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VANCOUVER, B.C. - As the Olympic flame faded to black at the end of February, two of the best-known faces of the 2010 Winter Games quietly faded away with it.
With little fanfare, mascots Quatchi and Miga were retired. Now, it's Sumi's time to shine. Part orca whale, thunderbird and black bear, Sumi is the official mascot of the Paralympic Games.
His name comes from the Salish word "Sumesh," meaning guardian spirit. He acts as the guardian over the other Games mascots, slightly wiser and older than Quatchi, Miga and their sidekick Mukmuk.
Quatchi is a sasquatch and Miga a seabear, and along with Sumi, the mascot triumvirate has ruled over Vancouver 2010, boosting events together since they were introduced in November 2007.
It was part of the overall marketing and organization concept of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games - two events, one festival.
"Sumi was a constant reminder that there are two Games and that there are two opportunities to have that extraordinary sporting experience," said Maureen Douglas, a spokesperson for the organizing committee.
"So that was the message we always wanted to put out there, that they are special and distinct (events), but they are going to be shared together in this region."
Still, the mascots were split up. When Sumi went on hiatus at the start of the Olympics, his absence didn't go unnoticed.
Four days after the Games began, a blog devoted to the world of mascots thought it had a scandal on its hands - where in the world was Sumi? It even made a "missing mascot" poster.
"Once I saw them broken up, it kind of threw me a little bit," said James Erickson, who runs a marketing company in Oregon and the blog yourmascotsucks.com
"It was weird."
Erickson, who was a mascot for two Oregon sports teams in his college days, said he loved the mascots and thought they represented the area.
But he thinks organizers missed an opportunity to keep going with their message of promoting the Paralympics.
"From my mascot experience, I want the mascot to be anywhere and everywhere. And if Sumi was going to be the Paralympic mascot, why can't he travel around at the Olympics and promote the Paralympics?," he said.
"It just seemed he was AWOL, gone, nowhere to be found. People couldn't get pictures - think of how many people would have had a little more awareness."
The only crossover is the marmot Mukmuk, who isn't actually an official mascot but a virtual companion.
Of the four, Mukmuk has the strongest fan following, even inspiring a rally during the Games to set him "free."
But while he was supposed to be holiday, Sumi did make daily appearances during the Games, skating with the other mascots at a public rink in downtown Vancouver.
He came back into the spotlight at the opening ceremonies for the Paralympics, flying high over the crowd. He's now cavorting around both Whistler and Vancouver.
As Sumi took to the ice at the Robson Square skating rink this week, the cheers from the crowd momentarily drowned out the screams of the zip-liners overhead.
Sumi was a hit with the children as he handed out hugs and posed for pictures, but college student Amy Lo misses her favourite mascot, Miga.
"She's cute, kind of like a bear," she said. "Sumi's not exactly an animal we can relate with, so he's a little different, but I think he kind of grows on you."
Once the Paralympics end on Sunday, it's goodbye to the whole gang.
"When the Games finish up, we say goodbye to the mascots," said Douglas, adding they are exploring putting sets of the mascot costumes in locations across the country so people could still get a look.
"It would be a very rare occasion that they would appear again."
But T.J. Fenn, father of two young boys, would like to see the mascots make guest appearances at local sporting events as a reminder of the Olympic spirit.
"When people look at the mascots, it definitely symbolizes the fun we had at these Games," he said.
-With files from reporter Derek Scott
