The DS Life: Domo

by Eric Caoili { Jul 9th 2008 at 11:59PM }

Wikipedia describes Domo -- the brown, open-mawed creature depicted above -- as "a strange creature that hatched from an egg." Other details: he lives in a cave with Mr. Usaji, he dislikes apples, and he loves Guitar Wolf, a Japanese garage punk band. From what my wife tells me, they used to put on some really wicked shows.

For this week's installment of The DS Life, we will examine Domo's life in three different acts:

Domo as a DS gamer
Domo as a DS case
Domo as a pianist

If you've never taken the time to learn more about the "internet meme" figure, here's your chance! There's more to Domo than just his cavernous mouth!

Australian photographer en.elle captured this moment of his sister Esther talking on the phone and embracing Domo. You can see from the bothered look in his eyes, however, that he wants none of it. He's just trying to reach over and continue playing his game. Or perhaps he wants to eat it?

Any guesses on the game Domo is trying to play/eat? Interestingly, the nearby mousepad is in the shape of a cat. Notice how his eyes are locked on the taunting mouse perched on his head. He is thinking to himself, "One day ..."

Here is a Domo that has managed to successfully eat a Nintendo DS, and it's one of the chunky, angular ones, too. Without the handheld in his belly, Domo finds it difficult to retain his rectangular shape.

DS-less, he lays flat without volume or purpose. He tries listening to music and reading a book, but he is too restless. He walks the downtown streets and realizes that there isn't one person in this cold city who ever gave a damn about him.

It is best to keep Domo fed.

This video has nothing to do with the Nintendo DS. We just realized while writing this piece that in all our years of spotting Domo plush dolls everywhere and seeing him chase a kitten across a field countless times, we had never actually seen any of his sketches from Japan's NHK television channel, which he serves as the mascot for.

This is one of his translated shorts that made it to the States. It's very entertaining and endearing! You can watch more at Domo's U.S. site!

[Thanks, Nick!]

The DS Life is a weekly feature in which we scour the known world for narrative images of Nintendo's handheld and handheld gamers. If you have a photo and a story to match it with, send both to thedslife at dsfanboy dot com.

Tags: case, domo, domo-kun, en-elle, esther, nhk

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Foodie_Monster @ Jul 10th 2008 12:55AM

She's cute, I'd hit it. Then again, I'd hit almost everything. Carry on.

Sam @ Jul 10th 2008 12:58AM

I thought they were grues? ya know, like from that old text adventure... name is escaping me at the moment...uggg... i know i'm gong to remember it right after i hit "add your commen...." OH! Zork! thats what it's from, I totally thought that those brown things were grues from Zork! Maybe that is why i could never find images of them when i image searched "grue"