Welcome to the forest...

You can find information on this project at the bottom of the page. Or read on/click through to the forests below.

Chapter 4 : The Blue Cocoon Master
Among the scattered ruins of Gehena Pale, you find yourself face-to-face with what appears to be a small dragon. Aside from the Onibubu, your direct experience with Divine Beasts had been severely limited up to this point. You feel a mixture of anxiety, sincerity for your cause and...excitement. Until this moment, being a Cocoon Master was simply your destiny. A task you always knew you'd have to uphold. A title made from chains that bound your fate outside of your will and control. But with this little beast stood before you, your heart pounding in your chest, the Blue Cocoon Master watching on in anticipation... you pull out your Ocarina and transform 'Cocoon Master' from a choking fate into... your true calling.

Chapter 5 : The Bird Man
You reach out for the strange tablet lying by the water. There is only time to read the first part of the title, "The Secret To Killing..." before you hear the beating of mighty wings and feel a firm but gentle tap on your shoulder. 'What are you doing? That's mine!' You turn to see a beast of a man standing before you. At first you think it's a scrungly man in a costume but there is something more to him that you cannot place. He speaks as though nerved by your prescence, but with enough authority that you simply hand the tablet back as soon as he asks. Could that have been... the legendary Bird Man?

Chapter 6 : The Imprisonment
You hold your breath. The Great Tree stands before you, you can hear its heart beating, somehow, and you're blown away by its magnificence. The swampy moor at its feet is lit by the glowing plants of the Spider Forest that had lain the path all the way here. There rests the Calabas, with its distinct shape and scent, but before you have chance to think about harvesting any, the amulet in your pocket vibrates and a bright light engulfs you. Your heart sinks as you realise what has happened. How could we do this to a God? Humans are so foolish... You are overwhelmed with a sudden panic. What is happening back in Syrus?

Chapter 9 : The Promised Land
The tears hadn't stopped flowing since you left your village for what would possibly be the last time. The warm Jade Cocoon in your pocket gives some comfort, but you feel so alone. It has been such a long journey...but she'd always been by your side... hadn't she? There is something off about the beasts in this forest, they are somehow more subdued. Is it because she's here? The sleeping dogs and inquisitive ogres seem to escort you through the ancient ruins, beautifully intact. The murals on the walls remind you of the tales the old gravekeeper would tell you growing up. You wonder who will tell your story when all this is over.
Netherworld Forests coming soon (lol, at some point) - gimme a nudge if you're actually interested >_> I feed off validation

Who are you?

I'm simply a humble fan of Jade Cocoon (if you want to know generally who I am, you can see that on my biography page). I'm not affiliated with the creation of Jade Cocoon or Jade Cocoon 2. But Jade Cocoon really touched me when I was growing up and it's a lifelong love of mine. I frequent the Jade Cocoon fandom discord and have had a good amount of input on the site itself. I'm also autistic and Jade Cocoon is my longest standing and most passionate special interest.

What is this project?

You can't be into a monster catching game without having an enthusiastic love of collecting things. Since it isn't possible or necessary to keep every single monster in Jade Cocoon, how else can I collect them? By drawing them, of course. I've gone through every base monster (which you can find on the fandom wiki) and drawn my own take on them, and then put them all together in this online compendium.

Is this how the monsters are supposed to look?

No and yes. The art here is based on the 3D models used in Jade Cocoon 1. Which, as you can imagine, have limited polygons and textures. So I've extrapolated some details and used my imagination where necessary, or where I feel it compliments the design. I've hopefully corrected some of the colours digitally (as they were initially coloured in pencil), and also created the Eternal Corridor elemental copies by shifting the colours digitally as well. So you might find that some of the monsters vary somewhat to the original character designs by Katsuya Kondo, but I have also taken those into account in some instances where I feel that reducing the designs for the PlayStation really did them a disservice.

And this is your art?

Yes! Mostly. I may have used some assets/screenshots from the games for elements of these pages, but the artwork of the monsters is all done by scratch by myself. Jade Cocoon's developer (Genki) is much more well-known for other titles, and western publishers Crave Entertainment went backrupt in 2012. So when it comes to Jade Cocoon's IP, it feels like it's mostly been abandoned (though Genki seems to still have some pride in it, featuring it on their website (although they do incorrectly state that JC1 is a PS2 game...). The Wikipedia page for Studio Ghibli once also listed Jade Cocoon as a Studio Ghibli game (though this isn't there any more as of writing)(Add: Actually on the Studio Ghibli fandom wiki, it's still there). This is likely due to Katsuya Kondō being the lead character designer for Jade Cocoon 1 and 2, who has since worked with Studio Ghibli as a character designer and animator.

Basically what I'm saying is that I feel I've used assets from the game and artwork under fair usage based on 1. this being a collection of fan works, in honour of the original, 2. the IP being long since put down by its creators and publishers and 3. the ambiguity and unlikeliness that anybody will actually care that I've used them. This being said, if anybody from Genki etc ever sees this and is unhappy with it, I of course will take action to remove content they don't like - but I would ask in return that they truly consider working with fans and other studios to create a Jade Cocoon remake (or opening up the IP to allow fans to make games without worrying about retribution). We want it desperately!

Is this project completed?

Lol no. As of writing, I haven't even made pages for the monsters, and I'm only some way through editing the artwork (it's all scanned in, though). Even once I've put them all on the website, I'm hoping to move on to doing the boss monsters and (after some more practice at humans) the characters as well. So likely, this project will follow me until I die. But I couldn't wish for anything else, to be honest. We all need a hobby, right?

If you want to support my work on this project, you can just send me praise (it gives me energy). You can find my JC fan blog on tumblr. Or, if you really love this project, you can go and send me money on Ko-Fi - and leave me a note telling me that you love the project (again, this will unlock POWER MODE in me).

USEFUL LINKS

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This page last updated July 2023 - You'll find a more direct update of my work by following me on social media