Between Marvel’s Baby Groot, The Mandalorian’s Baby Yoda, and SEGA’s Baby Sonic, it seems like depicting younger, cuter versions of characters is currently in vogue. So it shouldn’t be surprising that an artist was commissioned to draw a baby version of Riven from Bungie’s popular looter-shooter Destiny 2.

Dubai-based Digital Artist Syed Ali Qaiser, who goes by Azlaar on Twitter and Reddit (Azlaars on Instagram), posted the commissioned image of a red-armored Hunter and pink-armored Warlock cradling a tiny version of the Destiny 2 Last Wish raid’s final boss to the r/DestinyTheGame subreddit on Saturday, December 27. It has since been upvoted 96 percent and has over 230 comments.

The Last Wish raid was added to Destiny 2 in its “Forsaken” DLC expansion on September 6, 2017. Raids encourage up to six players to take on waves of difficult enemies for a chance to snag high-tier, endgame loot, and Riven of a Thousand Voices is Forsaken’s ultimate antagonist.

Azlaar’s commissioned artwork, which they said was challenging to make thanks to its blend of colors and composition, has also received nearly 700 likes on Instagram.

Back in September, it took Clan Redeem; a currently 29-person, invite-only clan that has been active on Bungie’s website since 2015 and was described by Medium as “the most dominant clan in Destiny” in 2018; 18 hours to be the first group in the world to complete the Normal Mode Last Wish raid. They also hold the record for World’s First clear in Normal Mode for Wrath of the Machine (a raid in the original Destiny’s “Rise of Iron” DLC), Prestige Mode for Leviathan (a base raid in Destiny 2), and Normal Mode for Spire of Stars (a raid lair introduced in one of Destiny 2’s first expansions).

Though Bungie is currently on Destiny 2’s fourth expansion “Shadowkeep,” which released on October 1 and added a new raid called Garden of Salvation, the enormous raid boss Riven clearly left its mark if players are this excited to see it join the infantile ranks of characters like Baby Yoda.

This is likely in no small part thanks to some of the entertaining glitches and exploits Riven was subject to during the early months of its presence in the game — and beyond.

It also helps that Azlaar did a great job making the minified boss cute as a button. Or, as Reddit user Sarsion put in a comment under the post: “Trash-Panda Riven looks disturbingly adorable.”

Destiny 2 is out now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One

Source: Azlaar/Reddit