The Lost World of Petpets

     Long-Lost Relics

     The friendly Tenna we know and love used to look pretty rough around the edges many years ago, and those scrawny little things are actually what older Neopians recall the Tanizards looking like! While they both have gotten quite the makeover these days (you can still see hints of the Tenna's original design within the Moltenna, though!), these ancient, forgotten colors of the Tenna and Tanizard still lurk around, showing their age quite remarkably. Why they haven't been released, nor remodeled and recolored, nobody knows. Perhaps they'll see the light of day eventually?

     -

     Not Fully Gone, but Still Forgotten

     Everyone knows about Unconverted Neopets. Beautiful and highly revered, they're considered both a status symbol and a highly desired goal to reach. But not that many are aware of the existence of Unconverted Petpets! You see, long ago, Maraqua and the Haunted Woods used to be very different locations, populated with strange creatures that have disappeared (perhaps, simply from the public eye) over time.

     Some of these strange creatures were considered Petpets, and as time went on they evolved into something more becoming of Neopia. However, older Neopians who kept some of these as their pet strangely had their Petpets spared from this change. If they were to ever unequip these however, they'd immediately convert to their modern forms. It’s very likely some, if not many of these ancient Petpets are extinct in their previous form, however. Despite this, the PPL still recognizes both the old and new versions of these Petpets as the same species and will award them accordingly - Plenty of Baby Vampires won PPL awards when the Snorlkin was chosen for that week!

      - Before

      - After!

     This is only a handful of the Petpets that were changed; articles that go more in-depth about these radical evolutions can be found in NT Issues #918 and #959! (And no, that’s not a Brown Hornsby, that Petpet was called an Isnewee, which was somehow considered a different species, hence its change into the Mazzew!... And yet somehow there’s still no Brown Hornsby…)

     -

     But Where Did the Petpets Go?

     Neopians aren’t quite sure what happened with these. The News proudly declared these Petpets now available for adoption, but nobody can find them! Where are they? For some, there’s an explanation (albeit a confusing one), for others, only Fyora knows where those wayward Petpets have wandered off to!

     The people of the Petpet Puddle have a puzzling predicament in their paws!

     As of time of writing, the Faerie Tootum and Tyrannian Petoot are in an odd situation. They’ve been announced as being paintable, and you can even see them at the Petpet Puddle’s giant gallery of Petpets! What you can’t see in the gallery however, are the normal Petoot and Tootum! For some odd reason, the personnel over at the Puddle don’t seem to recognize the normal Tootum and Petoot as being paintable Petpets, barring prospective painters from dyeing their beloved pets a new hue! Disgruntled Neopians have taken to complaining to the PPL to get the Petpet Puddle to recognize the Tootum as being Orange and the Petoot being Blue, but until then the Faerie Tootum and Tyrannian Petoot wait patiently to make their true debut.

     Lost to the sands of time!

     Nobody knows what happened to the poor Armana and Isfet. Way back in Year 3 they were announced as new additions to Peopatra’s Petpets, but Peopatra never stocked them! Either the Scarabugs they were bundled with scared them off, or perhaps it was Sloth’s invasion of the newly-discovered Lost Desert (at the time) that kept them at bay, but they ran off, with the Armana in particular never to return. To add salt in the wound, an opportunity arrived to attempt to reintroduce the Isfets to the masses in Year 13, but they were chased off yet again by the arrival of the Belonthiss and Patamoose! Will we ever get to see either of these Petpets again?

     To make things worse, the classic game of Neoquest (based on historic events, mind you) clearly showcases the Armana and Isfet in the forms of the Ghastly Adepts and Champions, showing that monstrous forms of these two existed in Neopia’s ancient history, which raises the question of if these poor Petpets went extinct before they had a chance to be given loving, new homes.

     -

     A Rainbow of Rotting Colors

     Many, many Petpets have had new colors waiting in the wings, but somehow the opportunity for their time to shine has yet to come to pass! Either the folks working at the Petpet Puddle lost the exhibits, or the Petpet Paint Brushes just aren’t willing to cooperate, but regardless of the cause, these Petpets are still waiting for that new color!

     Black

     Flishy - Zebba - Sludgy

     Blue

     Bluna - Magaral - Whinny - Tenna

     Brown

     Flishy - Tanizard - Tenna

     Chocolate

     Pile of Soot

     While one may question why the Pile of Soot needs a new color, others are happy to point out that they also come in a Christmas and a (far rarer) Snow hue. These poor Petpets already got dealt a bad hand by the Petpet Lab Ray, why can’t they get some kind of consolation prize in the form of a different color?

     Cloud

     Tenna

     Faerie

     Bloopy - Huggy - Kookith - Magaral - Pepito - Pygui - Stego - Trumpadon

     Clocking in at a whopping eight Faerie-colored Petpets missing, one has to wonder, “why so many?” Perhaps the Faeries thought they weren’t showcasing the best the color has to offer? Maybe the Faerie Petpet Paint Brush is particularly picky? Whatever the reason is, these Petpets have to wait even longer for their flighty fun.

     Gold

     Babaa - Symol

     Unlike for Neopets, Gold for Petpets is a color that can only be achieved through the Petpet Lab Ray. Despite this, Kooky doesn’t seem to have ever seen these two walk out of his makeshift laboratory. We don’t think the PPL is going to be investigating these cases anytime soon, although some zappers still hope for their appearance someday!

     Green

     Bluna - Buzzer - Chezzoom - Flishy - Magaral - Pepito - Pygui - ??? - Tanizard - Wuzzle (We’ll get to that mystery Petpet in a bit!)

     What happened here that made a staggering 10 Green Petpets disappear?! With such a basic color going missing for so many Petpets, one has to wonder if there’s something fishy behind the scenes going on.

     Maraquan

     Sludgy

     Mutant

     Dandan

     Plushie

     Urgoni

     Purple

     Kimbi

     Snot

     Arkmite

     Here’s an oddity. Other than the Snotbunny - which is considered a separate species than the Snowbunny - there are no other Snot Petpets, meaning if this Arkmite ever saw the light of day it would be a completely unique color for Petpets. Would it have arrived with a Petpet Paint Brush or would it have been exclusive to the Petpet Lab Ray? Perhaps we’ll never know.

     Split

     Nuranna

     Just like the Snot Arkmite, the Split Nuranna would’ve brought the color Split into the world of Petpets. Bizarrely enough, it was claimed to have been a new color for the Nuranna in Year 10, but nobody’s seen hide nor scale of this Petpet, any Split Petpet Paintbrush, or any other Petpets painted Split! Looks like this color is going to stay Neopet-only for now.

     Red

     Pepito - ??? - Snoogy - Tanizard

     Robot

     Geb - Greeble - Horus - Puppyblew - Rock

     Speckled

     Alkenore

     Just like Snot and Split, Speckled is a color that many Neopets enjoy, but not a single Petpet does! The Alkenore would’ve been the debut for Speckled Petpets, but vanished into the ether like the Snot Arkmite and Split Nuranna did. Would it have been a new Petpet Paint Brush or a lucky zap? Only the Speckled Alkenore knows!

     Spotted

     Peadackle - Peo - Pwerko - Snomorg - Tanizard - Tenna

     Strawberry

     Babaa

     Maybe Kooky has a grudge against Babaas, as once again the poor little sheep has been locked out of a Petpet Lab Ray exclusive color, to the dismay of zappers hoping to get a fancy unpaintable Petpet.

     Striped

     Slorg

     Why don’t any Striped Petpets exist? The Striped Slorg went the way of the Snot Arkmite, Split Nuranna and Speckled Alkenore before it, taking the secrets of its color’s debut with it.

     Tyrannian

     Frogarott

     White

     Kimbi

     Yellow

     Orbulon - Pepito - Pinklet - Urgoni - ???

     -

     I’m Getting Deja Vu

     Nobody’s perfect. And whatever makes the Petpet Paint Brushes work makes mistakes too. The people at the Petpet Puddle sometimes forget they already had a certain color, and put up a new display thinking a new Petpet’s been discovered when it’s already been found before!

     (old) (new)

     Christmas Baby Blu

     Nobody’s quite sure what happened here. Prospective Christmas Baby Blu owners found that one day in Year 8, newly-painted Petpets started taking on a candy cane hue instead of the vibrant green they’ve donned since Year 4! And yet, unlike the Unconverted Petpets, any older Neopian willing to part ways with their old, green Christmas Baby Blu found that they didn’t change color once they were unequipped! Ever since then, it’s only been candy cane Blus with no new green ones ever coming out of the Puddle. As a result, the candy cane Baby Blus are fairly cheap, but the old green ones are considered far more valuable! At least they resemble Christmas Blumaroos better now!

     (available!) (missing!)

     Red Slorg

     Looks like Arnold forgot to tell the Petpet Puddle he was distributing Red Slorgs as prizes for Test Your Strength and that allowing owners to paint their Slorgs Red would devalue his prizes, thus driving customers away! Alas, as a result, owners who want their slimy friends in a scarlet hue will have to choose between picking a new color or abandoning their loyal pet for one that’s already Red.

     (available!) (missing!)

     Green Slugawoo & Yellow Wheelie

     The Green Slugawoo’s showing its age as well here, but that’s not the issue. With two basic colors missing, one of which is yet another one the bafflingly scarce Green Petpets, what’s going on to make these two never see the light of day? Thing is, all of the other Petpets that are missing colors don’t have any known reason as to why they’ve vanished. On the other hand, these two are impossible to ever be painted because the original Slugawoo and Wheelie are already considered to be Green and Yellow! One might claim the Slugawoo looks more Brown (despite there already being a Brown Slugawoo) and the Wheelie looks more Orange, but only the Petpet Puddle knows the true reason behind these decisions, and chances are it’s not gonna tell.

     -

     The PPL Didn’t Like This

     New Neopians playing with their Weebles and Ditsys are bound to get bored of their Petpets sooner or later, they’re just made out of cardboard after all. But what if you could change those boring old Petpets into something new, like maybe a cute little Faellie or a spritely Noil? That almost became a possibility when Kauvara had the idea to brew Petpet Morphing Potions in Year 6, but as soon as the PPL caught wind of this new enterprise, they shut it down in a flash to the dismay of those hoping to get a Kadoatie everywhere. If you want a new change of scenery, the only option is to risk your loyal friend at the Petpet Lab Ray, or if you’re particularly heartless, swap it out for a new one.

     -

     Somebody Call Professor Kugar

     There's plenty of undiscovered Petpets running around Neopia. Several that have never been caught have been spotted in the various lands host to a Petpet shop, but as of today elude capture and notice. None of these have names, and for as long as nobody's able to find out where these are hiding, it doesn't look like that's going to change anytime soon.

     Faerieland Petpets

     These are older species, spotted in Faerie City not long after the discovery of modern Petpets in Year 2! Fairly basic in design but looking nevertheless cheerful, it's easy to imagine this skittish pair being loyal pets.

      Spooky Petpets

     Fat Cat's long-lost cousin, this was last seen many, many years ago back when the Haunted Woods first "welcomed" new visitors. Looking quite mean, it'd be right at home with the Unconverted Spooky Petpets. Given how different those look these days, chances are this unknown Petpet no longer bears the same visage either.

      The Rock Pool

     A tourist claims to have seen these two Petpets off the coast of Mystery Island, but nobody's been able to confirm or deny their existence. If they're around there somewhere, perhaps Rufus didn't take them in because they look awfully mean!

      Krawk Island Nippers

     Someone took a picture of this unknown Petpet in the Fungus Caves of Krawk Island but lost sight of it when their pet Krawk ate a piece of the fungus. Nobody's been able to find this critter since, which is considered a shame given how several Neopians have voiced their willingness to keep this as a pet! Perhaps it's those big, thoughtful eyes or those cute little overalls winning them over?

      Robo-Petpet Shop

     These out-of-this-world Petpets have been spotted running around the Space Station, but nobody's been able to find where they're hiding! Confusingly enough, one of these species seems to have a Petpet Paint Brush option! Nobody knows if the Blue or the White one is the standard color, or if this is another Hornsby and Isnewee situation, but rational people are simply hoping these little guys didn't get thrown out of the airlock!

      ???

     Neopians were baffled when the PPL showed a picture of this Petpet as nobody's ever seen it wandering around Neopia! The only picture taken of this was in Year 13, and no details have been given, such as "where was this found?" or "what is this thing's name?" Any data the PPL had on this creature was lost when the Belonthiss and Patamoose arrived sadly, making it unknown if this Petpet will ever see the light of day. Perhaps it ran off to the same place the Isfet did?

     -

     There's a lot of different species running around Neopia. It's a given we still haven't found everything this world has to offer, but sometimes we miss one of those offers when it's presented to us. From Petpets that should be commonplace but aren't, to the Petpets that are nought but a distant memory, to the ones that should be shining in different colors but aren't, to the ones that history forgot, to the magic that was locked away, and to those who never had a chance to be loved, there's so much that we should be seeing of our beloved world of Petpets but for whatever reason we aren't. Although, as we've seen in Year 5, where our beloved Petpets vanished for days only to come back happy as can be, it seems as if even our pet's pets can keep secrets.