Origins
On April 1st 2016, Kim pulled an April Fools prank where she changed all of the accolades into little pics of walruses. She then put out a news post saying this was because walruses were the embodiment of every trait the RPR community should strive for -- dignity, grace, social elegance, etc.On April 2nd when all the accolades turned back into trophies and ribbons and things, the community made posts letting Kim know that they wanted a way to get the walruses back, and in many cases were quite willing to pay for the privilege of having walrus accolades instead of the normal kind. Kim responded that she would consider adding walrus items, since she had a policy of not having accolades that could be purchased.
Despite agreeing in April that Walruses could be added, the items did not appear until early July 2016, as the original graphics for the walrus had been only the pixel art for an accolade and full-size item art was needed. An artist had to be commissioned to create the full-size items.
In July 2016, the walrus and the first two walrus costumes were launched. Instead of being in the main shop, they were sold by Moa. They were the first digital items to have a limited inventory; each time she appears, Moa only brings a few walrii with her. This is said to be because leading Walruses through the mountains while carrying all of the food they need is very challenging, so Moa has to bring them in small numbers.
The walrus and the two walrus costumes proved popular, and thereafter every few years new walrus costumes started being added to match the theme of Epic Week.
In April 2017, the walrus icons were revamped by Auberon away from the pixel art that had been created for the one day April Fools gag, and into the now more familiar style:
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Variants
All walruses start as the basic walrus:
They can then have a costume item applied to them to transform them into another variety of walrus.
Dandy Walrus
Fancy Walrus
Introduced in May 2017 as part of Epic Week, the MECHA WALRUS:
Introduced in April 2018 as part of Epic Week, the Admiral Walrus:
Introduced in April 2020 as part of Epic Week, the Sabre-tooth Walrus:
Introduced in April 2022 as part of Epic Week, there were three new costumes
Walrus Wizard:
Walrus Rogue:
Walrumancer (play on necromancer):
Usage
When they were first introduced, walruses were an "infinite use item" and using them would just cause a random description of the walrus doing something to appear, such as bellowing or eating mussels. They were rarely played with, and primarily used as a display-case item.In Epic Week 2017 - the first Epic Week after their introduction - they were discovered to randomly help their owners in combat by absorbing damage from monster attacks. Kim has stated the chance for this to happen is about 3%, and owning multiple walruses does not increase the chance to receive help from a walrus. This has held true every Epic Week since.
In April 2023, the "walragotchi" pet care simulator was introduced, allowing for more interaction with owned walruses.
Benefits during Epic Week
Posessing a walrus either in your inventory or in your display case while engaging in Epic Week combat gives a 3% chance for your walrus to intervene when you are hit, absorbing a random amount of damage. The maximum amount of damage that the walrus can prevent you from taking per turn is determined by their overall wellness score in the "walragotchi" pet care simulator.When a walrus defends you, you will also not take any status effects.
Having more than one walrus does not increase the chance of being defended above 3%. Instead, when walrus defense does activate, which of your walruses does the defense is chosen randomly. This can be very significant if one of your walruses has a much higher overall wellness score than another.