# FPCC 2026 Group 1 — Judge 4 ballot

**Status:** judged

**Images inspected (visual):** the collage (A–G layout, G centered at the bottom), the normal-pet reference sheet, and the individual crops of A, B, C, D, E, F and G. I used the reference to tell the pets' own features (the monkey's face and ears on A, the penguin body on C, the Pepe-like body on B) apart from the costume pieces.

## Observations (facts seen → impression)

- **A** — *Seen:* Monkey pet wears an ornate gold-and-crimson armor set: horned dragon-crest helmet, layered shoulder and chest plates, armored skirt and boots, plus a tall gold-banded staff with a red tassel. *Impression:* Very detailed, reads clearly as a Monkey King warrior; armor sits naturally on the pet, but only one prop.
- **B** — *Seen:* A grey visored knight helmet with a single glowing red eye slit and a small white cat head with a red bow peeking over its top; the pet's own body shows underneath with no other costume pieces. *Impression:* Funny contrast idea, but it is essentially a single piece of headwear with limited coverage.
- **C** — *Seen:* Penguin wears a white cap with black spots and a fuzzy brim, and a long sheathed sword with a red cord stands upright beside it. *Impression:* Recognizable anime-pirate reference with a nice prop, but sparse: two pieces and the pet is otherwise unchanged.
- **D** — *Seen:* Full transformation into a dark sorcerer: witch hat with a glowing jack-o'-lantern face, purple hooded cloak with glowing eyes in a shadowed face, a skull clasp, skulls on chains floating at both sides, and green ghostly flames at the base. *Impression:* Strong spooky concept that fully covers the pet; the dark palette and small size make the details harder to read.
- **E** — *Seen:* Big brown afro wig and full beard, blue denim shirt with belt and jeans, a paintbrush raised in one hand and a wooden easel holding a mountain-lake landscape painting. *Impression:* Instantly recognizable TV-painter character, multi-piece with two props; charming and well executed.
- **F** — *Seen:* Black-and-gold samurai armor with a horned kabuto helmet, purple flame aura on the helmet, a glowing purple-flamed katana, a gold oni/dragon mask on the shoulder and a shadowy black wolf-like spirit with glowing eyes at its side. *Impression:* The most dramatic entry: full-body armor, a weapon prop and a companion creature, with a big wow factor.
- **G** — *Seen:* Black bicorne hat with gold trim and a cockade, a navy naval-officer coat with gold epaulettes and white waistcoat, and a brass spyglass held in one hand. *Impression:* Clean, coordinated historic-admiral costume that is easy to read; tidy but less striking than the top entries.

## Preference order (best → least preferred)

F > E > A > D > G > C > B

1. **First choice: F** — F has the strongest wow factor in the group: a complete black-and-gold samurai armor set, a purple-flamed katana, a flame aura and a separate shadow-wolf companion. The pet is almost fully transformed, and several coordinated pieces and props work together as one dark-warrior concept.
2. **Second choice: E** — E is a famous character done very well: the afro, beard, denim outfit, paintbrush and easel with a finished landscape all fit together, so you know right away who it is. It has two props and a whole-body look, but less spectacle than F.
3. **Third choice: A** — A has the most finely detailed armor in the group, and the horned helmet and gold staff make a clear Monkey King warrior that sits naturally on the monkey pet. It has fewer props than E, and its look is less surprising, so it places just behind.

## Uncertainty and close calls

E vs A was the closest call: A's armor is more intricate, while E has more props and a more instantly recognizable, memorable concept; I chose E. D vs G was also close: D transforms the pet more but is harder to read at this size. Image provenance: the image host could not be reached from this sandbox (proxy CONNECT aborted), so I inspected the copies of the collage, the reference and the seven crops already committed in the repository under scratch/fpcc/. Their content matches the brief's layout and the entry labels, but I could not check them byte-for-byte against the live URLs. The character identifications (Monkey King, TV painter, anime pirate, admiral) are my inferences from what is visible.

## Limitation

The live URLs were unreachable from this machine; I judged from repository copies of the same named files (collage, reference, A-G crops). All images were clear enough to judge.

*One judge's qualitative ballot. No numerical scores were used, and no other judges' reports were consulted.*