Mimi the Sheltered

So, I learned that was holding a contest for an octopus Sonic the Hedgehog OC. Given my fetish for designing Sonic OCs, I decided to give this one a whirl, even though it's naturally kind of challenging.

So this little girl is an octopus, or more specifically, a veined or coconut octopus [[link]]. IRL, these guys use coconut shells and seashells for shelter, similar to hermit crabs. However, unlike hermit crabs, these smarties hoard shells for use in the future.

Some of my design decisions were based off of how non-bipedal or non-quadripedal Sonic characters are portrayed in the games. Sure, real octopi have eight tentacles, but Charmy Bee has two legs, and he's based off of the six-legged honeybee. Personally, I decided to give her a different type of eye than most Sonic characters due to the oddness of octopus eyes; I based hers off of Big the Cat. I also gave my Mimi-girl a beak, as real octopi have hidden beaks.

Anyways, I imagine Mimi is fairly young in this picture (I'd call her about four here). Like many young children in real life, she has attatchments to objects. Mimi clings to two particular coconut shells, one that she wears on her back, and the other which she constantly holds as if it were her blankie or favorite teddy bear.

TL;DR version: due to the roughness and traditionalness of my art style, I doubt I even have a snowball's chance in Hell of winning, but I love doing these sorts of things (and Mimi!) so I caved. :/