Have you ever doubted the integrity of your favorite character and felt like they are hiding something? The Wisconsin-based artist Alex Solis, also known as "alexmdc" and "oddworx," is continuing to reveal the secret identities of famous pop culture characters in his oddly fascinating series of illustrations called "Icons Unmasked." He removes the mask of Deadpool, Patrick Star, Rick and Morty, Yoda, even politicians, and many more to uncover who's actually behind those familiar faces, and the result might ruin your childhood. The selected characters are not coincidental; you will notice how similar some of them are, so the artist questions if anything is 100% original these days.

We've previously shared his creative artwork here and here on Bored Panda, and it's about time to expose more characters! What undercover character surprised or shocked you the most and which ones make sense to you? Let us know in the comments!

More info: Instagram | twitter.com | Facebook | oddworx.com | alexmdc.tumblr.com

#1

Image credits: alexmdc

“Ever wonder if the characters you see on TV, in movies and in comic books are hiding something behind their masks? That perhaps they’re really someone — or something — else?" Alex Solis told Bored Panda about how this project originated. "When pop culture is such a huge part of our lives, we’re bombarded with these characters everywhere we turn. Each time we see a new character in a movie, video game or commercial, we feel a sudden sense of deja vu. There’s something about their goofy grin, that creepy laugh, or those boogly eyes that feels eerily familiar…

This got me thinking. Is anything we see ever 100% original? Or is everything we experience really just our minds piecing together past experiences to create something that feels unique and new?"

#2

Image credits: alexmdc

#3

Image credits: alexmdc

"In Icons Unmasked, I’m trying to bring a new sense of discovery to characters everyone has seen hundreds of times. I wanted to recreate the experience of what it might be like to see one iconic character from your childhood for the first time as an adult,” Solis continued.

#4

Image credits: alexmdc

#5

Image credits: alexmdc

Alex Solis is full of creative and odd ideas, so you might want to check other posts about his work on Bored Panda. In "Unpopular Culture," he looks deeper into the behind-the-scenes of pop culture characters, adding a disturbing twist to them; in "The Freshest Foods," he explored the parallel universe where fruits and vegetables are brought to life; "Famous Oldies" shows well-known characters and superheroes aging like everyone else; and in "Baby Terrors," he imagined horror characters as cute little babies. He has also created disturbing yet adorable illustrations of "Predators vs. Prey" and played with sign language.