a design to call their own. Eventually they turned to inanimate objects and eventually settled on a teacup as the basis for the main characters.

Cuphead lives in the Inkwell Isles with his brother, Mugman, and his caretaker, the Elder Kettle. Despite the Elder Kettle's warnings, the brothers wandered far away from their home and found themselves at the Devil's Casino. Their winning streak impressed the casino's owner, the Devil, who tempted them by betting all of the casino's riches, promising to take away the brothers' souls should they lose. Blinded by greed and ignorant of his brother's warning, Cuphead rolled the dice, but ultimately lost the gamble. With the brothers pleading for their lives spared, the Devil cut a deal with them, letting them live should they retrieve the soul contracts of the debtors who previously gambled with him. After receiving a potion from the Elder Kettle that allowed them to fire bullets through finger snaps, the brothers set off to collect the soul contracts, encountering the Devil's cronies along the way. After Cuphead and Mugman returned all of the contracts, the Devil offers them the choice of handing the contracts to him and have them join his team. After refusing, they defeat the Devil and burn the soul contracts, releasing the debtors from his grasp.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

As a costume

The Cuphead Mii costume in Ultimate.

Cuphead appears as a downloadable Mii Gunner costume as part of Round 5 for Ultimate. He is the second indie character to appear as a Mii costume, following Sans. Upon downloading the costume, the song Floral Fury is unlocked as an additional music track in the "Other" category. Like Sans, Cuphead appears as a fully modeled character; his "mask" is just his head, instead of a mask with the Mii's face visible like other character-based costumes. Much like in his game, his "gun" is simply his hand in reference to the myriad of attacks that Cuphead performs by making a gun formation with his fingers.

Cuphead's reveal trailer makes many references to his game. It opens with an imitation of the storybook-style opening of Cuphead, with the screenshot closely matching to its first "page". Mushroomy Kingdom is used in the trailer, referencing the sepia colour palette and grained filter of Cuphead. The Cuphead Mii Gunner uses moves that are similar to weapons from the game: Charge Blast mirrors the Charge, Bomb Drop mirrors the Lobber, forward smash mirrors the Peashooter, and forward aerial mirrors the Spread. In addition, the way the screen scrolls, the Gunner's usage of projectiles, and the usage of Stamina mode, all reference the "Run-and-Gun" minigames that appear in the game. The characters fought in his reveal trailer are references to various bosses from his game: Piranha Plant represents Cagney Carnation (of whom "Floral Fury", the track included with the costume, is the theme song); blue Kirby represents Goopy Le Grande; green Charizard represents Grim Matchstick; and Falco represents Wally Warbles.

Gallery

• 

  A comparison of Cuphead's intro (top) with its reference in his reveal trailer (bottom).

Trivia

• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate marks Cuphead's first video game appearance in 3D.
• Cuphead is the first Canadian-created character to appear as a Mii costume.