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HRWiki:Featured articles archive of weeks 1-26, 2007.

Week 26, 2007

Homestar Runner characters can occasionally be found lounging and swimming at the swimming pool. It is an inground, Olympic-sized (or similar) pool with a white and red checkerboard-patterned liner. It appears to be located somewhere in The Field, within walking distance of the Contest Area. It also must be near an electrical outlet, as a radio with a power cord has been seen here. It first appeared in A Jumping Jack Contest, when Strong Bad was seen reclining in a pool chair while waiting for Homestar Runner to fail at the jumping jack contest. Later, it appeared in the Theme Song Video, revealing a diving board from which Homestar jumps. For many years, the pool was not seen, though in the Strong Bad Email other days we learn that Strong Sad and Strong Bad had swim practice on Saturday mornings. This pool reappeared in the email keep cool, where it was revealed that Strong Bad (who claims he "use[s] it all the time") is the resident lifeguard. According to him, the pool rules are to keep crap out of the pool (banning The Poopsmith), no rough-horsing, house-rousing, butt-patting, running, diving, or swimming (though the last one is not widely enforced).

Week 25, 2007

Old-Timey Strong Bad is the Old-Timey version of the present-day Strong Bad. He has a dastardly handlebar mustache, and an upper-class early-1900s American accent instead of modern-day Strong Bad's accent of debatable origin. His goal in life seems to be to thwart The Homestar Runner's plans with the help of his lackeys, the Strong Man and The Sneak, and he spends his spare time answering telegrams (as opposed to email). He has bones in his mustache and a severe crack in his skull, as seen in That A Ghost. He is frequently asked "How do you operate the telegramophone whilst wearing gentlemen's sport gloves?", a question that infuriates him. He also sent half of his mustache to today's Strong Bad in a sealed envelope for the sake of history. (more...)

Week 24, 2007

The Thnikkaman is the alter-ego of Bubs, wearing a pair of flashy sunglasses and a piece of paper taped to his chest with "tH" written on it. This seems to be Bubs's secret identity, as none of the other characters seem to know that the Thnikkaman is Bubs; in cliffhangers, Coach Z attempts to reveal the Thnikkaman's identity, only to be thwarted by his own bad hand-eye coordination (though he later accuses himself of being the Thnikkaman). This is odd since he takes off his glasses in "monument." His powers of distraction are amazing, as shown in "monument", when he prevented Strong Bad from completing a monument to himself, as well as Homestar Runner from finally putting on some pants. Whenever he arrives someplace, an unseen chorus sings "Here comes the Thnikkaman!", accompanied by those words dancing across the screen. Similarly, the chorus sings "There goes the Thnikkaman!" with the dancing words whenever he leaves. His famous catch phrase "Yeah, shut up, kid!" is usually given in response to the question "Can I/we have some?" (although what "some" refers to has not been revealed). (more...)

Week 23, 2007

The Bear Holding a Shark, also known as the Bear-Shark, is a wooden cut-out of a bear standing on its hind legs, holding a shark above its head. The cut-out lurks behind the fence of Strong Badia. The bear holding a shark is one of Strong Badia's "security counter-measures", as Strong Bad puts it; whenever The Cheat touches the Tire, he is given an electric shock and the bear holding a shark pops up. For reasons that are never really explained, The Cheat seems to have a strong phobia of bears holding sharks. The Bear-Shark also plays the part of "headhunters" on Strong Bad's Riverquest Safariventure. It is "scared off" by firing a starting pistol in its general direction twice. In the email myths & legends, it is featured in a documentary that traces back its mythical origins and shows how it evolved into the Bear Holding a Shark we know today. Homestar Runner claims to have seen the "monsterman" while walking in the woods, and he offers blurry photographic evidence to back his claim. (more...)

Week 22, 2007

In montage, the 117th Strong Bad Email, Steve from Surf City, NJ, asks Strong Bad to "creat" a montage. Strong Bad starts off with a montage about him falling in love with a Wagon Fulla Pancakes, and then makes a montage featuring the Wagon Fulla Pancakes and The Cheat as unsuccessful door-to-door salesmen. He then makes a montage about the Wagon Fulla Pancakes training for, and later competing in, the Champeenship against Homestar Runner. Strong Bad ends the email with an end credits photo montage, which features photos from the various montages as well as informative captions. Notably, The Paper is said to have stayed with Strong Bad until email #173, at which time Strong Bad was to update to an inkjet printer. This is revisited in the 172nd email, more armies, in which The Paper appears crumpled and ripped at the end, which Strong Bad describes as "a bad sign." (more...)

Week 21, 2007

The vast majority of unreadable and unusable emails Strong Bad receives are DELETED!! While some are given to The Cheat for filing and others are made into origami by Strong Mad, Strong Bad takes great pleasure in purging his computer of most emails by striking a key on his keyboard and screaming "DELETED!!" When he does this, the computer flashes the same word on the screen and emits a loud buzzing noise. Strong Bad deletes any email that particularly annoys him, but some emails are especially susceptible. In particular, any time he receives emails including the question "How do you type with boxing gloves on?" or other such clichés, he promptly deletes them. On at least one occasion, Strong Bad's mastery of his computer's delete function was thwarted, so that he deleted an email to which he intended to respond and saved an email he wanted to delete. The Virus also once prevented him from deleting an email. Ordinarily, however, his efforts to delete unwanted emails are infallible, whereas other characters (Homestar Runner and Coach Z) fail in their attempts. (more...)

Week 20, 2007

Cheerleader is the de facto leader of the Teen Girl Squad. She may be seen as a critique of the popular teenage girl; hence, she obsesses about her appearance (specifically fashion) and focuses her energy on dating older or more popular boys. She leads the Teen Girl Squad with her shrill, domineering manner. While the other members of the squad usually follow her without question, they consider her leadership oppressive. After her demise shortly into Teen Girl Squad Issue 9, the rest of the squad was overjoyed and cheered, "We're free! The tyranny is over!", as they were then able to follow their own pursuits. Cheerleader's trademark is her dress, which sports a different saying in every episode. Most sayings indicate either her puerile nature ("li'l brat"), vanity ("2 cute"), or her ongoing search for boys ("boy monger"). She also has blonde hair, which she always wears in pigtails. (more...)

Week 19, 2007

The Homestar Runner is the Old-Timey version of Homestar Runner. His primary interest is in finding something to eat during the Great Depression along with Old-Timey Marzipan and Fat Dudley. He is frequently pitted against Old-Timey Strong Bad, who is typically unsuccessful at foiling The Homestar Runner's efforts. He has been kicking an old Can of Water Soup around ever since his dog "worshed" away in the storm of '28. The Homestar Runner can play "a mean worshboard" and appears to have incredible aim when firing a spitball out of a straw. He was able to peg Stinkoman in the eye from a great distance in 20X6 vs. 1936. While he seems to like most of the characters he meets, he dislikes Sickly Sam ("[their] worst friend") and Rumble Red (whom he labels a "Communist Fool"). (more...)

Week 18, 2007

Fhqwhgads, the shortened version of "fhqwhgadshgnsdhjsdbkhsdabkfabkveybvf", was the signature in the Strong Bad Email "i love you". However, this was probably just random typing; many letters in this name are next to each other on a typical English-language QWERTY keyboard. In attempting to reply, Strong Bad shortened the unwieldy name to "fhqwhgads". Later, Strong Bad wrote a song about Fhqwhgads which The Cheat converted into a music video, entitled "Everybody to the Limit", and has apparently sold over 500,000 copies, as evidenced by the gold record seen in your friends. The song is later featured in the game Dancin' Bubs. In "Everybody to the Limit", Fhqwhgads is characterized as the Atari Dragon. Strong Bad gets annoyed at it for "jocking" him, that is, following him and trying to be like him. In the video, Fhqwhgads must be an unpopular, lowlife creature that looks up to Strong Bad as a role model, and, as such, he looks down upon Fhqwhgads. (more...)

Week 17, 2007

The physiology of The Cheat is indeed mysterious. Although it is one of the great mysteries of the Homestar Runner universe, an in-depth and detailed look at the anatomy of The Cheat was published in the The Journal of The Cheat Science and Medicine. It was first seen as an Easter egg on the Strong Bad Email big white face. The Cheat's physiology just plain baffles Strong Bad.

The physiology of Blue Laser Commander was revealed in Blue Laserdisc Challenge and gives further insight into these mysterious creatures.

The Cheat's external and more easily observed features include his teeth, including one gold tooth (also one of the internal features). Although only four teeth are visible on the outside, it is revealed that The Cheat has five total. The Cheat has yellow and black fur with about 30 black spots visible at once. (more...)

Week 16, 2007

Cool Tapes is a band formed by Marzipan in the toon Cool Things. It takes its name and logo from some graffiti Homestar Runner wrote on Marzipan's wall. When Homestar went to go fetch some paint to cover it up, Marzipan tells Homestar he "took too long" to get the paint, and she, The Cheat, and Strong Mad formed a band with the name "Cool Tapes". Its members consist of Marzipan on guitar/vocals, Strong Mad on bass, and The Cheat on drums. Currently, they have three known songs, but the titles of all three are currently unverified. The band went on tour through many bead shops and topiary gardens during June 2006 (according to Weclome Back), where Homsar sold "StEVEN INCHES" at their merchandise table for pi dollars. (more...)

Week 15, 2007

DaVinci's Notebook (DVN) is an a cappella singing group consisting of Bernie Muller-Thym, Greg "Storm" DiCostanzo, Paul Sabourin, and Richard Hsu. Two members of the group, Paul and Storm, performed Ballad of The Sneak. The song is available on a CD entitled "Paul and Storm: Shame and Cookie Dough." The group was formed in Virginia in 1994 and has performed at stages and festivals across the United States. For personal reasons, DaVinci's Notebook is no longer touring. However, Paul and Storm are currently touring with Jonathan Coulton. (more...)

Week 14, 2007

Pan Pan, an anime-style Giant Panda, is the 20X6 version of Pom Pom. Pan Pan seems to be a takeoff on the obligatory anime animal mascot, though in Under Construction he behaves more or less like Pom Pom. Like the other forms of Pom Pom, he doesn't speak in English; he instead speaks in a strange boinging sound. Pan Pan falling on 1-Up appears to be a running gag. (more)...

Week 13, 2007

The House of the Brothers Strong is where Strong Bad, Strong Mad, and Strong Sad all live together. The Cheat spends a lot of time here, and his computer is in the house, even though he sleeps and "lives" in The King of Town's Grill. Gavin and The Cheat seem to be the closest things to pets the brothers have in the house. The exterior of the building has yet to be seen because most of the events happen somewhere inside. (more)...

Week 12, 2007

Strong Bad is in Jail Cartoon was released on March 22, 2004, making it the first big toon since Parsnips A-Plenty's release in October 2002. After being thrown in jail for attempting to steal candy from Bubs' Concession Stand, Strong Bad and The Cheat escape from their incarceration and try to pull off "one last job" before retirement. The toon was the first to show Homestar Runner's seldom seen role as Free Country, USA's police force (which again showed up in "road trip"). It also introduced a recurring character, Biscuit Dough Hands Man. watch (more)...

Week 11, 2007

Beginning in Marzipan's Answering Machine Version 1.0, Strong Bad has repeatedly prank-called Marzipan and tried to deceive her by pretending to be (and referencing) various fake personae. Although many of his pranks involve impersonating known characters, these aliases represent unknown persons whose very names betray the deception — especially those with the telltale "-body" ending. In Marzipan's Answering Machine Version 10.2, Strong Bad tried to pass along his craft to Homestar Runner, with pathetic results. Homestar and Marzipan have also used a few ridiculous aliases of their own. Although the callers sometimes slip up and unintentionally reveal their true identities, in most cases they attempt to maintain the charade of the alias. (more)...

Week 10, 2007

Strong Bad Lore is an instance in which Strong Bad presents as historical fact elements that are either clearly false or that can't be verified. When relating legends, Strong Bad often parodies actual historical storytelling techniques or attempts to make himself look good in the present and the past. Since it is usually related in emails, Strong Bad Lore often centers around the history of Strong Badia, although at times other characters are involved in the stories or storytelling. (more...)

Week 9, 2007

1-Up is Homestar Runner's 20X6 counterpart. Everybody says Stinkoman's the guy, but 1-Up wants to be the guy too. Stinkoman wouldn't let him because he was just a kid, and maybe he will let him when 1-Up gets older. However, in the description for Level 5 in Stinkoman 20X6, it says that 1-Up proved he's not just a kid in the previous level. Stinkoman has yet to acknowledge this. He is often squished by Pan Pan, usually to Stinkoman's great delight. His most notable accomplishment outside of Stinkoman 20X6 is that he found Homestar's "time box" in time capsule. (more...)

Week 8, 2007

Although most of the pages on homestarrunner.com can be accessed through one of the menus, the Secret Pages aren't linked from anywhere on the site. These pages contain various kinds of things, including unreleased toons, unfinished toons and toons removed from the site. Also included as secret pages are all the old toon and game menus as well as the old intros to the site. Some of the pages were used in the old Message Bored and some of the sounds are previews to the Strong Bad Sings CD. (More...)

Week 7, 2007

Ye flask is a Florence flask (or round-bottomed flask) that exists as a very important item in each Thy Dungeonman game. Ye flask is introduced in the Strong Bad Email video games, an email where Strong Bad is explaining what he would be like in several different types of video games, one of which is a text adventure. Ye flask is mentioned as an example of the quirks of the text adventure genre — attempts to get ye flask resulted only in the message "You can't get ye flask," even though ye flask is explicitly mentioned as part of the surroundings by the game, leaving the player wondering why on earth they can't get ye flask. It is somewhat of a fixation for the character Thy Dungeonman, as he has been searching for it for years in hundreds of dungeons. (More...)

Week 6, 2007

At the halftime break of Super Bowl XXXIX on February 6, 2005, a live action Peasant's Quest Movie Trailer was released. The halftime release was advertised on homestarrunner.com a few days prior to its Sunday debut. Labeled as "Super Bowl halftime!!" on the main page, the size and popularity of the file overloaded the server hosting the website. Because of this, the original 13.4 MB file was removed mid-Monday morning and was temporarily replaced with a close-up of Rather Dashing and a note saying that he would be back. By late morning, that was replaced with a screen enabling the viewer to choose which file size to download: "Jhonka" (2.6 MB), "Kerrek" (5.4 MB), or "Trogdor" (10.3 MB). (More...) watch

Week 5, 2007

Everything Else is the second Homestar Runner DVD series (the first being strongbad_email.exe). It contains non-Strong Bad Email content on homestarrunner.com. Volume 1, released on November 14, 2005, contains all of the shorts Puppet Stuff, Powered by The Cheat toons, Teen Girl Squad issues, and Answering Machines released at the time. Volume 2, released on October 27, 2006, contains nearly all of the big toons, holiday cartoons, Cheat Commandos episodes, and museum contents released at the time. Both DVDs contain creators' commentaries, unreleased toons, and other bonus features not found on the site. The DVDs are available for purchase at the Homestar Runner Store. (More...)

Week 4, 2007

Bug In Mouth Disease is a toon that was released on May 9, 2005. It was the first full-length toon to feature the main characters in 14 months. After accidentally swallowing a bug, Homestar Runner overreacts and fears that "the good times are over". His attempts to get help from Pom Pom, The King of Town, and Bubs are to no avail. Strong Bad meanwhile tries to watch the 24-hour Caleb Rentpayer marathon, but is constantly interrupted by Strong Sad, who is searching for "The Blue Ones". (More...) watch

Week 3, 2007, Day 7

Homestar Quiz is a Homestar Runner trivia game that also seems to be an application form to Crazy Go Nuts University. After all ten questions are answered, Strong Bad analyzes the results at his Prinicpal's Office and tells the player how he/she did. Unless the player gets a perfect score, Strong Bad will make fun of him/her. If the player gets a perfect score, he/she will get a special treat. (More...) play

Week 3, 2007, Day 6

Fortune Cookies is a "game" that gives out a new fortune every time the player clicks on a fortune cookie. It used to be in the Museum, but it was moved to the Handheld Games Menu when the game menu was remodeled. One of the fortunes contains the URL for Thorax Corporation, a joke Web site created by The Brothers Chaps. Similar fortune cookies are used in an Easter egg for the Strong Bad Email long pants. (More...) play

Week 3, 2007, Day 5

Audition with Marzipan is a game where the player lays down some phat beats with Marzipan and her ukulele. Once the song is chosen, players can play each instrument by clicking it with a mouse, or typing the associated letter on the keyboard. After each song, Marzipan gives some randomly-generated feedback. One of the songs, "Thoughts on a Bird", would later be used in the toon The Luau. This game is currently accessible through the Handheld Games Menu. (More...) play

Week 3, 2007, Day 4

Homestar Talker is a game where one can click on words to make Homestar Runner say them. Making Homestar say a certain 7-word phrase will make an identical game with Strong Bad accessible. Competing a similar challenge in said game will make a hidden main page available. The games have the current character style used in them, but their older voices. A similar game starring Coach Z appears at the end of A Jorb Well Done. (More...) play

Week 3, 2007, Day 3

Hairstyle Runner is a simple game where one can create a hairstyle on Homestar Runner's picture by dragging the pieces of "iron filings" with the cursor acting as a magnet. Players can also view a gallery of Hairstyle Runner designs. A parody of the classic game Wooly Willy, Hairstyle Runner was supposedly made in Prance. Hairstyle Runner was also featured prominently in the Strong Bad Email homestar hair, much to Strong Bad's disgust. (More...) play

Week 3, 2007, Day 2

Strong Libs is a parody of the game Mad Libs featuring The Brothers Strong. They have the same basic concept as Mad Libs, where the player supplies various nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. These key words are placed into blank spaces within a short story, the results of which can be very funny. The Strong Bad libs generate humorous insults and put-downs while Strong Mad's are all shouts of doom and destruction. Strong Sad's naturally offer depressing poetry. An additional Strong Lib is available to play while waiting for A Jumping Jack Contest to load, as well as in an Easter egg of lackey. (More...)  play

Week 3, 2007, Day 1

Dancin' Bubs is an old game in which the player can make Bubs do a variety of movements with his arms, head, and legs, including a few flips, twists, and spins. There are four songs to choose from, among which are The System is Down from techno, Everybody to the Limit, and the song from the site's Intro. One of the four available backgrounds shows two characters no longer seen in modern Homestar Runner cartoons: Homeschool Winner and Champeen. This game is currently accessible through the Handheld Games Menu. (More...)  play

Week 2, 2007

Stinkoman is Strong Bad's 20X6 counterpart. He is an amalgam of anime clichés, including blue hair, big eyes, a blocky sort of body and an obsession with challenging and fighting. He was introduced in the email japanese cartoon, but his name was first mentioned in island, where Homestar Runner called Strong Bad "Stinkoman". His birthday is on the sixth of January, one week before Trogdor's. He seems more than willing to eat dirt, since he has done so on one occasion. Stinkoman apparently has a cell phone, as he claims to when he invites Marzipan to a challenge in Marzipan's Answering Machine Version 8.0. He has the ability to call his ship, the Stinkowing, when he whistles. Stinkoman also stars in the game Stinkoman 20X6, which The Brothers Chaps introduced in the NYU Talk and later released on the website. According to alternate universe, he is friends with Vector Strong Bad, who functions as his "training simulator". (More...)

Week 1, 2007

Cold One is the most popular brand of beer in Free Country, USA. They are shipped in brown, nondescript bottles. The Cold One motto is "A One that isn't cold, is scarcely a One at all." Although there has been some debate as to whether they are actually alcoholic or not, the Kerrek rejects Cold Ones because he is a teetotaler in the email "for kids". Also, since the Strong Bad screensaver displays "Premium Alcoholic Cold Ones", and that Room Temp-A-Ture Ones are "brewed in Foreign Lands", the conclusion must be that a Cold One is a refreshing type of beer. In addition, "Warm Ones" could possibly be referring to the misconception that the British prefer drinking their beer at near room temperature. (More...)