NIKKE New Event NPC Art Suspected of Tracing Illustrator neco's Figma Figure Design — Head Similarities So Stark That Players Cry AI Theft

NIKKE just dropped a new event, and players were supposed to be busy pulling gacha — but instead, someone was squinting at the NPC mob character art and thinking, 'Wait... doesn't this look exactly like that figma figure designed by illustrator neco?'

Who's neco? Only one of the most legendary mecha-musume illustrators in the scene. Their "Armored JK" project blew up just as hard as the biggest names in the Chinese art community. One commenter put it bluntly: "neco is a god of drawing mecha girls — their Armored JK project is just as famous as any top-tier Chinese artist. How blind do you have to be to steal from *them*?"

Lay the comparison images side by side and the resemblance is... damning, to say the least. The original poster kept it real: "Gotta admit, it really does look alike." The post is loaded with comparison screenshots.

The controversy zeroes in on the head design. One commenter nailed the analysis: "The most damning part — or the most fatal resemblance — is actually the red cord tied across the forehead and the armor plates flanking the head. Everything else could be chalked up to similar design philosophy." Another agreed: "The head is the real issue. You could *maybe* explain the body as a design coincidence, but once you factor in the head, it's really hard to hand-wave away." That said, not everyone's fully on board — some pointed out that only the head looks similar, and the torso/body designs are quite different upon closer inspection.

Crucially, illustrator neco has stated they had no knowledge of the game's character designs, while NIKKE's developers have stayed completely silent. Without confirmed evidence, the accusation currently stands as "suspected" tracing.

But it doesn't stop at one or two NPCs. A deeper dive from another player revealed that ALL THREE characters in this event — both NPCs and the new playable unit — share the exact same template: black bodysuit paired with red accessories, and red cord headpieces on every single one. This isn't a one-off oopsie; it's a pattern.

The same player also flagged that the new gacha character "Black Lotus" looks drastically different from her original design — allegedly even the hair color seems changed. However, this particular claim got pushback from other players, who pointed out that Black Lotus wears a glowing red cyber-hat (赛博斗笠, "cyber bamboo hat"), and the design difference between her original and dark version represents the character's in-story evolution — going from her past self to her present self after undergoing major life changes. "Sobering-up Red Lotus" (戒酒红莲) is apparently a beloved community meme that even casual players should know about. So this particular argument didn't hold much water.

The AI tracing allegations, however, got a lot more traction. One commenter noted that "NIKKE had a period where AI artifacts were super obvious — they later hired people to clean it up. This one was probably AI-merged and then manually polished too." Others were more blunt: "AI stole it" and "Most likely AI-generated." And of course, someone had to crack the joke: "AI: My bad, my bad, I'll take full responsibility."

As it stands: the illustrator says they had no idea, the devs are giving the silent treatment, and the community is split on how damning the evidence really is. The head design similarities are genuinely hard to dismiss as a mere coincidence, but until someone produces a smoking gun, it all remains in the realm of suspicion. Whether this was AI-assisted tracing or an honest design overlap — well, only NIKKE's art team knows for sure.