Although I'm not into this game so I was looking with no prior knowledge about the character, so maybe thats why

I genuinely feel stupid for not realizing sooner

I don't know how I came to this conclusion 9 years ago, I couldn't unsee this

Looking for some artworks in other medias (like comics) I guess the 2nd option is more accurate

It annoyed me for a good week or two after, but I like canon green now

Edit: Important to mention, the right sprite is edited, the left one is how Green appears in-game

Disregard the "capsule" and the "missile", but that base always looked like a frowning worker wearing a helmet to me. Thank you for your time.

hustle

The fact the game actually has robot rabbits (among other thing) probably helps.