Deviation Actions
Description
Welp, here it is. After months of waiting, the cousins to the Care Bear family, who are now referred to in my reboot as "Care Cousins" instead of "Care Bear Cousins", are finally here. Sure, no one gives two sticks about the actual Care Cousins nowadays, but they were very common in the 80's, especially on television. In all honesty, I believe they deserve to be recognized more, especially in my reboot.
Surprisingly, I managed to squeeze in every single cousin onto here, as opposed to when I first did the Care Bears in which I left a few out. However, just because the whole crew is here, it doesn't mean I can't throw in my own cousins into the mix. I tried the best I could to make sure that the word "heart" in their names are not too overused, much like the Care Bears' names in which "heart" is only used a couple times.
Anyways, here is a list of the Care Cousins we (sorta) knew and loved:
Swift Heart Rabbit - She is the fastest cousin out of the bunch. Her philosophy of living a fast lifestyle does, in fact, has a reason, because she believes that people should have some excitement in their lives, and the fact that it feels good to let some energy out. However, the breeze isn't the only thing she feels when running at high speeds; she sometimes feels cocky and overconfident when she actually is cocky and overconfident.
Stubborn Heart Donkey - Donkeys are commonly portrayed as stubborn, and this one is no exception. She always assumes she's doing the right thing, but it eventually turns out she doesn't. This is why most Care Bears and Care Cousins don't always trust her. However, she is actually aware that she's not as sensible as everyone else, and almost always admits it.
Psychic Heart Tapir - Have you ever wondered what the future would be like? This cousin's got the answer! Even though most of her predictions don't actually come true, she admits that making predictions is such a fun activity that she doesn't even mind if they turn out to be false. She believes the future is whatever you make of it, and predicting the future is fun to do because it uses a great deal of one's imagination. Not only is her appearance inspired by the Pokémon Drowzee and Hypno, she also possesses the abilities of them, being able to put people to sleep and to also visit someone's mind in order to solve his/her problems.
Loyal Heart Dog
Cozy Heart Penguin - She often spends her time taking a swim in the coldest waters of Care-ia. However, the freezing temperatures do not bother her a bit, because she believes that happy thoughts can make anyone feel warm and toasty on the inside. The things that make her feel extra cozy are spreading joy to everyone on Earth, especially during the Christmas season. It would make sense that Christmas is her favorite time of year, seeing that it's the best time for joy and warmth ever.
Take your Time Turtle - If Swift Heart Rabbit is the fastest Care Cousin, this reptilian roadblock is the exact opposite. She takes so much of her time that she is often late for important dates, and she misses out on a lot of fun activities that end shortly. However, she feels as though everyone should take their time every once in a while, even though she does this all the time. Because she is a reptile, she often likes basking in the sizzling sun so she can tend to her ectothermic needs, and she also able to hide in her pants the same way a turtle hides in its shell.
Treat Heart Pig
Heart Hat Slug - Move aside, Bob; there's a new builder in town! This connoisseur of construction knows how to lay the foundations for not just buildings, but for practically everything, being well organized and taking pride in what she does. She also knows the right tools for each jobs and knows very well how to use each one safely. Her giant slug foot (inspired by "The Candy", made by fellow deviant cccm) allows her to scale up walls, and the slime she makes hardens like concrete, making it a convenient substitute. She is responsible for building all the buildings in Care-a-Lot, and if one breaks, she is more than happy to build another one.
Noble Heart Horse - If True Heart was the first Care Bear, this kind equine is the first Care Cousin. Like True Heart, she was sent into space as a normal horse, but crash-landed in the Rainbow Juice Fountain alongside True Heart. The Rainbow Juice, capable of both appearance alteration and age progression, changed her and True Heart into kinder, more compassionate creatures, and became the first to be so.
Baby at Heart Orangutan - Even though she is an adult like all the other Care Bears and Care Cousins, sometimes she misses her days as an infant. This means she goes as far as wanting to have her diaper changed by everyone else, drinking out of a bottle, and sleeping in a crib with a mobile playing to the song of "Care-a-Lot" by Carole King. However, the only baby activity she does not do is crawl on all fours; she often tries to and it hurts her back. The others often think she is too old to be acting like a baby, but True Heart and Noble Heart say she's doing it to remind us that when we were babies ourselves, life was paradise.
Bright Heart Raccoon - Raccoons are some of our world's smartest animals. However, they're nothing compared to this furry supercomputer. She isn't deemed the smartest Care Cousin for nothing; her inventing skills and ability to think logically rival even the smartest human being. With that said, she is the most relied-on member in the whole Care family whenever a crisis occurs. Unfortunately, she isn't a strong believer in magic and psychic abilities, which is why she doesn't get along with Psychic Heart too well.
Gentle Heart Sheep
Brave Heart Lion - Being perhaps the Care Bears equivalent of The Lion King character Simba, she is always looking forward to being brave. However, she sometimes forgets that she only has to be brave when it's completely necessary, and that looking for trouble isn't really the best way to be brave (rather than having trouble come naturally). This makes sense because sometimes she can rush ahead without thinking. Despite these flaws, she is extremely compassionate.
Minty Breath Shark
Rescue Heart Dalmatian
Hefty Heart Hippo
Proud Heart Cat
Steamy Heart Train - One of Bright Heart's inventions, she is the only vehicle in the entire Care family (as far as we are aware). This loving locomotive is designed after a dolphin (which explains why she doesn't have a full head of hair) during one of Bright Heart's trips to Earth, in order for steam to come out of her smokestack-like head. After her creation, she proved to be a reliable asset to the team. With a heart that's warmer than her firebox, she has an uncanny ability to please everyone, especially her creator. Even though she likes her job of transporting Care Bears and Care Cousins from one side of the planet Care-ia to the other, she sometimes wishes she could visit Earth like her flesh-and-blood friends do.
Teamwork Heart Chicken
Lotsa Heart Elephant
Danger Heart Kangaroo
Playful Heart Monkey
Superpower Bat
Energy Efficient Mouse - Got an energy crisis? High energy bills? No other alternative energy sources? Don't even THINK about placing a mouse trap in front of THIS mouse! She is the best energy savior in the business, with wise words on using power for a certain time, finding other ways to get power, and even turning off lights and electronics when someone's not using them! Sure, these get on everyone's nerves from time to time, but her philosophy on good conserved energy is for the better. In fact, she's such an energy expert that she's filled with energy herself! Much like Pikachu (another Pokemon that led to a Care Cousin's design), she is packed with electricity in her cheeks, and is willing to share some if a house has no power during a blackout.
Fix-it Heart Frog - She is an expert at showing people that mistakes can be fixed. Say she finishes baking a cake for her friend's birthday party, but accidentally drops it along the way; what's she gonna do? The answer: bake another cake! Nothing is ever a big deal for this hopping heroine of helpfulness. Keep in mind that because she is a frog, she is the only Care Cousin that walks on all fours, which can lead her to making mistakes... a lot.
Spooky Heart Skeleton
Ashley Heart Human - Probably the strangest member of the entire Care Bear family, she accidentally visited the planet Care-ia when she was only 8 years old. However, like all the other Care Bears and Care Cousins, she fell into the Rainbow Juice Fountain. This meant her entire appearance was changed, and she also transcended from a little girl to a young adult woman. The entire Care Bear family thought it was best that she be returned to Earth and forget she ever stepped foot onto Care-ia. Nowadays, she lives as a 28-year-old adult living with her parents back on Earth as if she never left at all, and she has fallen under the impression that she is pregnant.
Credits:
The original Care Bear Cousins (c) American Greetings
"Care-a-Lot" (c) Carole King/Nelvana/American Greetings
Pokémon/Drowzee/Hypno/Pikachu (c) Nintendo/Game Freak
Bob the Builder (c) HiT Entertainment
The Lion King/Simba (c) Disney
No copyright infringement is intended. This was made for fun and is not supposed to make a profit. Please support the official release.
Special Thanks:
cccm, for quite an interesting comic as well as the inspiration for Heart Hat Slug.
P.S. I really want to consider Steamy Heart Train to be an attempt at drawing a human-locomotive hybrid. I think seeing how trains are, like, the BEST thing this world's ever had, I'd figured I try combining humans with trains to create such an amazing creature on rails. I think there's only one or two instances where this actually happens, whether it be a full combination or a transformation. Honestly, it's pretty sad to always see humans turning into cars instead of other vehicles. People turning into cars IS awesome, don't get me wrong, but I really want to see more human-locomotive hybrids and more humans turning into locomotives. Cars are SO overrated. 
