Blupi

Blupi
Other names	Eggbert, Toto
First appearance	La Guerre des Blups (1974, comic strip) Blupi at Home (1988, video game)
Latest appearance	Blupimania II (2003)

Blupi (known as Eggbert in the eGames releases, originally Toto) is the titular character of a series of games he stars in. In the video games, he first debuted in the Smaky game Blupi at Home. His latest appearances are in the Windows games (Planet Blupi, Speedy Blupi/Eggbert, Speedy Blupi/Eggbert II, Blupimania II).

Creation

A page from the La Guerre des Blups comic by Daniel Roux (1974).

The Blupi character and species were created by Daniel Roux as doodles in his school books before appearing in the comic titled La Guerre des Blups (lit. "War of the Blups") in 1974. The Blupi character was then included in the Smaky documentation in 1979. He quickly became the mascot of the brand.

During the era of early computer games, Swiss company EPSITEC criticized the games' influence on children. Specifically, the mindless, repetitive routine and, in some cases, the element of competition tend to exclude the slower or less aggressive children.

To solve the above problem, EPSITEC introduced a new approach (at the time) to teaching. It involves having the computer itself be the "playmate" for the less competitive children. In theory, the program will move ahead at the child's own pace and obey commands fed to it. With that, the character Blupi was utilized. He is designed to be a likable little fellow that children would love to play with.

History

Smaky/DOS era

Blupi at Home

Blupi in the Smaky/DOS version of Blupi at Home.

In Blupi at Home, Blupi lives alone in a two-story house which also includes a small attic and a large basement. Blupi can interact with various objects in his house and can even play outside at a beach. Other Blupis may show up in his house depending on the object he interacted with. He can also get involved in the featured games that correspond to certain number or letter keys. the game got a remake for windows XP

Blupi Explorer

Blupi in Blupi Explorer.

In Blupi Explorer, Blupi explores a large castle. Blupi has to travel between floors and rooms and make use of items he found along the way to collect all 60 treasure chests. Blupi can jump over the alien robots roaming the castle or outright stomp them if they are destructible. He can also drive a tank or a helicopter to help him navigate. After collecting all 60 treasure chests, Blupi will shout out "BRAVO!" while being surrounded by all the treasure he found.

Blupimania

Blupi in Blupimania.

In Blupimania, there is no specific Blupi as a focus. Unlike the previous games, this game is a puzzle game instead of an edutainment game, straying Blupi away from his original focus. All of the later Blupi games are also puzzle games. Blupis are divided into two types: Autonomous and Radio-controlled. Because of this, the game can focus on more than one Blupi, though the "radio-controlled Blupis" mode tends to focus only on the robot Blupi that can be controlled directly. Autonomous Blupis spawn in blindfolded state and can only move in a straight line until they bump into or interact with an object, at which point they will switch direction as long as the object does not kill the Blupis. Meanwhile, radio-controlled Blupis will only move by player command and never spawn blindfolded, but a puzzle is considered lost if they fall down a hole or are killed. Picking up the Glasses item will restore a blindfolded Blupi's eyesight, allowing him to properly move around on his own will. The Blupis have to reach the goal Balloons to proceed to the next puzzle.

A Blupi can interact with various items and background objects. In general, Blupi can read Books, pick up and use Keys, turn invisible with magic to walk through walls, open Safe Doors, among others. With enough energy, a Blupi can jump over certain short obstacles/objects and push crates/balls/contraptions to clear a path. A Blupi can also drink from Drink Tables (though there are fakes that will kill him instead) to restore his energy, though drinking while at full energy will cause him to be bloated and collapse through the floor. A Blupi can be turned nasty by having him slip over Banana Skins, which make him uncontrollable and target Detonators and even Balloons, though not recommended for the latter as he will pop it instead.

Windows era

Planet Blupi

Once again, in Planet Blupi, there is no specific Blupi as the main focus. A mission can focus on either a lone Blupi or groups of them. A Blupi can grow and eat Tomatoes, carry items on his head, make buildings, incubate Eggs, jump a short distance across water, cut down trees, and many more, as there are many objects that can be interacted with. The goal varies from returning to the Blupis' houses, placing items (or Master Robot) on striped paving stones, destroying all enemies, to waiting for the fires to settle. However, the main goal at the end is to get rid of the invading alien beings that were the result of a foreign spaceship crashing down on the Blupis' planet. Blupis will have a dance party if they clear the Training mode (or Mission in the demo version), but when the final mission is cleared (escorting Master Robot back to his rocket) Blupi will raise his fist in triumph in front of his house after the rocket leaves the planet for good.

Speedy Blupi

In Speedy Blupi, Blupi travels through various worlds, mostly to collect treasure chests. Blupi can jump in three different heights, Small (1-block high), Medium (2-block high), and High (4-block high), all of which are doubled temporarily if he eats some Lollipop. Blupi can also swim and dive underwater, though the latter cannot be done for too long lest he will run out of air and die. Other than those, Blupi can push or pull movable blocks, ride vehicles, weaponize explosives, hang onto bars, among others.

Speedy Blupi II

As this is the sequel to Speedy Blupi, Blupi reprises his role as the protagonist and reprises the same goals.

Blupimania II

As this is the sequel to Blupimania, there is no specific Blupi as the main focus, as a puzzle may feature more than one Blupi. This time, Blupi must climb up a really high tower, with each floor serving as its own puzzle for Blupi to solve before he can reach the next balloon. Unlike in Blupimania, all Blupis will only follow the player's commands, instead of being separated into autonomous and radio-controlled.

General information

Physical appearance

He is a yellow, oval creature with yellow long arms and yellow short legs. He has thick black eyebrows on his head, big white eyes with black (and white circle) pupils, big round nose, small and round mitten-like hands, and big oval feet. His mouth is always shown partially open except when he shows certain emotions.

Personality

In most of the games he stars in as an individual character, Blupi might be shown as an adventurous character, as he is willing to go and explore various places, even if the places are in fact dangerous to Blupi. By appearance itself, Blupi can be seen as a cheerful character.

Speech

In the edutainment games and Planet Blupi, Blupi may speak in full sentences. This is done to provide feedback to the player, related to his original concept (see Creation section above). Other games limit his speech to grunts, yells, and even complete gibberish. Blupi generally speaks in a high-pitched sound reminiscent of a young child, but most other depictions give him a more cartoonish tone and pitch.

Powers and abilities

Until Blupi Explorer, Blupi's abilities are not fully explored due to their status as edutainment games, serving only as their own interpretations of Blupi's character in a given context. Blupi has been known to drive various vehicles to his advantage (tank, helicopter) and use tools he found on the go to solve problems since Blupi Explorer. Blupi can push movable objects to clear a path or just help himself in general in Blupimania and its sequel as well as both Speedy Blupi games, with the latter games also allowing him to pull movable objects as well. A Blupi is capable of making one whole building with basic materials all by himself in Planet Blupi, as well as cutting down trees, carving rocks, making items out of iron (and robots out of Platinum), transforming certain items into either weapons or medicine, growing tomatoes, and carrying an item on his head. Blupi's jumping capabilities vary by game, as some games only allow him to jump to cover short distances (Blupimania, Planet Blupi), some allow him a variety of jumping heights (Speedy Blupi I & II), some have arbitrary restrictions despite the ability being usable (for example, Blupi cannot jump over short walls in Blupi Explorer), and others do not allow him to jump at all (or otherwise just for visuals instead of relating to game mechanics). Blupi can also weaponize trap items and explosives to his advantage, as seen in Planet Blupi (Sticky Traps, Poison, Dynamites, Time Bombs) and both Speedy Blupi games (Glue Supplies, Personal Mines, Dynamites). Special powers, meanwhile, tend to come from outside sources, such as the Invisibility Squares that can render Blupi undetected by mobile enemies temporarily in Blupimania and Speedy Blupi's Lollipop (speed and jump boost), Shield (temporary protection against hazards bar bottomless pits), Invisibility Potion (undetected temporarily by Homing Bombs), and Recharging Device (envelops Blupi in an aura that is lethal to certain enemies).

Gallery

Blupi wearing an armour.

The lost screen in Planet Blupi, showing a disappointed Blupi.

The win screen in Planet Blupi, showing a happy Blupi.

Blupi playing yoyo.

Blupi on a skateboard.

Three Blupis on the Blupi logo as shown on the GitHub page of Planet Blupi.

Quotes

Planet Blupi

• "Yes?"
• "Hi!"
• "Yes Master!"
• "Okay."
• "Let's go!"
• "Just a sec."
• "There you are."
• "All done."
• "Finished!"
• "Ha!"
• "AAAAA!"
• "Haaa...(pssst)"
• "Yumm-yumm."
• "A-chu!"
• "Laa-lalala... ♪♫"
• "I can't do it."
• "Impossible."
• "No way."
• "What do you want?"
• "Hey boss."
• "What's up?"
• "Not again."
• "Pardon me?"
• "Now what?"
• "I'm fed up."
• "Leave me alone."
• "You're driving me crazy."
• "You're the boss."
• "Why not?"
• "Alright!"
• "It's done."
• "It's finished."
• "I've finished."