Real Lives of The Animal Mascots and Costume Characters You Met at The San Diego Comic Con

San Diego Comic Con has come and gone, leaving in its wake some of the most creative and spectacular costumes anyone has ever seen. Paying homage to the latest and most buzz worthy characters across all forms of media, the fans who participate in “cosplay” pull out all the stops while Green Monsters like us reflect on the inspirations for these incredible works of art. Be it a superhero bitten by a radioactive spider, a turtle exposed to a transformative ooze or a shark caught up in one heck of a tornado, these characters have a conflict to overcome and so do their animal world inspirations.

In looking at all of this year’s fantastic participants, we couldn’t help but wonder. What if our favorite super heroes and comic book characters faced the same issues that the animals who inspired them did? What would they do if put up against the evil forces of factory farming or the scourge of cosmetics testing? I’ll tell you what they’d do, they’d fight the good fight until they triumphed for good, raising awareness for all animal kind!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and normal turtles too, could use a little “Turtle Power”. 

Turtles are one of the oldest living beings on this planet, yet their numbers are dwindling due to smuggling, habitat destruction and the cruel pet trade just to name a few. There are a variety of ways that we can help turtles and tortoises in the wild, ensuring that they don’t need mutant powers to survive and thrive.

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We assure you, a Sharknado can’t happen. Shark hunting and culling can though.

Sharks are a major part of maintaining underwater eco systems, so much so that without them our oceans could irreparably collapse. With dangers like finning, culling, hunting and entanglement in fishing lines endangering them, sharks face challenges that demand our attention. Fortunately, tornados aren’t really on the list.

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These Star Trek bunnies will never know the horrors of animal testing.

Rabbits are routinely used in horrific and painful ways by cosmetics companies in order to test their products. Buying cruelty-free is one way to help these animals as well as urging the government to end the practice entirely. These are the voyages of the animal activists against animal testing!

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Holy Conservation Batman, Bats are in Need of our Help!

Bats are responsible for seed pollination and dispersal, which is vital to rainforest regrowth as well as a major contributing factor in the production of certain medicines. Helping to preserve bat habitats and sponsoring conservation efforts as well as raising awareness about this oft maligned creature are vital to helping them continue to play a key role in our ecosystem.

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If only Mr. Peabody and Sherman could have used their time machine for the day Puppy Mills were invented. 

There are millions of healthy dogs in shelters looking for homes each year that end up on the euthanasia list. Meanwhile, more dogs are living horrific lives in cages to produce puppies for pet stores. By adopting or fostering a dog instead of buying one from a store who most likely came from a puppy mill, you are literally saving a life while gaining a best friend.

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Mechanizing nature never ends well. Just ask Robot Chicken.

These days it almost goes without saying that factory farming is an atrocity. Unfortunately, knowing its evils hasn’t stopped the practice. Chickens live their lives in tiny cages, undergoing unspeakable torment before they make it to the grocery story. Going veg is a profound way to stop supporting the practice, as are signing petitions, campaigning for change and supporting farm sanctuaries.

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Catwoman has 9 lives, but only in the comics.

7 out of every 10 stray cats taken to a shelter are euthanized, which adds up to millions of cats every year. Less than 10% of them arrive either spayed or neutered, proving that the exploding stray cat populations need to be addressed to stop the senseless destruction of so many healthy animals. By employing strategies that will keep stray populations from growing and trying to find homes for as many adoptable cats as possible, we can hopefully keep as many cats from the shelter system as possible. Seems like a purr-fect plan.

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Spiderman saves the day and real spiders do too.

Spiders are unpopular, even for animal lovers. They have an important place in the world though! They’re predators of certain insect populations as well as key parts of the food chain for birds. Don’t bug out when you see a spider around your place, he’s just doin’ whatever a spider can!

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Lead image source: candidslice.com

If you could have a superpower that could help animals, what would it be? Tell us in the comments!

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