Adorable canine-fungus hybrids that can be encountered in Nintendo/Brownie Brown/HAL Laboratory's 2006 Mother 3 Gameboy Advance role-playing video game. Said title was never published outside of Japan, but the game was treated to an unofficial English translation in 2008 by Starmen-dot-net. Muttshrooms (Japanese: "Kinoko Inu", literally "Mushroom Dog") are just one example of the many strange animal amalgams that the game's protagonists will have to contend with throughout their adventures.

Muttshrooms attack by biting or headbutting their opponents. While one would think that a canine's sharp teeth would inflict greater injury than a blow from a mushroom top, the headbutt actually does more damage. These creatures can also release clouds of spores from the rows of gills nestled beneath their mushroom caps. While this mass of floating motes won't do any physical harm, anyone that inhales them will immediately suffer from hallucinations and disorientation (the "Strange" negative status effect).

Lacking both ears and eyes, Muttshrooms are physically blind and deaf. However, the fungal growths on the head and tail somehow provide a short-range psychic spatial awareness of the creature's immediate surroundings; this, coupled with a keen sense of smell, allows a Muttshroom to successfully navigate and interact with its environment. In effect, the creature responds to stimuli much like a normal dog would, despite its handicaps.


Materials:
Newsprint, tissue paper, white glue, and acrylic paint.

Dimensions:
4.1 cm / 1.6 in. x 2.5 cm / 1.0 in. (widest point x highest point)

Time:
Two days - February 15 and 16, 2013.
I modeled the figure in its entirety on the fifteenth and painted it on the sixteenth.