The literary world is full of unlikely heroes. They include a kid with glasses who lives in a cupboard under the stairs, a reluctant Hobbit, a plain girl from District 12, and now Dungeon Crawler Carl, a man with no pants and his talking cat.
“Dungeon Crawler Carl,” the LitRPG series from author Matt Dinniman, has built its success around that unusual pairing. Now the growing franchise is expanding with new collectibles, toys, games, and merchandise aimed at its increasingly devoted fan base.
Welcome to Dungeon Crawler World
The series begins when an intergalactic corporation destroys Earth and forces what remains of humanity into a Dungeons & Dragons-style world. Survivors must compete in a televised game show called “Dungeon Crawler World: Earth.”
Protagonist Carl enters the dungeon alongside his ex-girlfriend’s pageant star cat, Princess Donut the Queen Anne Chonk. Together, they battle monsters, other crawlers, and a mentally unstable system AI that may or may not have a foot fetish.
Along the way, Carl and Donut level up their skills, save lives, and search for ways to break the system from the inside. That mix of action, dark comedy, and game mechanics has helped the series build a passionate audience.
From Self-Published Series to Publishing Success
In the almost six years since “Dungeon Crawler Carl” entered the literary conversation, it has grown into an eight-book series. Two more installments are on the way.
Dinniman originally self-published the series through Amazon. Penguin Random House later picked it up and will publish the final two books while distributing the earlier installments with new cover art.
“It’s surreal,” Dinniman says. “I’ve been doing this for a very long time, and the series sort of blew up very quickly. I still feel like everything is spinning.”
Playmates Toys Enters the Dungeon
The growing popularity of “Dungeon Crawler Carl” has also created an active fan community. That audience has attracted merchandise makers, with collectibles from Playmates Toys and games from Renegade Game Studios launching this year.
Playmates Toys, best known for helping make the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles a household name in the ’80s, is now entering the dungeon. The company will launch several lines of “Dungeon Crawler Carl” toys under the Borant Corp. name, a reference to the company that operates the World Dungeon in the books.
“We thought it was a fun Easter egg for fans, but also, a lot of the other IPs that we work with are younger-skewing,” says Lydia Torres, marketing manager at Playmates Toys. “Sometimes people see the Playmates logo and expect toys for a younger demographic. We didn’t want people to see a cute cat and the Playmates logo and think it was an IP for children. It was a fun way to do something that meant a lot in the book and also keep it safe and clear as to who it’s for.”
Keeping the Books’ Irreverent Spirit
Playmates Toys may be best known for children’s products, but the company does not plan to soften “Dungeon Crawler Carl” for its collectible line. The new products will retain the irreverent tone and humor that fans know from the books.
“We definitely have not watered down the brand at all,” Torres says. “We went all in. We have the Uzi Jesus trading card in one of our loot boxes, and his catchphrase is across the top in big, bold letters. So what you get in the book, we’ve tried to really emulate that in the line as well.”
Carl, Donut and More Become Collectible Figures
One of the collection’s main offerings is the “Dungeon Crawler World Earth Collectible Crawlers” line. The six-inch figures include Mordecai, Prepotente, and Carl with Princess Donut.
Each figure comes with interchangeable hands and heads. The magnetic Princess Donut figure can also sit on Carl’s shoulder.
The collection goes further with the “Dungeon Crawler World Earth Dungeon Highlight Statues.” These surprise figures recreate memorable moments from the series, including Donut using Mordecai’s mother’s ashes as a litter box and the iconic image of the cat riding atop Mongo’s back over a severed Mantaur arm.
Loot Boxes, Plushies and Trading Cards
Collectors can expand their dungeon experience with “Dungeon Crawler World Earth Loot Boxes.” Each box includes a mystery Princess Donut figure and one of four accessories.
Playmates Toys will also offer eight-inch and 12-inch Princess Donut plushies. “Dungeon Crawler World Earth Trading Cards” will feature familiar characters ranging from crawlers and NPCs to mobs and Borant Corp. officials.
Dungeon Crawler Carl Heads to San Diego Comic-Con
Playmates Toys will debut its “Dungeon Crawler Carl” collection at Comic-Con International: San Diego this year. The launch will include several exclusives tied to the series.
Fans can look for an exclusive Carl and Donut figure complete with bloodspatter, an exclusive poster, a CrawlCon loot box, and more. The Comic-Con debut marks another major expansion for a literary series that has rapidly grown far beyond its self-published beginnings.
