Horrifying AI Versions of Famous Characters
November 6, 2024
•16 min read
We created some horrifying realistic versions of famous characters using artificial intelligence!
Have you ever wanted to meet one of your favorite cartoon characters in real life? But what would their fantastical, animated designs look like if they were brought into the real world? To get a better idea, we ran some prompts through Midjourney, an AI art machine capable of taking images and adjusting them through a series of prompts. But some of these re-imaginings haven’t turned out as cute as you’d hope. With that, say goodbye to your pure childhood memories as we take a look at some realistic versions of your favorite cartoon characters.
Despicable Me: Gru & The Minions
Back in 2010, the animated film Despicable Me took the world by storm. While everyone liked the human cast, it was the banana-yellow minions that stole the show. People adored their smooth yellow shape and great big goggles, but let’s see what you think of them after they’ve been through the Midjourney machine.
Kevin, Stuart, and Bob look like they’re having a bad day and an even worse life. What has happened? Well, according to the movie’s lore, these particular 3 minions have been slaving away for Gru since 1968. The supervillain would now be in his late 50s, at least we can assume from the balding. So, in reality, after 50 years toiling away day after day in a basement, the minion’s skin is wrinkled, their teeth are missing, and their eyesight has deteriorated to the point they need super thick glasses, because by reality’s laws, these minions are old! Gru on the other hand looks pretty good for his age, probably because he’s never had to work a day in his life!
Peppa Pig
Peppa Pig is a British children’s show that has been around since 2004! Toddlers love this piggish toon, following the preppy pink anthropomorphic pig and her family through all sorts of adventures. Although maybe youngsters wouldn't be quite so keen on Peppa if they knew what she looked like in real life.
In the show, her features are only ever seen on one side of her face, which in reality makes for quite a peculiar-looking porcine. To make things worse, she’s also taken a rather feral turn. It looks like Midjourney imagined her as more of a wild hog! In the show, there aren't many humans in Peppa's world. Without farmers to raise and breed them, wild pigs would be the norm, and they’d need some defensive features, such as hardened lumps on their snouts, just like a warthog. That dress isn't doing Peppa any favors either, she'd probably benefit from a bit more coverage, like a paper bag over her head.
The Simpsons: Mr. Burns
Evil tycoons are everywhere and The Simpson’s own Springfield Power Plant owner Charles Montgomery Burns is one of them. With his age set somewhere between 81 and 120, the most realistic version of this cartoon would just be a haggard corpse in a suit. But let’s see what Midjourney thinks.
We are huge fans of Nelson Cooper's realistic Mr. Burns silicone mask. #thesimpsons #monsterpalooza2017 @DeadZone805
Futurama: Dr John Zoidberg
Matt Groening is arguably most well-known for creating the Simpsons, but his signature style doesn’t stop at Springfield. His other famous series, Futurama, first aired back in 1999, and is full of silly escapades and kooky characters. None more so than Dr. John Zoidberg, the disgusting, yet loveable, crustacean physician. But can you imagine being treated by his realistic counterpart?
We wanted to give some authenticity to a realistic Zoid, so we've used prompts for some real-life sea creatures like cuttlefish and lobster, into the Midjourney machine. To really bring out the horror, we added some prompts in based around the Ood, a tentacle faced alien species from the world of Dr. Who.
Rick and Morty: Pickle Rick
Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past 10 years, then you’ve probably heard of Rick and Morty; the nihilist sci-fi comedy that’s got its fair share of very dedicated fans. So, for this prompt, we were inspired by the episode where Rick transforms himself into a preserved cucumber. The Pickle Rick!
Adventure Time: Finn The Human
Ever since it began airing way back in 2010, many have longed to live in the world of Adventure Time. Pendleton Ward’s quirky cartoon follows the whacky adventures of heroes Finn the human and Jake the dog in the Land of Ooo. It’d be a blast visiting the candy kingdom, battling evil monsters, and rescuing damsels in distress. That is, as long as you didn’t have to meet Finn in real life:
Ward’s simplistic designs don’t really lend themselves to noses, which is fine in cartoon form, but not real life. Ooo is a post-apocalyptic society born out of nuclear destruction, and nearly all the characters are mutants. Finn, although still human, is no exception, which explains his lack of snoz and his wide set, far apart eyes. You might also notice his nasty gnashers; in the cartoons, Finn has an acute fear of the dentist, so it’d be no surprise if all those trips to the candy kingdom had totally rotted his teeth!
SpongeBob SquarePants
Back in 1999, former marine biologist Stephen Hillenburg created a TV series that would go on to shape some of our earliest memories: SpongeBob SquarePants. It follows the cartoon life of the adorable, animate, big-eyed, pant-wearing sea SpongeBob, and all his friends at the bottom of the ocean. So, let's see what Midjourney thinks he looks like.
It turns out the image is pretty scary, especially his giant, lidless eyes! But they might not actually be lidless, many creatures that live in the sea have nictitating membrane instead of eyelids, which are translucent, allowing them to maintain vision in the murky depths. Many others, like fish, don’t have anything to protect their eyes at all! So, no wonder SpongeBob’s real eyes are so uncovered. The unnaturally deeply pockmarked, yellow sponge skin of his face and painful looking buck teeth don’t feel cute anymore, just horrifying. But we weren't happy to ruin just one character from this childhood favorite franchise. Patrick the starfish, or sea star, which is a more accurate name for the species since they’re not actually fish, got the same Midjourney makeover: It’s really captured the knobbly, bony, calcified skin of the real-life starfish on Patrick’s stomach, along with his wide, toothless mouth. When these two real-life counterparts look less like a pair of adorable best friends, and more like a reason to stay out of the ocean forever.
Mickey Mouse
When you hear about Disney, there’s one big-eared cartoon character that immediately springs to mind: the one and only Mickey Mouse. But it's hard to see a mouse in Mickey’s design, he’s got big round ears and a tail, but he’s smooth and mice normally have fur. And his eyes are on the front of his face, normal mice have eyes on the sides of their heads as they’re prey animals, and this placement gives them a better field of vision to watch for predators. So, with forward facing eyes, this means Mickey’s a predator? That can’t be right! Let’s see if Midjourney can give us a more realistic look at this beloved mascot:
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny, the carrot-chomping wise guy, has been an icon of Warner Brother's since his initial success in the 1940s. For this one, we decided to imagine Bugs as if his proportions were translated to a bipedal, human like form.
If you’re a fan of the horror game Five Nights at Freddy's, don’t you think this thing wouldn’t look out of place at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza? It’s not all that awful for the most part, but when you focus in on that mouth, and the disturbingly crooked, uneven teeth, paired with the wide yellow eyes, and the fact this thing stands up like a human, our instinct is telling us to run.
The Simpsons: Moe
Even in cartoon form, you can tell that Moe’s Tavern from The Simpsons is an absolute dive. But how would Springfield’s bad tempered, hardnosed barkeep, Moe Szyslak, look in real life?
If you've seen other realistic versions of the character, you might notice a resemblance to American comedian Rich Hall. It's not a coincidence; the equally acerbic Hall is said to be the real-life inspiration behind Moe's character, a claim Hall proudly supports given he used to work alongside Simpsons writer George Meyer. Rich Hall might not be too pleased that he inspired an unattractive pervert. That’s not the only inspiration though. It turns out that Simpsons designers also based Moe’s appearance on a gorilla, so when we added some apish prompts into Midjourney, it resulted in this greyish skin, the super-high snub nose, and long, expressive mouth. If there’s another sequel planned for the Planet of the Apes, we know who to call!
Sonic The Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog is the fastest character of them all! The spiky sprinter was developed by video game company Sega to compete with Nintendo’s Mario character. Since then, Sonic has become an icon with his own line of video games, multiple TV series and a film franchise. If that viral creepy sonic design from the first live-action film trailer didn’t freak you out, allow us to have another go with our AI rendition.
Have you ever noticed that cartoon Sonic doesn’t have two separate eyes? He’s just got one big, conjoined eye with a low dipped forehead which gives him his expressions. Also, Sonic’s mouth is on just one side of his face; this is actually common for characters in classic Japanese manga and anime character design, as it gives them a more in-depth side profile. The conjoined eye and side mouth don’t seem out of place on a 2D character, but in real life you just have to go fast away from this thing!
Pokémon: Hypno
The world of Pokémon is full of cute and funny creatures, the designs are all adorable, from Pikachu to Snorlax. But Hypno? Not that much. He's everyone’s least favorite creep. In the Pokémon world, Hypnos mesmerize humans with their swinging pendant, lull them to sleep, and then feast on their dreams. To create this sleep snatching monster, we made a base image of a monkey sneaking into a bedroom. We also added foxy ears, a lion’s mane, yellow skin, eerie eyes and, most importantly, that big old nose.
Peanuts: Charlie Brown
The next is Peanuts by illustrator Charles M. Schulz. This comic book ran from 1950 to 2000 and is considered a cartoon classic, inspiring the likes of Garfield, Calvin and Hobbes, and even Matt Groening’s early comic Life in Hell. Schultz’s simple but distinctive style left his cartoon kids with massive heads and tiny black eyes. Also, Schulz left the hero of the stories, Charlie Brown, practically bald.
As for the realistic AI rendition of Charlie Brown? If they ever want to make another Peanuts Halloween special, then that’s a design that'll definitely give kids the creeps. To create this nightmare fuel, we Frankensteined together an image of a little boy with an unusual hairstyle, and then altered his face into this eyesore to make him resemble the cartoon Charlie.
Shrek
Shrek first farted onto our screens in 2001 and has since become king of the memes! But we wanted to create a more typical ogre, like the evil, ugly, brutish ogres you read about in classic fairy tales. What would Shrek look like as one of them?
The world has certainly rolled this onion-guzzling ogre. All that time wallowing in swamp muck has caused mushrooms to sprout over his slowly rotting body! Shrek’s often described in film as hideous and stinky, so it makes sense that these traits would worsen as he continued his sickly, solitary life. Given Shrek’s affinity for filth, muck and meat, we decided to blend him with Nurgle, the god of decay from the Warhammer universe. The result is a hulking, green skinned nightmare with pointed teeth and small, orange eyes.
Mr. Men: Mr. Tickle
The iconic Mr. Men and Little Miss books have been delighting children and adults alike since 1971 when Roger Hargreaves wrote and illustrated the very first character in the series, Mr. Tickle. The hero of the strange story has extraordinarily long arms that he uses to tickle everyone he sees. Those characters should really call the police. Inspired by this unsettling tale, we decided to bring this wacko with wandering hands to our world.
Many of Hargreaves characters have no discernible features to speak of, such as joints, noses or ears, which is why the real Mr. Tickle looks like a round glob of flesh with two fleshy tentacles for arms. Instead of a comforting kid’s character, with its rotund body, long arms and big black eyes, this thing looks more like a weirdly fleshy spider!
Courage The Cowardly Dog
Courage the Cowardly Dog, the show about a pink pup living in a spooky old house, has become an internet fan favorite for its dark humor, bizarre imagery, and odd vibes. We wanted to make Courage even scarier by bringing him to life.
You can't blame Eustace for hating on this hound. Courage’s inspiration comes from the manic world of Tex Avery, who’s become famous for his wild animation and absurd gags. The dog's jaw-stretching screams look fine in cartoons, much less so when brought to the real world. We interpreted the dog’s pink hue as smooth, naked skin, hence the absence of fur.
Family Guy: Peter and Lois
If you like offensive humor disguised as irony, then this is the show for you. Family Guy first hit our screens in the late 90s and seems to have been stuck there ever since. Like a lot of cartoons, creator Seth MacFarlane exaggerates his characters’ features for comedic effect. The two main characters Peter and Lois have some pretty noticeable features, so what would this couple look like in real life?
The Flinstones: Fred Flinstone and Dino
If the 1960’s animated sitcom about the modern stone age family The Flintstones taught us anything, it’s that humans co-existed with dinosaurs, and used them as everyday tools; from excavators to cars! Such big, dopy, docile creatures were happy to bend to any human’s will.
That’s definitely not how it really happened though. For a start, the dinosaurs were wiped out nearly 65 million years before early man first appeared! But if they were to co-exist around the same time, would it have looked like the Flintstone dinotopia? It seems less like utopia and more like hell! In the AI rendition, we have the main character Fred Flintstone, cowering and hiding from his fearsome pet dinosaur, Dino, who seems hungry. In the cartoons, Dino is a Snorkasaurus, which is a totally made-up breed of dinosaur that’s meant to be akin to a dog. But Dino is also depicted as a meat eater, often drawn drooling over steaks and ribs. So, it would only make sense then that if a Snorkasaurus was real, it’d be a bipedal carnivore, like a raptor or a T-Rex.
Lilo and Stitch: Stitch
Imagine getting a puppy, only for that puppy to end up being a destructive alien. But you don’t need to imagine it if you've seen Lilo and Stitch. For the ones who haven’t seen Disney’s magnum opus, the 2002 animated film follows Lilo, an eccentric Hawaiian girl, who adopts Stitch, an extraterrestrial experiment. Subsequent hijinks ensue, good feelings abound. So, considering how cute Stitch looks, the Midjourney Stitch has actually ruined it all with the rendition below.
