The Connecticut Huskies mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #77 of 348. (View reference images.)
Louisville Cardinal – No. 637
The Louisville Cardinals mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #76 of 348. (View reference images.)
Syracuse Orange – No. 636
The Syracuse Orangemen mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #75 of 348. (View reference images.)
Pittsburgh Panther – No. 635
The Pittsburgh Panthers mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #74 of 348. (View reference images.)
Boston College Eagle – No. 634
The Boston College Eagles mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #73 of 348. (View reference images.)
Virginia Tech Hokie – No. 633
The Virginia Tech Hokies mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #72 of 348. (View reference images.)
Miami Hurricane – No. 632
Sebastian the Ibis, the Miami Hurricanes mascot, is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #71 of 348. (View reference images.)
Florida State Seminole – No. 631
Chief Osceola is the mascot of the Florida State Seminoles and represents the historical Seminole leader Osceola. The use of Osceola as a symbol remains controversial but is supported by some leaders in the Seminole Tribe of Florida and by the NCAA. This is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #70 of 348. (View reference images.)
Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket – No. 630
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #69 of 348. (View reference images.)
Virginia Cavalier – No. 629
The Virginia Cavaliers mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #68 of 348. (View reference images.)
P.S. Despite similarities of our names and outfits, the Virginia Cavaliers and I are not related. Also, Virginia Cavalier is not under consideration as the name of my future daughter.
Wake Forest Demon Deacon – No. 627
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #66 of 348. (View reference images.)
Duke Blue Devil – No. 626
The Duke Blue Devils mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #65 of 348. (View reference images.)
North Carolina State Wolf – No. 625
The North Carolina State Wolfpack mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #64 of 348. (View reference images.)
North Carolina Tar Heel – No. 624
The North Carolina Tar Heels mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #63 of 348. (View reference images.)
Note: The Tar Heels were just selected as the top seed for 2013 NCAA baseball tournament.
John Wayne – No. 623
John Wayne (born Marion Morrison) was an American film actor, director and producer. An Academy Award-winner, Wayne was among the top box office draws for three decades. An enduring American icon, he epitomized rugged masculinity and is famous for his demeanor, including his distinctive calm voice, walk and height. Wayne was born in Winterset, Iowa but grew up in the greater Los Angeles area. His role as the Ringo Kid in John Ford’s breakthrough Stagecoach (1939) made him an instant superstar. Wayne would go on to star in more than 160 movies, primarily typecast in Western films. Among his most acclaimed films are The Quiet Man (1952), The Searchers (1956), Rio Bravo (1959) and True Grit (1969). Wayne was on born on May 26, 1907.
Prester John – No. 622
Prester John is one of my favorite historical/mythological figures. The legends of Prester John were popular in Europe from the 12th through the 17th centuries, and told of a Christian patriarch and king said to rule over a Christian nation lost amidst the Muslims and pagans in the Orient. Prester John was reportedly a descendant of one of the Three Wise Men and presided over a realm full of riches and strange creatures, including unicorns. His kingdom contained such marvels as the Gates of Alexander and the Fountain of Youth, and even bordered the Garden of Eden. Prester John was first imagined to reside in India, as tales of the Nestorian Christians’ evangelistic success probably provided the first seeds of the legend. After the coming of the Mongols to the Western world, accounts placed the king in Central Asia. But as the Mongol Empire collapsed, Europeans began to shift away from the idea that Prester John had ever really been a Central Asian king. Eventually, Portuguese explorers convinced themselves that they had found him in Ethiopia. The legend of Prester John affected several hundred years of European and world history by encouraging generations of Europe’s explorers, missionaries, scholars and treasure hunters to venture into India, Asia and Africa.
Prester John, the fabled king/priest invented by Crusader kingdoms, is basically the Forrest Gump of the Middle Ages (1100s-1500s). Dude was everywhere. For example, during the Mongol Empire, Prester John was identified as both Genghis Khan and a Nestorian Christian monarch defeated by Khan. The myth of Prester John was a comforting (if ethnocentric) symbol to European Christians of their religion’s universality, transcending culture and geography to encompass all humanity. Even the boneheaded Christopher Columbus cited the discovery of Prester John’s kingdom among the goals of his travels. Despite centuries of European exploration in search of treasure—and evangelizing the locals—the quest for the fictitious kingdom remained unfulfilled. But the legend served many medieval Christian kingdoms, and the Catholic Church, handsomely.
Christopher Columbus – No. 621
Italian explorer and colonizer Christopher Columbus is today’s pixel art character, in honor of his demise on May 20, 1506. If we were to apply ethical standards to his life’s work, Columbus should be wanted for grand theft of the lands populated by the indigenous peoples; for initiating the systematic genocide of 98% of the original Americans; and for crimes against humanity, including the rape, torture, mutilation and enslavement of American Indians.
I previously wrote about the great lie of Columbus when I posted my Sitting Bull pixel art on Columbus Day in 2011. Even though Columbus was a wretched human being and wrong about everything, he was lucky enough to survive his catastrophic miscalculations and find uncharted land before his crews starved to death. No portrait of Columbus drawn or painted from life is known to exist, but I prefer to imagine him with a stupid hat.
Youppi! (Montreal Canadiens) – No. 620
Youppi! is the official mascot for the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens and former longtime mascot of the MLB’s Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals). Youppi! was commissioned by the Montreal Expos and originally leased by the team. In 1979, the mascot was purchased by the Expos baseball team and represented them until they moved to Washington, D.C., after the 2004 season. The orange, hairy giant was one of the most popular figures among everyone at Olympic Stadium, where he was often seen running around with his arms waving wildly during baseball games.
P.S. Youppi! was designed by Bonnie Erickson, formerly a designer for Jim Henson, and the designer of Miss Piggy, Statler and Waldorf and other Muppets characters. Youppi! is one of only three mascots inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The other two are the Phillie Phanatic, another Erickson design, and the Famous San Diego Chicken.
Subcomandante Marcos – No. 639
Subcomandante Marcos is the nom de guerre used by Rafael Guillén Vicente, the main ideologist, spokesperson and de facto leader of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), a Mexican rebel movement fighting for the rights of the indigenous peoples of Mexico. The EZLN group takes its name from agrarian reformer Emiliano Zapata. On January 1, 1994, when the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) became effective, Marcos led an army of Mayan farmers into eastern Chiapas state, to protest the Mexican federal government’s mistreatment of the nation’s indigenous peoples. Marcos is also a writer, a political poet and an anti-capitalist. He wears a black ski mask, often with a tobacco pipe sticking out, and a watch on each wrist. Nearly all EZLN villages have murals featuring Zapata, Che Guevara and Subcomandante Marcos. According to the Mexican government, Guillén was born on June 19, 1957.
My wife Heidi has a particular fascination with the mystery and mythology of Subcomandante Marcos. This pixel art character was suggested by her. Also, I am now dropping my publishing schedule to two 8-bit characters per week, usually on Tuesdays and Thursdays.