Homestar Runner
Homestar Runner is an American flash cartoon series. It combines an absurd humor with various allusions to the music, TV and computer scene of the 1980s and 1990s . Although Homestar Runner was originally conceived as a children's book, the web comics now have their fan base mostly among teenagers and younger adults. It was created in 1996 by the brothers Mike and Matthew (Matt) Chapman. The content of the website is continuously updated.
The cartoons are named after the character Homestar Runner centered, a more unintelligentem athletes. Much better known, however, is the series Strong Bad Emails (short: 'sbemails ), in which another main character, the antagonist Strong Bad, answers emails from readers. He often makes fun of the readers or answers the emails with completely absurd excursions into the cartoon world, also known as Free Country, USA . He particularly enjoys putting Homestar Runners in unfortunate situations. He is supported by a being, The Cheat. He is a friend, servant, and sidekick of Strong Bad.
main characters
Homestar Runner
Homestar Runner (lit. Heimstern runner) is described as a "wonderful athlete". He is quite unintelligent and his understanding of the world around him is very imprecise, but he has proven to be remarkably clever in the past. He's mostly very nice, but he can sometimes offend his friends without knowing what he's doing. He's especially mean to his girlfriend, marzipan, whom he doesn't seem to like.
Strong bathroom
Strong Bad (literally: Strong Bad) is one of the most popular characters in the homestar runner world. The idea for Strong Bad came from the video game Tag Team Wrestling. He was originally Homestars' enemy, but the feud has now subsided and Homestar Runner even thinks Strong Bad is a friend. Strong Bad still doesn't like Homestar Runner and often plays tricks on him. In a series of cartoons, he answers emails from fans of the website, often mocking their spelling mistakes and stupid questions. Some characters and series were created by Strong Bad Email, for example Homsar, whose name came from an email in which "Homestar" was misspelled as "Homsar".
marzipan
Marzipan is Homestar Runners' friend. She is the only female character in the series. She seems like a hippie, she often eats tofu and likes to protest. She plays the guitar and sings. She is very independent: she and Homestar often split up (and got back together afterwards). She is mostly friendly to the other characters, even if she claims not to like Strong Bad.
Bubs
Bubs owns a store called "Bub's Concession Stand."
Strong Mad
Strong Mad (literally: Strongly Mad) is the oldest of the Strong brothers. His rather childlike intellect contrasts with his incredible strength and his mostly good-natured manner.
Strong Sad
Strong Sad (literally: Strongly Sad) is the youngest of the Strong brothers and is very emotional. Due to his sensitive, peaceful nature, he is very often the target of Strong Bads ridicule or pranks.
The King of Town
The King of Town is something like the mayor of the homestar world. Eating is his weakness. His greed is so great that he crams everything into himself, whether edible or not.
The Poopsmith
The Poopsmith (literally: poop smith) works for the King of Town and is arguably the dirtiest character in the Homestar universe. Its main task is to shovel dung piles. Apparently he also takes on bodyguard duties for the King of Town and the like. He never speaks because he has taken a vow of silence.
Coach Z
Coach Z is the trainer for Homestar Runner. He has no nose and therefore - often to the chagrin of the other characters - no particularly strong sense of hygiene.
Pom pom
Pompom is homestars' best friend and arguably best described as a mixture of balloon and jelly. His speaking is more like a kind of blubber. He does not stow his belongings (such as his cell phone) in pockets, but simply lets them sink into his body.
The cheat
The Cheat (literally: The Cheat) is Strong Bad's best friend. True to his name, he often helps Strong Bad with its pranks and tricks. Its appearance is vaguely similar to that of the Pokémon Pikachu . The Cheat also produces its own comic.
Homsar
Homsar originated from Strong Bad Email # 2, in which a reader asked Strong Bad, "If you hate Homsar so much, why don't you kill him?" The reader apparently meant Homestar, but misspelled the name. Later the writers decided to keep Homsar as the main character. He's not very clever and hardly anyone likes marzipan and Strong Sad. Homsar speaks with a clear speech error, which can be understood as a form of slow stuttering with a southern accent - his sentences are never related to the context and usually do not make sense. His cap rotates over his head when he speaks.
Other figures
- Trogdor The Burninator - Trogdor The Burninator is a dragon created from Strong Bad Email # 58. In that email, Strong Bad was asked to draw a dragon for a reader. In the same episode, Strong Bad also sang a metal song about Trogdor. According to the authors, the cartoon was actually already finished when one of them spontaneously started singing the song - so it found its way into the cartoon. It can now also be found on the “Strong Bad Sings” CD and in the second part of the Guitar Hero video game series. The last line of text “And the Trogdor comes in the Night!” Alludes to Strong Bad Email # 36.
- Cheerleader - One of the four girls and the leader of the Teen Girl Squad invented by Strong Bad. She is very superficial and always after boys. Because of her dominant nature, the other three girls don't really like her.
- So and So - So and So is the second member of the Teen Girl Squad. She is an intelligent bookworm, but still attractive and, like cheerleaders, is very often looking for a date. Your stepmother runs a fashion store.
- What's Her Face - The inconspicuous girl from a humble background is third in the Teen Girl Squad. Because of her apparently lower social background than the other girls, she is not respected too much by them.
- The Ugly One - The fourth member of the Teen Girl Squad is, so to speak, the "ugly" friend in the clique. She is characterized by a certain craziness and poor personal hygiene.
- LimoZeen - LimoZeen is a fictional rock band in the Homestar universe and Strong Bad's favorite band.
- sloshy - sloshy is another fictional band in the Homestar universe. Strong Sad is a big fan of their very "soft" music.
Cartoons
In addition to the actual Homestar Runner cartoons, there are also other independent cartoons that many characters either do not appear at all or do in an unfamiliar way.
Strong Bad Email
Strong Bad Email is one of the site's most popular cartoons. There are currently 200 episodes in existence, more than any other cartoon on the site.
The character Strong Bad answers emails sent in by viewers and often makes fun of poor grammar and spelling . Many of the e-mails contain Easter eggs , which can usually be found at the end of an e-mail. The episodes can be divided into 3 "epochs" in which Strong Bad works on different computers. Despite Strong Bad's aversion to modern technology, computers are becoming more modern. He now uses a laptop, which, like all his computers, still runs on DOS .
Several characters and cartoons emerged from Strong Bad Email, as many of the emails sent contain questions that are often answered in a sarcastic and parodic manner. For example, the popular character Trogdor arose from an email asking to draw a dragon, or the cartoon "Teen Girl Squad" from an email from a girl who wanted a comic about her and her friends .
Teen Girl Squad
The idea for Teen Girl Squad came through an email to Strong Bad, in which a girl asked Strong Bad to draw a comic strip of her and her friends. The cartoon is simply drawn, the characters are stick figures and with the exception of Episode 10 lacks any color. The cartoon is spoken by Strong Bad, who adjusts his voice to make it higher and more croaky. Occasionally, Strong Bad comments on his drawings in his normal voice. The main characters are "Cheerleader", "So-And-So", "What's-Her-Face" and "The Ugly One", which are based on American teenage stereotypes. Most of their escapades end in death.
Powered by The Cheat
Powered by The Cheat are cartoons designed by The Cheat. They are characterized by poorly drawn characters and equally bad voices and thus parody the multitude of bad Flash cartoons on the Internet. The Cheat also appears in his cartoons and usually presents himself as particularly great.
Puppet Stuff
The Puppet Stuff episodes are real-life cartoons in which the characters from the Homestar universe appear as puppets. Occasionally, real people also appear in the cartoons.
Holiday specials
There are always cartoons on the website for different holidays, for example for Halloween, Thanksgiving or “Decemberween”, a parody of Christmas. In these cartoons i. d. R. the main characters of the Homestar Runner universe.