What are you supposed to be

"Can't you guys tell? I'm the rapping paper!"

During Halloween, the characters dress up in costumes, in which they often engage in Halloween-related activities. Many of these costumes are esoteric icons or celebrities, most of which were popular/created in the 1970s, '80s, and '90s, leaving most of the other characters unable to identify who a particular character is supposed to be dressed as.

This is put quite frankly by The King of Town in Halloween Potion-ma-jig, in which he says, "I wish you'd dress up as something I could recognize! Pop culture... mumble grumble!"

Occurrences

Sketchbook (museum)

• An image of seven rejected costumes jokingly offered "ten bucks to anyone who can identify them all". Although all of the costumes have since been identified, the updated description of the sketches indicates that Maripan's Trixie costume was particularly difficult for fans to recognize.

Homestarloween Party

• Homestar Runner thought Strong Bad was the Chiquita Banana Lady, when Strong Bad was really Carmen Miranda (although the Chiquita Banana Lady's appearance was intentionally based on Miranda's).

The House That Gave Sucky Treats

• Homestar thought Strong Bad was the Spanish Inquisition, and it is implied he thought Strong Bad was Cab Calloway and Strong Bad Wearing a Yellow Turtleneck, when Strong Bad was really Carmen Sandiego.

Pumpkin Carve-nival

• Marzipan doesn't know The King of Town is Mario from the long-running, well-known video game series by Nintendo. This could be because Marzipan insists she doesn't play video games, as said in the same toon.
• Strong Bad, who was in a Homestar Runner costume, said he thought The Goblin (in a Strong Bad costume) was the Green Hornet. Strong Bad then thought The Goblin was a Witches' Brew, while he was actually The Bee.
• Homestar thought The Cheat was Witch's Brew when The Cheat was Russell.

3 Times Halloween Funjob

• Homestar thought Strong Bad was El Debarge, Bubs thought he was Miami Sound Machine, Coach Z thought he was Terence Trent D'Arby, and he himself almost said he was Carmen Miranda again, while he was actually Ozone from Breakin'.
• Homestar thought Coach Z was Wesley Snakes, when in fact he was Kool Moe Dee from The Treacherous Three.
• Homestar couldn't identify what Bubs's costume was, calling it a "dirty man outfit", when Bubs was dressed as Mel Sharples, the owner of Mel's Diner in the movie Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore and the TV show it spawned, Alice. Vic Tayback played the role.

Halloween Fairstival

• Strong Bad asked Bubs, "So, Bubs, your approach this year was to ensure that absolutely no one recognized your costume?" Bubs was dressed as One of the 3 Most Important People in the World, from Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.
• Homestar was confused about his own costume. He thought he was some sort of a golf cart. He was actually Carl Spackler from Caddyshack.
• Homestar thought The Cheat was a pile of leaves. The Cheat was actually Sigmund, from Sigmund and the Sea Monsters.
• Coach Z thought Pom Pom was Big Boi from Outkast. Pom Pom was actually Big Boy, the mascot for the restaurant chain "Bob's Big Boy".

Halloween Potion-ma-jig

• Homestar, seeing Strong Sad's Devo member costume, comments on it, saying, "Nice fire hydrant costume."
• Homestar thought Strong Bad was Blanche from The Golden Girls. Bubs thought he was Phyllis Diller. Coach Z thought he was supposed to be his hot mom. The King of Town couldn't recognize his costume at all. Strong Bad was dressed as Jambi the genie, from Pee-Wee's Playhouse.
• Homestar also thought Bubs was Lando Calrissian. He was actually the master of disaster, Apollo Creed from Rocky and Rocky II.
• Strong Bad thought Pom Pom's costume, which was of Walter Sobchak from The Big Lebowski, was of "every guy at a truck stop."

Trogdor Con '97

• Homestar asked Strong Bad to guess who he is supposed to be, to which Strong Bad answers successfully with very little effort.

Happy Hallow-day

• Homestar remarked to Marzipan that he likes her "I have a caterpillar crawling across my forehead" costume. Marzipan was dressed up as Frida Kahlo.
• When Homestar sees Strong Bad's Father Guido Sarducci costume, he thinks it is an evil Carmen Sandiego costume. Incidentally, Strong Bad did dress up as Carmen Sandiego five years earlier.
• Strong Bad teases Strong Sad asking him if his costume was Strong Sad at his 20-year high school reunion. Strong Sad was actually Tony Clifton.

Decemberween Short Shorts

• The Homestar ornament thinks the Strong Bad ornament is dressed up as a rhinestone cowboy. However, it isn't even Halloween.

Jibblies 2

• Homestar mistakes Bubs for Schnieder from One Day at a Time, The King of Town mistakes him for Monroe from Too Close for Comfort, and Marzipan can't figure out his costume at all. Bubs was really Ross from You Can't Do That on Television.
• Homestar mistakes The King of Town for a melted Don King. The King was actually Al Sharpton.

Fan Costumes '07

• Homestar thinks one of the photos is a picture of Marzipan, when it is actually of someone dressed as The Yello Dello.

yes, wrestling

• In an Easter egg, Homestar thinks Strong Bad (dressed as his "il Cartographer" wrestling persona) is dressed up as Rudy from Fat Albert.

Costume Commercial

• In an Easter egg, Coach Z is dressed as Marzipan, but he thinks he is dressed as himself.

Most in the Graveyard

• Homestar confuses his own costume for Carrot Top, then turns around and "corrects" himself as being Crocodile Dundee. He was actually Yahoo Serious(ly).
• Homestar confuses Strong Sad's Sam Kinison costume for one of Ma Fratelli from The Goonies.

Doomy Tales of the Macabre Teaser

• As everyone stands silhouetted, Homestar thinks everyone is dressed in "covered-all-black-ink costumes", and accuses everyone of stealing his idea.

Doomy Tales of the Macabre

• Speaking very quickly, Homestar identifies Pom Pom as "the underwater orange juice man" (he's a Pooka from Dig Dug), Strong Bad as the Scarecrow and Mrs. King (he's the Skull Kid from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask), The Cheat as "the thorax" (he's actually The Lorax), asks Coach Z if he stole Mickey Mouse's pants (he's MC Skat Kat), and claims Marzipan is "off-duty Ronald McDonald" (she's Lola from Run Lola Run).

Which Ween Costumes?

• Strong Bad correctly guesses that Bubs is dressed as a character from Die Hard, but says that he is a "Die Hard costume man", to Bubs' consternation.
• Pom Pom is dressed as a snowglobe with all the characters inside him, but Homestar thinks he is dressed as a "last episode of St. Elsewhere".
• Strong Sad is dressed as Ralphie Parker, but Strong Bad thinks he is dressed as a deranged Easter Bunny, while Homestar thinks he is Donnie Darko.
• The King of Town is dressed as the Heat Miser, but Homestar thinks he is dressed as a "Devil Don King".
• No one knows what exactly Coach Z is dressed as, so Strong Bad decides to ask. Coach Z says he is dressed as "rapping paper" and demonstrates with a rap, to everyone's annoyance.

I Killed Pom Pom

• Homestar guesses that Coach Z is dressed up as a tube of "Evil Aquafresh". Coach Z is actually dressed as the mascot for hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest.
• Homestar thinks that Strong Bad is dressed as Jay Leno. Strong Bad is actually dressed as McDonald's Mascot Mac Tonight.
• Homestar mistakes Strong Mad for a M.U.S.C.L.E. toy. He is actually Goro from the Mortal Kombat series.
• Pom Pom is dressed as Homer Simpson as portrayed in the episode King-Size Homer. Homestar mistakes him for Dom Deluise.

The House That Gave Sucky Tricks

• Homestar thinks that Strong Bad is dressed as "tropical Beetlejuice". He's dressed as Diamond Dave.
• Homestar appears to have the general idea of Pom Pom's costume (Wilson from Cast Away), but cannot remember his name, guessing Franklin, Spaulding, and John Voight.
• Homestar confuses Marzipan's Michael Jackson costume with her Prince costume from Jibblies 2.

Later That Night...

• Homestar mistakes Strong Mad's Monica and Rachel's Door from Friends costume for the door from Seinfeld and along with Strong Sad, recites a common recurring scene whenever George comes over to Jerry's apartment.
• Homestar thinks Marzipan has dressed up as her teenage self, when she is actually dressed as Margot Tenenbaum from The Royal Tenenbaums.
• Homestar claims that Bubs is dressed in an American Hot Sauce Businessman Metallica costume, insisting he is right and that there's no alternative. Bubs is actually dressed as Billy Mitchell.
• Homestar calls Strong Bad's No Face costume a Long Sad costume, but is familiar enough with Spirited Away to offer him an herbal soak token afterwards.
• Homestar thinks Strong Sad is dressed as Lady Milhouse, referring to the character from The Simpsons. Strong Sad is actually dressed as the Utz snack foods mascot.
• Strong Bad fails to recognize The Cheat's Angriest Dog in the World costume, thinking he forgot to get The Cheat his shots.

@StrongBadActual

• November 22, 2016 — Strong Bad exclaims that he is not dressed as "Evil Thomas Jefferson" or "Colonial Ice T" but as "Lin-Manuel Freakin' Miranda".

Haunted Photo Booth

• Homestar doesn't recognize who Coach Z is meant to be dressed up as, referring to him as simply "a dog". Coach Z is dressed as PaRappa the Rapper, who is indeed a dog.
• Homestar initially refers to himself as Mark Lemke, the "Homestar Runner for the (Atlanta) Braves", but then angrily corrects himself stating he is actually Dale Murphy.
• Homestar calls Strong Mad "Bread Face Red Panties Man"; Strong Mad is dressed as Powdered Toast Man.
• Similarly, Homestar calls The Cheat "Baseball Glove On Head Man", "Swollen Cow Udders On Your Head Man", and "Swollen Cow Udders On Your Head Lady" based on appearance alone. The Cheat is dressed as Maxwell, the player character from the game Scribblenauts.
• Homestar believes Strong Sad is dressed as W. C. Fields, and asks if the initials stand for Winston Churchill. Strong Sad insists he is neither, identifying himself as Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot.

Mr. Poofers Must Die

• Homestar mistakes Marzipan's J Mascis costume for "thrift store Gandalf".
• Homestar mistakes Strong Sad's Tummi Gummi costume for "Bill Murray from cartoon Ghostbusters from the voice of Garfield: The Movie dot com" (referencing characters also voiced by Lorenzo Music).
• Strong Bad says no one knows who Strong Mad's costume (Kano from Bad Company) is, and dismisses it as "blue Frankenstein".
• Homestar calls Homsar's David St. Hubbins costume a "Doug Henning made his own mustache disappear" costume.
• Due to The King of Town dressing up as Little Debbie, Homestar mistakes Bubs (Stan S. Stanman from Monkey Island) for Little Debbie's dad.

The Homestar Runner Enters The Spooky Woods

• Strong Bad derides Strong Sad's Loughton Candidate costume as "the lovechild of Dobby the house elf and Ron Weasley from some of your fanfiction."
• Marzipan has no idea what her own Maetel costume is from. She just wore what Strong Sad told her to wear.
• Homestar believes Bubs (Commander Borf) is dressed as "the Aladdin Genie dressed as Captain Lou Albano", and there's nothing Bubs (or presumably anyone) can do to make him think otherwise.

Halloween Hijinks

• Homestar, while singing the main theme to The Legend of Zelda, compares Bubs's costume (of an actual Zelda character, Beedle), to "'70s Bubs giving a piggyback ride to Totoro eating a purple burrito".
• In rapid fire, Homestar compares four characters' costumes to puppets made by Jim Henson:
  • Strong Mad (as My Pet Monster) is "probably from Labyrinth".
  • Pom Pom (as The Capital City Goofball) is "probably from Great Muppet Caper".
  • Strong Sad (as Baxter) is "probably from Sesame Street" (although much of The Great Space Coaster's crew is associated with Henson projects).
  • The Poopsmith (as 1 Guy from Andromeda) is "probably from Pigs in Space".
• Homestar furthermore thinks that Marzipan's Captain Planet costume is "zombie Ziggy Stardust", and Strong Bad wonders aloud why she seems to have a drive-thru speaker in her chest (referring to Captain Planet's globe insignia.) The "speaker" then speaks in a grainy voice.
• Strong Bad imitates Homestar in comparing Homsar's B.O.B. costume to BB-8 after having been run over by a Sandcrawler. Homestar says that he was thinking of "Oscar the Grouch 2000".

Halloween Hide & Seek

• In the paid version, Homestar can make his guesses for who he thinks everyone's cosutme is from silhouette alone.
• Every single main character who is able to speak normally, except the King of Town himself, declares that the King (dressed as The Antwerp) is "a no-armed space Grimace".
• Homestar asks if Marzipan is dressed as "that neon sign from Las Vegas". Marzipan, who is actually dressed as Trixie from Sam & Max Hit the Road, says that she is dressed as "whatever Strong Sad told me to dress up as", implying that once again she's unfamiliar with her own costume. Homestar then extends his guess to "a neon sign from Las Vegas for a depressing 70's casino that is somehow still operating. Prolly called the Silver Panache."
• Homestar believes that Strong Bad, dressed as Sludge Vohaul, is "Grandmaw Strong Bane in her recliner, hooked up to her oxygen so she can play Boggle with her pal Eula Mae."
• Homestar thinks that Pom Pom (dressed as The Manhole) is dressed as "copy protection".
• He also compares Homsar, dressed as a gnome from Samorost, to a "droopy Pikmin".
• Homestar further believes that Strong Mad (Glottis) is dressed as "a Goron dressed up as Speed Racer".
• Strong Bad guesses that Bubs (Hoagie) is dressed as "that Limozeen roadie who has to string Gary's 4-and-a half necked guitar before each show".
• Homestar accuses Coach Z of double-dipping his Queen Latifah costume from Happy Hallow-Day. Coach Z is dressed as Malcolm.
• Homestar believes that Strong Sad's Mike Dawson costume is actually Jeff Foxworthy.
• And although he was unable to recognize a Gummi Bears costume in Mr. Poofers Must Die, if the Goblin is unlocked, Homestar compares its Creeper costume with Toadwort.

2022 Costume Pack Now Available

• Homestar compares Strong Bad's costume to "Death Clock or whoever". Strong Bad is dressed as Dr. Crygor, but even he doesn't remember the character's name.
• Homestar believes that Pom Pom's costume is Twinkie the Kid after having eaten too many Twinkies as a kid. He's actually Timer.
• Much to his dismay, Homestar's description of The Poopsmith's costume as "evil Tron" was completely accurate.
• Homestar seems to believe that Marzipan is both Ringo and Sonny Bono from "that one Scooby-Doo episode getting eaten by a pink and green cotton candy monster costume". She's John Lennon from Yellow Submarine.
• In a throwback to the original toon, Homestar confuses Strong Sad's Mikhail Gorbachev costume with the dad from ALF with gravy poured on his head.

The Show: Ween Edition

• The entire toon is about the characters guessing how Homestar will misinterpret their costumes. More specifically:
  • Coach Z, dressed as a Beastie Boy from the Intergalactic video, believes Homestar will mistake his costume for a Devo crossing guard. Homestar actually mistakes it for a Devo construction worker.
  • The King of Town, dressed as Immortan Joe, believes Homestar will mistake his costume for what the King looks like in the morning before removing his CPAP machine. His guess is way off: Homestar actually mistakes it for Mötley Crüe in the ICÜ.
  • Bubs, dressed as Jack Flack, believes Homestar will mistake him for a French G.I. Joe character apparently named "Jaunty Plumarenne". He is then asked, for whatever reason, to guess a dollar amount and guesses $17.50, which is, indeed, Homestar's guess.
  • Marzipan believes her Penny costume will be mistaken for Abe Lincoln's Claymation daughter, but Homestar just holds up a card reading "WE NEED BREAD! STILL!"
  • Pom Pom believes his Billy Bob Brockali costume will be mistaken for a Stripèd Bear Jankboree and is correct.
  • The Cheat believes his E.T. Dressed up by Gertie costume will be mistaken for that shriveled grandma Muppet from Dark Crystal (referring to Aughra) and is correct.
  • Strong Bad believes his Elliot's brother Mike's Halloween costume costume will be mistaken for hobo Clockwork Orange and is correct.
  • Strong Mad believes that his Rockbiter costume will be mistaken for an ashy pile of dog crap and is correct.
  • Strong Sad believes his Elliot's Halloween costume costume will be mistaken for Strong Sad on a Tuesday. Homestar actually writes "TUBESDATE" instead of "Tuesday", but this is considered correct.
  • Homestar declares that his own costume (actually Tom Dover) is a mashup of Fred from Super Chicken and Fred from Scooby-Doo.

See Also

• I really like your costume
• Halloween Costumes
• Icon References In Halloween Costumes