Though the gnomes take inspiration from classic fairy tale tropes, they’re also highly inspired by characters in the iconic arcade beat ’em up Golden Axe. The key to Glumstone’s first phase would ultimately lie with its relentless swarm of gnomes. Though seemingly annoyed by the gnomes, Glumstone would also work in tandem with the tiny folk, a symbiotic relationship of fairytale proportions. MDHR floated the idea of adding a never-ceasing swarm of gnomes to the Glumstone mythos early on, and it soon became the driving force behind many of his attacks and environments.

Glumstone’s initial character design came together so early that he’s in not one but two Cuphead books published before The Delicious Last Course – The Art of Cuphead and the middle-grade novel Cuphead in A Mountain of Trouble. In the cartoon, the titular hermit is portrayed as a feral lunatic, chasing Betty after a shared dance in his mountaintop cave. While the giant’s enormous stature and many of his mannerisms come from Disney’s 1938 Mickey Mouse short The Brave Little Tailor, his flowing white beard and scraggly appearance is a direct reference to Fleischer Studios’ 1933 classic The Old Man of the Mountain, starring the flirtatious Betty Boop. The look and demeanor of Glumstone the Giant, or Old Man Mountain, as he was known internally, is inspired by a smattering of larger-than-life antagonists from 1930s animated shorts.

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