Superplastic — AI Character Integration

Superplastic's characters have something most brands spend decades trying to manufacture: a cult-like fanbase that genuinely cares about them, including myself. Collectors follow Janky, Guggimon, and the rest the way you follow a person, not a product. This pitch was built around that idea. I put this work in my portfolio because at the time, it had some legs as the company I was working for was focused on AI with emotions and cognition. It seemed like a perfect fit.

Two concepts in one pitch. The first puts a cast of AI-driven characters inside a Discord server and hands the audience a role in their story development. The second replaces Superplastic's site chat with the characters themselves, turning customer support into something the brand is actually known for.

Disclaimer: Superplastic is one of my very favorite companies. It was a dream come true to be able to work on the ideas. The couple of meetings I had with their team made me realize that my people are out there.

Bad Sushi is a crew of 14 original characters running an ongoing crime story inside a Superplastic Discord server. Each character has its own AI-driven personality and a specific role in the plot. Fans can talk to them directly and the characters respond in voice and in context.

Participation goes beyond conversation. The server is built around community voting: fans upvote and downvote decisions that actually steer the story. The gang is mid-job, and the audience is in the room.

The characters talk to each other

Alongside the fan-facing channels, there is a public channel where the characters interact on their own. They scheme, argue, and react to what the community just did. Fans can watch without participating, or wade in and shift the dynamic. The characters were designed to have relationships with each other, not just with the audience. That is what separates it from a novelty bot.

Cast and continuity

All 14 characters have defined crew roles and personalities consistent with Superplastic's aesthetic. Each carries memory of prior interactions forward, stays in character, and does not contradict established story lore. The plot advances in chapters, shaped by however the community participates.

Janky Chat is unrelated to Bad Sushi. It lives on the Superplastic site, not in Discord. The idea is straightforward: what if the characters took over the customer service chat? Not a branded skin over a support widget, but Janky and the crew actually running it.

A customer opens the chat to ask about their order and gets Janky. He will answer the question, but he might also drop a coupon, hint at an upcoming release, or go slightly off-script in a way that feels completely true to the character. The chaos is intentional, and it is still useful.

What the characters can do

Order status, shipping questions, product info are all handled, just not in the voice of a support template. Characters can surface deals and coupons mid-conversation, share early knowledge about new drops, and respond to whatever the customer brings. Someone asking about a return might leave having heard about something they did not know was coming.

Keeping it useful

The design work was figuring out how much character to let in without breaking the utility. The information has to be accurate. The prototype shows where that line is: Janky can be Janky, and the customer still gets what they came for.