Strong Bad is a Bad Guy

Toon Category: Shorts

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Bad Guy Tattoo

The Brothers Chaps go back to their roots with Mario Paint. Strong Bad, Strong Mad and The Cheat talk about tattoos.

Cast (in order of appearance): Strong Mad, Strong Bad, The Cheat, Marzipan (pictured), Marshie, Trogdor, Homestar Runner

Places: The Field, Strong Badia, The Bar

Date: Monday, October 17, 2005

Running Time: 1:44

Page Title: Bad Guy!

DVD: Everything Else, Volume 1

Transcript

{The following title card appears:}

STRONG BAD is a BAD GUY
(made with mariopaint)

{Cut to a close up of Strong Mad in the field. All mouth movements are a simple loop (a feature in Mario Paint), therefore lip-syncing is very off}

STRONG MAD: A GLOWY BOX! A GLOWY BOX!

{Cut to the rest of the field, revealing The Cheat and Strong Bad}

STRONG BAD: {moving his left arm up and down} A glowy box? Are you sure that's what you'd get for your tattoo?

{Cut to Strong Mad}

STRONG MAD: IT'S PERSONAL!

{Cut to The Cheat}

THE CHEAT: {The Cheat noises} {moving his right arm up and down}

{Cut to a close up of Strong Bad; holding his right arm down and his left one up}

STRONG BAD: I'd want mine to look like a prison tattoo that you carved out yourself with a spoon and some soap.

{Cut to a muscled arm.}

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} There'd be a rocket launcher, of course,—

{A rocket launcher appears on the arm with a "donk" sound effect.}

STRONG BAD: —and above that it'd just say, "Bad Guy."

{The words "BAD GUY" are written in yellow above the rocket launcher as Strong Bad says them. Music begins.}

SINGERS: Strong Bad is a bad guy, bad guy, bad guy.
Strong Bad is a bad guy, bad guy, bad guy.
Strong Bad is a bad, bad man.
Strong Bad hates Marzipan!
Strong Bad's got the master plan,
To buy a custom conversion van!
Strong Bad is a bad guy, bad guy, bad guy.
Strong Bad is a bad guy, bad guy, bad guy.
Marshie is a bad guy, bad guy, bad guy.
Trogdor is a bad, bad guy!

{Cut back to the Field. Music ends. Homestar walks in. Soon afterwards, a close-up of Homestar.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Hey guys! H'whatcha teekenbot?

{Cut to a close-up of Strong Bad in the same pose as before.}

STRONG BAD: We're talking about something cool and interesting. You wouldn't understand.

{Cut to Homestar.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Oh, tattoos, huh? I'd get one on my forearm {the bulging arm, now blank, reappears, and tattoos appear on it as Homestar talks} that said, "The For-Real Deal", {appears on the forearm} and has a picture of me dressed up like Uncle Sam. {appears underneath the text}

{Cut to Strong Bad.}

STRONG BAD: You'd get one on your forearm, huh?

{Cut to Homestar.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Or one on my bulging bicep that just says "Cake Man". {the bulging arm reappears with the tattoos from before, with "cakeman" on it in crude blue script; cut back to Homestar} Ooh, or a glowy box on my wrist...

{Cut to Strong Bad talking to The Cheat.}

STRONG BAD: I just don't have the heart to tell him.

STRONG MAD: YOU DON'T HAVE AR— {Cut to the bulging arm with a "THE END" tattoo and a rocket launcher tattoo above it, then changes to a black screen that says "done."}

Easter Eggs

"Tattoo Idea #26"

• Click the screen when The Cheat is talking to see tattoo idea #26: "some kinda snake lady killing some kinda snake".
• Click on The Cheat after Homestar says "A glowy box on my wrist" to see a drawing of a box with the caption "Glowy box 4 ever".

Fun Facts

Explanations

• Strong Bad's desire to have a tattoo that "you carved out yourself with a spoon and some soap" combines the old prison clichés of creating improvised weapons and creating carvings from soap.
• Uncle Sam is a national personification of the United States.

Trivia

• This is the first toon animated entirely in the Super Nintendo game Mario Paint to be released since Super NES, which was made almost ten years prior to this toon. This toon's main page message read "back to our roots", alluding to this.
• Actual "prison tattoos" are usually made with a regular sewing needle and a thread which is saturated with ink, typically from a ballpoint pen. This results in a tattoo made up of short lines, which will often have a "stitched" look.
• This toon took the shortest amount of time for any toon to come to DVD, as Everything Else, Volume 1 was released less than a month later.

Remarks

• Homestar's propeller is missing, as in the original Super NES cartoon.
• No paint appears on Marzipan's poster as Strong Bad spray-paints it.
• The glowy box Easter egg is clickable from when it appears until the end of the toon.

Glitches

• The "X" close button does not appear until the title disappears.

Inside References

• Strong Bad beats a muffler with a pipe. In no loafing, Strong Mad is inspired to do the same thing.
• Strong Bad spray-painting the poster of Marzipan may be a reference to origins, in which he did the same thing to the real Marzipan.
• The ascending group of three quick notes in the "Strong Bad is a Bad Guy" song is taken from the Teen Girl Squad theme, although the synthesizer seems to be the one used in TROGDOR!. They can be heard the clearest before the first line of dialogue.
• During the song, Strong Bad performs the Double Deuce.
• The way that Strong Bad and Strong Mad are drawn closely resembles the drawing "viewtiful brothers strong" from the sketchbook, an illustration evocative of the Viewtiful Joe series.
• The onomatopoeia explosion "Dooj" was heard previously in the song "The System is Down" and the DVD Sketchbook.
• The "master plan" to buy a "custom conversion van" echoes Strong Bad is in Jail Cartoon, when Strong Bad uses his powers of persuasion to influence The Cheat into pulling one more caper, and "blow the college fund on a really tricked out van". In the DVD commentary for said toon, Matt Chapman refers to this scheme as "a recurring dream of [Strong Bad's]".
• Strong Mad's "YOU DON'T HAVE [ARMS]" is yet another reference to Homestar Runner's lack of visible arms.

Real-World References

• The rocket launcher tattoo reading "Bad Guy" may be loosely inspired by the movie Scarface. The film features crime boss Tony Montana delivering a speech where he refers to himself as "the bad guy" and, in a later scene, wielding a grenade launcher in a shootout.
• Custom conversion vans have been seen in such shows as The A-Team, where the team drove a customized GMC Vandura.
• The term "vantastic" is a possible reference to the band Piebald, who describe their tour van using the same word.

Fast Forward

"My oft-overlooked sorta theme song!"

• The song later became part of Homestar Runner Original Soundtrack Volume 3.
• The song is featured on day 14 of the Decemberweenvent Calendar, and features illustrations of Strong Bad's custom conversion van and a glowy box.
• In Dangeresque: The Roomisode Triungulate, a version of the song is used in the cut scene between Roomisode 2 and Roomisode 3. A yet even more different version appears on the game soundtrack.
• Zeenin' Into the Night shows Larry Palaroncini with every tattoo mentioned in this toon on his arms.

See Also

• Strong Bad is a Bad Guy Visuals

External Links

• watch "Strong Bad is a Bad Guy"
• view the Flash file for "Strong Bad is a Bad Guy"
• forum thread re: "Strong Bad is a Bad Guy"
• download MP3