Bubs

Character: Bubs

watch Bubs's character video ← Coach Z The King of Town →

Bubs Concession Stand, known mononymously as Bubs, is the proprietor of Bubs' Concession Stand. A sharp salesman and shady black-market operator, he will sell almost anything, and has developed a habit for selling ridiculous items at a humorously high price. He frequently branches out to other, often extra-legal, businesses throughout Free Country, USA.

Characterization

He doesn't look half bad!

A slick-talking huckster, Bubs sells a great variety of sundries from the concession stand that bears his name and is most frequently seen behind its front counter. Bubs never misses a chance to upsell, tack on fees, or otherwise make a business deal that plays to his advantage.

Bubs has frequently remarked on his having gained weight over the years, blaming it on "a glandular problem" (though Strong Bad considers it "more like a gravy boat problem").

In his spare time, Bubs dances, attends night courses at Disco Tech, and reads Motor Trend magazine.

According to a discussion by The Deleteheads in fan club, Bubs has apparently been married at least twice. In Most in the Graveyard, Bubs claims that many of his distant ancestors invented certain business practices: Great-great grandfather's cousin Harold, who invented the "Bait and Switch"; and his brother Mort, "No Money Down". It is also mentioned that he has a sister, whom Coach Z seems to have feelings for, and that Bubs's great-great granduncle, who invented "No Payments 'Til 2010", was apparently the same person as Coach Z's great good-aunt. If true, this would make Bubs and Coach Z sixth-fourth-second-fifth cousins, thrice removed, although Bubs claims that Coach Z is lying.

His relationship with Coach Z has been sort of a love-hate relationship, as Coach Z has done things to Bubs in the past that have offended him. For example, Coach Z did something to anger Bubs near Thanksgiving in 2005, and to get even, Bubs made a "Coach Z, you jerk!" float for the Fall Float Parade. To retaliate, Coach Z said it "serves him right" when Strong Mad marched in the parade with the concession stand, having ripped it out of the ground. In narrator (February 2006), it was shown that they had patched things up and were once again having boring conversations about Bubs's napkins. Although they still maintain a friendly relationship, Coach Z hasn't fully risen above offending Bubs, as in Most in the Graveyard (where he wanted to have a relationship with Bubs's sister) and Baddest of the Bands (where he punched Bubs in the face accidentally while performing as the Two-O-Duo).

It is hinted (sometimes subtly and sometimes not) that Bubs also has a somewhat darker nature to his personality. He resorts to violence rather quickly and sometimes for no apparent reason, and it is implied in buried and I Killed Pom Pom that he might have actually killed someone.

Business Ventures

See also Bubs's Shady Business Practices

In addition to the concession stand, he owns and operates the Baloney Sammich Truck (selling "exactly zero baloney sandwiches" one year, then selling out his entire inventory the next year), an internet service provider (ripping off his sole subscriber in "99 different ways"), and the hair salon "Luscious Wavẽiñgs". Bubs is a licensed Bail Bondsman, Paranormal Investigator (and Normal Investigator), TV/VCR repairman, and Fashion Consultant. He works as a bartender at Club Technochocolate.

Many of his business dealings are "shady" at best. He is on the run from at least one collection agency. Bubs has a poor understanding of what quality of product to sell where: in licensed, he sells "consumer-safe" products on the Black Market and hazardous products at the concession stand (even in this case, his "consumer-safe" products can cause allergic reactions or come filled with broken glass).

Character Design and Conception

An early version of Bubs' Concession Stand, as seen in Where My Hat Is At?

See also Bubs Evolution

From a 2003 interview with UMFM:

MATT CHAPMAN: We've always thought of [Bubs] as this entrepreneur guy. He's probably got some money problems. He's maybe a divorcee, which we've never really alluded to in the cartoon, but that's kind of the way we think of him. He's definitely the most streetwise of anybody there.

A 2003 article stated that the character was inspired by a gravelly-voiced kid called "Bubs" who worked at a concession stand The Brothers Chaps visited as children. In a 2003 interview, Matt Chapman stated that Bubs's voice was "basically just me doing my best Redd Foxx impression," adding that Bubs's initial characterization had been very similar to Foxx's character Fred Sanford from the show Sanford and Son before Bubs became more fleshed out as a character. Over the years, Bubs's voice has shifted and its resemblance to Foxx has decreased. Mike Chapman's voice for Bubs is "pretty much" a Fat Albert impression.

Now with wavy arms!

Bubs has a round blue head, mismatched eyes (his right eye is white with a blue circle inside while his left is simply a shiny black dot), and a permanent toothy smile consisting four visible teeth that moves when he talks. His upper body is orange, with arms that lack visible hands or fingers (described as "flipper arms" by Strong Bad). He has a green stripe around his middle which, according to Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, is a belt, and his lower half is colored dark gray.

For many years, Bubs's arms were animated with elbow joints. In a 2007 public appearance, Mike Chapman noted that his arms and elbows were difficult to animate. Later that year, beginning with the Strong Bad Email nightlife, Bubs began to be animated with arms that moved smoothly across their entire length.

Although ages of characters are typically indistinct, Bubs is frequently characterized as being at least middle-aged; alongside Coach Z and The King of Town, he is implicitly older than characters like Homestar Runner and Strong Bad.

Character Video Transcript

See main article: Bubs's Character Video

BUBS: Hey there, every peoples! I'm Bubs. I run the concession stand around the way here. I'm a self-made man, I am, I am. I sell hot dogs, chili dogs, slaw dogs, ketchup dogs and mustard dogs. I got drinks, drinks, drinks, candy and snow cones. I can fix everything what needs fixing. Like cars... TVs... marriages. Ooh! I can dance, too. {starts doing the wave} Shake it once! Shake it twice, a-gimme little bit o' sugar spice! I guess the word that best describes me is: personality. Umm... because I have a good personality. Okay. I gotta get back to work. Come on by! We're always awesome! {leaves, then reappears in his Concession Stand in the background}

Fun Facts

• Bubs says he used to be able to "fly" until he said "sbu", which canceled his abilities, in the Strong Bad Email lunch special.
• Bubs may not be a very strong swimmer: as seen in the email keep cool, he wears water wings in the swimming pool.
• He voices The Wheelchair in Sweet Cuppin' Cakes.
• In original, Strong Bad claimed that an earlier figure, known as Original Bubs, was the first to serve in Bubs's role. Bubs vehemently denied this, insisting he was the "100% All Original Bubs". Marzipan claims that there was no such character, but Homestar claims to miss him.
• The silhouette resembling Z Sabre who attacks Stinkoman throughout the tenth level of Stinkoman 20X6 is credited as "Bubs".
  • An image of Bubs can be found in the game's Flash file. This may be left over from a Tweet showing Bubs in the game.
• Bubs's alter-ego is The Thnikkaman. During Decemberween, he also turns into the Dethemberween Thnikkaman. No one but Homestar seems to suspect any relationship with Bubs and the Thnikkaman.
• In unnatural, Bubs was mutated into King Bubsgonzola Supreme after being flushed down the toilet while shaving. Strong Sad cured this with a bowl of kashi.

Relationships

See main article: Character Relationships

• Homestar Runner and Bubs's Relationship
• Strong Bad and Bubs's Relationship
• Marzipan and Bubs's Relationship
• Bubs and Coach Z's Relationship
• Strong Sad and Bubs's Relationship
• Bubs and The Cheat's Relationship

Variations

"Is it like an email pie of some kind?"

• Old-Timey Bubs (Old-Timey)
• The Thnikkaman
• Shark-Tooth Bubs (Puppet Stuff)
• Baron Darin Diamonocle (From Dangeresque)
• Bubsamecium (high school)
• Zubs or Coach B
• King Bubsgonzola Supreme (unnatural)
• Dry Ragamuffin
• Original Bubs (original)
• Onion Bubs
• Bubz (Xeriouxly Forxe)
• Character 4 (Yonder Website)

Halloween Costumes

• Rerun (from What's Happening!!) in Homestarloween Party
• Mars Blackmon (from She's Gotta Have It) in The House That Gave Sucky Treats
• Captain Lou Albano in Pumpkin Carve-nival
• Mel (from Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore) in 3 Times Halloween Funjob
• One of The Three Most Important People in the World (from Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure) in Halloween Fairstival
• Apollo Creed (from Rocky) in Halloween Potion-ma-jig
• Coach McGuirk (from Home Movies) in Happy Hallow-day
• Ross from You Can't Do That On Television in Jibblies 2
• The Junkyard Dog in Most in the Graveyard
• Jules Winnfield (from Pulp Fiction) in Doomy Tales of the Macabre
• Dead Guy from Die Hard in Which Ween Costumes
• Adam Yauch as MCA as Nathan Wind as Cochese (from the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" video) in I Killed Pom Pom
• Chuck Barris in The House That Gave Sucky Tricks
• Billy Mitchell in Later That Night...
• Grunkle Stan (from Gravity Falls) in Haunted Photo Booth
• Stan S. Stanman (from Monkey Island) in Mr. Poofers Must Die
• Commander Borf (from Space Ace) in The Homestar Runner Enters The Spooky Woods
• Beedle (from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) in Halloween Hijinks
• Hoagie (from Day of the Tentacle) in Halloween Hide & Seek
• Office Space in 2022 Costume Pack Now Available
• Jack Flack (from Cloak & Dagger) in The Show: Ween Edition

See Also

• Bubs Evolution
• Other Costumes
• Nicknames

External Links

• watch Bubs's character video
• watch Bubs's character video on the old Flash site
• view the Flash file for Bubs's character video