Homestar Runner universe

The Field is perhaps the most commonly seen setting in the Homestar Runner universe.

The Homestar Runner universe is the fictional universe in which the characters of the Homestar Runner body of work live and breathe, as created chiefly by The Brothers Chaps. Within the main universe are Homestar Runner, Strong Bad, and the other main characters living in Free Country, USA.

Portrayal

Their universe is much like our own; for example, they live in houses, eat food, go to work, watch TV, use the Internet, play sports, celebrate holidays, and do other normal things. At the same time, there are certain elements of the universe that show that they are in a cartoon; for example, through cartoon physics, Homsar can survive being crushed by a giant weight, objects can appear from Hammerspace, characters can break the fourth wall, and sometimes more than one of the same character are on the screen at the same time.

In a body of work as large as The Brothers Chaps have created, complete continuity throughout every cartoon is almost impossible to maintain (or intentionally ignored), leading to various inconsistencies.

Sub-universes

Variations

The Strong Bad Email alternate universe features Strong Bad using a portal to encounter numerous versions of himself.

From the 2005 interview "Homestar's Show Runners":

MATT CHAPMAN: We've always thought all along that there were these different Homestar universes. Like there's an old 1930s version of the cartoon, and there's the Stinkoman Japanese version of it. We chose the Pee-wee's Playhouse-style variety show to mess with [for the puppet shorts].

A recurring element of Homestar Runner is reimagining the entire cartoon — characters, locations, and even specific stories — in a different animation or storytelling style. These character variations may have different names, behave differently or have different relationships, or otherwise vary greatly from their mainline depiction. Many such variations spun off from Strong Bad Emails, though others are wholly original.

It is rare for these variations to cross over with the main universe. It is occasionally implied that the Old-Timey and 20X6 variations exist as the past and future, respectively, of the main universe. The Strong Bad Email alternate universe shows Strong Bad employing an "alternate universe portal" to encounter several of his variations.

Frequently reoccurring variations include:

• Storybook World — Intentionally simplistic parodies of children's stories, designed to evoke the Original Book that started Homestar Runner.
• Old-Timey — Evocative of 1930s animation, these black-and-white cartoons are set in 1936.
• 20X6 — A stereotypical sci-fi anime world, featuring technology and the pursuit of challenges.
• Puppet Stuff — Puppet versions of the characters, often filmed in real-world settings or interacting with live-action people.
• Powered by The Cheat — Flash animations created and voiced by The Cheat, featuring strange and off-model illustrations and poorly-imitated voices. These toons are often music videos, or stories portraying The Cheat in an overly-positive light.
• The Homestar Runner Mysfit-steries — A spoof of 1970s Hanna-Barbera cartoons (most prominently Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!) starring a teenaged Homestar Runner and friends solving mysteries and playing in a band.
• Yonder Website — Far-out, "unbelievably soothing" children's programming, featuring simplistic character designs and narration from Strong Bad.

Several other minor character variations have also been created over time.

In-universe fiction

Though initially invented as a hypothetical by Strong Bad, Sweet Cuppin' Cakes is later portrayed as a show that airs on TV without any involvement from him.

See Also: Virtual and Fictitious Places, TV Shows

Several fictional worlds have been presented as media that is read, watched, or played by the characters in the primary universe. Unlike variations, these works of fiction may not include analogues for the main characters; they are typically shown to be produced by characters within the context of the main universe. Many of these also originated as one-off gags in Strong Bad Emails.

Some of the most prominent of these secondary worlds include:

• Teen Girl Squad — A comic drawn and voiced by Strong Bad. Nominally focusing on a friend group of four high school girls trying to meet boys and look fashionable, issues often swerve into surreal, nonsensical scenes and over-the-top cartoon violence.
• Peasantry — A medieval setting inhabited by the dragon Trogdor the Burninator and the peasants he wreaks havoc upon. Originally drawn by Strong Bad and later featuring in several Videlectrix games.
• Dangeresque — A homemade low-budget film series produced by Strong Bad. He stars as Dangeresque, a wisecracking crooked-cop action hero, fighting both "the law and also the crime."
• Cheat Commandos Adventures — A spoof of G.I. Joe, the cartoon (and accompanying heavily-advertised toy line) features the titular Commandos fighting off the evil forces of megalomanical Blue Laser. Characters resemble The Cheat, who also provides the voice of Firebert on the show.
• Sweet Cuppin' Cakes — A surreal, crazy cartoon featuring a bevy of characters in largely nonsensical or non-sequitur-filled scenarios.
• The Total Adventures of Strong Badman — Supervillain Strong Badman, aided by his sidekick Stiny, dramatically confronts other superhuman characters.

As a term

For reals.

The phrase "Homestar Runner universe" has been used several times within the body of work itself.

• Marzipan is known as the only girl in the main universe, which is explored in depth on the DVD feature Why Come Only One Girl?.
• A summary for the Podstar Runner release of haircut notes that there is "Very little hair on the scalps of the Homestar Runner universe."
• The Sketchbook entry for March 8, 2007 featured "the newest character in the ever-expanding homestar runner universe" (a description that the caption indicates is "entirely untrue").
• In the DVD commentary for retirement, Strong Bad notes that the text on the Compy's screen automatically is formatted to avoid the large hole in the center of it, remarking that "there's a lot of autoformatting that goes on in my universe."

See Also

• Homestar Runner (body of work)
• Free Country, USA
• Inconsistencies within the Homestar Runner universe