How to Pick a Petpet

The Perfect Match

There are very few pets and petpets that fall under this category, but the few that do are very notable! These pets and petpets undeniably match each other, and deserve to be paired off. A few of these notable duos are listed below.

Maraquan Acara and Green Tentacle

Halloween Blumaroo and Halloween Baby Blu

Spotted Gelert and Spotted Spardel

As you can see, these pairs are absolutely perfect for each other! They match both in theme and in color, and are usually pretty hard to come by. The above three just happen to be my favorite, though there are just a few more that fall into this category. For example, all Krawks match their petpet version, Blumaroos often match Baby Blus, Ixis have their Nuks, Ice Hissis with Snowickles, Faerie Pteris and Faerie Djutis, Mutant Hissis and Mutant Snowickles, Mutant Meercas and Mutant Babycas, Mutant Usuls and Mutant Zebbas, Maraquan Eyrie and Maraquan Albat, and probably many more I missed. Don't expect your pet to fall into this category, but be sure to take advantage when it does!

The most important part about pets in this category is complete synergy. If you even have a single question about whether a pet and petpet should be in this section, they probably don't go here. The matching is almost obvious once you see it. These often seem almost intentionally done, although of course it's just a random act of nature. Since these are so few and far between, don't get discouraged when your pet doesn't fall in this category! There are two more options that are just as viable as this one, although maybe just a tad less aesthetically pleasing, may end up working better for your pet in the end!

Theme Matching

This one is the trickiest of the three, because it's not always apparent or obvious. Theme matching focuses less on matching pets and petpets by color, and more on matching by style. Below are some notable examples.

Any Transparent Pet and Intesteen

Any Kau and Dung Cirrus

Halloween Lupe and Babaa

The first and third are pretty self-explanatory, but in case you don't get the second one, it's meant to be like a cow and a cowpie, and honestly makes me giggle when I look at it. Again, there are many more examples in this category, more than I could ever list. If you're looking to match your pet and petpet by theme, just look at your pet and think what something they would look cool with would be, then look for a petpet with that. There are many, many more petpets than some people realize sometimes, so look into it!

This is also the perfect match for those who are looking more towards matching a pet with a petpet of its personality. If your pet is an astronaut, let their petpet be a Wain! If your pet enjoys deep sea diving, give them a Searex to swim around with! The best part about theme matching is that it can be as obvious as possible or subtle and more personal. Just because someone doesn't get the theme right away, doesn't mean it's wrong. As long as you're happy with it, that's what matters. Also, a pet's customization can come in play here. For example, if you have a customization with a really specific theme, then you can match the petpet to that rather than your pet! Theme matching is very dynamic and open to the interpretation of each individual Neopet. Although, if this isn't quite your style, there's still one more option.

Color Matching

This is by far the most straight forward form of matching petpets. Every single neopet color has a petpet color that goes with it. These don't necessarily match a pet by pose or style, but often purely by color. If you're careful with it, you can also get a flawless color match as well! My favorite three are below.

Faerie Xweetok and Faerie Wibreth

Maraquan Meerca and Maraquan Hasee

Plushie Zafara and Plushie Eizzil

With all these examples, you will notice one thing in common with the pets: their paintbrush color. However, this is their only thing that they share. Because of this, they aren't quite at the level of perfect matches. If a Wibreth was a Xweetok-like, the Maraquan Hasee was grey, or the Plushie Eizzil resembled a Zafara, these would all definitely be perfect pairs. These are the easiest kind to find, because you just look under the same paintbrush color as your pet for something that matches. It's often those that can't find a match or feel more creative that resort to theme matching. It can also be noted that matching a Faerie pet with a Pink or Purple painted petpet, or vice versa, can have similar results to color matching, along with many other complex versus simple colors, like Magma and Red or Plushie and pretty much any color, because they share the same hues.

Just like theme matching, this can also be more geared towards character as well, however they match with color as well as personality. Say your Petpet is an Island Uni. Perhaps their favorite thing to do is soar over Mystery Island. Maybe they just so happened to make a pit stop in Neopia Central and picked themselves up an Island Angelpuss, that soars the skies with them, even though they don't exactly resemble one another. This can add another level of depth to your petpet that some people have never even considered before!

I hope you enjoyed my guide to petpet matching, and, whenever you're in need of a friend for your pet, I hope one of these three options works for you as they have always worked for me. I enjoy matching petpets to pets as a hobby, and hope to host my own actual service of it someday with the help of my Vandagyre, Priper. Of course while your pet and petpet looking together is important, please make sure they like each other, and don't just worry about looks! Also, feel free to neomail me any feedback, or if you want help matching a petpet! Thanks so much for reading and best of luck on the perfect petpet hunt!