Ryan and Kakao Friends

Ryan is the maneless lion at the centre of Kakao Friends, the character line built off KakaoTalk, the messaging app that runs on essentially every phone in South Korea. He joined the sticker lineup in 2016, into a cast that already had Apeach and Muzi, and became the breakout almost immediately. Kakao then did the thing most software companies never attempt: turned the sticker pack into a retail business with real square footage. Giant Ryan figures sit on the roofs of flagship stores, there are Kakao Friends cafes, plush walls, and themed indoor playgrounds with ball pits. This is the clearest case in the Atlas of characters becoming a second business rather than decoration on the first one.