Preshy and Rafferty

Those Darn Cousins: Preshy (right, in pink) and Rafferty (left, in blue)

From the DVD commentary to Why Come Only One Girl?:

>MIKE CHAPMAN: The premise of the cartoon was, Homestar's cousins come and—
>MATT CHAPMAN: And they call him Uncle Homestar.
>MIKE: And they call him Uncle Homestar for no reason and then they terrorize him. But when anyone else is around they're really sweet to him, so everybody else thinks his cousins are real sweet, but he's trying to convince everybody they're the royal terrors.
>MATT: They're trying to kill him.

Preshy and Rafferty are siblings, young relatives of Homestar Runner. Though initially introduced as his cousins, they address him as Uncle Homestar and even he is unsure if Rafferty is his nephew, cousin, or other relative.

Rafferty has a similar appearance to Homestar, albeit with hair, arms, and hands. Preshy has a similar body shape to Homestar, while her head resembles Strong Sad's with the soft-serve flip on the back of her head.

History

The duo were initially designed for the unfinished toon "Those Darn Cousins", which was in production around the year 2000 or 2001. The plot would've revolved around the duo terrorizing Homestar, only to act sweetly to him when others are watching so he cannot find relief. Preshy and Rafferty were voiced by the Brothers Chaps' young niece and nephew, resulting in energetic, rambling dialogue similar to Folly.

As "Those Darn Cousins" was never finished, Preshy and Rafferty soon joined the ranks of the rejected characters. Their occasional appearances over the next two decades were typically brief inside jokes that played on fans' knowledge of Homestar Runner behind-the-scenes content — appearing briefly in silhouette or in secondary social media content.

The duo did not make a proper debut until 2024, in A Prickly Scary Short: Rafferty attempts to tell a ghost story to Homestar in order to earn an invite to the Halloween party. Homestar is unimpressed with Rafferty's attempt and asks Preshy, who just hits him in the head with a hammer. Their voices are again provided by small children — presumably young relatives of the Brothers Chaps.

Appearances

• Why Come Only One Girl? — Recounting the many failed attempts to introduce a new female character to the series, a portion of the unfinished toon "Those Darn Cousins" is presented.
  • The "Those Darn Cousins" segment was posted to Twitter on December 1, 2019.
• A Decemberween Mackerel — Preshy and Rafferty are among the several rejected characters seen standing in line at Bubs' Concession Stand.
• @StrongBadActual tweet (15 Feb 2018) — A short animation shows Champeen atop a winner's podium, with Rafferty in second place and Preshy in third.
  • This animation was later featured in the Mario Paint Thursdays Compilation.
• The Show: Ween Edition — Preshy, Rafferty, and Champeen are seen in silhouette as the judges of The Show.
• Debut: A Prickly Scary Short — Rafferty tells Homestar a scary story featuring The Sad Kids, while Preshy whacks Homestar with a hammer.

Character Evolution

Image	Created	Appearances	What's Changed?
First design	Likely 2000-2001	Why Come Only One Girl?	N/A
Second design	2023	The Show: Ween Edition; A Prickly Scary Short	Both of their heads are rounder and have lighter shading, their eyes have glints of light, and their faces are more expressive. Preshy's smile and some of Rafferty's mouth movements are redrawn, and they both have visible teeth at times. Preshy's shoes are more detailed, and the bottom of her dress puffs outward.

See Also

• Homeschool Winner
• Folly
• Rejected Characters