BTS Mascots: BT21, TinyTAN, and Funko Pop in One Guide

BTS Mascots: BT21, TinyTAN, and Funko Pop in One Guide

BTS has seven members, but when it comes to BTS mascots, the numbers multiply fast. There’s the little character each member designed with their own hands back in 2017. There’s also the official chibi version that took off at Happy Meal promotions. And of course, there’s an entire Funko Pop line, with six different eras released so far and one more on the way.

If you’ve never stopped to sort these three things out, or if you’re a newer fan who still mixes up Koya and Chimmy, this guide on BTS mascots settles it all at once: who’s who, what each universe means, and where to find each piece.

Who are the BTS mascots?

The first thing that tends to confuse new ARMYs (and sometimes veteran ones too) is assuming “BTS mascots” is just one single product. It’s not. The term covers three different universes, each born differently, at a different time, for a different purpose.

BT21 is the oldest of the three and also the most personal: it launched in 2017 out of a partnership between BTS themselves and LINE Friends, with each member drawing and naming their own character.

TinyTAN came later, in 2020, straight from BigHit (now HYBE), as the official chibi version of the seven members, used in animations, games, and music videos.

Funko Pop, on the other hand, has nothing Korean about its origin: it’s a vinyl figure line produced by the American company Funko, which started licensing BTS’s likeness in 2019 and keeps releasing new series to this day.

What is each BTS member’s mascot? BT21 — the little characters the members drew themselves

BT21 launched in 2017 through a partnership between BTS and LINE Friends, with each member actively involved in creating their own character. It’s probably the most-searched universe on Google when it comes to the group’s mascots, so let’s go through it piece by piece.

What are the BT21 characters?

Each of the seven members created their own, alongside the LINE Friends team, and the result carries a real piece of the personality of whoever designed it.

RM created Koya, an intellectual koala who loves reading. Jin made RJ, a gentle alpaca and natural-born cook (sound familiar from Eat Jin?). Suga brought Shooky to life, a mischievous cookie who hates milk. j-hope created Mang, a dancer who hides his face behind a horse mask. Jimin drew Chimmy, a gentle, devoted puppy in a yellow outfit. V invented Tata, a heart-headed alien. And Jung Kook made Cooky, a tough rabbit who loves working out. There’s also Van, a space robot who represents ARMY itself, the only character with no matching member.

Which BT21 character matches each BTS member?

To make it easier, here’s a quick table:

Member	BT21 Character	What it is
RM	Koya	Koala
Jin	RJ	Alpaca
Suga	Shooky	Cookie
j-hope	Mang	Dancer with a horse mask
Jimin	Chimmy	Puppy
V	Tata	Heart-headed alien
Jung Kook	Cooky	Rabbit
ARMY	Van	Space robot

We’ve already covered the origin and backstory of each character in depth in our complete BT21 guide, including webtoons, animations, and trivia. So if you want to know everything there is to know about BT21, just click the link above.

Where to buy a BT21 of your own

BT21 never stops dropping special editions — it’s practically its own calendar. There’s the Baby Fairy line, which gave us that butterfly-winged Chimmy that became an instant hit (yes, Fairy Chimmy has its own fandom). There’s the Orange series, and if you don’t melt for Shooky tucked inside a little orange, your heart is made of stone. And it goes on. Beyond the plush toys, LINE Friends, which doesn’t do things halfway, has a massive product line: bedding, books, kitchenware, mugs, water bottles, anything you can imagine with BT21’s cuteness on it.

There’s even perfume, and one local version has already launched: in Brazil, Cia Beauty recently released a body splash collection inspired by each character, sold in pharmacies, perfume stores across Brazil, and on the brand’s website. It’s an officially licensed product, and it’s a good example of how different countries do their own local BT21 collaborations — this one just happens to be Brazilian.

The problem is that this release pace also opens the door to confusion. On marketplaces, it’s common to find BT21 plushies and keychains sold well below the official price, sometimes less than half.

Much of it is counterfeit, or what some sellers openly call “fan-made” — a piece inspired by the character, without any license from LINE Friends. You can usually tell from the listing description itself, when the seller makes it clear it’s not an official product. Before buying BTS mascots, it’s always worth checking whether the store is a licensed distributor, because a price that’s too good to be true is almost always a sign that plush didn’t come out of the right factory.

More BT21 is on the way!!!

Here’s the fresh news among BTS mascots: starting July 14, BT21 is returning to Happy Meal promotions, this time with all eight characters, including Van, who was left out of the previous 2024 collab.

There are several different giveaways: a bag charm — that carabiner-style clip people use as a keychain or to hang from a bag or backpack — one for each character, plus a version with the whole group inside a spaceship, and a sticker poster.

TinyTAN — the official chibi version of the seven members

Among BTS mascots, TinyTAN is the most recent of the three official universes. Unlike BT21, it doesn’t invent any characters from scratch: it’s RM, Jin, Suga, j-hope, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook themselves, just redesigned in chibi style (that cute, big-head, small-body look), created by BigHit in 2020 to star in animations like Magic Door and Dream On, as well as appear in music videos for hits like Dynamite.

The most recent TinyTAN and McDonald’s collab happened in September 2025, with two toy editions (Throwback and Encore) rolled out across 66 countries. If you missed it during the hype, complete sets are still available on marketplaces like Shopee — though confirming whether they’re official is a different story.

If you want the full history, with trivia about each animation and the meaning behind details like the Dream On whale, our TinyTAN article covers it all.

BTS Funko Pop — the collectible line that’s already gone through six eras

While BT21 and TinyTAN were born inside the BTS universe itself, Funko Pop, the third name among BTS mascots, comes from outside: it’s a licensing partnership with Funko, the American company famous for the big-headed figures that have already portrayed pretty much every major pop culture franchise. And if there’s one thing that’s a massive pop culture success, it’s Bangtan, so…

For BTS, the first wave came out in February 2019, inspired by the album Love Yourself: Answer, sold individually and also in a seven-piece set exclusive to Barnes & Noble in the United States.

The line hasn’t stopped since. A few months after that debut, still in 2019, came the first BT21 wave in Funko format, covering the seven original characters (Van still has no official version to this day).

In 2021 came the Dynamite era. In 2022, the Butter era. In 2023, the Proof era. And 2024 brought two crossovers at once: one with the Minions, tied to the song Permission to Dance, and another with Toy Story, where each member became a character from the film. RM is Woody, Jin is the Alien, Suga is Hamm, j-hope is Forky, Jimin is Rex, V is Lotso, and Jung Kook is Buzz Lightyear. That wave, by the way, got a restock in March 2026, right around the release of the Arirang album.

The latest release is the so-called BTS Solo Era, launched in May 2025, with Pops inspired by each member’s solo work. The first to come out was Jimin, styled after Like Crazy, a single from the album Face.

Beyond the traditional Pop, which stands around 10 cm (about 4 inches) tall, Funko also sells BTS in Pocket Pop format (a roughly 4 cm/1.5-inch keychain) and Bitty Pop (an even smaller miniature, sold with a themed acrylic stage).

How much does a BTS Funko Pop cost?

In the United States, the official price on Funko’s website runs around $14.99 for the traditional Pop, $12.99 for the Pocket Pop keychain, and $7.99 for the Bitty Pop.

Rare pieces from the original 2019 wave, now discontinued, have resold for much higher prices: BT21’s Tata, for example, has sold for around $95 once stock ran out.

Where to look: internationally, official channels include Funko’s website, Amazon, Entertainment Earth, Walmart (which often carries the exclusive complete sets), and Hot Topic.

Shoppers who buy from specialized geek stores can expect to pay somewhere around $27 to $58 depending on the edition and any promotions — figures that fluctuate with the exchange rate. Marketplaces like Amazon run a similar range. But watch out, counterfeits are everywhere. If the price seems too good to be true, it’s almost certainly the “fake” version.

The safest bet is sticking to established geek stores with solid reviews, plus the marketplaces mentioned above (with all due caution if you’re after official products).

Three universes, one shared story

At the end of the day, BTS mascots each tell, in their own way, the same story: a group that never gets tired of reinventing itself, even in miniature form.

Whether it’s the little character carrying a member’s personality, the chibi version dancing on screen, or the vinyl figure recreating one of the most iconic looks of their career, the result of these BTS mascots is always the same: one more reason for ARMY to smile (and, let’s be honest, spend a little more than they probably should).

Which of these three universes is your favorite? Tell us in the comments.