i love art so much, i love the incredible human spirit
how fortunate am i, despite it all, to live in such a time where limitless amounts of art are available at my fingertips?
more than i could consume in several lifetimes, a well of beauty that will never run dry
humans are just the best.
![This is the box art for Paper Mario.
This is likely the only place where most players would see official art of Kooper, and it depicts him with a bandage, suggesting it is part of his character design.
The bandage is part of the audience's image of Kooper.
[various fan art depicting him with a bandage]
Art by jacksondunson on Instagram
Art by DinoRando, on Twitter
Art by ichiarto on Tumblr
Art by MaskedGolem on DeviantArt
The bandage does not appear in any of his in-game sprites, but this is easy enough to overlook given how small their resolution is. Official art often includes details absent from sprites.
However, there is another, much rarer piece of actual official art depicting him without a bandage. So what is the truth?
It turns out the bandage art was likely meant to be paired up with art of Mario with the same bandage. Due to only Kooper making it onto the box, the context was lost and it looked like his design.
Source: info: @flabandbabs; art: instagram.com/p/CIRxSpMulyJ/, ichiarto.tumblr.com/post/139308869311, x.com/DinoRando_/status/1693264120240369903, deviantart.com/maskedgolem/art/Kooper-811374044](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:heeihz7xdhf7dbjx4befobqw/bafkreihskwwzsitxraey75ghhponp42fuy5qe56two3o2d7piavkamhdgq)
