The story of the BT21 characters

Before talking to you about the BT21, I will tell you about the Line app. It is simply a smartphone application, a bit like WhatsApp. And this app really has its own characters, you find a little bear, a little rabbit, etc.. they really have their own characters that serve as stickers to illustrate conversations, like on Facebook with stickers, here it’s exactly the same.

BT21 Store - Line Friends Store 

 

These little characters are sold in Line Friends stores and so, BT21 is the very first collaboration of Line with artists. And they did not choose BTS by chance... because of their great popularity and their global influence. And also, because they have a very positive image with the public, we won’t tell you otherwise.

Presentation of the 8 BT21 Mascots

Tata

This little alien was created by V. He is an alien from planet BT. He can take many forms and is known for his eccentric side. He still has a heart-shaped head and pajamas or a suit, whichever you prefer. Blue, polka dots, and it really matches our little Kim Taehyung. And by the way, he himself says that he wanted to create a character more unique than cute.

Koya

Koya is a little koala who was created by RM. He is very, very intelligent, but he always looks tired because he suffers from a lot of insomnia. Like our leader, he is very thoughtful and works diligently on music compositions. He has removable ears that can fall off, for example when he is surprised. And a purple nose because V once said that it was the color that best represented love. Hence the famous Purple Love that the Army exchange.

Cookie

Cookie was created by Jungkook. He is a little pink rabbit who dreams of being super strong. In fact, he imagines himself transforming into a huge muscular rabbit when he is angry. You should not be fooled at all by his adorable appearance because I think that with Shooky, they are the two little monsters of the group. It should be noted that Jungkook had imagined him with a little chocolate cookie. And it is this famous little chocolate cookie that inspired Shooky.

Shooky

Shooky from Suga is a super badass magical cookie whose worst enemy is milk, along with his best buddy Cookie. They are always playing pranks on the other BT21 characters. You should know that originally, Suga's initial idea was to draw his dog, but it looked way too much like the other characters, especially Jin's little alpaca. So, he started drawing lots of expressions inspired by his dog Holly. And it was finally the Line designers who created Shooky based on these ideas. Because it's so funny, in the making-of videos you can see that Suga is clearly struggling, drawing is not really his thing and he doesn't have many ideas.

RJ

RJ is the kind alpaca imagined by Jin. He is an alpaca who is always cold. So, he has a little gray parka to avoid catching a cold. And what is way too cute is that even before doing this collaboration with Line, Jin loved drawing little alpacas. Isn't that just too adorable? And by the way, he loves making his little avatar and even walked around the plane dressed as RJ. It shows how truly involved he is.

Mang

Mang imagined by J-Hope, is a little dancing pony who always wears a mask with a little heart-shaped nose that reminds us of our little favorite's smile. It's impossible to know what is hiding under that mask. And as a fun fact, there are several meanings to the word Mang in Korean. By the way, the boys were cracking up during the making of.

Chimmy

Chimmy imagined by Jimin, who by the way has drawing talent, I was impressed. He is a little passionate puppy who always tries to do his best, but who always remains a little clumsy. And precisely, that makes him too cute. It seems that Jin said that the animal that suits Jimin best is a puppy and that Chimmy's little fluffy head really represents their faces at the beginning. When they had little baby faces. Chimmy is my favorite. I find that he looks a bit like me. He seems a bit silly, but he is cute and above all, he loves yellow.

Van

Van is a super robot who accompanies Tata and protects animals. Actually, he represents us, the Army, in a way. And he was created by the Line Friends designers, but it was RM who imagined his little two-tone design.

 

So, there you go, all these little characters were born in September 2017. And I won't lie, I find them way too cute, but I think you already guessed that. And what I find really super fun?

They really created a little story around these BT21. And actually, according to the legend, Tata, during a space trip with Van, accidentally fell to Earth and decided to become a superstar. And for that, he wanted to form a group. And that's how he met the six other BT21 members. And all these members have other characters orbiting around them, like a family or friends. And Shooky has cookie-shaped buddies.

BTS achievements in France

In case you don't know BTS (because you never know, it's possible), they're the record-breaking group that this South Korean boy band has completely outdone all other stars on YouTube, and you should also know that they will fill the Stade de France twice in a row in June. That gives you some idea of how popular they are, how much they are loved and admired. 

Origin of BT21

The name BT21 comes from BTS + 21st century. You should know that this name was inspired by an idea from Suga who said he thought the characters should represent BTS and the 21st century, so they could live for the next 100 years. Isn't that beautiful?

And what's really amazing about this collaboration is that the group really got involved. They really took part in the creative process. They made little sketches with their ideas of shapes, colors, expressions, and personalities too. Then, professionals took all that and created mascots based on the members' ideas. By the way, if you're interested, go watch the making-ofs, they're hilarious. Plus, it's really, really, really awesome! Here's the first episode:

 

I hope I've sparked your curiosity and that you want to check all this out a bit more. And I think it was really an opportunity for the artists to find another way to express their sensitivity and creativity. And honestly, I find them really super inventive.

And you should know that there are other characters in the works that will join my BT21 family. On the site, there are several characters that are way too cute to follow. We'll see.

And you? Tell us in the comments who your favorite character is :)