My 2 cents: Neither mascots suit Ruby. I'm not sure any mascot will. A ruby would work as a recognizable symbol. I am not an artist, but I admire people who are. The creators of the RTK drawing and the anime character are obviously talented. Having said that, here's my critique: Bird: Would you trust your application to a frail little bird dumb enough to sit in a human's hand? How do you know it won't take a dump when you need it most? How about going South(North) all winter? Anime: Would you trust your application to a silly girl? What about a silly girl with large breasts holding a ruby and a stick? The first animated version of Ruby Chan will be her wearing a school uniform and kicking an alien in the teeth so you can see her panties. I certainly wouldn't wear a t-shirt with her on it. You might as well wear the Power Puff Girls. Pick-axe: Not too bad. Simple and handy. You can do a lot of work with it, won't get in your way like an earth mover (read: commercial Smalltalk). Easy to learn to use. Just for the record, I don't care for Tux either. Duke (Java mascot) is marginal, mostly because it is nondescript. The steaming cup of coffee works, simple to draw, scales well, recognizable, etc. Just as a ruby would be. As father of the language, Matz should have the final word on any mascot. Oh yeah . <-- there's a grain of salt to take with my opinion :-) Regards, JJ