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June 7, 2005
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As you may know, today is Jelly Belly's first official DA anniversary (it has been exactly one year since he was first introduced on deviantART), and because he's been such an overwhelmingly popular alternative persona to Melee Kirby, I've decided to put together this feature summurising Jelly Belly's history, from the creation, to his deviantART debut, up to this point, at which everything in his history is immortalized in text.

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The creation that is Jelly Belly

Everyone knows who Jelly Belly is, but how did the idea come about and why? Well here's the story:

In my earlier days of my deviantART career, I was beginning to get a bit bored with having a single persona to represent me; I saw some people who had at least two or three different characters they created for themselves, and people like aquakirbyyoshi who has created at least half a dozen of them. Seeing more of this as time went by encouraged me to create a second character for myself, but that then lead me to a question: who would that be?

I'm a big fan of Kirby games, but I also have a soft spot for Yoshi when it comes to cute Nintendo characters, so I thought of creating a Yoshi character and stuck with it. Next, I had to think of what he should look like and why. This was difficult, especially since I'm not very keen in making a humanoid Yoshi or a natural Yoshi with human/unnatural additions to it. As a person with a fetish for fat things and a fan of fat/WG/inflation art, the solution hit me: create a fat Yoshi! I didn't really think it was nessiscary to add anything else to him or make him look uniquely colored, so he became a plain green Yoshi, but with a big belly and a big appetite to match. =3


You can call me Jelly Belly!

So I created the lovable, huggable, pokable fat dino that you know and love today, but that was just the first hurdle in creating the character - I still had to come up with a name. I wanted to name him something that was very appealing to the current audience as well as newcomers to my work; something cute and funny, but appropriate and lovable.

So some of you are probably thinking: "You named him after a brand of Jelly Bean candy??" Well, that's not quite the case, my foriegn friend. ;p The name Jelly Belly comes from two things, and if you live in Europe or in the UK (don't forget, that's where I live), the name would make much more sense than it would in the States or Canada. The name comes from the following two things:

Jelly - In Europe or the United Kingdom, the word "Jelly" to us would mean the word "Jello" to you, so what the word really means is the jiggly gelitine snack that comes in many fruity flavors and colors.

Belly - This word represents Jelly's most obvious characteristic that makes him who he is, and - more importantly - makes him unique

Combine the two factors together and whadaya get? Jelly Belly! The lovable fat Yoshi with a big belly that jiggles so much because he loves to eat a lot of Jello! ^_^


Jelly's Appearance

Now that Jelly Belly has been created, there was only one thing left to do; give Jelly his debut on deviantART, introducing the new character in the description that comes with the first picture of him. Unfortunately, though, it wasn't as easy as that...

Way back when I created Jelly Belly, I had kept the character to myself for a few months or so. Why? One reason: Art. Back then I couldn't draw Yoshi very well or at all, so I had to improve my drawing if I wanted to start making art of him on deviantART. A few months later and I've managed to draw a decent looking head and body to match, though nowadays the very first picture of Jelly would look a bit funny as my drawing style had changed and evolved many times in over the past year...

before:

after:



His successful career

Ever since Jelly Belly's debut, he has proved to be a worthy alternative character to Melee Kirby over the past year. Almost everybody considers Jelly cute, cuddly, lovable and huggable! Heck, he's even - dare I say it - outgrew Melee Kirby himself in terms of popularity and the numbers of admiring fans. Jelly has even recieved a lot of fanart in his first year, which may be a positive sign or indication for him in the future.


...And now the present

And here we are - exactly 365 days after Jelly Belly's deviantART debut, we now see how much he's become in his first year. From eating a seemingly endless amount of McDonalds, from breaking a Go-Kart under his own weight, to giving Airlight a hellish (but hilarious) 7 days, Jelly has become a fun, entertaining and adorable character, and best of all he is here to stay!

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And there you have it! That's all you need to know about Jelly Belly's history in a nutshell :D I hope that those who have read this feature enjoyed it. =)

Oh, and one more thing...
Just because I'm happy with my two existing characters and Jelly Belly's success doesn't mean I can't add a new character to the mix...

Meet Rico by MeleeKirby

:D

- Melee Kirby
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:iconstuffed-yoshi:
Stuffed-Yoshi Featured By Owner Jun 9, 2005
^^ jelly belly is also the name of jelly beans :aww:
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:iconhellwithin8024:
hellwithin8024 Featured By Owner Jun 8, 2005
*sniff* * sniff* thats beautiful dude, jelly belly rules!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :headbang: ;p
Reply
:iconlordmetaknight:
lordmetaknight Featured By Owner Jun 8, 2005
I always wondered how you came up with JB =D
Reply
:icondagg:
Dagg Featured By Owner Jun 8, 2005
Well that was a good history lesson.
Reply
:iconpurachina:
purachina Featured By Owner Jun 8, 2005
Dude...you make it sound as if you've created god's gift. Factually speaking, I would bet that every deviant on this site has a character that their friends love. Its just how it goes. Don't you think you're being just a tad overdramatic here?

...yeah, and as far as I know, you created him before you came here. The 'history' lesson doesn't add up. Unless you made it up just now. Which is the only conclusion, it seems.

Addendum: Fat Yoshi characters aren't unique.
Reply
:icongilson:
Gilson Featured By Owner Jun 8, 2005
Dude, I dont think you have a place to speak here. 2 years, and bugger all for art. *sarcastic clap*
Post some stuff up, then we consider your point slightly valid. Also, I have never seen a fat Yoshi before JB, so yeah, erm, it is original.
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:iconpurachina:
purachina Featured By Owner Jun 8, 2005
As I said in my above post, you do not have to be an artist to appreciate the arts. I have studied art for about 6/7 years, I think in essence it means I qualify for someone who knows about the subject.
Its quite naive to think one cannot comment on art because they do not draw or make images themselves. If you don't think I'm capable of posing such comments, they pay it no attention; although I have studied art as far to realise that only the true artists who wish to make a mark on this world through their work take heed to every comment set to them.

Unfortunately, I have no image references to link to that I can show you of the other 'fat' Yoshi art I have seen. But I do remember in particular one talented japanese artist who used to draw a very obese orange Yoshi fancharacter called 'Burin'. I cannot remember the artists name, for it was a very long and complicated, but I did browse their site and see they had a tendancy to draw multiple coloured Yoshi, with a surprisingly large girth.

Nothing is ever original anymore. Out of about 17 billion people on the planet, chances are everything you do or 'create' has been tried and tested by 9 million others beforehand.
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:iconhypertails0110:
HyperTails0110 Featured By Owner Jun 9, 2005
What =Striderknight said. :thumbsup:
Reply
:iconstriderknight:
Striderknight Featured By Owner Jun 8, 2005
I like the way you think (and in that other reply).

Cheers for people that know the truth. :highfive:
Reply
:iconmeleekirby:
MeleeKirby Featured By Owner Jun 8, 2005
...And that's coming from a faceless nobody who's had their own DA account for almost 2 years straight and still did absolutely nothing with it whatsoever. Infact, it becomes apparent that the only activity you have ever done is post here in attempt to bother me. Get a life...
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