Cosmo

Cosmo is a green kuparkuke from the planet Fungaia.

As a member of the Enoki tribe, Cosmo is one of Kinoko’s best friends. Unlike Neemal and Astraeus, who inspire Kinoko to be good, Cosmo is a troublemaker who is generally a bad influence on his yellow friend. He’s the oldest of the friendship group, and he enjoys encouraging the others to join him in pulling pranks. Neemal disapproves, and the two have a sour relationship because of it, but Cosmo holds a lot of influence over Kinoko and Hanton, who both view him fondly as a ‘cool older brother’ figure.

Being a green kuparkuke, Cosmo is very insecure in himself and envious of others, particularly those who are more popular than himself (like Marasmius) or have some special ability that he doesn’t (like Kinoko). He’s generally disliked amongst the tribe,  but he’s fiercely devoted to what few friends he does have, and won’t stand for seeing Kinoko or his closest friend Hanton bullied.

Physical appearance

Cosmo is a green kuparkuke. His fur is mostly bright green, except for the tips of his ears which are dark green, and his face, chest and tail which are white. His eyes are blue and his nose is red. For a kuparkuke he’s quite tall. Whilst he isn’t quite as big as his best friend Hanton, he’s skinny, which gives him an unusually lanky appearance, particularly next to Kinoko, who’s quite short.

He wears red gloves and boots, which provide a striking contrast against his bright green fur. Being a kuparkuke who’s notoriously desperate to be noticed, it’s perhaps not surprising that he would wear such an eyecatching colour. As well as his gloves and boots, he accessorises himself with a long scarf in the same shade of red, which looks a little bit like a cape when the wind catches it just right. Maybe it makes him feel a little bit heroic.

Personality

As a green kuparkuke, Cosmo is driven by insecurity. Despite appearing quite sure of himself, deep down Cosmo is anything but. Surrounded by kuparkukes he considers better, more interesting and more alluring than himself, Cosmo is deeply envious of others.

Amongst his friends, Cosmo considers himself (and arguably, in fact, is) the group’s ringleader. Kinoko and Hanton both look up to him, probably because he’s older than them and they assume him wiser for it. He has fun taking advantage of the influence this affords him over them, finding it all too easy to encourage them to get up to no good and into trouble with him. Neemal, on the other hand, is less than impressed by Cosmo, and would usually rather Kinoko have nothing to do with him.

Amongst other kuparkukes – particularly Marasmius and Chanterelle – Cosmo struggles to keep it cool. He’ll do anything to impress others if it means winning himself more friends and a better reputation. As much as he loathes Marasmius, he’d drop his grudge in a second if it meant securing a place in his friendship group. He’s also notoriously desperate for a girlfriend – something several kuparkukes in the tribe enjoy teasing him about.

Much of Cosmo’s unpopularity stems from his behaviour. He’s a trickster and a troublemaker, forever getting up to no good and taking his two friends along for the ride. He loves pranks, and loves getting into fights, and his friends join him happily. This could be seen as Cosmo taking advantage of their loyalty, but deep down he’s fiercely devoted to them both, he’s just got a weird way of showing it. He’s fiercely protective of his friends, and nobody picks on them on his watch and gets way with it. (Not Neemal, though. They can pick on him.)

Even if he’s generally wrong, Cosmo presents himself as whatever he thinks will win him popularity or a girlfriend. He’s quite fake. Beneath the surface, he’s really not as bad as he seems. Despite how frequently he takes advantage of Hanton and Kinoko’s friendship, all he’s ever really wanted is to be admired and respected, like Marasmius. He might not get the respect he craves, but his friends look up to him – not for his troublemaking, like he thinks – but because he’s genuinely a good, devoted and well-meaning friend.

Skills and abilities

Cosmo might not be the most intelligent or knowledgeable of kuparkukes, but he’s witty. He’s always got a clever prank up his sleeve for those who deserve it, and he’s quick to come up with jokes too. Generally-speaking, he sports a very chilled and laid back demeanour which enables him to approach tough situations in a practical and level-headed way. For a kuparkuke who seems to thrive off getting himself into trouble, Cosmo has a surprising amount of common sense.

When it comes to skills, Cosmo doesn’t usually stand out in any meaningful way. There’s always someone better than him, no matter how much he’d like to feel special. However, one thing he’s recently become surprisingly good at is cooking, even though he’s yet to try cooking for anyone but himself. Ever since he heard from Champignon that food is ‘the way to a woman’s heart’, he’s taken up a sudden interest in learning how to put impressive meals together, and hopes to someday apprentice for Champignon.