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are a fictional race of creatures primarily in
Nippon Ichi is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. The company was founded in 1991 and has developed several role-playing video games, most notably the ''Disgaea'' and '' Marl Kingdom'' series. Its mascot is the penguin-like ''Disgaea'' charact ...
's ''
Disgaea is a video game series, series of tactical role-playing game, tactical role-playing video games created and developed by Nippon Ichi. The series debuted in Japan on January 30, 2003 in video gaming, 2003, with ''Disgaea: Hour of Darkness'', later ...
'' series of role-playing games. First appearing in '' Disgaea: Hour of Darkness'', they have appeared in all later titles by the company, as well as on various merchandise such as hats and plush toys. With a few notable exceptions, they are voiced by
Junji Majima is a Japanese voice actor who is contracted to I'm Enterprise. He was born in Nagoya, Aichi. Filmography Anime ;2002 *'' Midnight Horror School'' – Borocca *'' Princess Tutu'' – Funeral Attendee (ep 4), Townsperson B (ep 6) ;2003 *'' BA ...
in Japanese releases and
Grant George Grant George is an American voice actor, known for voicing characters in anime dubs and video games. He was the voice of Izuru Kira from the ''Bleach'' anime series, the Warrior of Light from ''Final Fantasy'', Shinjiro Aragaki from the ''Person ...
in the English releases from ''Disgaea: Hour of Darkness'' to '' Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten''. The Prinnies are regarded as the mascots for the ''Disgaea'' series and have received generally positive reception.


Concept and creation

The Prinny was created by Takehito Harada while he was trying to come up with a character whose thoughts players could not try to envision. He began by choosing to make it animal-based, eventually deciding on making something similar to a
penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...
. He was told that he could use this character as much as he wanted. While it initially started out as looking somewhat realistic, it eventually gained a doll-like form.


Appearances

A prinny is a small, usually blue, pouch-wearing penguin-like creature with disproportionately small bat wings, two peg legs where feet would normally be, and stitches at the top of the chest. When thrown, they explode on impact. A common trait of prinnies is their upbeat attitude and tendency to end their sentences with " -ssu". In the English translation, they frequently use "dood" as an interjection. Prinnies stand roughly tall, though the weight can vary. Prinnies attack with knives, bombs, and occasionally other weapons stored in their bags. While rarely mentioned in the game, prinnies have been known to dispense a beverage known as prinny juice, which according to a Nippon Ichi Software America interview is produced from "the most flavorful and delicious parts of our fresh, vine-grown Prinnies". In ''Disgaea: Hour of Darkness'', humans who have led a worthless life, such as thieves or murderers, or have committed a mortal sin such as suicide, have their souls sewn into the body of a prinny upon their death. Due to the unstable soul of a human, regular prinnies will explode when they hit something with great force, such as when thrown.Takehito, Harada (2008), ''World of Disgaea, Volume 2''.
Broccoli Books is a Japanese media company that publishes manga, anime, video games and trading card games. It operated a chain of retailers in Japan called ''Gamers'' which carries similar products and accessories. Broccoli is best known for the franchises, ...
. p. 84.
However, Prinny suits filled with demon souls, as seen in ''Makai Kingdom'' or in the case of recurring boss Baal, will not. After being reborn, the newly created prinny will serve as a
soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer. Etymology The wo ...
,
slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
, or
servant A domestic worker is a person who works within a residence and performs a variety of household services for an individual, from providing cleaning and household maintenance, or cooking, laundry and ironing, or care for children and elderly ...
in the Netherworld or Celestia. The prinny remains until it has earned reincarnation by redemption through good deeds or earning enough money, and leaves its servitude in a ritual involving the Red Moon. In Celestia, prinnies mostly act as maids and domestic servants. The good deeds they perform there lead to their reincarnation. In the Netherworld, depending on the lord they serve, they spend their difficult after-lives doing excessively hard labor for very little pay, and are often thrown around just for the amusement of their lords. The pittance of money they earn in the Netherworld goes towards their reincarnation. Some prinnies live in Prinny Land, their own world in which prinnies do not explode when thrown. Some prinnies flee there to escape their lives in the Netherworld, and some may have rebelled or have been banished there. Another place prinnies can be found is the Land of Carnage. These prinnies live for battle and look down on newcomers. While prinnies manage all shops and such, an old friend can be found here too. Prinny Kurtis makes a comeback as a Land of Carnage only character. The player can summon Kurtis with cell phones and pass some bills from the Earth Defense Forces to aid him, it is not needed to gain access to Kurtis. In the Land of Carnage, the prinnies call warriors who fight hundreds of thousands of battles "Shura." Rumor has it, there is a prinny who has lived in the Land of Carnage longer than anyone else and is the master of the land. Prinnies have appeared in almost every major
Nippon Ichi is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. The company was founded in 1991 and has developed several role-playing video games, most notably the ''Disgaea'' and '' Marl Kingdom'' series. Its mascot is the penguin-like ''Disgaea'' charact ...
video game; their first appearance was in the game '' Disgaea: Hour of Darkness''. Prinnies follow a ranking system, starting at Private Prinny and moving up to Prinny God. The "Uber Prinny", which is the prinny form of Baal, cannot be utilized by players. Prinnies are usually under Etna's control. In '' Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories'' they lead the Dark Court and are responsible for judging the party's crimes, of which a guilty verdict will always be passed. In general the felonies applied by the Dark Court are to the player's benefit but if one wants to remove them from a character for various reasons then the character must reincarnate as a Prinny to atone for their sins. Unlike most other incarnations, prinny gods do not have immunity to status effects. In '' Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice'', a special Prinny under the title Hero Prinny appears as part of special downloadable content. The Hero Prinny claims that he has come to make a guest appearance from ''Prinny: Can I Really Be The Hero?'', but Mao doesn't believe him. It ends up that Mao defeats and captures Hero Prinny, and turns him into a hero. The Hero Prinny then becomes playable. Prinnies star in their own game '' Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero?'' for the PSP handheld console. In '' Makai Kingdom: Chronicles of the Sacred Tome'', prinnies are said to possess the soul of a demon, rather than that of a human. Their bodies are manufactured in Ruskan factories, located in another dimension, by inventor demons. In order to create Prinny units in ''Makai Kingdom'', the player must first make a wish to create Prinnies in The Sacred Tome. Then the first Prinny class will become available to create. The weaponry available to a prinny is expanded to include expertise with shovels and wrenches. The Prinnies do not explode when thrown. Prinnies appear in ''
Phantom Brave is a tactical role-playing game for the PlayStation 2 video game console, developed and published by Nippon Ichi Software. It was released on January 22, 2004 in Japan, on August 31, 2004 in North America and on February 4, 2005 in Europe. The No ...
'', which does not use a subclass system, and are able to use all weapon types, but have a smaller role in the game's plot. Pringer X serves as the final challenge of the bonus storyline. ''Phantom Brave'''s Prinnies cause explosions upon being summoned or unsummoned, these explosions do not injure the Prinny itself. Airborne prinnies make an appearance in ''Tori no Hoshi: Aerial Planet'', a game similar to '' Pilotwings'', used to add a "Nippon Ichi flavor" to the title. The crossover role playing game '' Cross Edge'' features a prinny and Etna. They also appeared in '' Trinity Universe'', a crossover game with characters from
Idea Factory is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher founded by former Data East employees in October 1994. A division of the company makes otome games under the name of Otomate (see Idea Factory#Otomate games, list below). An ...
,
Nippon Ichi is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. The company was founded in 1991 and has developed several role-playing video games, most notably the ''Disgaea'' and '' Marl Kingdom'' series. Its mascot is the penguin-like ''Disgaea'' charact ...
, and Gust Corporation. Nippon Ichi's characters include the Prinny as well as Etna and Flonne. A giant Prinny appeared as a special attack in the company-collaborative RPG, '' Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2'', where the in-game character Nisa (named Nippon Ichi in the Japanese version) throws a bunch of kunais at enemies, then throws the giant Prinny at the enemies, which results in a nuclear bomb type explosion. Nisa is also designed to resemble a Prinny. A Prinny cap is unlockable in the 3D remake of the 2004 ''
Cave Story ''Cave Story'' is a 2004 Metroidvania game for Microsoft Windows. It was developed over five years by Japanese independent developer Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya in his free time. ''Cave Story'' features 2D platform mechanics and is reminiscent of the ...
'', published by Nippon Ichi Software. Prinny also appear in the PS3 Exclusive title ''
Last Rebellion is an action role-playing game, action role-playing video game developed by Nippon Ichi Software and Hit Maker exclusively for the PlayStation 3. It was published by Nippon Ichi Software in Japan as well as in North America and Tecmo Koei in Euro ...
'' as optional bosses to be faced in the final mirror when entered as Nine.


In other media

A Prinny appeared in a ''
Penny Arcade ''Penny Arcade'' is a webcomic focused on video games and video game culture, written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik. The comic debuted in 1998 on the website ''loonygames.com''. Since then, Holkins and Krahulik have establish ...
'' comic strip on September 4, 2006. A Prinny also appeared as a recurring character in ''Fred Perry's LvlUp!'' comic series.


Promotion and reception

Prinnies are regarded as mascots for the ''Disgaea'' series, featuring strongly in Nippon Ichi's marketing such as the annual Tipsy Prinny press events. The third event, held in the Zebulon Bar
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
on June 5, 2008, featured green Prinnies suspended from every banister and light fitting. Nippon Ichi Software's online store sells various merchandise such as several different Prinny plushies, and in Japan Nippon Ichi has released several pieces of Prinny merchandise and has used the characters in
cosplay Cosplay, a blend word of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and Fashion accessory, fashion accessories to represent a specific Character (arts), character. Cosplayers often i ...
to promote the release of ''Prinny: Can I Really be the Hero?'' in
Akihabara is a neighborhood in the Chiyoda ward of Tokyo, Japan, generally considered to be the area surrounding Akihabara Station (nicknamed ''Akihabara Electric Town''). This area is part of the and Kanda-Sakumachō districts of Chiyoda. There is an ...
. A Prinny stylus was featured as a pre-order bonus for people who pre-ordered '' Disgaea DS''. Additionally four Prinny avatars for the
PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...
's
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were also released for sale, modeled after the different unique Prinnies in the original ''Disgaea''. Prinnies have been described as one of the most notable characters in the ''Disgaea'' series. RPGamer called them the "much-adored penguin mascots" of ''Disgaea'', while Wired.com called them "adorably snarky".
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
editor Dave McCarthy praised '' Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice''s humour, citing the Prinnies as an example. In a preview of the upcoming game starting the character in PlayStation: The Official Magazine, Chris Hudak asked "What better sign that you've warmed the cold hearts of videogamers worldwide than to have your own beloved, signature character?", additionally comparing in great detail the Prinny to fellow video game mascots
Mario Mario (; ) is a Character (arts), character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Ja ...
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Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game series and media franchise created by the Japanese developers Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, and Hirokazu Yasuhara for Sega. The franchise follows Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battle ...
, and ''
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''s
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. PSX Extreme described them as "one of the most recognizable – and curiously lovable – characters" in the ''Disgaea'' series. Webcomic ''
Penny Arcade ''Penny Arcade'' is a webcomic focused on video games and video game culture, written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik. The comic debuted in 1998 on the website ''loonygames.com''. Since then, Holkins and Krahulik have establish ...
'' featured a Prinny in their comic to mark the release of '' Disgaea 2'', adding in the commentary "You've probably heard that penguins are great fathers or whatever, you saw that Goddamn penguin movie and you bought into their whole thing. When faced with one of these hideous creatures, there is only one recourse: be stern for two panels, and then give in."
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listed the Prinny as one of the 25 best new characters of the decade, describing it as "heartwarmingly pathetic", calling the act of creating an army of "nigh-invulnerable Prinny wimps" is one of the greatest accomplishments in role-playing games. They also listed it as one of the most impractical video game characters, describing it as "incredibly stupid".


References

{{Disgaea series Disgaea Fictional penguins Anthropomorphic penguins Penguin mascots Demon characters in video games Mascots introduced in 2003 Video game characters introduced in 2003 Video game mascots Video game species and races