Revamped Super Rodent Squad

Guess what I finally drew again!

One of my favorites out of all the ideas I’ve had in my life, and this started to come about when I was eight. If I could make a cartoon out of this, I would. 

This was built upon with the help of my siblings over the years, and they’re the characters that I always return to when I’m in the mood for more original ideas over fan art. They’ve gone through some changes, but I’m still keeping to the core of them being not just a superhero team, but a large adoptive family. 

I have drawn the SRS and posted it here before (you can search through my gallery if you want), but this is a bit of an overhaul where I give them a new art style (the old one… had those black holes for eyes which was kinda creepy), change some species to make it more diverse than just hamster, mouse, and rabbit, and add another character at my sister’s suggestion (to balance out the genders). I think it turned out well, and they’ve actually been more fun to draw as of late. Heck, I oughta show you the rogues gallery and supporting characters sometime, as I’ve gotten some inspiration for those and they’re fun, too.

So, for any newcomers who'd like to know...

They live in a world ruled by rodents and other small mammals, living lives and building cities and doing jobs much like our own. However, every century, there is a Great Comet that creates a magic storm (like a combo of said comet, a meteor shower, and aurora borealis) which ends up granting random critters superpowers, which no one has been able to explain the how and the why yet. The Squad, either having been directly granted powers or having inherited them from ancestors granted powers in previous centuries, was brought together when a mouse named Anna Merrimouser gained custody over seven superpowered foster children (five of whom are definite orphans), and started to raise them alongside her three biological kids. 

They protect their home city of Gnawpolis, having to fight crime from the most pathetic crooks to the most dangerous of supervillains. They are still a bunch of kids, however, so life can get bumpy between their heroics and their normal lives. 

The Squad consists of these kids:

Apple is the butterfly mouse, who ended up with his mutation when as a toddler he ate a butterfly enchanted by the Comet's magic storm. At age six, he’s a sweet and cheerful little boy who finds science really cool, but is a little shy because his mutation is kind of embarrassing. However, it does have some perks, as he can fly and create gusts of wind (or even tornadoes), perform hypnosis with a flash of his wings, and shoot lasers from his antennae. He, along with younger twin siblings Tootsie and Boots, is the biological son of Anna. 

Destiny is the youngest of the Squad, a five-year-old rat whose origins are a mystery, as she was just found at an orphanage doorstep one night. She’s a charming little princess who love pink and purple, tea parties, ballet, and using her psychic powers to make her toys move with her mind and send telepathic messages to others, sometimes telling them that she wants sweets. She doesn’t like taking off her hat. 

Bita is the oldest of the Squad, at sixteen. Orphaned when a gang attacked her entire family, leaving her the only survivor thanks to her super strength and near invincibility (granted to her by the Great Comet, which also turned her fur pink), she has a major protective streak regarding her new family. Still, as a teenager, she does get annoyed with them, and she’s snarky as all get-go. Sometimes she’d rather rock out with her friends in their band (she sings and plays guitar) or do makeovers or hang out at the mall, but she does enjoy kicking villain butt and joking about how she, a rabbit, is technically not a rodent. 

Fireball is the flaming dwarf hamster. Orphaned when his inborn powers manifested when he had a nightmare and accidentally burned his house down in his sleep, he’s got issues. He once feared his pyrokinesis after that fateful night when he was five, but at thirteen, he’s got the hang of his powers and will liberally use them in a fight. Still, he is the designated grump of the family, and you best leave him alone when he’s contentedly playing his video games, reading comics, or playing chef in the kitchen. He will burn you when startled.

Iceham is a hamster that’s the opposite of Fireball. He’s more stoic and chill, fitting with his ice powers, and his level-headedness typically leads to him leading the Squad. Though fourteen, he’s had to grow up a little too fast after losing his parents. Soon after they were granted powers from the magic storm, Iceham’s biological brother was consumed by his shadow, taking the name of Darkness and proceeding to off their parents and attempt to get him as well, with Iceham only escaping by freezing him and running away. He usually shies away from doing activities, but he has a friend who’s helping him discover interests in winter sports and art. 

Electrex is a hyperactive gerbil with the classic weird goofiness of eleven-year-old boys. Despite having lost his parents to illness years before, he’s quite cheerful and mischievous, with a love of jokes and pranks, with a favorite being using his electrical powers to be a walking joy buzzer. Born with the powers and a large birthmark on his chest, he seems to be rather proud of who he is, even if the others get annoyed with him–though, sometimes, he’d wish that he’d get attention for the tinkering and skating tricks he does in his calmer moments. 

Katie is the rough-and-tumble tomboy, an eight-year-old athletic chipmunk who’s also got a lot of energy to burn. Born with the powers of shapeshifting and healing hands, she’ll dare to do just about anything. She’s quite the bold smart aleck, and sometimes likes to do business ventures to earn some extra bucks. However, despite her attitude most of the time, she is full of compassion, as she’ll rush to the aid of the injured and heal them. It might be natural healer’s instinct, or she doesn’t like the thought of anyone losing their loved ones like how she lost her parents thanks to a car accident. 

Lucia is an acrobatic squirrel who absolutely loves the great outdoors. The fresh air, the trees to climb, the dirt to feel between her toes, and a creek to splash in make her a happy ten-year-old. With her powers involving light–making her body emit light, cast illusions, and even turn invisible–she’ll even create a show at night and be as creative as she wants. It might have something to do with her biological parents entering her in child pageants and making her a ‘perfect’ little girl to win money, and then locking her up in a small room most of the time to prevent any other influences from ‘tainting’ her (she was extremely lucky to even have been granted her powers the night of the magic storm). Eventually, someone caught on and she was taken out of her parents’ custody. With Anna, she appreciates the freedom she’s given to explore who she wants to be, despite still having claustrophobia and an aversion to glitter. 

Even though the fact that they’re a bunch of kids gives citizens pause, they have proven more than capable of dealing with extraordinary threats multiple times. 

Wow, I rambled. But, hey, I love these characters. 

Edit: Changed 'Iceball' and 'Electroball' to 'Iceham' (think of how you pronounce "ham" in "Gotham") and 'Electrix', because there were too many boys named (something)-ball on this team, with Apple being the only one who wasn't. Plus, with Fireball having been created before the other two, it came across as them being just ice and electricity versions of Fireball instead of their own characters. So, yeah, best to have a name change for a little more variety.

Edit 2: '-trix' is a feminine suffix, so, uh, I replaced a letter in the gerbil's name to make it Electrex.