Trogdor
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| Image:Trogdor.png |
| This article is about a character in the Homestar Runner series. |
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Trogdor the Burninator is a vicious dragon that is a part of the Homestar Runner series of animated cartoons. Strong Bad created him when a fan e-mail requested a display of his "skills of an artist". There was some ambiguity introduced by Strong Bad—mostly just confusion over badly-chosen lyrics—that Trogdor might be a man, or perhaps a hybrid dragon-man ("maybe he was just a dragon, but he was still Trogdor").
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Genesis
Trogdor does not interact with the rest of the gang, but is featured in an animated short at the end of the "Dragon" email (which also includes the song "Trogdor," known for its heavy-metal sound and the phrase "And the Trogdor comes in the night!"), and he appears in two video games (Peasant's Quest and Trogdor!) on the site. Trogdor's nefarious deeds consist of "burninating the countryside", "burninating the peasants" and "burninating all the peoples and their thatched-roof cottages."
The design of Trogdor is described by Strong Bad as an S, paired with a "more different S," with "consummate V's" for teeth, angry eyebrows, and "spinities." He also has a "big beefy arm," which "looks good, coming out the back of his neck." Trogdor is also a specific variation on the basic design, called a "wing-a-ling dragon." Much like Strong Bad's attempt at describing his own made-up animal, as well, Trogdor is not the first dragon Strong Bad tried drawing, as the first featured too many beefy appendages. The final version of Trogdor is enhanced by the flames coming from his mouth and the radiant lines around him to represent his majesty.
Other attempts at drawing a dragon were not as well received. Coach Z drew something resembling a giant-headed snake, which Strong Bad criticized for not using consumate V's. Coach Z was further criticized by Strong Bad saying that "[the] Guy wouldn't know majesty if it came up and bit him in the face!". Strong Mad has only managed to carve the word "DAGRON" into the table with a knife, and, in an easter egg, Homsar has managed to write "Taster's Choice" on a piece of paper. When Strong Sad reveals his drawing, enhanced by Chiaroscuro shading, Strong Bad "burninates" it with his BMW lighter.
In the next scene, Chiaroscuro shading is incorporated into the drawing of Trogdor.
Name of the Burninator
Some fans prefer to write his name TROGDOR the BURNiNATOR, as this is the way Strong Bad originally wrote the name on a piece of paper, complete with the uncapitalized "i". The reason that the "i" was uncapitalized is because the font that The Brothers Chaps used for Strong Bad's handwriting, "Ahnberg Hand", does not have a capital "i". However, uncapitalized i's have since appeared in other fonts on the site (such as a store name, "PRiCE STYLE") and have become a running gag.
In a "Happy Trogday" message, Strong Bad incorporates the lowercase "i" by calling him "TROGGiE."
Burninate!
In the game Trogdor!, Trogdor achieves "Burnination" by killing peasants. Once he has managed to crush ten peasants without dying himself—Knights and archers are also out to see him "Sworded" or "Arrowed," respectively—he begins breathing fire, allowing him to burninate both the peasants and the thatched-roof cottages. Sadly, the count goes down for every peasant who makes it back into his cottage, and a burninated peasant does not count toward the next 10-count. When all the thatched-roof cottages are burninated, the game proceeds to the next level.
http://www.homestarrunner.com/trogdor.html
Trogdor's Song
The lyrics to the song are as follows:
Trogdor!
Trogdor!
Trogdor was a man.
I mean, he was a Dragon-man.
Or maybe he was just a Dragon.
Um...but he was still...
Trogdor!
Trogdor!
Burninating the countryside.
Burninating the peasants.
Burninating all the people and the thatched-roof cottages
Thatched roof cottages!
And the Trogdor comes in the
NIGHT!
The inspiration for this song most likely comes from SBEmail #36, "Guitar", which features the lyrics "And the Dragon comes in the NNNNNNNNNIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" (Strong Bad doesn't pronouce the 'T' so he doesn't type it either.)
The version of the song that appears on the CD Strong Bad Sings and Other Type Hits is remixed as a heavy metal song, adds a "dueling" guitar solo (complete with Strong Bad commentary), and the following final verse:
When all the land is in ruin
And burnination has forsaken the countryside
Only one guy will remain
My money's on...
TROGDOR!
TROGDOR!
Later Appearances
After the appearance of Trogdor in the original "Dragon" e-mail, the dragon appeared in various other forms, most notably in video game form, played by characters in the games Trogdor! and Peasant's Quest. Both games are available in Videlectrix form on the "Games" section of the website.
Trogdor has also made an appearance in the preview of a live-action movie made by The Brothers Chaps and their friends. He, however, still remains in animation as he tramples the countryside while "burninating" it all. This movie is the live-action rendition of Peasant's Quest, which involves a peasant named Rather Dashing seeking revenge against Trogdor for "burninating" his thatched-roof cottage.
Strong Bad also considered cashing in on Trogdor's prestige when asked whether he had ever thought of opening a theme park. In Strong Bad's design for "Strong Bad's Mount Ridesplace, USA," the signature ride was to be called The Bowels of Trogdor, which would spin in a circle "until you either throw up or catch on fire somehow."
Trogday
On January 13, 2006, the three-year anniversary of the week Trogdor debuted on the site, a "Happy Trogday" animation was released, featuring fanstuff pictures of Lite-Brite drawings, tattoos, pancakes, license plates and other things inspired by Trogdor. At the end of the animation, Stinkoman rants, saying that those never happened on his birthday last week (which is true, because Stinkoman was created a week earlier than Trogdor), but instead, gets a challenge against "Trogador," a 20X6 version of Trogdor which bears a resemblance to a Chinese dragon,and Stinkoman thinks that was a birthday challenge. The design of Trogador had previously been revealed by the Brothers Chaps at a talk at New York University (NYU) on March 1, 2005, and was originally not set to make an appearance on the website.
Trogdor References
- Trogdor was also mentioned in the final episode of the television series Buffy The Vampire Slayer as a character in a game of Dungeons and Dragons that the cast was playing in the episode. Series creator Joss Whedon is a fan of Homestar Runner, and has been seen wearing a Strong Bad T-shirt (of the same design later seen worn by the character Andrew in the Buffy spin-off Angel).
- In the MMORPG World of Warcraft, "Master Smith Burninate" is a quest-giving NPC at Thorium Point. [1]
- In the video game Guild Wars, you have a chance to learn the spells 'Rodgort's Invocation' and 'Mark of Rodgort', where Rodgort spelled backwards is Trogdor. The name fits perfectly as a fire element skill, as Trogdor is a dragon that breathes fire.
- The word "Burninate" also appears in Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls for Game Boy Advance in one of the bonus dungeons added into the GBA version. In Hellfire Chasm, one of the NPCs says, "This is private property. Trespassers will be burninated!"
- In Kingdom of Loathing, if you attack someone with your Mysticality in a PvP battle you are said to "burninate" your opponent.
- In Brian Clevenger's 8-Bit Theatre, Black Mage imagines Drizz'l's Guardian to look like Trogdor. [2]
- In the Warcraft 3 expansion, Frozen Throne, a soldier guarding the cell occupied by Kael is named Trogdar. He is "burninated' shortly after his introduction by Lady Vashj.
- In the Half-Life modification Counter-Strike, servers running AdminMod occasionally display the message, "(Player 1) was burninated by Trogdor, er by (Player 2)."
- In the Flash animation Decline of Video Gaming 2 created by the Super Flash Bros and Double Helix, if Creator's notes are turned on, then the creator's notes space at the top of the screen should yell BURNINATED during the scene when Tom catches on fire.
- In the online flash game Adventure Quest, when you summon the guardian dragon one of the random quotes he says is BURNINATE!
- Howstuffworks.com now uses the word "burninate." In an article concerning cold heat soldering tools, it is on the caption describing the condition of the solder after being worked with.
- The website Neopets has an avatar with the word "burninate" in it.
- On the Sluggy Freelance website on May 1, 2004, the demon Lord Horribus uses the "Unholy Hand Grenade" (A reference to Monty Python and the Holy Grail.) When it explodes, the screen says, "And all was laid to burnination..."
- Multiple tributes to the song have been made, such as one tribute by Lessthan3 and another by Screaming Monkey Boner.
- Google Page Creator was codenamed "Trogdor".
- In the video game Kingdom Hearts II, one of the boss fights grants you a special attack which involves throwing huge clay urns at the boss. The attack is called "Urninator".
- In the video game The Sims 2, one of the songs you can have on the stereo says "Trogador" in the bizarre language of "Simlish."
- The 13th track of the Planet Smashers album Mighty, "Girl in the Front Row", begins with a band member yelling, "TROGDOR!".
Downloads
- The song is downloadable for Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh on the homestarrunner.com downloads page for free.
- At the website, you can download the actual e-mail for a video iPod. This includes the Homsar easter egg before Strong Sad shows his picture, and a longer ending. It involves the screen of the iPod showing the main menu. Then, Strong Bad's head pops up and starts banging on the screen to get out. He then breaks the iPod screen.
