Mongerz Leaks

Who Created Graal’s First 50 Headsets?

A user on Reddit recently asked who created the first 50 headsets:
The answer is a bit complicated.

The first 50 headsets were actually divided into two categories:

• Game-character headsets – built-in archetypal characters included with the game
• Player headsets – custom heads created for players to wear

Historical Note

A significant portion of early Zelda Online and Graal-era headsets were not entirely original illustrations, but recolors, edits, or slight modifications of existing heads. This was common practice during the era due to the collaborative and iterative nature of the early sprite community.

Because of this, many of the earliest “new” headsets were actually derived from earlier bases through palette swaps, hairstyle changes, eye edits, accessory additions, or minor structural modifications. To better preserve historical accuracy, recolors and derivative variants have been separated into their own categories where possible.

The game-character headsets were originally intended to function as selectable “archetypes.” The image below shows the final incarnation of these game characters, spanning v1.1 through v1.2—from the official Gold release of heads 0–22 to the final full archetypal set of heads 0–29.
However, this strategy was quickly deprecated after the introduction of custom player heads in the initial 1.2 installation.
Graal 1.1 vs Graal 1.2

Graal 1.1 refers to the first full version of Graal released out of beta. This was also the version in which Graal Gold was released, considered the official “Full Story” mode of the game.

Graal 1.2, however, marked the first major influx of custom player-created content. This version introduced the first pack of what became known as player headsets.

The Original Headsets (0–22)

The original headsets were numbered 0–22 and were contained in a single spritesheet.
The First Player Headsets

In version 1.2, the first wave of custom headsets appeared. These were numbered beginning at head100 and beyond.

Meanwhile, a small selection of additional headsets numbered 23–29 were added as new generic “archetypal character” heads and appended to the original set.

Importantly, there were no heads numbered 30–99 at this time.

Instead, the newly introduced 100+ series represented what were considered custom player heads, even though many of them were still freely available for anyone to use.

Clocking the First “Headfill Gap”

By sorting version 1.2.8beta headsets in the Graal 1Go/Apps/Clients/Main/v1/graal128beta2/graal128/levels/heads folder, from Viper's extended Mongerz Ultimate Graal Leaks pack — we observe the “archetypal characters” being deprecated.

The experimental gap reserved for “archetypal characters” had been abandoned, and began to become populated. Notice in the following image how headsets begin populating beginning at headset numbered 30, then approaching 99.

The “headfill gap” shift occurred after headset 238. Although the modified dates of compilation preserved in the reference image are shown in version 1.2.8beta2's archive, the actual deprecation of the “headfill gap” began in version 1.2.7.
So What Are the “First 50 Headsets”?

Because of the numbering gap, the first 50 headsets are actually split across two ranges:

• Head 0–29 (game-character archetypes)
• Head 100–119 (first player headsets)

Many of these later headsets were not entirely new characters but simple recolors or variations.

However, the goal here is to identify and credit the original artists wherever authorship can be confirmed.

Known Credits (So Far)

First Player Headsets

• Head1 – Nick, by Mandi or Nick
• Head2 – Mandi, by Mandi or Nick
• Head22 – PACHUKA, by PACHUKA • modified from Head16
• Head100 – Captain USA, by Captain USA • the 16th foundational headset, excluding mods
• Head104 – Antago, by Antago • the 20th foundational headset, excluding mods

Original / Foundational Headsets

• Head0 – Fung Si Yan, by Unknown
• Head3 – Bad Max, by Nintendo (Hyrulean guard from Zelda 3, modified by Stefan)
• Head4 – Pachukite, by PACHUKA
• Head6 – Dino, based on Yoshi from Mario, likely created by Alexander Yoshi of Yoshi Clan
• Head7 – Brendan, by Unknown
• Head8 – Athena, by Unknown
• Head10 – Zoraas, by Unknown
• Head11 – Raven, by Unknown
• Head12 – Joe, by Unknown
• Head16 – Neo Knight, by Unknown
• Head18 – Adventurer, by Unknown
• Head19 – Ninji Knight, by Unknown
• Head21 – ?, by Unknown
• Head23 – Dragoon, by Unknown
• Head24 – Lunar, by Unknown
• Head26 – Vincent, by Unknown
• Head28 – Terra, by Unknown

Modified Headsets

• Head9 – Bob, modified from Head1 (see hair, side view )
• Head17 – Thief, modified from Head1, likely by Mandi or Nick (see hair, side view )
• Head20 – Fire, recolor of Head3 with face modification
• Head25 – Judge, heavily modified from Head16 (see side & back views )
• Head29 – Squall, modified from Head16 (see helmet, side view )

Recolors / Palette Variants

• Head5 – Blond, recolor of Head1
• Head13 – Old Man, recolor of Head1 with a beard
• Head14 – Slade, recolor of Head10 with reduced fish-tail
• Head15 – Azraelite, recolor of Head4
• Head27 – Silver, recolor of Head20 with slight modification
• Head101 – recolor of Head27
• Head102 – recolor of Head26
• Head103 – recolor of Head6

NOTE: The Azraelite headset is one of the most humorous rip-offs in Graal history. PACHUKA notoriously mocked Azrael for this in his goodbye letter.
In April of 2025 the rights to the PACHUKITE headset were transferred to Antago, which would include the Azraelite headset which produced virtually zero deviation from the Pachukite headset. In April of 2026, Azrael was caught lying, nearly 27 years later, to Antago about the creation of this headset.