The Case of the Stolen Mummy

Take a good look at this "Halloween Fun Book", a mini activity book occasionally available through dollar stores and party supply chains:

Now, take a look at this "Mummy" enemy from the famous Japanese "Dragon Quest" video game series, known as "Dragon Warrior" in the states:

These mummies have been one of the game's staple monsters since the beginning, designed like the rest of the Dragon Quest universe by esteemed manga artist Akira Toriyama.

"Halloween Fun Book" next to Akira Toriyama's original Mummy design

While plagiarism is certainly nothing new, a generic mummy from a console role-playing game is an oddly specific thing for a Halloween activity book to be stealing, and it is only made all the more mysterious by the rest of the "fun books:"

These other five monsters don't resemble anything from a video game or other copyrighted property and are obviously part of a public domain stock-art series, but they almost look as though whoever drew them was attempting to match the style of Toriyama's mummy. How curious!

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