World of Homestar Runner
Homestar Runner characters include numerous recurring people, places, phrases, ideas, and even times.
People
Pom-Pom
Homestar Runner's best pal is Pom-Pom, who looks much like a big orange-and-yellow Mandelbrot set. Pom-Pom is possibly the smartest character of the bunch, with the possible exception of Strong Sad, but only his friends can understand Pom-Pom's bubbly voice. He likes to hang out with Homestar Runner and Strong Bad, although not necessarily both at the same time. On more than one occasion, Pom-Pom foils Strong Bad's plan to cheat Homestar. Pom-Pom comes from a land called the Isle of Pom, where he has 27 girlfriends and a dog named Trivia Time.
Strong Sad
Not to be confused with his two Strong brothers, Strong Sad is the Eeyore of the group. A large white-and-grey lump with elephant feet, he listens to gothic music and speaks in a thoroughly gloomy tone. He is represented as both intellectual and creative (his drawing of a dragon in a Strong Bad e-mail is very artistic), but his genius is usually overwhelmed by his depression. Strong Mad, The Cheat and especially Strong Bad like to pick on him for any reason they can think of (and probably a few non-reasons as well), and are constantly finding new ways to injure or humiliate him, a frequent source of gags in Strong Bad E-mails. He has never really overcome his youth as the picked-on little brother, and accepts his torment at the hands of his brothers without complaint.
The Cheat
The Cheat (whose name is "The Cheat", with the grammatical article) is Strong Bad's partner in crime. He's a little furry yellow creature who, true to his name, is always looking for a way to cheat, or to help someone else on a scheme. His appearance has been described as a cross between a Pikachu and a wedge of cheese. The Cheat speaks entirely in a language of high-pitched squeaks and growls, which Strong Bad can understand. The Cheat is most often seen hanging around Strong Mad, who, it is claimed, helps protect him from large predators.
The Cheat uses his computer (an iMac lookalike) to makes music videos and sketches for the other characters. In fact, The Cheat's computer happens to be the most powerful computer in the Homestar Runner Universe. As Strong Bad once commented, "Your computer is too much computer and too little typewriter", after attempting to open the e-mail by writing "strongbad_email.exe" in the OS. The Cheat's animation is drawn in its own distinctively crude style. Some sources say it is the animation style used by The Brothers Chaps before they settled on the current design.
Coach Z
Coach Z is the coach of the athletic team Homestar and his friends are on. It is not clear what kind of sport this is - while played on a football field, it also involves basketball hoops and a baseball being kicked around. Coach Z's primary gag is his thick and incomprehensible accent, in which, for example, the word "job" comes across as "jaerrrrrrrrrrrb". He lives in a locker room, and claims to have been a hip-hop star in his home country and is a fan of the Wu-Tang Clan.
Strong Mad
The biggest and strongest of the Brothers Strong, Strong Mad has the size, strength, and oratory skills of an ogre. He is The Cheat's best friend and has very fond feelings for him, and very few feelings (besides anger) for anyone and anything else.
Strong Mad is generally depicted as having low intelligence, but nobody really wants to tell him that. Strong Bad famously tells his brother to draw a dragon, only to tell him to "Just keep doin' your thing, man" after discovering Strong Man carving the word "DAGRON" into his desk.
The King of Town
The overweight and mustachioed "K. of T." lives in a castle; however, Strong Bad remarks, possibly even truthfully, that the King really lives in a two-bedroom house next door to his castle. The King, despite his title, appears to be ruler of nothing he surveys: he's the kind of guy who would simply proclaim himself the King, and everybody humors him. The King's most notable attribute is that he will eat just about everything he can get his hands on (although, like Homestar Runner and Marzipan, he doesn't seem to actually have hands or arms). He also employs the Poopsmith to shovel poop at the castle for "reasons [the King doesn't] care to disclose". The King of Town has his own website, which nobody visits, and his own answering machine, although nobody ever calls him. Bubs sold him Strong Bad's old Tandy 400 computer, which refuses to work, and therefore the King cannot check the e-mail that he never gets. Despite -- or because of -- his overwhelming unpopularity within the cartoons themselves, he does have a fan following.
Bubs
Bubs runs the concession stand on the side of the field. Bubs loves muscle cars and Spike Lee movies. He also is a handyman. He once made a Strong Bad robot out of a Speak-and-Spell toy and a box of Grape Nuts cereal, and once built a working hot rod out of a pumpkin. He enjoys dance music and goes to night school at Disco Tech. He helps Strong Bad solve a common problem with VCRs where the time flashes 12:00 to indicate it is not set.
Bubs and Coach Z show up in sketches where a large number of characters are required, usually at a party. Bubs and Coach Z appear to hang out together when they aren't working, but this is implied rather than explicitly shown.
Bubs also has an alter-ego called the "Thnikkaman" (pronounced "SNEAK-uh-man"), so far only seen in email #97. The Thnikkaman consists of Bubs wearing sunglasses and a sign with "TH" written on it taped to his chest. He is accompanied by voices calling "Here comes the Thnikkaman!" on his arrival and "There goes the Thnikkaman!" on his departure. His only notable action is that he says "Shut up, kid!" He is regarded by the other characters as "cool", but for no apparent reason: his coolness is self-evident to them.
The Poopsmith
The Poopsmith is employed by the King of Town for reasons the King prefers not to discuss: he shovels poop all day long. As a result, he smells terrible, which Strong Bad would regard as an understatement. Strong Bad refuses to play any pranks on the Poopsmith, because he feels his job renders The Poopsmith immune to any other discomfort. The Poopsmith never speaks, as he has taken a vow of silence. He was created as a joke character, appearing right after the Blacksmith (who has never reappeared) in an early cartoon. He remains as the cartoon's embodiment of toilet humor, which is very uncommon elsewhere on the site.
Homsar
Homsar is a goofy, verbally challenged fellow who resembles a more squat Homestar. He was created when a fan asked Strong Bad to kill 'Homsar', an obvious misspelling of Homestar. However, Homsar does survive to thank Marzipan for sending him flowers while he was in the hospital, and to make future appearances. He's well known for his nonsensical quotes. For example, "I was raised by a cup of coffee" and "I'm a song from the sixties." Strong Sad, his only friend, humors him by attending "concerts" he organizes, which consist entirely of hugging trees. Some cartoons have an encounter with Homsar as an easter egg, such as the Strong Bad E-Mail titled "Dragon" and the cartoon "A Pumpkin Carve-Nival."
Marshie, The Marshmallow
Homestar had a job in a marshmallow commercial. Homestar 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.
The Yello Dello
A yellow bird with the legs of a human woman. It's the most rare and exotic bird in the entire website. One cartoon features Homestar, Strong Sad and Pom Pom looking for the Yello Dello as a gift for Marzipan.
Limozeen
Limozeen is a generalization of any and every 1980's hair-metal band you know, 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", "Z'Nuff", "Lazor", and "Taranchula", as well as Van Halen and Dokken). 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 Midnight."
Lem Sportsinterviews
A fictional author who writes various books and magazines. He wrote "This Book is Better Than First, Second, and Quite Possibly Even Third Base", and he owns the credit card that appears on the ATM card in the "Downloads" section. He is also probably the author of the children's book "Everyone is Different", credited as Leomard (not "Leonard") Sportsinterviews.
Places
Free Country USA
The Homestar Runner cartoons are set in a fictitious land called Free Country USA. The King of Town rules all or part of this region. Tourist attactions in Free Country USA include the Great Mound, Pantsburg, The Clock, and Over There. Neighboring countries include Dortugal, Prance, and the Dortugal Congo.
Strong Badia
Strong Badia exists as a field behind a dumpster, with a permanent population of a single tire. In an early Strong Bad email, Strong Bad claimed he has ruled the field since diaper school. In one of the Strong Bad emails, the ghost of Strong Bad's obsolete and broken Tandy computer haunted the kingdom.
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.
Crazy Go Nuts University (CGNU)
A fictional correspondence school run by Strong Bad. It has 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!
Times
Stinkoman: 20X6
Stinkoman is Strong Bad drawn as Japanese Animation (anime). It is set in the future year of 20X6 (Twenty Exty-Six), and some of the other characters also have 20X6 counterparts, including Homestar Runner and PanPan (Pom Pom).
The voice of Stinkoman sounds simalar to that of kaneda (Cam Clarke) from the anime film akira when it was originally dubbed into english. Stinkoman says the same line Kaneda does in akira "maybe when you're older".
Old Tyme Homestar, 1936
Homestar, drawn in the style of a 1936 cartoon. In these cartoons, he is referred to as "The Homestar Runner", as was his name in the original children's books. Many other characters appear in 1936 style, although some names are altered (see below).
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 capella group Da Vinci's Notebook.
Chart
| Character | 1936 Counterpart | 20X6 Counterpart |
|---|---|---|
| Strong Bad | Sir Strong Bad | Stinkoman |
| The Cheat | The Sneak | |
| Homestar Runner | The Homestar Runner | [unknown] |
| Marzipan | Marzipan | |
| Strong Mad | Strong Man | |
| Strong Sad | Sickly Sam | |
| Pom-Pom | Fat Dudley | PanPan |
| The King of Town | The Kaiser | |
| Poopsmith | The Devil | |
| Coach Z | [unknown] | |
| Bubs | [unknown] | |
| Marshie | Mr. Shmallow |
Sub-Cartoons
Teen Girl Squad
A comic strip drawn and narrated by Strong Bad. The first issue of Teen Girl Squad originated from a request in a Strong Bad email. The comic strip features four ditzy teenage girls (named Cheerleader, So-And-So, What's-Her-Face, and The Ugly One) who Strong Bad often subjects to gruesome and unusual deaths.
Sweet Cuppin' Cakes
Like Teen Girl Squad, Sweet Cuppin' Cakes is a cartoon created by Strong Bad in response to an email. The cartoon, designed to be as "kah-razy" as possible, takes place on a surreal multi-colored plane resembling a disco dance floor. The central character, "a cross between a cow and a helicopter" who communicates through a series of weird noises, is said to spend each episode trying to catch a worm that crawls in and out of the ground. Other characters include "Eh! Steve", an anthropomorphic polygon that appears once an episode to deliver his self-referential catch phrase, and the Wheelchair (voiced by Bubs), whose sole goal in life is to catch Eh! Steve and "blast him to tomorrow noon". Strong Bad also placed himself in the cartoon, although his head is an old Casio VL-Tone keyboard. When the Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Strong Bad is angry, his Casio head plays a synthesized version of Unterlanders Heimweh, a German folk song, which is the demo song on 1980's Casio keyboards.
The Cheat's Animation
Some sketches are drawn by The Cheat, who has his own distinctive animation style. It has appeared in many forms, such as in Strong Bad e-mails, cartoons, even its own welcome page. It is rumored that the Brothers Chaps tried this animation before settling on the current type.
Companies
Cheap as Free
Cheap as Free is a fictional Homestar Runner brand name. It is found on such "products" as: Strong Bad Sings (and other type hits, Everyone is Different (see Lem Sportsinterviews), the Christmas tree found in "The Best Decemberween Ever", the Cheat "Firebert" action figure found in email #93, and Action Figures found in the store.
Videlectrix
Videlectrix is a fictional company that apparently makes all of the Atari-2600 era games featured on the site, such as 'Trogdor!' and 'Awexome Cross'.
Their website is videlectrix.com.
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 his party, 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."
Miscellaneous
Guy with Big Knife
Strong Bad occasionally likes to draw or paint "a picture of a guy with a big knife". An applicant to CGNU must draw such a picture, but only so the staff can laugh at it. "Bigg Nife" is also a band name suggested at the same time as "Limozeen".
Decemberween
A fictional holiday that occurs in December, fifty-five days after Halloween. It's sort of like Christmas, but nondenominational. The site does not explicitly mention that Decemberween coincides with Christmas. Marzipan disapproves of Decemberween, on the grounds that it somehow kills bunnies, and that the holiday is too commercialized.
Phrases
- "Somebody get this freaking duck away from me!" (A reference to the yellow dragon from the Atari 2600 game Adventure. The dragon makes several cameo appearances.)
- "Wear a bikini!"
- "How do you type with boxing gloves on?" (frequent E-Mail to Strong Bad)
- "DELETED!!" (when Strong Bad reads an E-Mail he doesn't like)
- "BALEETED!!" (when Homestar Runner tried imitating Strong Bad)
- "ARROWED!!", "SWORDED!!", "404'd!!", "MSG'D!!", "CHILDREN!!" "CEREBELUM'D!!"(mostly Teen Girl Squad death notifications, but they have found their way into other things as well)
- "SOOOO GOOD!" (Teen Girl Squad)
- "fhqwhgads" (see below)
- "I was raised by a cup of coffee." (Strong Bad imitating Homsar)
- "I'm a song from the sixties." (Homsar)
- "And the Trogdor comes in the NIIIIIIGHT!" (Strong Bad - the line is also used with "Dragon" replacing "Trogdor")
- "Eh! Steve!" (Eh! Steve)
- "I'll get you Eh! Steve, if it's the last thing I dooooooo!" (Bubs, as the voice of the talking wheelchair)
- "Hello, Mrs. 'Pan?" (Strong Bad in frequent prank calls to Marzipan)
- "Powered By The Cheat" (Branding for The Cheat's various animations)
- "Are you supposed to be some kind of a witches' brew?" (Homestar)
- "Do you use your powers for good, or for awesome?" (Strong Bad)
- "I'm doomed." (Strong Sad)
- "Double Deuce!" (Strong Bad/Stinkoman)
- "I don't like food anymore." (Strong Sad)
- "I'm sad that I'm flying." (Strong Sad)
- "Here comes the Thnikkaman." "There goes the Thnikkaman." (High pitched voices)
See also: Fhqwhgads.