List of Homestar Runner characters
From Free net encyclopedia
Homestar Runner characters include numerous recurring people, places, phrases, ideas, and even times.
| Image:Homestar Runner group shot (updated).png |
| This article is about a character in the Homestar Runner series. |
Principal characters
Others More... |
People
Principal Characters
- Homestar Runner - an unintelligent but usually good-natured athlete, and the nominal star of the series.
- Strong Bad - Homestar Runner's nemesis, although Homestar doesn't realize it. Answers viewer email on a near-weekly basis. Self-proclaimed "cool guy". Has boxing gloves for hands and a Mexican wrestling mask for a face.
- The Cheat - Strong Bad's fuzzy yellow lackey. Speaks in strange sounds, which few can understand.
- Strong Mad - Strong Bad's older brother. The biggest, strongest, least intelligent, and loudest character.
- Strong Sad - Strong Bad's whiny and depressed little brother.
- Pom Pom - Homestar's round and orange best friend. Moves by bouncing on his two stub-like feet, and talks in a "bubble" sound. Often seen on a cell phone, talking to women.
- Marzipan - Homestar's girlfriend, and the only female in the cast. Often noted for extreme liberal views, criticizing seemingly innocent behaviors with encouraging violence.
- Bubs - Local businessman and concession stand operator, constantly trying to trick people out of money.
- Coach Z - Sports coach and amateur hip-hop artist with something of a speech impediment, unable to say the word "job", replacing it with "jerb", "jeorb", and "JEAAOEARRB!".
- King of Town - Ruler of Free Country USA, or so he says - he actually just got a Burger King Crown and asked everyone to call him the King of Town. According to an old character overview in the museum, he is Marzipan's Dad. His most notable feature is his gluttony, often consuming large piles of salt in seconds, eating cocoa butter, and butter sticks whole.
- The Poopsmith - Silent excrement-shoveler for the King of Town. "The Poopsmith's job is obvious." —"A Jorb Well Done"
- Homsar - A walking enigma who communicates in non-sequiturs, such as "I'm a song from the 60's". Created from a misspelling in an email to Strong Bad.
Trogdor the Burninator
Trogdor the Burninator is a dragon created by Strong Bad while answering an email. Trogdor exists primarily as a video game character within the Homestar Runner world. Distinguishing characteristics include his S-shaped body, one beefy human arm, hopelessly tiny "wing-a-lings" at the top curve of his body, consummate Vs for scales and teeth, and a penchant for incinerating ("burninating") the countryside, peasants, and thatched-roof cottages.
Senor Cardgage
Senor Cardgage first appeared in Strong Bad Email #92, "Kind of Cool". Strong Bad was trying to represent what he would be if he were an ugly, dumpy guy with a bad comb-over. It turns out Strong Bad's fictional character is actually a guy who lived down the street from the Brothers Strong when they were little; he gave Strong Sad nightmares and Strong Bad a hero to worship. He's a little taller, fatter, and with more facial hair than Strong Bad. He's the kinda cool where he walks around with an Aldi shopping bag filled with an unknown substance, has little regard for personal space in lines, and creeps out of bushes conspicuously as other characters walk by; because "he's so cool you don't even know he's cool." He uses female names for everyone, regardless of their gender. He also, according to Homestar, smells like pea soup. He constantly mumbles and combines words into new ones like 'excardon me' and 'no probalo.' He also owns his own mortgage company - Senor Cardgage Mortgage. He also appears in the "Senorial Day" cartoon playing a car salesman. His other appearances include the 100th email, "Flashback" as an Easter egg at the end, "HomestarRunner.com PAY PLUS!", Strong Bad Email #129, "Garage Sale", and Strong Bad Email #149, "Candy Product". He just appeared again in Strong Bad Email #150, "Alternate Universe".
- Senor Cardgage's first appearance
- 100th Email(Easter Egg)
- Senor Cardgage's Mortgage Commercial
- HomestarRunner.com PAY PLUS!
- Garage Sale
- Senorial Day
- Candy Product
- Alternate Universe
- HRWiki entry on Senor Cardgage
Marshie the Marshmallow
Homestar Runner had a job in a marshmallow commercial for Fluffy Puff Marshmallows. He could not remember his lines, and lost his job to a talking marshmallow named Marshie. This has resulted in some resentment from Homestar, although he seems to dislike the character on its own merits as well. Marshie is a relatively odd character; his advertisements are forceful, abrupt, surprising, and sometimes disturbing.
Limozeen
Limozeen is a parody of 1980s hair metal bands. Unlike other characters in the Homestar Runner universe, they usually appear in the form of live action, real-life actors.
Limozeen consists of Larry, Gary, Perry, and Mary Palaroncini. It is also one of Free Country USA's hottest musical acts. Strong Bad is a huge fan of Limozeen and may have come up with their name while answering an e-mail asking for good band names (other suggestions were "Bigg Nife", "Lazor", and "Taranchula", and a cool last name. Some of his examples were: Van Halen, Dokken, and Z'Nuff). Limozeen reportedly plays live shows at events in Strong Badia, and the band contributed two tracks to the recent CD Strong Bad Sings (and other type hits): "NITE MAMAS" and their megahit "Because It's Midnite", and also produced the lyric-absent "Feed the Childrens" and "Living It Up (Being a Box)". Limozeen also had a short-lived Saturday morning cartoon show that was cancelled during its pilot episode. Strong Bad seems to be a friend of Larry and they talk through webcam instant messaging, and Larry apparently likes to play MMORPGs and has his own guild. You can contact Larry by adding ladeezluvlarry71 to your AIM buddy list.
Taranchula
Taranchula is a death metal band, introduced in the Strong Bad email "band names". Their song called "Moving Very Slowly" is in Strong Bad Sings (and other type hits), and their music video is in the Strong Bad email DVD, strongbad email.exe. Taranchula consists of three apparently Scandinavian members: Dave Bjornborg, Dave Oalfstensten, and Shenkel McDoo. They are also the hosts of the Half-Hour Death Metal Dungeon Hour music television show.
Leomard "Lem" Sportsinterviews
Leomard "Lem" Sportsinterviews is an author and director who writes various books and magazines. He is never seen in the cartoons, but his name is repeatedly cited. His first name is often misspelled as "Leonard." He wrote "This Book is Better Than First, Second, and Quite Possibly Even Third Base" and "Why People in Hollywood Ought to Give Me $5,760." He also owns the credit card that appears on the ATM card in the "Downloads" section. He is also the author of the children's books "Everyone is Different" and "That Time of Year" (both of which have been parodied by Strong Bad). In addition to all that he co-authored "The Castlefunnies", a syndicated comic strip purported to have featured The King of Town and The Poopsmith (renamed "Mushy Chamberpot" to appease censors), as well as cameo appearances from Strong Bad and Homestar.
Lem's other professional accomplishments include writing the rules for the card game "Three-to-one marny" and directing the movie version of "Peasant's Quest,"
The Goblin
A small, green creature that was originally created in a Halloween cartoon as part of a ghost story. Interestingly, it later appeared and interacted in the same world as the main characters. It appears mostly in Halloween cartoons and communicates by dancing and making an organ-like sound. It has only worn a costume twice, the first one being an exact replica of Strong Bad (as "the bee"), and the second time as "A Santaman".
The Fhqwhgads Robot
The Fhqwhgads Robot was introduced alongside the Goblin in the Homestarloween Party cartoon. The Fhqwhgads Robot then appeared in Teen Girl Squad #1 and then was featured in the music video for Everybody to The Limit. He is also a "satisfied customer" of Senor Cardgage Mortgage.
Saddy Dumpington
A creation of Strong Sad used to avoid climbing a rope for Coach Z, Saddy Dumpington was a folk-tale character bearing a strong resemblance to a happier, rural Strong Sad. He tried spreading happiness wherever he went, but he always managed to say the wrong thing, and is banished from the village. He is called back to the village on account of populace being uncontrollably happy. He is instructed to make the village gloomy again, but when he dresses up as a purple snake named Weird Snake Joe, he tries to be depressing and bad, but instead, he goes vice versa and makes the villagers pass out of laughter for the rest of their lives. He is also rumoured to be friends with Johnny Appleseed.
Saddy Dumpington was a product of the highly overlooked blog, Strong Sad's Lament. In it, Strong Sad explains how if he lived the late 18th century, he would have made sure he and Johnny Appleseed were best friends. He then goes on to make fun of Johnny Appleseed and then moves onto Francis Scott Key. The cartoon featuring Saddy Dumpington was released over a year after this article.
The Dancing Brothers
The Dancing Brothers- Glenn, Martbell, and The Killer Dynamo- appear in the story of Saddy Dumpington every time Coach Z makes an interruption. The trio dances to a background song with the lyrics "gonna have a good time tonight/gonna have a real good time tonight." Strong Sad ends these interruptions with the brothers' broken shoes and their coma-inducing allergy to foxes.
Señor and Mr. Bland
Señor Havin' a Little Trouble and Mr. Bland, one being a short blue guy, the other, having his head being a prototype for Strong Sad's, are two characters that were shown at the start of it all, the kid's book, but were crushed by a falling Bubs' Concession Stand in the Strong Bad Email "Origins". They originally appeared in a children's book written by Mike Chapman and Craig Zobel, which is about Homestar Runner and Strong Bad taking part in the 'strongest man in the world' contest.
Nebulon
Nebulon is a green, bug-eyed alien who often appears in cartoons with scenes set in space. The Cheat appears to bear some animosity toward Nebulon, as evidenced in the Powered By The Cheat cartoon, New Boots.
The Thnikkaman
Basically Bubs with sunglasses and a sign saying "TH" on his chest. His arrival is usually accompanied with a lyrical call of "Here comes the Thnikkaman!" He has no particular relevance to the site and is most memorable for his famous line, "Yeah, shut up, kid!" He was first featured in the Strong Bad e-mail "monument".
Eh! Steve
Image:Eh! Steve.png Eh! Steve is a character in the Sweet Cuppin' Cakes subcartoon of the Homestar Runner series of animated cartoons. Eh! Steve is a small light-brown guy with triangular eyes, a curly mouth and a Greek key pattern across his waist. The Wheelchair hates Eh! Steve, because he stole a date with cheerleader from the Teen Girl Squad. The Wheelchair is seen chasing Eh! Steve and vowing "I'll get you Eh! Steve, if its the last thing I do!" Eh! Steve has also made cameo appearances in other Homestar Runner cartoons, usually when Strong Bad answers an e-mail from a person named "Steve".
The Wheelchair
The Wheelchair was created by Strong Bad of the internet cartoon series Homestar Runner in his "kah-razy" cartoon. He is voiced by Bubs and chases Eh! Steve around in every episode of Sweet Cuppin' Cakes.
Although his rivalry with Eh! Steve is never explained, Eh! Steve always seems to be getting under his skin somehow, whether he stole the Wheelchair's date for the dance from him (although it seems she was never his date to begin with) or getting into his pot of "burled holiday cabbage". The Wheelchair vows he'll get revenge on Eh! Steve someday.
Some of his quotes include:
- I'll get you Eh! Steve, if it's the last thing I doooo!
- Eh! Steve! Get yo sassy-frass out my burled holiday cabbaaaage!
Places
Free Country USA
The Homestar Runner cartoons are set in a fictitious land called Free Country USA. The King of Town supposedly rules all or part of this region, although rumors have spread that the King may simply have bought his crown at a costume shop. Tourist attractions in Free Country USA (as seen in the Strong Bad Email "Vacation") include the Great Mound, Pantsburg, The Clock, Two Cars and Over There. Places called Ohio and Tennessee also appear to exist. It apparently has a wharf that Marzipan wants to "free the baby seals" from.
Neighboring countries include Dortugal, Prance, Potamia, and the Dortugal Congo.
Strong Badia
Strong Badia exists as a field behind a dumpster, with a permanent population of a single tire. Outstanding features of the field include a white fence, a stop sign, and a cinder block. It also includes a spring loaded paper cutout of a bear holding a shark to scare The Cheat away. Strong Badia's flag consists of a red, white, and brown background featuring a tire with a snake going through it in the foreground. The snake's tail is coiled around a combat knife. Strong Badia is alternately described as a country and a kingdom; in either case, Strong Bad is the unquestioned ruler. Strong Badia has its own space program, the Strong Badian Administration of Some Aluminum Foil (SBASAF).
In an early Strong Bad email, Strong Bad claimed he has ruled the field since "diaper school". A later cartoon contradicts this by claiming the land was purchased from Bubs a few years earlier so Strong Bad could put ketchup on eggs without being persecuted.
One Strong Bad email depicts the ghost of Strong Bad's obsolete and broken Tandy-like computer haunting the "kingdom".
In another e-mail entitled 'Army', Homestar offers Strong Bad the chance to join the "Homestarmy", which will shortly be invading Strong Badia. Unsurprisingly, Strong Bad rejects the chance to invade his own "country". The "Homestarmy" [consisting of Homestar, Strong Sad, Homsar, the painting of a guy with a big knife (from the e-mail I Love You), and a popcorn popper named "Frank Benedetto"] attempts to carry out the invasion nonetheless. When Strong Bad refuses to allow the invasion (he and Strong Mad were thinking about playing badminton), "Col-o-nel" Homestar and his three-man army are forced into full retreat (with Strong Bad kicking "Benedetto" off the battlefield). This is the only recorded attempt at invading Strong Badia.
The Stick
A few sketches, most notably the cartoon Where's the Cheat?, feature characters meeting at a mundane-looking stick in the ground. Strong Bad has revealed that he would like The Stick to be a large man-eating tree. The stick is also a DJ as revealed in the secret invitation hidden at the end of SB email #45, "Techno." The 123rd SB e-mail, origins, discussed the Stick's "hangingoutitude," starting with Homestar's weekly bread singalongs.
Crazy Go Nuts University (CGNU)
A fictional correspondence school run by Strong Bad. It has a mascot called "The Dumple" (initially Strong Bad's misspelling of "dumpling"), and a "Golf Club Team", which participates in a strange sport that consists of The Cheat whacking things with a golf club. The motto for the University is "The future is you....probably."
Their fight song:
Fighting, and sometimes striving
Wondering what the Dumple is
Excellence, and what is valor?
And The Cheat will hit stuff with a golf club!
C! G! N! ... U!
Marshmallow's Last Stand
Although not seen often, this place is where Homestar is seen talking to Strong Bad on the Homestar Runner toon "Interview." It is also seen in the SB Email "date," where Strong Bad secretly spies on Marzipan and Homestar on a date and the odd conversations that follow.
Club Technochocolate
The name for this dance club comes from an e-mail in which Strong Bad referenced the Atzec's technochocolate. The Cheat has DJ'ed there at least once, with his remix of the Get Up Noise. Also, when Strong Bad got a pair of tricked out boots with flashing lights, he headed down to the club to pick up ladies.
Time periods
20X6
Image:Stlunko.PNG The Stinkoman series began when Strong Bad was asked in an email what he would be like as a "Japanese cartoon". Stinkoman is Strong Bad drawn as a stereotypical anime character. The spinoff is set in the future year 20X6 (A parody of 20X5 from Metroid, or of Mega Man's frequent 20XX time periods), and the other characters also have 20X6 counterparts, including Homestar Runner (a kid named 1-Up with a completely different voice), Pom Pom (a panda, called "Pan Pan"), Coach Z (very similar to the normal version) and The Cheat (with big blue eyes and a tiny mouth). 20X6 is pronounced as Twenty-Exty-Six.
While Stinkoman does not rely on any single source for parody, many references are made to "fighting anime" shows (such as Dragon Ball Z) and the graphical styles of early Mega Man games. The theme music for Stinkoman is actually "fast music" from Squaresoft (Now Square Enix)'s early NES title, Rad Racer.
Old Timey Homestar, 1936
The Homestar Runner, drawn in the style of a 1936 "car-toon". The other characters appear in 1936 as well. Marzipan is still Homestar's girlfriend, Fat Dudley (Pom Pom) is his best friend, and Sir Strong Bad is exasperated at people who send him telegrams to ask how he operates the "telegramophone whilst wearing gentleman's sport gloves".
Even minor character Marshie has appeared "in the past", as Mr. Shmallow, a more reserved advertising mascot.
The music for the 1936 cartoon "Ballad of the Sneak" -- Who's the jaunty jackanapes with moxie and pizazz? -- was provided by Virginia-based a cappella group Da Vinci's Notebook.
Comparison chart
| Character | Old-Timey Counterpart | 20X6 Counterpart |
|---|---|---|
| Strong Bad | Sir Strong Bad | Stinkoman |
| The Cheat | The Sneak | [The Cheat on new Games Page] |
| Homestar Runner | The Homestar Runner | 1-Up |
| Marzipan | Marzipan | [Anime girl on 20X6 main page, animated like Chun Li from Street Fighter II] |
| Strong Mad | The Strong Man | [no appearance] |
| Strong Sad | Sickly Sam | [no appearance] |
| Pom Pom | Fat Dudley | Pan Pan (A Panda) |
| The King of Town | The Kaiser | [no appearance] |
| The Poopsmith | "The Demon" | Sticklyman (unconfirmed) |
| Coach Z | "The Fort Wayne Locomotive" | [Coach Z on new Games Page] (possibly the end boss of Stinkoman 20X6, unconfirmed) |
| Bubs | "Parsnip Salesman" | [no appearance] |
| Homsar | [no appearance] | [no appearance] |
| Marshie | Mr. Shmallow | [no appearance] |
| "The Announcer" | "The Barbershop Trio" | [no appearance] |
| Trogdor | [no appearance] | Trogador [appeared in "Happy Trogday"] |
| Fhqwhgads Robot | [no appearance] | Stlunko(?) |
Companies
Fluffy Puff Marshmallows
A brand of marshmallows in the Homestar Runner universe. The mascot is a talking marshmallow named Marshie, who replaced Homestar Runner. Among the products are Fluffy Puff Marshmallows, Fluffy Puff Marshmallow Mayonnaise, Fluffy Puff Malloweens, and Fluffy Puff Bite-Sized Nibblers.
The motto for the marshmallows and mayonnaise is "Made from the best stuff", and the motto for the Malloweens is "They Taste the Same, But Look Different!"
Cheap as Free
Cheap as Free is a fictional Homestar Runner brand name. It is found on such "products" as: Strong Bad Sings, Everyone is Different (see Lem Sportsinterviews), the Christmas tree found in "The Best Decemberween Ever", the Cheat "Firebert" action figure found in email #93, Action Figures found in the store, and the grapple hook in the cartoon "Shopping for Danger".
Videlectrix
Videlectrix is a fictional company that ostensibly makes all of the 80's-style video games featured on the site. Videlectrix has reputedly made games on a number of platforms, including the "Funmachine" (ex. Secret Collect), the "Super Funmachine" (Rhinofeeder), the "Compydore 64" (Population Tire), arcade cabinets (Trogdor), Game & Watch-like LCD handhelds (Pigs on Head), and personal computers (Thy Dungeonman).
Recently a Videlectrix website was set up at videlectrix.com. Their games are scattered throughout the Homestar Runner site, particularly on the games page and at the end of E-mail #94.
Videlectrix was recently showcased as a real video gaming company on G4techTV (now known as G4) which featured the host of the show going to Videlectrix's headquarters, a dubious front office with freshly painted tacky blue walls and the not-so-professional owner of Videlectrix, to speak about their games. After speaking with the owner of Videlectrix, it became apparent that it was not, in fact, a professional organization, as the owner looked very uneasy about the cameras invading the organization unannounced. The owner thanked the host for interviewing him, and disappeared into the back. When the host returned the next day to follow up, the office had vanished, as if the building had never been there.
The company's slogan is "We use computers...to make video games!"
Thorax Corporation
Thorax Corporation, LLC,,. is a fictional company created by The Brothers Chaps. Many of the Easter eggs and inside jokes on the Homestar Runner site refer to the company, even though it seems to exist in a separate universe.
From the Thorax Corporation website, it is hard to tell exactly what the company does. The site is intentionally filled with blurry and pixelated images, misspellings, ambiguous information, and HTML errors. The company seems to be run by the Delabor family, including Gent, Rode, Leg, Sted, and El Delabor.
Holidays
Many standard US holidays exist in the Homestar Runner world. Special cartoons have been made for April Fool's Day, Mother's Day, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving. One year the Super Bowl managed to qualify as a holiday.
By far the most frequently celebrated holidays on the site are Halloween and Decemberween.
Halloween
An annual tradition on the Homestar Runner site is the production of a special Halloween cartoon. In these cartoons, all of the main characters appear in costume. Typical costumes include musicians, television characters, cartoon characters, and advertising mascots, usually popular characters from the 1970s, 80s and 90s.
Decemberween
A fictional holiday that occurs fifty-five days after Halloween, which happens to be December 25. However, in 2004, a collection of Decemberween cartoons were released in July.
It's essentially Christmas, only without any religious connotations. The fact that the both Christmas and Decemberween fall on the same day and feature many of the same aspects is never mentioned. Marzipan disapproves of Decemberween, on the grounds that it kills bunnies (which are eaten in lieu of turkeys), and that the holiday is too commercialized. She does, however, expect Homestar to provide gifts.
The origin of Decemberween is partially shown in the cartoon A Decemberween Pageant. According to the pageant, the first Decemberween involves an attempt by Doctor Christmas to raise funds from the King of Town, a sailor named Archibald fighting a giant squid, a trip by "the Angel" and The Popular Vote to Paris, and Archibald and Doctor Christmas fighting to the death on Mount Rushmore.
Games
Numerous games have appeared on the Homestar Runner website during its existence. The earliest games had only simple point and click gameplay, but more recent games have taken on the style of 1980s Atari, NES, and computer releases.
Complete descriptions of all Homestar Runner games can be found at the Homestar Runner Wiki's Games page.
Pigs on Head
Pigs on Head is a video game which involves stacking pigs up on your head. The game was originally played by Strong Bad in email #71, as he was waiting for the 2003 "Ladies Choice Awards" to start, but has since been made into a "handheld LCD" version available on the Web.
Thy Dungeonman
In email #94, Strong Bad was asked to come up with how he would be represented in a video game. Of the four video games dreamed up, "Thy Dungeonman" was the penultimately primitive: a text-based adventure game. "Thy Dungeonman" has little to do with Strong Bad; rather, it chooses to make fun of text adventure games, most notably with a phrase that has become household among H*R fans: "Get ye flask." (When attempting to 'get ye flask,' players are told that task is impossible, but are given no explanation why -- and, as Strong Bad quips, "there certainly aren't any precious 'graphics' to help you out!") In the subsequent weeks, the Brothers Chaps released "Thy Dungeonman 2", which is much more in-depth than (though just as humorous and impossibly confusing as) the original "Thy Dungeonman."
Peasant's Quest
Released August 2004, the title was created in the style of the adventure games of the 1980s and early 1990s such as Sierra On-Line's King's Quest. The game follows the adventures of Rather Dashing, a peasant wearing short pants whose thatched-roof cottage was burninated by the dragon Trogdor.
A live-action movie trailer detailing many events of the game was released during Super Bowl XXXIX's halftime on February 6, 2005.
Stinkoman 20X6
Released on March 21, 2005 with only the first three levels playable. Additional levels were released individually over a period of several months, and number 9 as of early September, 2005. 20X6's look and gameplay is similar to that of early Megaman games, and feature text-driven cutscenes similar to those in Ninja Gaiden.