This repository contains the characters files ("cows") I created for the cowsay/cowthink utility. While original cowsay files are ASCII-art, I decided to experiment with ANSI/VT coloring, extended Unicode characters, pseudo-pixels (such as Unicode 13.0 sextants and Unicode 16.0 octants), and Sixels.
This uses Unicode 13.0 sextants and ANSI/VT colors (256 colors). It is based on the Mark III / Master System game Alex Kidd in Miracle World / アレックスキッドのミラクルワールド.
This uses MS-DOS codepage 437 characters and ANSI/VT colors (16 colors) and attributes. It is based on the assistant from Microsoft Office.
This uses a sixel image. It is based on the cow sprite from the Super Famicom / SNES game Earthworm Jim.
The idea of this character is to provide a "HD remaster" of the original cow.
It can be used as a replacement for the ANSI-art cow used when cowsay is called without a -f option. To achieve this, rename the default.cow that ships with cowsay to legacy-cow.cow, and create a symbolic link default.cow pointing to sxl-cow.cow as follows:
cd /usr/share/cowsay/cows
sudo mv default.cow legacy-cow.cow
sudo ln -s sxl-cow.cow default.cow
This uses Unicode 13.0 sextants and ANSI/VT colors (256 colors). It is based on the original PC game Duke Nukem by Apogee Software.
This uses Unicode 13.0 sextants and ANSI/VT colors (256 colors). It is based on the mobile phone game Flappy Bird.
This is a sixel image conversion of Guybrush Threepwood from The Secret of Monkey Island.
This uses extended Unicode characters and ANSI/VT colors (16 colors) and attributes (strikethrough, underline). It is based on the Hello Kitty / ハロー・キティ character by Yuko Shimizu / Sanrio.
This is a sixel image conversion of Indiana Jones (Indy) from Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis.
This uses Unicode 16.0 octants and ANSI/VT colors (256 colors). It is based on the Famicom / NES game The legend of Zelda / ゼルダの伝説 (The Hyrule Fantasy).
This uses Unicode 13.0 sextants and ANSI/VT colors (256 colors). It is based on the Super Famicom / SNES game The legend of Zelda / ゼルダの伝説 - A Link to the Past / 神々のトライフォース.
This uses Unicode 13.0 sextants and ANSI/VT colors (256 colors). It is based on the Famicom / NES game Super Mario Bros, but with modern colors.
This is a sixel image conversion of the Super Mario World sprites of Mario and Yoshi.
This uses Unicode 16.0 octants and ANSI/VT colors (256 colors). It is based on the GitHub octocat mascot loading animation.
This is a sixel image conversion of the Pikachu sprite of Pokémon Gold & Silver / ポケットモンスター 金 & 銀.
This uses Unicode 16.0 octants and ANSI/VT colors (256 colors). It is based on the cover of the movie soundtrack of Wreck-It Ralph.
This uses MS-DOS codepage 437 characters and ANSI/VT colors (16 colors) and attributes. It is based on the assistant from Microsoft Bob and Windows XP.
This is a sixel image conversion of a Ryu sprite from the game Street Fighter II.
This is a sixel image conversion of Scrooge McDuck's face from the DuckTales Famicom / NES game title screen.
This is a sixel image conversion of the main character and his dog sprites from Shadow Dancer / 影の舞.
This uses Unicode 13.0 sextants and ANSI/VT colors (256 colors). It is based on the sprite of Joe Musashi in the Game Gear game The GG 忍 Shinobi.
This uses Unicode 16.0 octants and ANSI/VT colors (256 colors). It is based on the Game Gear version of the game Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
This is a sixel image conversion of Strider Hiryu / ストライダー飛竜 sprite from the eponymous game.
This uses Unicode 16.0 separated sextants. It is based on the 1st generation of Tamagotchi / たまごっち LCD toy by Bandai.
This is a sixel image conversion of the Purple Tentacle sprite from Day of the Tentacle.
This uses Unicode 16.0 octants and ANSI/VT colors (256 colors). It is based on the arcade game The NewZealand Story.
This is a sixel image conversion of Vanellope von Schweetz character illustration from Wreck-It Ralph.
You'll need the cowsay utility, so start with sudo apt install cowsay or equivalent for your distro.
Copy the files from this repo's cows folder to /usr/share/cowsay/cows.
Then simply use the cowsay -f [character name] [message] command.
For Unicode sextants and octants, you will need recent fonts that include the Legacy Computing Symbols, such as Cascadia Mono or Iosevka Term. For sixels images support, Windows Terminal or another VT340-compatible terminal emulator is required.
-- Philippe Majerus, September 2024
These are all designed to celebrate classic pixel art nostalgia. All characters and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
If you enjoy ANSI-art and Unicode semigraphics, also check out my FIGfonts collection and my ANSI-art collection.