Fictional characters in the Flash web cartoon series Homestar Runner and episodic video game Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People include:[1]
| Creator: | Mike and Matt Chapman |
| Series: | Homestar Runner |
| Multiple: | yes |
| Main 12 Homestar Runner Characters | |
| Homestar Runner | |
| Series: | Homestar Runner |
| First Major: | The Homestar Runner Enters the Strongest Man in the World Contest |
| First Issue: |
|
| First Date: | 1996 |
| Last Issue: | --> |
| Creator: | Mike Chapman Craig Zobel |
| Voice: | Matt Chapman |
| Full Name: | Homestar Michael Runner[2] [3] |
| Species: | Unknown |
| Gender: | Male |
| Occupation: | Varies |
| Significant Other: | Marzipan (on-again, off-again girlfriend) |
| Home: | Free Country, USA |
| Nationality: | American |
Homestar Runner is the title character of the series. A lovable but dense athlete, he has been described by Strong Bad as having an "unbelievably loose grasp on the world around [him]."
Homestar has a white head and a red t-shirt with a white star on it. He either wears long white pants that match his skin tone or no pants at all, and appears to have blue soles on the bottom of his bare feet. He wears a blue hat with a white propeller on the top and a red bill. He lacks visible arms but is nevertheless able to manipulate objects, seemingly through telekinesis.
His naïveté leads him to be the target of pranks by Strong Bad. His best friend is Pom Pom and he is in an on-again-off-again relationship with Marzipan, though both, as well as Strong Bad, are often annoyed by his cluelessness. He speaks with a rhotic voice reminiscent of Elmer Fudd.
See main article: Strong Bad. Strong Bad is the middle child of the three Strong brothers, the others being Strong Sad and Strong Mad. He typically wears a red lucha libre mask, black pants and boxing gloves (with which he can type), but no shirt. Strong Bad is almost always accompanied by his pet/sidekick, The Cheat, often while playing pranks on other characters in the series. He often insults and fights with his younger brother, Strong Sad, and answers emails sent to him by his fans.
Strong Mad is an enormous, hyper-muscular, semi-verbal, usually-angry character (much like Marvel comic's Hulk). He is the eldest of the Brothers Strong; his brothers are Strong Bad and Strong Sad. His best friend is The Cheat, whom he protects with fervor. He often helps Strong Bad commit mischief, harass, and occasionally beat up the other characters. However, he appears to at least try to be friendly to other characters when not being told to harm them by Strong Bad and has proved to possess a sort of childlike innocence. His body is a rectangle, with perfectly square shoulders and no distinct head or neck. He has two dots for eyes and giant, bushy eyebrows. He wears red shoes and a purple wrestler's singlet with a white circle in the front containing a large red M. He generally speaks in short, simple sentences, often quite loudly. He also has a painting of an imp-like creature called a "Rocoulm" in his closet that gives everyone "the Jibblies".[4]
Strong Sad is the younger brother of Strong Bad and Strong Mad. He stands somewhere between Strong Bad and Strong Mad in height, and has large, elephant-like feet he calls "soolnds," which has led Strong Bad to believe he is in some way descended from either elephants or hippopotamuses.[5] His body is round and two shades of gray - a lighter gray from the waist up, a darker gray from the waist down. His head is white and has an odd lump on the top (which Strong Bad refers to as a "disturbing soft serve flip"[6]), and resembles the Manicouagan Reservoir. He is usually very calm and soft-spoken, although he becomes hyperactive when given caffeine (Though curiously, Strong Sad's hyperactivity was caused by Sanka, which is decaffeinated).[7]
He is constantly teased and abused by Strong Bad, who frequently threatens to beat him (and often does). Strong Bad also calls Strong Sad names such as "Dairy Queen", "The Ghost of Christmas Suck", and "Trundle Bed".
In early cartoons, Strong Sad's main defining characteristic is his chronic depression, but he has since been shown to have high levels of intelligence and creativity. His many interests include listening, books, listening to books, calligraphy, being alone and arts and crafts. Strong Sad also enjoys playing board games, and he seems to enjoy going to science-fiction and fantasy conventions. His isolation has led him to explore his creativity, which is evident in his description of his fictional folk hero Saddy Dumpington.[8]
The Cheat is Strong Bad's sidekick/pet and Strong Mad's best friend. He stands at knee-height to most other characters and is covered with yellow fur with prominent black spots. His arms resemble flippers and he does not have any visible legs, appearing to crawl around on a single snail-like foot. It is not known what type of animal The Cheat is; he seems to be an unknown species. The Cheat lives in The King of Town's grill, which, according to Strong Sad, is a nice place. He can play multiple instruments, such as the flute, drums, and keyboard, and often makes amateur Flash animations that he calls "Powered by The Cheat". In the original book, he helped Strong Bad cheat in the Strongest Man in the World contest, which gave him his name. He is always referred to as The Cheat, not just Cheat, even when being spoken to.[9]
The Cheat usually speaks in a language consisting entirely of high-pitched squeaks and growls, which the other characters seem to be perfectly able to understand. Subtitles are used whenever The Cheat talks to the camera alone. Though, he can apparently speak proper English when acting for his animations.[10] When doing so, he voiced by Mike Chapman. The Cheat sounds rather full of himself, complimenting himself several times in the majority of his animations and is also often quite aggressive towards others, threatening to bite or throw things.
Marzipan is the only major female character in Homestar Runner. She has a handbell-shaped body with her face on the surface of the "handle". Her eyes consist of two black circles of different sizes. Her mouth is usually seen in a slight curve. She wears her hair in a golden blonde haired ponytail, and is almost always seen wearing a purple dress embellished with white trim and gold buttons, along with a matching hair band. Like Homestar Runner, she does not appear to have visible arms. Nevertheless, she is still able to pick up and handle objects without any hint of difficulty. She is voiced by Missy Palmer and is one of the few characters not voiced by Matt Chapman.
Marzipan is Homestar's on-again, off-again girlfriend, frequently breaking up with him due to his insensitive behavior and obliviousness to her needs before later getting back together with him. She is essentially a "hippie chick", demonstrated in her trait of being vegan; she describes herself as a “fiercely independent woman”. She spends much of her time singing and playing her guitar and is lead singer and guitarist in a band called Cool Tapes. She often tends to fight for political correctness and environmentalism, but at times can be hypocritical. Like Strong Bad, she has her own segment called Marzipan's Answering Machine, where the other characters leave messages (and oftentimes prank calls) on her answering machine.
Bubs is a businessman who owns Bubs' Concession Stand, which offers a constantly changing variety of goods and services. He has a round blue head with mismatched eyes (his right eye is white with a blue iris while his left is simply a black dot). His upper body is orange, and his upper limbs resemble sea lion flippers. He has a green stripe around his middle which, according to Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, is a belt, and his lower half is colored dark gray. He speaks with a thick Southern accent.
Always ready to make a quick buck, Bubs will sell anything, including letters off the sign on his stand. Besides the Concession Stand, he seems to run a few other businesses on the side, many of which are extremely shady in nature. This includes performing almost any service that someone wants done, such as being a "questionable doctor" or a "paranormal investigator." It is implied that he is often involved in destroying and/or covering up evidence of crimes.[11] His best friend appears to be Coach Z, although the coach often gets on his nerves. He has an alter ego of "the Thnikkaman", though nobody (with the occasional exception of Homestar) knows that the Thnikkaman is just Bubs in sunglasses with a piece of paper taped to his chest that says "tH".
Coach Z is the eccentric "coach" of the residents of Free Country, USA, though it is unclear exactly what he coaches other than "all the big sports". He has a strong North Dakota accent, which sometimes gets him into trouble and is thought to be fake,[12] and frequently mispronounces words to increasingly ludicrous degrees. He wears a blue and purple baseball cap and a large gold "Z" emblem around his waist, but it is unclear whether his bright green color is his skin or a body suit.
Coach Z also seems to have neurocognitive problems, as evidenced by his time spent "talking to his parents" on a disconnected telephone, and claiming to be a mother. He has even stated on one occasion that he sometimes "forgets what's real, and what's just in [his] head". He also has trouble managing his money, causing his electricity to be shut off one year. He is quite lonely and has an unrequited crush on Marzipan, very often making inappropriate romantic gestures to her, especially on her answering machines. What's more, he is also known to get drunk off of Listerine and has been sent to prison at least twice.[13] [14] Coach Z is very fond of hip-hop and often refers to it in conversation. He is also an aspiring rapper, recording several songs, including "These Peoples Try to Fade Me", "Hip-Hop Dance", "Rap Song" (a collaboration with in-universe musicians Peacey P and Tenerence Love), and "Fish Eye Lens (ft. Strong Bad)".
Pom Pom is a creature known as a Pom from the Isle of Pom. His body consists of a yellow sphere with an orange stripe. His oval head, triangular arms and feet are the same color orange. Pom Pom's eyes are black ovals and he has no visible mouth. He talks by making bubbling noises that only the other characters can understand and can absorb objects into his body for storage. Along with The Cheat (when voicing his animations), Marzipan and the Poopsmith, Pom Pom is the only main character not voiced by Matt Chapman; his 'voice' is a recycled sound clip of Mike Chapman blowing bubbles in milk. Pom Pom is Homestar Runner's best friend, but he sometimes hangs out with Strong Bad as well. He first appeared alongside Homestar Runner, Strong Bad, and The Cheat in the original “The Homestar Runner Enters the Strongest Man In the World Contest” book and won the titular contest, but has since taken a more background role to the other characters. It has been hinted that Pom Pom is a superb athlete, martial artist, comes from a rich family, and has a myriad of girlfriends. He makes a cameo in the beginning cutscene of Poker Night at the Inventory, leaving a previous poker game as you arrive.
The King of Town is the self-proclaimed ruler of Free Country, USA. His head is completely white, with black lines for eyes, a mustache and a beard. He wears a gold crown and what appears to be a red robe with white trim. He is a known glutton that will eat almost anything in front of him, including items like hairspray and entire sticks of butter. Apparently, the only foods he doesn't like are those which contain peas. He lives in a medieval-style castle and employs many people to work for him, most notably the Poopsmith.
The Poopsmith is a character whose job is to be the King of Town's "poopsmith", although it is never explained what this job actually entails or why the King of Town actually needs one. His body is peach-colored and egg-shaped, and he has thin blue stem-like legs and a white face with mismatched eyes and serious prognathism. He is always seen wearing a pair of orange neoprene gloves stained with "whatsit", a substance which has been heavily implied to be feces, and he carries a large garden shovel used to dig through the piles of whatsit that appear outside the King's castle.
The Poopsmith has taken a vow of silence and therefore almost never speaks. He does occasionally hold up signs to communicate and is sometimes seen poking his shovel as a gesture. However, in "email thunder", the 200th Strong Bad Email, he breaks his vow to sing the opening song, and speaks again in "Marzipan's Answering Machine 17.2" when calling Marzipan to complain about his job.[15] In these instances, he is voiced by John Linnell of They Might Be Giants.
Homsar is an enigmatic character with red shoes, a blue shirt and a bowler hat. His speech consists almost entirely of non sequiturs. It is revealed in Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People that Homsar is actually an intelligent being, with his way of speaking being a unique language. However, he has also shown to be capable of speaking coherently over Marzipan's answering machine, during which he refers to his usual manner of speaking as "garbage."[16] He seems to have the super power of being able to break the laws of physics, and is commonly seen levitating or causing his hat to levitate. He was created when a fan accidentally misspelled Homestar Runner's first name as "homsar" in the second Strong Bad Email.
Senor Cardgage is a character who looks like a taller Strong Bad with a protruding gut, goatee, glasses, and a comb-over. He first appeared in the Strong Bad Email "kind of cool" when Strong Bad was asked if he wasn't the "stylish, buff, handsome man in a wrestling mask" that he claims he is. He usually speaks in a way that is "almost one word and not quite another." Although Strong Bad seems to admire him, most of the other characters find him creepy and off-putting. Despite his frequent appearances, Senor Cardgage is not one of the twelve main characters, and as such does not have his own character video.
The Teen Girl Squad is the titular cast of a comic series drawn by Strong Bad. They often hang out, trying to complete whatever teen girl cliché is thrown at them. They are often killed in bizarre and gruesome ways. They were introduced in the Strong Bad Email "comic", after a fan asked Strong Bad to make a comic based on her friends. The members of the squad are: