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Over the past few years, I have been thinking about how character culture shapes industries: from idol groups to stationery aisles, from gacha machines to cafés. And recently, I was thinking of: why aren’t tech mascots treated like real character IP? 😆💭

We already know that characters with strong story, cute design, and a sense of collectability become global icons. For example:

  • 🐼 Pokémon where each Pokémon has a unique name, powers and personalities
  • 🎀 Sanrio and its family of characters
  • 🎶 BT21 and how each character represents a BTS member
  • ✨ Chiikawa, with every character having a backstory
  • 🌐 aespa, whose AI universe concept ties all their songs and avaters together

So… what about tech?

🐱‍💻 Tech mascots are already popular 😍

Some of the most recognisable icons come from the tech world:

Engineers really like these techie characters. Stickers are very popular at conferences, and laptop lids become filled with techie stickers 💻💟

However, none of these characters have a background story or personalities. Each unique Octocat also has no unique name. They are currently just logos, but I wonder if they could become full character IP, just like Chiikawa or BT21 ✨

🌈 Why characters become memorable

Characters become powerful when they have a personality and background story, as explained in andacademy.

Imagine if Octocat variants like astronaut Octocat 🐱‍🚀, samurai Octocat 🐱‍👤, musician Octocat 🎻 each had names, mini bios, and a coherent universe. People could collect them like trading cards, aiming to complete the whole set. I think they would also become popular with everyone, not just software engineers.

🛍️ What if.. scenario! 😊😎

It would be really cool if:

🏬 At big shopping centers like Parco or Westfield there is:

  • Octocat × Sanrio plushies and stickers 🐼
  • Docker Whale keychains 🐳
  • Kubernetes mascot blind boxes 🎁
  • Tux the penguin random figures Gachapon 🎈
  • Character cafés with themed pancakes 🥞

I think it would be popular with everyone, not just software engineers.

💖 Making engineering feel more friendly

Tech often can look complicated from the outside: complex, serious and full of abstract concepts. But character culture has the potential to make something technical feel more friendly and welcoming.

If techie mascots got more popular, it could potentially:

  • attract more people into engineering
  • make tech feel less cold and more approachable
  • encourage more underrepresented groups to join
  • create a positive cultural impression of software engineering
  • bring tech mascots into our everyday lifestyle

🌟 The future of tech mascots

I look forward to tech mascots becoming more popular and helping more people get interested in software engineering! ♥💕😍