So do y’all remember The Neapolitan Boys? The rotund brothers who aren’t exactly human and they’re superheroes? The characters that are basically part of my idea for a “Cartoon Network Original Series” inspired by “The Powerpuff Girls” (1998), “Steven Universe”, and “We Bare Bears”? Welp, I decided to redraw them and finally color them! I also decided to develop them a little bit more.

To reintroduce them, the one in the middle is Van (as in “vanilla”), the one on the left is Coco (as in “chocolate”), and the one on the right is Barry (as in “strawberry”). Not only are they based on the three “pure” flavors of ice cream, but they also have unique powers based on the elements!

Van – the jolly, happy-go-lucky member of the group who loves to live life to the fullest. Laid-back and somewhat lazy, he believes in taking it slow which helps with his role as the thinker of the group; the one who comes up with the plans and strategies. True to his nature, he controls the element of water, creating water streams and ice bombs.

Barry – the emotional core of the team, Barry Is the most open about their relationship. Prone to fits of anger and emotional outbursts, he feels that he doesn’t belong in the group or that he doesn’t contribute as much as he should. He’s also the most interested and willing to search for answers about their past, whereas the others don’t really wish to discuss about it at length. Due to his emotional nature, he controls the element of fire, bursting into explosions of flames.

Coco – the “voice of reason” of the group who tries to rein the other two in when their antics get too overbearing. Coco is the most sociable, willing to interact with the society they are trying to protect, resulting in him being Van and Barry’s savior in social situations. He’s incredibly down to earth, even if he can be aloof at times. His element is wind, summoning wind vortexes and having the ability to glide upon air currents.

As you may have noticed, they’re backstory has seen a bit of an expansion! Throughout the story, there is a red herring makes it seem like they’re the result of human experimentation, like most comic book styled superheroes. In actually, they’re aliens. More specifically, they’re sentient weapons created by an alien race to win an intergalactic war that, by the time of the series’ present day, is pretty much over. In fact, there is only one member of the race of aliens that they were designed to fight who’s actually alive and a part of their Rogue’s Gallery. In any case, they end up on Earth because their creator wanted to have at least of a few of these weapons (yes, there were multiples of them) to have a peaceful life. However, they have no memory or knowledge of their original purpose and thus they use their powers to protect their new home… while also learning more about their origins.

Oh, and one last note for those who are curious, they are not blood related, but they still consider themselves brothers because of their shared origins. That said, they’re very open about how close their relationship can be, with Barry having the deepest feelings for his brothers.

Welp, that’s who The Neapolitan Boys are! Make of it what you will and enjoy!