Teirusu the fox

The next character in my fanfic, Teirusu the fox. He admires Tails for his inventions, and is an inventor himself. He has a lot of good ideas, but most of them end up blowing up in his face when he actually builds them. He attempted to dye his fur to match his hero's, but it only really stuck to a patch on his bangs.

Now, does he look too much like Tails? Or is the fact that he's the same species as Tails make it an automatic rip-off of Tails?

Drawn on paper, and colored in Photoimpact.