It's been so many years since I first created my Brother Bear OC, Ken'ichi, an orphaned black-furred grizzly bear cub. Since then he's evolved into my internet persona, the face everyone online recognizes me with.

And so, this art is like a tribute/anniversary for him. Clockwise starting from the six o'clock position: Brother Bear Ken'ichi (or Classic Ken'ichi), Anthro Ken'ichi, Twilight Wielder Ken'ichi, and Modern Ken'ichi.

Ken'ichi was created in 2004, a week or two after Disney's animated movie, Brother Bear, was released on DVD, as an original character to it. He began life as a roleplaying character on a Brother Bear forum as a nervous and shy orphan, trying his best to live his life after losing his parents. A couple of months later, he'd star as a main character in my Brother Bear fanfiction, Koda's Journey, where his past and character was further developed on and established.

He grew up on me, and many of the forum goers back in the day really took a liking to him, especially his recognizable and iconic scar, which ran from his right cheek down to his chest.

But in that same year, a few months later, in an effort to get more involved in the anthro community, and I guess in a way to evolve Ken'ichi into more than just a Brother Bear character, he was overhauled into an entirely different character, and thus Anthro Ken'ichi was born.

This version of Ken'ichi isn't much different from his Brother Bear origins, but now he became a bit of a tough guy with control over the magical element of Fire. He soon became my online persona, and so his personality and behavior isn't that much different from myself. Arguably Anthro Ken'ichi would become more well-known among my friends than his original version and roots, whom I'd like to call Classic Ken'ichi.

Being my internet persona, Anthro Ken'ichi was seen and drawn a lot, from the internet to even at school. It was because of him that all of my friends at school began to call me "Keni." I didn't mind, and it got me more attached to the character, I guess.

Then one year later, in 2005, ideas for an original story began to form in my head. The story was about a mythical blade that had control over the Light and Darkness, together to form the mythical power of Twilight. Naturally, I was quick to throw Anthro Ken'ichi into the central role of that story.

And after a few tweaks, Twilight Wielder Ken'ichi was born.

Compared to Classic and Anthro, Twilight Wielder Ken'ichi was radically different. A student of martial arts, anti-social and just unfriendly (Cliched, right?) he was just an ordinary bear who fell in the right place at the right time and found himself chosen to be the wielder of the Twilight Blade. With it, he could control both Light and Darkness and transform into three powerful forms capable of fully controlling one of either, or both, elements: LIGHT, DARK, and TWILIGHT.

Unfortunately, depending on who you ask, the story never made it off the ground from pure concept sketches and ideas, and such Twilight Wielder Ken'ichi never came to be as his own different version of our favorite grizzly bear. Though he was featured in a one-shot story based on the Twilight Wieldier universe, A Twilit Duel Between Friends, which can be found here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1362115/

Honestly I wasn't much of a fan of this version. He wasn't much different from Anthro Ken'ichi and was starting to become a bit of a cliched character. Maybe that's why the story and his character never made it off the ground. Eh.

Ken'ichi wouldn't get another overhaul until 2011 when I took steps to try again in establishing him as his own original character set in an original universe and story. Look out world, Modern Ken'ichi joins the roster.

Modern Ken'ichi is arguably the closest to Classic Ken'ichi in term of his past. He was orphaned at a young age, is shy, stoic, and a bit of a brooder, he's a bit of a slacker who goes through life following the flow. This version sees him living with his brother, Kamali, and an adoptive father, a broad strong wolf by the name Jett Okoni, who adopted them shortly after his parents were murdered when he was just four years old. Their characters and stories is established in the prologue/one-shot story, appropriately named Ken'ichi's Story, which can be read here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7529840/

Being the most recent version Modern Ken'ichi hasn't seen much action in story-writing or roleplaying, but hopefully he'll be seen again and more often as his story fleshes out more in my mind. Hopefully he won't end up fading away too.

As for Classic Ken'ichi, he would remain tucked away in the shadows of Anthro and Modern Ken'ichi until late 2011 when he made a much-needed comeback to another Brother Bear roleplay for the first time in 6 years.

His past and history was given a slight overhaul, and his life experience has darkened him and given him a stark outlook on life, all to shield him from his past and dark feelings. Funnily enough he turned into quite the snarker, easily getting on Kenai's nerves and knowing just how to shut Koda up. This tweaked version of him also graces the remake pages of Koda's Journey+.

It's been a long and wild ride ride with this character over eight years, and through it all he's seen a lot of changes, tweaks, and overhauls. But one thing stays constant, and that is his Brother Bear roots, his fiery personality, and an adorable little bear that has given me so much fun over the years to roleplay and draw with. And I still wonder in which direction/adventure this character is going to take me next.

Being one of my first original characters, he's special to me and a reminder of how much the movie Brother Bear means to me and kept me going.

Happy 8th birthday, Ken'ichi!