Marionette.Mu

EDIT: Here are the new official rules, which all original contestants who would have one agreed to:

You can now start submitting your entries!  Instructions on how to submit here.

Click here to view and vote on contest entries. 
Official Rules:

EDIT: Please note, submission videos should include only visuals created by you and/or your direct team members and only visual effects/animations created in Spriter. Screen recording of you clicking or navigating the Spriter interface or your OS to show the finished animation(s) is also allowed. Please do not show recorded game or engine footage or post-processed video effects not made in Spriter. The only allowed exceptions to this are the simple fades that YouTube adds automatically if you submit your animations as a slide-show.


To enter, create at least animation using Spriter inspired by the phrase "Awesome Boss" in any way you see fit.  Additional animations of your boss are welcome, especially if you feel more animations are needed to show off the concept, but please limit yourself to only one boss per submission, and one submission per person or team.  
Teams may collaborate on a single entry, but will have to split any prize they might win among themselves the way they see fit.  For team submissions, one team member should be selected to submit the entry, and to receive the prize money.
As all entries must be visible to the public for voting, we'll only accept submissions which would not be considered “offensive” to or “inappropriate” for a general audience.
Any and all art styles are allowed, ranging from the use of 3d pre-rendered bits to old-school hand drawn pixel-art, or anything in-between, just so long as it's animated in Spriter, you're using only original art which no-one else has ownership of (partial or otherwise), and you haven't used any Art Pack content to create your boss.
You may submit animations you've already created, as long as they fit the theme, and you are the owner of the art.
Five cash prizes will be awarded via PayPal, based on the decision of our three judges:
The Grand Prize of $1,000.00 USD Second place Prize of $400.00 USD Third Place Prize of $300.00 USD Fourth Place Prize of $200.00 USD Fifth Place Prize of $100.00 USD
  Our three awesome judges are:

Nick Wozniak, Artist on Shovel Knight ( http://store.steampowered.com/app/250760/ )

Nathan Lavato ( https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gdquest/game-art-quest-make-professional-2d-art-with-krita/description )

Louice Adler, concept and graphic artist at Tripwire Interactive, creators of Killing Floor ( http://www.tripwireinteractive.com/ )
 
Judges will be sent a list to the playlist which includes all entries by Sept 1st. Judging results should be within a few days after that, at which point winners will be contacted and payment of prizes made via PayPal.

Judges will be considering the following attributes (among others) while casting their votes:
Art style and quality Animation (interesting, impressive, lively, etc.) Originality Awesomeness.  
Anyone who makes any attempt to privately communicate with any of the judges before the judging takes place will be automatically disqualified regardless of the content of their communication.  
Any sound effects in the submitted video should originate from the Spriter animation (sound effects should play back with the animation in Spriter) You may have background music as long as either you (or your team) created it or you have the rights to use it. Judging will be based only on visuals (and use of sound effects, if applicable) but not on background music. No post production video effects other than simple fades from one animation to another.  Please avoid any effects that might be mistaken for part of the animation created in Spriter.  

You will be able to submit your entries as replies to a stickied submission thread in our forums starting August 17th.
All entries must be submitted in their completed form by Midnight, August 31st EST.

in the submission thread for how to convert animated gifs exported from Spriter into YouTube videos.  If your animation is too large to export to gifs, you may also submit a screen-recorded video of the animation playing in Spriter.  Please submit as close to the initiial submission date as possible, and if you're having trouble getting your animation on YouTube, contact us at support@brashmonkey.com.
We will also provide required text for you to copy and paste in the video description, which will briefly explain the contest and link to a playlist to allow potential voters to easily discover other submissions.
Winning entries will need to be verified by sending in your Spriter project files.
You retain all ownership and control of your art and animations, but by entering the contest, you give BrashMonkey permission to display your animations for promoting this and future contests, and for contest related purposes such as announcing the winners, etc.

No purchase is necessary. Anyone can create an entry using Spriter Pro or the free Spriter Essentials.
If you have any further questions or comments about this contest, please post them in this thread.
Best of luck to all you great artists, and let the awesome animating begin!
In celebration of the contest, Spriter Pro is on sale in our online store at 50 percent off the retail price by using coupon code: BOSS during your purchase! This sale has been extended to July 26th.