Top Ten Kougra Colours

     10. Pastel

     It's insane to think that the pastel paint brush has been around since 2013! Pastel pets are usually drawn with much softer lineart, usually of a relevant colour rather than just black, but for some reason, Kougra seems to retain its dark linework for this colour. I wish it didn't, which is why it's at the bottom of the list, as I think this colour could have easily been elevated with some softer coloured lineart, just like its counterparts. Just take a look at the pastel Hissi, which uses exactly the same colour combination but with soft lineart. I also wish the eyes had been changed from piercing yellow to something a little softer. All in all, the Striped Kougra gives me everything I need from a pastel pet, and unfortunately overshadows this colour.

     However, it's still here on the list, because its soft pinks and mint greens are a pleasing combination, and there are a lot of fun ways to customise a pastel pet.

     9. Camo

     Camouflage is another colour which I wouldn't consider very popular, and don't ever see people talking very much about. There are some standouts, namely the Camo Wocky, and I admire the way that this colour could have been a uniform colour with every pet wearing the same colour and pattern, but it is so far from that. You will be hard-pressed to find a repeated colour combination, and over the years some really bold colours and ideas were presented; look to the bright purples of the camo Bori, or the more subtle design of the Camo Kacheek. I never considered a Camo pet for myself until I zapped my own Kougra at the lab, and she turned Camouflage. I knew right away that I would stop zapping there, as the yellows and oranges made me think of a desert cat, blending into orange cliffsides, stalking prey through the dunes.

     8. Halloween

     I think Halloween pets can be very hit and miss for a lot of people. Each design is unique, which gives the designers/artists lots of room to play around with fun, spooky concepts. It means that we get some iconic designs (Bori, Werelupe, Grundo, Hissi, I could go on…), but on occasion, some of these designs miss the mark for me (Buzz, Elephante, I'm so sorry). Looking at the colour as a whole, one can't help but feel the same as you might at a real Halloween party - some costumes you like, some you don't. The Halloween Kougra is not clear on its design - is it a bat? Vampire? Black cat with… wings? Me just completely missing the point? Either way, I don't mind, because whatever it was inspired by, it hits right. I love this design - it's sleek, it's feline, it's dark, and everything I need for Halloween. I love the fangs and the sharp claws, and this design would be a hit for me even without the wings.

      7. Spotted

     Spotted Neopets are not wildly popular. The harsh, black spots against that specific shade of yellow is mostly unappealing to me, and sometimes it looks like there might be something wrong with the pet (see the spotted Chia). However, that being said, among a sea of dots, there are a few standouts. Lupes, Gelerts and Kaus may be the first to come to mind, but the Kougra is the perfect pet for a spotted design. Making the classic spots a lot smaller on the Kougras torso was a smart design, giving a cheetah/leopard/big cat vibe. The dark-tipped ears and tail, paired with spots increasing in size up the tail won this colour a place in my heart, and on this list.

     6. Faerie

     As a huge fan of Neopets Faeries, Faerieland and the pet colour, I find that some of the faerie pet designs are really thought out, and made with love. The faerie Draik is my favourite of all, as it radiates a type of elegance and floatiness that I want to feel when I think about Faeries. A few other examples would be Pteri, Lenny, Grundo and Xweetok. Their colour schemes and the tiny details in these designs have made them staples in Neopian’s permie collections. On the other side of the spectrum, the faerie pet collective suffers from a serious case of 'it is a Neopet, with wings'. See Aisha. See Acara. See Chomby, see Blumaroo, and see Uni. These designs are uninspired and not appealing to me. Also, there is the faerie grarrl, which exists.

     So where does the faerie Kougra fall on this scale? Well, it is definitely a Neopet. With wings. There's just something about it that sets it aside from the lower tier faerie Neopets. I don't know if it's because of the nice colour palette (would I dislike the faerie Aisha if it had been coloured in a way that it didn't look like a basic blue pet wearing some NP wings?) or if it has something to do with the lovely dynamic pose of the UC Fae Kougra messing with my perception of this artwork, but I really do like this design.

     5. Plushie

     As a community, given our penchant for looking after virtual pets, I have to imagine we all probably had a lot of stuffed animals, plushies, and toys when we were younger, and maybe even to this day (I definitely fall into that category - I love my soft buddies). That being said, there is a lack of distinction in this collection that makes me critical of some colours. I am not really here for the button eyes of the Kyrii, Elephante and Acara, when most of them retain their usual eyes. Some of the designs also feel very busy and almost too stitched together for my liking - poor Lutari. I find myself drawn to the designs that are a little cleaner - Cybunny, Draik, and Shoyru come to mind.

     Plushie Kougra rests perfectly in the middle ground - it looks soft and cute, and not like several different plushies stitched together, but unlike the clean Cybunny, it does have a few small pieces of patchwork; enough to show that it has been loved and held and worn down, and gone through a few repairs. Combined with a cohesive colour scheme and the adorable, stitched-on stripes, I can't help but love this design.

     4. Baby

     NYAHH! We all love baby Neopets. Little, rounded friends with big eyes and tiny limbs, a baby Neopet of any species is just adorable. I don't really have much analysis on this, or even much to say about the baby Kougra. It's a perfect design for a young Kougra that didn't lose too much of its character when it was redesigned from its UC counterpart (some people may not agree, I know we all miss the toe beans). Also, its 'angry' artwork is the cutest!

     3. Striped

     Striped pets are normally uniform, following a soft colour palette, with a few exceptions. This time, my pick for colour number three on this list is actually not an exception, but rather a perfectly executed example of uniform colours. While the striped Kougra doesn't look outside of the box for its design, the artist did everything right for this. The pale blues and pinks of this paint brush are soft and easy to look at, but when I look at the colour as a whole collection, some of the designs stick out to me as just lacking the tiniest details which could have elevated the design. For example, if we take the Striped Chomby, while he is coloured soft and lovely, his spikes still remain a foresty shade of green, which does not pair nicely with the pastels. Another example of this is the striped Skeith. His spikes, tail and wing outline are yellow, and not even a particularly pastel shade. This colour could have been more well rounded if those yellow sections were coloured pink, or even a different shade of blue.

     The striped Kougra suffers from none of these issues, and that's one of the reasons I like it so much. The more I compare this design to its counterparts, I might even be compelled to argue that it is the greatest striped pet of all. Kougra already have stripes, so the pink striped sections have a black outline, which the other pets do not have. It looks clean, finished, and aesthetically pleasing. The Kougra has also been recoloured in all the places that matter, and places that have been ignored on other pets - inside the ears, the tummy section, and most importantly - the eyes. Striped Kougra has lovely pink iris to match the overall design, which is something that was not done for most striped pets, who retained their original eye colours.

      2. Tyrannian

     I love Tyrannia. My Neopets journey began when I received a toy as a child - a yellow pocket Tonu, which was Tyrannian themed. This was my first ever impression of Neopets, and Tyrannia feels very nostalgic for me to this day. I once wrote another article similar to this one, many years ago, counting down the top ten Tyrannian pets, and - spoiler alert - Tyrannian Kougra was my number one pick. It's very Sabre-tooth tiger; all fangs and claws, and I have no issue imagining these beasts threatening anyone who dared to venture into the rocky mountains. While I may rank my Tyrannian favourites differently than I did all those years ago, Ty Kougra has their claws in me, well and truly.

     1. Mutant

     My number one pick for Kougra's best colour goes to the lovely Mutant Kougra!

     Overall, Mutant Neopets are definitely a mixed bag. Any one of these creatures looks like they could have escaped from a lab. If you ran into any of these creatures, some of them you would run a mile from, and others you would probably pity, and want to help. Are they cohesive as a unit? Yes and no. There are no rules that the colour follows. Some are grotesque, in an almost charming kind of way - (Quiggle, Bruce) and some in a not so charming way (Gnorbu, I am looking at you).

     Let's talk about the Mutant Kougra. The colour palette that they have chosen for this design is just right. Green is a reoccurring colour in this set, and it works just right, complemented by that perfect shade of blue. This design is not particularly grotesque, but the furrowed brow and red eyes give this kitty a MEAN stare - the kind you don't want to see from something with claws that sharp. The raised 'stripes' add something to this that is subtle but effective; it almost looks like the transmogrification potion is pumping through the Kougra's body, manifesting in raised bumps such as around the eye.

     I hope you have enjoyed this deep dive, and maybe even discovered some new opinions on colours you might have never considered before, and maybe even you will be considering adding a new Kougra to your neofamily this Kougra day!