WARNING: this article contains NSFW content (words and heavily censored images) mostly relating to erotic furry art and other sexual themes, as well as links to NSFW Twitter accounts.
"Suspiciously wealthy furry" is a phrase that's thrown around quite often in online circles. There's a lot of money that changes hands in the furry fandom, and the best example of this would be Togepi1125. If you're a furry, you need no introduction. If you're not, or that name doesn't ring a bell, Togepi1125 is an internet user and a furry who, for more than a decade, has been prolifically and almost compulsively commissioning artists to draw one very specific thing: erotic art of Star Fox characters Falco and Fox, in giant form, having very chaotic and destructive sex in public spaces, crushing buildings and generating a commotion, as well as a huge mess.
You have to respect the amount of time he puts into his interest, as well as the money that goes to fuel this. For reference, a detailed furry drawing commission, with intricate backgrounds and two characters, could run you anywhere from $150 to $350 US dollars, if not much more in some cases. And this is only refering to static images; Togepi has commissioned a number of animations, 2D and 3D, and those can go well into the thousands. Taking into consideration this, and also keeping in mind the fact that he has commissioned literally hundreds of pieces of furry art, well, you do the math. This guy is for real.
For a long time his online presence has been surrounded by mystery: Who is this guy? Where does he get the money needed to live the way he lives? Is there an explanation for the specificity of his interest? This interview will hopefully answer some of these questions. I had the pleasure to interview a true internet legend, and a furry icon.
Art by @Tos_Tos_F_ski on Twitter
Togepi1125: I can’t say my name. My age is 34. I’m from South Korea.
Door Gallery: Oh yeah, understandable! I figured you'd like to keep some things private. Now, i'm assuming you know why I wanted to interview you. You are very well known in the furry fandom for being the single source of most falco x fox macro art. Some might say you're infamous but I honestly admire your commitment. How do you feel about your status as a furry pop culture icon? because I really do consider you one, and i know most people do as well.
Togepi1125: I don’t care about most people’s responses basically, either good ones or bad ones. But I enjoy watching their responses sometimes.
Door Gallery: I see, I see! So it's something you're aware of, but it doesn't really affect you much. Another thing i'd love to know is about, well, your interest in and of itself. Is there a particular reason as to why you've chosen Falco and Fox in particular? Why not, say, Wolf, or other characters?
Togepi1125: The first time I met them was in Super Smash Bros. Melee. I found an action replay code named “Mushroom Stacker Code” which can make fighters grow infinitely. I tested the code with every fighter because I had liked giant characters, especially heroes, since I was a child. Among them, Fox and Falco were most attractive so I decided to play Star Fox games. I became like them more after playing the games. The characters I like as macros are usually heroes, and I prefer avian species. That’s why I chose Falco in particular. Also, I ship Fox/Falco. Fox/Wolf is another famous, and more popular shipping so I see such pics frequently. It doesn’t make me feel good so I don’t prefer Wolf.
Art by @ArexuAlex on Twitter
Togepi1125: I’ve liked to see someone growing big since I was very young. The first experience was Alice in Wonderland when Alice grew out the house. My preference was usually restricted to human/anthro and heroic characters. So I was less attracted by Kaiju movies or Ultraman series. The very first moment that I found macro sexually arousing was when I played Mario Party 3. There was a minigame named “Toadstool Titan” that the players became giant with the mushroom and beat other players. Giant Yoshi aroused me in an unusual way. I didn’t have preferred characters for a long time but I finally found Falco and Fox.
Door Gallery: Interesting how early you discovered this interest! plus, it seems it has always been somewhat related to videogames as well, which is really interesting to know.
Well here's an interesting question. There have been rumors surrounding your online presence. For a long time, people speculated you were a heart surgeon, but I believe that myth was debunked some time ago. What do you do for a living, if you're okay with me asking?
Togepi1125: I’m a salaried worker in the health care field, but I’m not a heart surgeon or a neurosurgeon. I just spend a large portion of my salary on commissions.
Door Gallery: Oh wow, so you do work in the medical field! were you aware of the heart surgeon rumor?
Togepi1125: I saw the rumor on Tumblr. I corrected it but it was too widespread already.
Art by @levitator on Twitter
Togepi1125: I'm single and living with my parents. So I have no rent or loan. So I can spend about a half of my salary on commissioning. I can't save money much, but I think getting good commission arts are more important for me.
Door Gallery: Different people have different priorities! at least you can afford it all, which is definitely good to know. In what area of the medical field do you work? research? practitioner? I'd love to know a little bit more, if possible
Togepi1125: Sorry, I don't want to answer.
Door Gallery: It's okay, don't worry! Dialing it back to a more lighthearted question, do you have any hobbies? Because I think I can see some model trains on some of the photos you have on your pinned tweet.
Togepi1125: My hobby is playing video games. I'm somewhat of a Nintendo nerd so I usually play Nintendo games such as Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Door Gallery: Oh I definitely thought you'd have videogames high on your list of interests, haha. I took a look at your furaffinity gallery and you do have a couple of commissions with animal crossing characters as well, and they happen to be birds as well, as you mentioned. Now this is definitely gonna be a hard one to answer but i'd regret not asking. If you had to pick favorites, is there any particular commission you've gotten over the years that you really, really like?
Togepi1125: Among SFW commissions, I like this one, drawn by Genzoman, because he's a famous artist and he did something for me.
Art by @MrGenzoman on Twitter
Art by @CursedMarked on Twitter
Art by @Miles_DF on Twitter
Door Gallery: Oh yeah for sure, she's definitely behind some of the most expensive YCH commissions i've ever seen. How often do you commission new art?
Togepi1125: Not constant, but I average 2 commissions a week.
Door Gallery: I see! that doesn't sound like much when you put it that way, but then you realize you've been doing this for such a long time... How long, actually?
Togepi1125: My first commission was done in May 2010, so 11 years.
Door Gallery: 11 years... Thats dedication! Another quick question, what's your favorite Star Fox game?
Togepi1125: 64 3D when it comes to game play, and Zero for character design
Door Gallery: Good picks! You seem to be quite a good reference for this kind of thing, haha. Another thing i'd love to know is how you navigate through your vast amounts of content. You must have hundreds, if not thousands of pieces commissioned already, how do you consume all of it? Of course most of the art you commission is nsfw in nature, so, do you "use" your commissions a couple times and then go commission something new? how do you navigate through all of your commissioned pieces?
Togepi1125: I usually use one piece one time. In fact, writing commission description is more arousing than the finished piece in some cases. But there are some pics and animations I consume over and over. So those pics are "masterpieces" for me. It's one reason why I commission same themes over and over. I sort my commissions folder by artist. And I search my web gallery with a specific keyword, such as "milking" or "planet" when I'm in a specific mood.
Door Gallery: Wow, I wasn't expecting to hear your pics are almost single-use, really interesting... You seem to be very aware of your online presence and status. I'd love to know how you feel about the average internet user's reaction to your commissions, since you quite frequently post videos of internet personalities reacting to what you post on your twitter.
Togepi1125: I know that I have a weird fetish, and I'm getting more attention because my commissions include well-known characters such as Falco. But I share my interest on the internet, hoping someone with a similar taste will realize that they're not alone, as I realized before. Supportive comments from those people are helpful and give me strength to keep going. Of course, there are attacks and blames too, but I'm trying to ignore them. Because my commissions are basically for me.
Door Gallery: That's a good way to deal with it, yeah! At the end of the day this is your interest. You've made it very public and i'm sure you've helped a lot of people realize what they're into because of it. You've spoken in the past about specific character traits that "Macro Falco" has. I recall specifically a couple years back you saying on twitter that Macro Falco supports trans rights, and you've posted a number of things to similar effect since. To what degree would you consider Macro Falco to be a separate character from Falco? Do you consider him your own OC to some extent?"
Togepi1125: Basically, macro Falco, and every macro bird in my commisions, is me. He is an ideal being I want to be. He does what I want to do. He is worshipied by micros as I want to be. So his personality is quite different from the original character who is brash and cocky. Maybe macro Falco is close to my own OC rather than a video game character, but I don't want to separate him from the Star Fox universe.
Togepi's "headcanons about macro Falco", found on his Furaffinity account
Togepi1125: Yes. He's still an ace pilot of Star Fox.
Door Gallery: I see! Well, it has been an absolute pleasure talking with you Togepi! I know a lot of people want to know a bit more about you, and this interview will certainly be of help. Again, thank you for taking some time to answer my questions! Is there anything you'd like to say, to the people who took the time to read all of this?
Togepi1125: Thanks for reading this interview. I hope it will help you understand why I commission so much macro Falco pics. There are many small fetishes in the furry fandom, and art commissions are one of the best ways to satisfy such needs and to find friends having a common interest. I want every fetish to be respected.
The man himself
Togepi1125 on Twitter