This is a design I came up with (probably my first one), but, before all that, what is a kappa?

A kappa (pronounced like pappa, Frank Zappa, or rapper; more so if you’re speaking Japanese) is a mythical water monster from Japan. It’s a lot like a turtle, but it’s bipedal (usually) and has a dish-like dent on top of its head that holds magic water which gives it power. It kills and eats swimming people by coming up under them and disemboweling them. It also likes to eat cucumbers. Supposedly, they are polite enough that they will bow to you if you bow to them first, even though they then spill their magic water and become weak and manageable. For extra info and pictures:

Kappa on Wikipedia
Kappa on Japanese Buddhist Statuary

My origami kappa is pretty simple, but I’m quite proud of the color change. Paper that is different colors on each side will make the kappa one color and its shell the other color.

He also has a turtle beak and an indent on the top of his head for water. You can’t really put water in it though. I mean, you can, but it’s paper, so it’s not a good idea. The dent is more for show.

I came up with this before I was really designing things. I just sort of fell into it by luck. It probably came about from my folding John Montroll’s Cerberus (from Mythological Creatures and the Chinese Zodiac in Origami) so much. It’s not all that similar, but it has a similar start. I figure I found the kappa while playing around making so many Cereberii.