Little Guy Theory

The following is a description of my newly devised thesis concerning quaint characters, funny creatures, and all manner of “little guys”

What a little guy isn’t

Doodling is fun. It is frequently done with little thought, and it often serves as nothing more than a means by which to keep idle hands occupied. You might draw stars in the margins of your homework, you might sketch your friend sitting across from you, or you might kill time filling your notebook with smiley faces. Notably though, two dots and a curve suggesting a grin does not a little guy make. There is nothing wrong with this, in fact I’m certain that releasing these primordial forms from your subconscious onto paper is entirely beneficial, but it requires a bit more considerate creation to imagine a little guy

Obviously, real people cannot be given the moniker, but neither can fictional people with too much depth or too detailed of a backstory. There exists a sweet spot, a place full of cool guys whose existence requires no elaboration that professional creature designers spend their entire careers searching for

What a little guy is

All that is necessary to turn a smiley into something more, to transform it from character (emoji) to character (little guy), is to give it a shtick. As soon as you place a hat upon your creation’s head, and can then dub them “the hat guy”, they become something much more than the sub of their parts. You need only a defining feature or two, and a name by which to call them, to grant your guy immortality as an idea. Good little guys have a decent amount of thought put into their design, such that their role, the life they live, and what makes them worthy of your appreciation is easily apparent. You should be able to intuit this all based on how they look, how they sound, and how they act. You should never need to be told

Little guys are not subversive. If you want to make some wider commentary, you have many better tools at your disposal. They are pure, and they are literal. Often the best little guys embody some platonic ideal of a character: a wizard with a long white beard and purple robe, a pirate with a peg leg and a parrot. They are awesome tools of joy, and they don’t need to be anything more

The word “guy” is used here in an expressly gender neutral context, as a pronoun of affection and appreciation. As a non-binary person, I’ve gone back and forth on whether I’m okay for others using it to describe me, but like I said, the “little guy” title shouldn’t be given to any flesh-and-blood humans. Had the English language a better word to label the phenomena my theory describes, I would use that, but I have yet to hear one

Some sketches I made of example little guys:

The consequences of little guy theory

All those who subscribe to my thesis must make the following pledge: little guys are cool as hell, I will consciously appreciate their existence every time I see one, I will empower the idea they embody by believing in it full-heartedly. You cannot truly love little guys if you hold any reservations about the cheesy or corny, you must approach them on their terms. If they are meant to be cool, if they have crazy hair, or drive a motorbike, or are given a name like “Flames McGee”, then they are undeniably and unquestionably rad

Examples

I recently discovered this dude amongst the assorted bricks of my LEGO collection. I believe his pieces each have separate origins, but I like the vibe they come together to create

The Martoon is a Flipnote animator with a deep understanding of little guy theory. His Toon Buddies series, in which he imagines low-fidelity characters to pair with names provided by his supporters, is excellent praxis

These are some of the characters from Party House, one of the many incredible games from UFO 50. They hardly represent a fraction of the cool little guys found in that incredible collection

Pictured are some trading cards from the short-lived, and rather obscure World Of Warriors series. I collected them as a kid because I thought the character designs were cool, and I still think the same today

And of course, who can forget the little guy who once called many of our desktops home, the under-appreciated Clippy

Conclusion

Ultimately, this post only exists to promote the creation and appreciation of little guys. I think they should venerated, and their power protected at all costs. Though, I am not the authority on them, the great thing about little guys is that anyone can make one. These are just my thoughts concerning them, and my attempt to reach others with a similar fascination. If you know of any little guys you think I’d like, please don’t hesitate to send them to me

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