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The 1980s were a rough time for animation. Long dead were the glory days of theatrical cartoons, and the only option for animators was television. However, budget restrictions necessitated severe cutbacks in writing and animation, resulting in a stable of low-quality, generic-looking cartoons. In order to stretch the industrial dollar further, virtually every popular animated show was tied in with every type of merchandise imaginable, to the point that the commercials were all but indistinguishable from the actual show. For years the phrase “television animation” was a general term for animation that was cheap, hackneyed and creatively bankrupt. It was only with the rise and expansion of satellite television that networks could afford to fund cartoons with creativity, rather than crass consumerism, as the main factor. While 1980s cartoons hold nostalgic value for many, they remain ripe for satirical purposes, and the Chapman Brothers proved this with their brilliant parody of this type of animation, dubbed the Cheat Commandos.
The Cheat Commandos, as with much on the website, started out inconspicuously before moving to the spotlight. They can trace their origins to a Strong Bad e-mail in which The Cheat was attempting be a spy in the defence of Strong Badia. Despite being decked out in a black duster and matching stocking cap, and answering to the codename “Firebert”, The Cheat didn’t exactly instil confidence in his infiltrator abilities (which Strong Bad was quick to point out). However, the Chapman Brothers seldom forget miscellany for future use, and it wasn’t long until the Firebert persona was used in a very different manner. In a later cartoon, Firebert was established to have been based off of a popular action figure from the 1980s, along with several other The Cheats in various military costumes. Since this was based in the 1980s, it was only logical that the action figures were tied in with a 1980s-style television show, which borrowed heavily from the hit series “GI Joe”. And thus the Cheat Commandos were born.
The Cheat Commandos are established as not being part of the “real world” as such. The main characters are depicted as watching the television show and playing with the merchandise. This is perhaps for the best, as it helps establish the nature of the characters as being a misconception, at best. These The Cheats are certainly not the The Cheat we are familiar with, and do not even seem like relatives or variations of the species (perhaps this is why they are mostly referred to as “Cheats” instead of “The Cheats”). Indeed, the way they are handled when animated, the Cheat Commandos are little more than human beings in different forms. Nothing that makes The Cheat unique is incorporated into the design. Furthering the generic look of the animation is that all of the Cheat Commandos, good and evil, are based off of the exact same character model, the only variation being wardrobe. This economy of character design was hardly unknown in the 1980s. Another factor that distances the Cheat Commandos from The Cheat is their faces; the Cheat Commandos sport deliberately ugly facial features, with cold, angular eyes and pinched, sneering mouths, which are entirely at odds with The Cheat’s rounded cuteness. The implication seems to be that the animators based the character designs off of the action figures, but had no idea what an actual The Cheat looked like and animated the characters by guesswork.
The Cheat Commandos represent economy animation at its worst (or best, depending on your viewpoint); the backgrounds are generic and muddy, the character designs grotesque and flat, and the action scenes supplemented by gratuitous stock footage. Also at play is the murky morality that plagued cartoons of the period. It is never explained exactly what makes the heroes good and the villains evil, nor precisely what agendas are at play. The heroes are simply painted as good on principle, and the villains are the over-the-top two-dimensional brand of evil that doesn’t actually exist in the real world. Thus, the alleged heroes almost come across as obnoxious in their self-righteous battles, and subtle themes of jingoism and anti-establishment find their way through. Even the Cheat Commandos’ theme song, which should unequivocally declare their mission, seems unsure as to whether or not freedom and goodness are what the touted heroes are fighting for. However, it is very quick to put in another promotion for the action figures and playsets. It is easy to laugh at the satire, but chilling at the realization that several real cartoons had similar sentiments.
The Cheat Commandos have very little by way of personality, but some of them have had small indications of character revealed in the cartoon. Foremost of the Commandos is Gunhaver, who seems to be their de facto leader on the field. Sharply clad in a bomber jacket, dark glasses and a cowboy hat, Gunhaver gives off such an air of cool professionalism that it nearly covers up the fact that he does practically nothing useful aside from giving a few generic orders. Gunhaver’s voice sounds like a cross between Strong Bad and John Wayne, and does a good job of sounding like he actually knows what he’s talking about, which he seldom does. Silent Rip (nicknamed “Silent But Deadly”) is the covert operations expert; he wears a black vest and a helmet with a built-in microphone (which he never seems to actually use). Silent Rip gives the indication that he is actually smarter than those he considers his superiors, but never bothers improving on any of the wrongheaded orders he receives. Fightgar, clearly designed to be a fan favourite, is a grizzled loose cannon who is an obvious clone of Sylvester Stallone’s John Rambo character, replete with a bandanna, a machine gun, and beard stubble. Fightgar is established as a short-fused tough guy, but of course is never depicted as using lethal force. He has a gravely voice with what sounds like a poor imitation of an Australian accent. Firebert himself is in charge of explosives and demolition; he appears to take his duties seriously, but to date he has not revealed if he is capable of speaking. Crackotage, whose only notable accessories are headphones, is the Commandos’ pilot. He seems to be something of a maverick and inexplicably speaks with a travesty of a Jamaican accent. Ripberger, the ninja, is perhaps the most visually striking of the Commandos, although it is never explained what a ninja is doing among a group of seemingly American militants. Also unexplained is why his apparel is a less than stealthy shade of red (although both of these questions can easily be answered outside of the cartoon’s universe: for more variety in the action figures).
Several more Cheat Commandos have yet to appear in fully animated form. Reinforcements is clad in camouflage fatigues and carries heavy firepower; he seems to be a reliable if less than mentally stable source of backup. His presence brings a double meaning to the phrase “we need reinforcements”. Flashfight is decorated as a five-star general, and seems to be the leader of the Commandos, although his leadership is strictly hands-off. Who, if anybody, sponsors Flashfight and his cohorts, and to what end, is a mystery. Much cynicism is incorporated into the character of Foxface, the token female Commando. Action figure lines would often include a solitary female character in an otherwise male-exclusive set as a attempt to throw a bone to the pretence of sexual equality, which only added to the already explicit chauvinism of the whole affair. Foxface fits the mould perfectly; she is not a markedly feminine character so much as a generic Commando with a tacky red wig and lipstick slapped on her. Reynold, by contrast, was designed purely for comedic purposes. Not a soldier by any stretch of the imagination, Reynold is a civilian contractor clad in large spectacles, a necktie and a pocket protector. The final member of the Commandos was clearly inspired by “The Fridge”, the GI Joe figure immortalizing football star Refrigerator Perry as a soldier. Taking the concept one step further and making a figure instead out of a corporate mascot, the obvious result is Ser-g-geant Marshie. This character is basically Marshie clad in a World War I-era helmet, although this version of Marshie is noticeably more effeminate, for reasons best left unknown. Naturally, a talking marshmallow clashes horrendously among the Cheat Commandos, but nobody involved seems to care.
And then we have the villains. The presumed archenemies of the Cheat Commandos are Blue Laser (so named because their weapons fire blue lasers, while the Cheat Commandos use red lasers), apparently some sort of high-tech progressive-anarchist terrorist group. ‘Blue Laser’ seems to be a catchall term that is the name not only of the organization, but also its leader and various henchmen. As noted elsewhere, it is never properly explained exactly what Blue Laser is trying to accomplish; all we are given is the fact that the Cheat Commandos are sworn to protect the world from whatever scheme Blue Laser employs. These schemes range from highly improbable and hilariously counterproductive machinations (attempting to blow up the ocean is a good example) to simply hiding out and not doing much of anything when the Cheat Commandos come to call. As per the economy animation model, none of the Cheat Commandos are ever hurt at all during battles, and a few random Blue Laser henchman are slightly injured. All involved live on to fight another day, despite the sheer amount of ordnance used in the fracas. The leader of Blue Laser is a high-strung psychotic autocrat with an eyepatch (which comically switches eyes when he turns his head) who never bothers to speak when he can instead shriek histrionically whenever something goes wrong – or when something goes right. Blue Laser’s voice suits this personality perfectly: it is high-pitched and extremely raw (and some fans have pinned it as an imitation of GI Joe villain Cobra Commander’s voice, as realized by the late Chris Latta), which only heightens the humour of his overacted exclamations. For all his dissension with the incompetence of his minions, Blue Laser never does anything constructive towards improving their efficiency; he merely screams some more. The various acolytes of Blue Laser are all identical: they wear the same blue costume as their leader, but with dark face-obscuring visors. They speak in low, snivelling tones and seem to have the collective intelligence of a wet sponge. They are also extraordinarily apathetic, doing practically nothing to eliminate or even hinder the Cheat Commandos in any way. It is little wonder why their leader is so irascible.
The Cheat Commandos are relative newcomers to the Homestar Runner universe, but if fan reaction is any indication, they are more than likely to make future appearances. Not only are they a clever parody of a rather disreputable chapter in animations history, but they are very funny in their own regard as well; an ideal combination.
Surrealism is a risky venture in any medium, especially when the desired result is laughter. What strikes some people as funny can leave others cold, and once a level of randomness has been established, maintaining that standard while creating new material can be extremely taxing. The Chapman Brothers' forte is portraying events of everyday life twisted slightly but exactly for comedic effect. However, when Strong Bad was challenged by "Monkeydude" (or "Josh", as Strong Bad preferred to call him) to create a "crazy" cartoon, they were up for the challenge. As the audience was taken on a trip within Strong Bad's imagination, an absurd little curio box of a cartoon named Sweet Cuppin' Cakes (so named because, as Strong Bad points out, crazy cartoons bear titles having nothing to do with the rest of the cartoon) was born.
Sweet Cuppin' Cakes takes place on a featureless plane that rather resembles a disco floor, consisting of uniform tiles which occasionally light up with psychedelic colours. The sky is divided horizontally by a jagged line, with a starry night sky above and the rosy glow of twilight below. Discordant guitar music underscores the action. Rather like an avant-garde stage play, the camera does not move from its predetermined focus, with the characters entering and exiting as they please. The only expansion of the cartoon's visual scope is a descending pan from the sky at the cartoon's beginning and a similar rise at the end.
The characters, as one might expect, have no real personalities or even identities. They exist only as bizarre analogues, playing out their pre-ordained roles with all the ordered inflexibility of Japanese kabuki. Exactly what or who the characters are supposed to symbolize is open to interpretation, but overanalyzing these characters only results in pretentious hyperbole, or worse, shrugs. Given Strong Bad's matter-of-fact attitude towards the cartoon, it is more likely that the characters simply are what they are, or perhaps even less.
The alleged main character of Sweet Cuppin' Cakes is described as "a cross between a cow and a helicopter", earning him the somewhat blasé name of "Cowcopter". Despite his description, Cowcopter really does not resemble either of his nominal counterparts, other than his irregular dark spots and the chopping sound he makes as he hovers. He is an elliptic blue blob etched with black spots and sporting a constipated expression on his wide face. Four stringy yellow tentacles dangle beneath him, serving no apparent function. Cowcopter occasionally speaks, in a mumbling, sepulchral tone that sounds suspiciously like a tape played backward.
All that ever happens in Cowcopter's life is a ceaseless series of attempts to catch a little worm, presumably for food. The Worm, in contrast to the rest of the cartoon, is rendered in gray tones, and looks more like a pencil sketch than a fully animated entity. Periodically the Worm speaks, blurting out obvious statements in a childish voice, which curiously sports a Hispanic accent. Cowcopter's attempts to catch the worm have no finesse or cunning. His strategy seldom goes farther than throwing himself on top of the Worm, apparently baffled at the Worm's ability to tunnel underground. Occasionally Cowcopter appears to have caught the Worm, only to suddenly find himself ensnared in a booby trap. Whether this is the Worm's doing or simply a common occurrence in Sweet Cuppin' Cakes' bizarre universe is never revealed. According to Strong Bad, this is the main thrust of Sweet Cuppin' Cakes' plots.
While the supposed drama between Helicow and the Worm are the main focus of the cartoon, the character who steals the show is without a doubt Eh! Steve. Eh! Steve's only role is to show up at random and utter his catchphrase, which is his name, intoned in a bombastic tone with a hint of a Sicilian accent. The catchphrase also seems to be the whole of Eh! Steve's dialogue. Eh! Steve is a marvel of character design; his entire body seems to be carved from stone, and his design is curiously Aztec in origin. The majority of Eh! Steve's body is his trapezoidal head, with small inverted triangles as his eyes, a parabolic mouth, and small sticks as his arms and legs.
Despite his seeming aura of joviality, Eh! Steve's life is not uncomplicated. For some reason, he is the constant target of a seemingly cantankerous and certainly homicidal Wheelchair who would like nothing more than to see the chiseled crier dead. Oddly, the Wheelchair looks as though he was scribbled hastily rather than constructed schematically, and his mouth appears to consist of his seat forming the upper lip and his footrest forming the lower lip. The Wheelchair is the only character in Sweet Cuppin' Cakes who can speak normally, and he expresses himself in a hoarse Deep South drawl (according to Strong Bad, Bubs provides the voice), usually shouting at the top of his lungs. His dialogue is generally restricted to unanswered threats directed at Eh! Steve, and it is curious as to why he has not succeeded in carrying out his vendetta, since he is depicted as moving much faster than Eh! Steve, as well as the fact that there are no possible places for Eh! Steve to hide. As well, it is never explicated what on earth Eh! Steve did to earn the Wheelchair's enmity. There is the possibility to criticize a supposed correlation on the animator's behalf of disability and malevolence, but the Wheelchair is such an absurd character that any such accusations simply do not wash.
The fifth member of the cast is Strong Bad himself, with one major difference: his head has been replaced with a 1980s-style electronic keyboard. Keyboard-Head Strong Bad has, in this transformation, lost all ability to express himself, and thus lost the most important facet of his character. In this incarnation, all Strong Bad can do is play a demo song whenever he is angry, and he has a lot to be angry about. Perhaps he is upset that he is completely ignored in favour of Cowcopter's efforts to catch the Worm and the Wheelchair's equally dogged assault on Eh! Steve, but the more likely reason is that he has something to say, as usual, but he is now ineffective, even impotent, to express his opinion. To somebody like Strong Bad, being unable to speak his mind is a fate worse than death. The sight of Strong Bad hopping about in ineffectual rage, with a merry synthesized tune emanating from his head, is both comical and saddening.
The sixth and to date final character in the series is Ready For Primetime, a bizarre little fellow with a penchant for dancing. The character was brought to life in a later Strong Bad e-mail, in which Strong Bad, designing different eyebrow styles for Strong Mad, stumbled across a design which both agreed resembled a Sweet Cuppin' Cakes character much more than a trendy hairstyle. Ready For Primetime's entire body consists of Strong Mad's face, accoutered with oxford shoes, undeveloped arms, and of course bushy blonde eyebrows.
Sweet Cuppin' Cakes is certainly inventive, and its cast of characters is unlike anything ever seen, but after its introduction, it has had much less exposure than the likes of Teen Girl Squad and the 1936 and 20X6 series. Why is this the case? The easy answer is that there is literally nothing to this universe beyond Strong Bad's description. There is so little room for innovation that any Sweet Cuppin' Cakes cartoons would quickly become repetitive and stale. Surrealism and an eternally circular plotline worked well in George Herriman's celebrated comic strip, "Krazy Kat", (which bears many similarities to Sweet Cuppin' Cakes) but the true appeal of the strip was the poetically diverse dialogue and narrative and the quirky personalities of the characters. Everything in the strip was fluid and spontaneous except the story. By contrast, Sweet Cuppin' Cakes has no personality and nothing by which one is reminded of the natural beauty or idiosyncrasies of life. Fortunately for the fans, a recent Decemberween episode revitalized the series, and clearly determined that the way to salvage these characters is to make them react to events outside their existence; in this case, holidays. Hopefully Sweet Cuppin' Cakes will continue in this new direction, and these unusual characters will continue to entrance and entertain audiences.
The past decade has seen something of a love affair between the entertainment industry and the complexities of the lives of teenage girls. While this subculture certainly merits interest, too often simplifying and bean-counting consumerism have given life to "Barbie Culture", in which teenage girls are portrayed as high-strung, mentally addled and image-obsessed. While these stereotypes have basis in reality, they are often unhealthily presented as standards of normalcy for young women in transitory stages. Unfortunately, this only means that these conventions will only propagate through the generations. When Strong Bad inevitably encountered this culture, it was inevitable that they would collide head-on.
An e-mail from one "Britney" asked Strong Bad to draw a comic starring her friends, and Strong Bad, patronizing as always, took up her offer. What resulted was a disjointed, frenetic comic strip, showcasing Strong Bad's half-formed views of teenage female culture. Quickly forgetting the assigned names of the girls, Strong Bad gave them half-formed aliases, and amused himself by killing off the girls as he pleased. Popular response to the e-mail allowed the characters to be resurrected, and Teen Girl Squad comics gradually became a regular feature at the website.
While the name of the comic may conjure images of superheroes, the members of the Teen Girl Squad are far from superhuman (unless one counts the fact that they always return for the next issue, regardless of how horribly they died the issue previous). Instead, they deal with the events of their world, some realistic, some anything but, as real girls would, or at least how Strong Bad believes real girls would. Those who would decry Strong Bad's works as misogynic are missing the issue; Strong Bad is not expressing hatred for the girls so much as ignorance. He deals with the girls not as an enemy, but as a species he has never had to deal with previously, and has no intention to learn more. The hideously mangled dialogue represents his unfamiliarity with adolescent slang, and the girls' propensity for playing up trivial matters and understating important issues show his skewed view of juvenile values. Of course, by the end, Strong Bad has stopped attempting to please the alleged target audience and fulfills his own masculine desires, usually with random violence and surrealism. There is subtle satire at work here; the most insulting depictions of teen girl culture have been created by men who (mistakenly) think they know what their audience wants. Strong Bad, of course, is perhaps the least qualified of all to write this material, and the Chapman Brothers milk this wild juxtaposition for all it is worth.
The look of the strip is very simple, the character designs being one step above stick figures. All appear to be sketched in pencil on lined paper. Rather than being fully animated, the comics are displayed panel by panel, giving the strip a very staccato tempo and accentuating the non-sequiters. Strong Bad reads the strip aloud as the cartoon progresses, giving the girls shrill and strident voices and vocalizing the over-the-top sound effects in his own voice. While the earlier comics stuck the girls in a variety of unrelated incidents with no explanation, later issues made the token effort to set the chaos in more realistic settings for the demographic.
Foremost among the quartet of heroines is the very aptly named Cheerleader. Perky, pigtailed and presumably blonde (it is difficult to imagine her with any other hair colour), Cheerleader entertains few thoughts beyond clothing, hair, and what she perceives as her own expertise with the opposite sex. In short, Cheerleader embodies every archetype that ignorant males (Strong Bad included) associate with adolescent girls. Sadly, people like Cheerleader truly do exist in our world, and the resulting character is totally unsympathetic and more than a little abrasive. Cheerleader, however, sees herself as utter perfection, and the other girls all but worship her, which only increases her arrogance and self-obsession. As the de facto leader of the girls, Cheerleader is the most vocal by far, and often incites the others to repeat and affirm anything she says. In this vein, a literal interpretation of her name entertains some amusing subtexts. Also, Cheerleader clearly sees the other three as disposable, and is quick to discard her friends as soon as she appears to be in control of a situation. Fortunately, however, Strong Bad sees her for the narcissistic imp she is, and it is hard to resist a slight cheer as he lovingly depicts her violent comeuppance.
Second among the girls is the high-maintenance So-And-So, who somehow takes shallowness and one-dimensionality even farther than Cheerleader does. Although So-And-So obviously takes pride in her immaculate bobbed hair, natty blouse and pleated skirt, she has little interest in anything else whatsoever. Were it not for her sycophantic devotion to Cheerleader, So-And-So would exist entirely behind a veil of obliviousness and a blithe ignorance of anything that would upset her cloistered mental world. Harsher issues of life have the potential to upset her, so she simply elects not to think about them, bubbling merrily along until she inevitable crashes headfirst into cold, hard reality. So-And-So's simpering self-deceit irks the other girls, but fortunately she is too thick to realize how exactly imbecilic she is.
The only sympathetic member of the Squad, and definitely the most downtrodden, is What's Her Face. Unlike the well-groomed and overtly feminine Cheerleader and So-And-So, What's Her Face is a conservative, almost tomboyish character, her form shrouded with baggy clothing, her hands shoved nonchalantly in her pockets, and her hair hanging loosely in unkempt strands. True to her unassuming look, What's Her Face holds no illusions of her attractiveness, nor is she aggressive or self-asserting in any way. Rather like Strong Sad, she is more than content to leave the hustle and bustle of the world alone. Also like Strong Sad, she constantly sees herself on the receiving end of the wrath of a hostile universe. While all of the girls have been pummeled, mutilated and obliterated in grotesque fashion from time to time, What's Her Face seems to take the most abuse. She does not seem to be embittered by her lot in life, but she does seem to be the only girl intelligent enough to realize the unfairness of her situation. However, she is far too shy and unassuming to protest, and seems satisfied to stand around and silently observe the antics of her prettier and more bombastic colleagues, even as they flagrantly ignore her and her feelings.
The last and certainly oddest member of the squad is The Ugly One, whose name is a cruelly accurate, if inelegant, summation of her general appearance. Clad in what appears to be an old-fashioned nightgown, horn-rimmed spectacles and her hair in a mess of wiry curls, The Ugly One is a girl grown old before her time. The Ugly One is very much a scraggly spinster, and by all appearances will remain that way for the rest of her life. Amusingly, The Ugly One has all of Cheerleader's single-minded perseverance and predilection towards the opposite sex, but since she is not pretty, she fares even worse. The Ugly One does not make much of an impact on the proceedings, and generally ends up forcibly removed from the story early on, likely because Strong Bad cannot think of anything better for her to do. It is interesting to note that The Ugly One, despite her hideous appearance and overweening personality, is rather more liked among the girls than the much more affable and compliant What's Her Face.
Of the minor characters the girls encounter in their surrealistic adventures, few are notable and even fewer are recurring. By far the most eminent is the ubiquitous Man. Nothing is known about the Man's identity within the realm of the world of the comic strip; he is middle-aged and seemingly apoplectic, usually dressed in a white-collar shirt and tie, or some other distinguished-looking uniform. Opposed to the simple, facile look of the strip, the Man is depicted in a grotesque pseudo-realistic style, and is surprisingly visually unnerving. His sole purpose is to show up at an inopportune time and perform a destructive action (complete with self-describing sound effect), which usually results in the death or mutilation of one of the girls. Outside of the strip, however, the Man's identity is obvious. As Strong Bad is the creator of this universe, the Man is his vanguard, his avatar. Whenever Strong Bad is strapped for ideas, he exercises deus ex machina, personified by the Man, a masculine presence in an otherwise dominantly feminine domain. The Man provides a good source of random, often surrealistic comedy, and his appearances, however short, often represent some of the funniest moments in the Teen Girl Squad cartoons.
The rest of the cast of characters mostly consists of various boys who are the unfortunate targets of the girls' libidinous entreaties, and are more or less ciphers, as they have nothing notable about them other than the fact that they are male. The only exception is Thomas, a mute little fellow who just happens to be an alien of the egg-headed "Roswell" persuasion. He usually hangs around acting as bizarre window dressing, although he has been known to impulsively engage in unprovoked acts of violence. The fact that nobody finds his appearance odd in the least is indicative of the surrealism of the world of the strip.
Teen Girl Squad may not represent the Chapman Brothers' best work, but it certainly has its moments of comic inspiration, and it has accumulated an enthusiastic audience. There is little room for variation within the limited personalities of the girls, but the variety of ways in which they can misinterpret (and be destroyed by) the world around them, coupled with the consistently bizarre humour, ensures the continued survival of the girls in the years to come.
More than anything else in this encyclopedia, Trogdor has found the most fame from people who do not necessarily "know" Homestar Runner, Strong Bad and the rest. Countless references to Trogdor abound throughout the Internet, and the Burninator found international fame with a brief mention on the final episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". Trogdor enjoys almost inexplicably intense fame that is so widespread that the creators have yet to stumble across a new character to match his popularity. For this we have an e-mail author named "Kaiser" to thank.
It was Kaiser who prompted Strong Bad to draw a dragon to demonstrate his "skills of an artist". Considering that Strong Bad demonstrated these skills with a lead pencil and lined paper, one would have little confidence in Strong Bad's artistic expertise. Although initially unsuccessful (his original dragon proved to be a serpentine being with a triangular face and muscular human-like limbs, which he disdainfully jettisoned, commenting that it was not majestic enough), Strong Bad was undaunted. Eventually he produced a dragon which, while far from well designed, was at least visually striking in a somewhat offbeat way. It was this dragon upon which he bestowed the immortal appellation of Trogdor the Burninator. This name may be inspired in part by Trorg, the Dragon from BBC Radio's "The Hordes of the Things", and Falkor, the Luck Dragon from Michael Ende's "The Neverending Story". So pleased was Strong Bad of his creation that he composed (and performed) a theme song in the dragon's honour, and later designed a video game furthering his exploits.
Trogdor's appearance would certainly turn the head of the most seasoned herpetologist. His thin body is twisted into an "S" shape from head to tail, his spine is adorned with dinosaur-like spikes, and his face resembles that of a crocodile. His crooked, fanged grin could almost be interpreted as a friendly one, but his empty, savage eyes betray the true nature of the beast. Some mammalian components are also present: an underdeveloped pair of obviously worthless bat-like wings rests on the back of his head, and a muscular human arm grows from the back of his neck (a throwback to the earlier, rejected design, which had a full complement of human limbs). His feet are simple sticks, rather like the Poopsmith's.
Although Trogdor is a unique design, he rather more resembles an occidental dragon rather than an oriental one. This is a vital indication of Trogdor's disposition; while oriental dragons represent, for the most part, wisdom and nobility, occidental dragons have generally represented destruction, cruelty, and evil. The book of Revelation depicts the Devil himself in the form of a (non-oriental) dragon, so Trogdor finds himself in sinister company indeed. And he lives up to his lineage; his sole purpose of existence seems to be the wanton demolition of hapless medieval peasants and their villages. There is no purpose behind this rampage, nor is there any remorse in regards to the loss of life and livelihood; Trogdor commits his massacres with a mix of animalistic brutality and the immature glee of a reckless child smashing his playthings. It is symbolic that his weapon of choice is "burnination"; like Trogdor, fire is an uncaring elemental force that destroys anything it contacts. The image of villages turned to flaming wreckage is another portent of Trogdor's diabolical lineage; those villagers would certainly agree that Trogdor is a hellish beast of the blackest shade. Even Trogdor's theme song accentuates this: not medieval by any stretch, it is a cacophony of screaming electric guitars (still the "Devil's music" to some), pounding bass and howled vocals by Strong Bad himself.
Which brings us to the most interesting facet of Trogdor's existence: if, as many believe, the creations of an artist can reveal motives and preferences of the creator, what does Trogdor's countenance say about Strong Bad? Psychologist Carl Jung asserted that a dragon often symbolizes what he calls "The Shadow", which consists of a gamut of dark, hostile and antisocial tendencies which must be repressed if the ego, the "good self" is to be at the forefront of one's personality. If Strong Bad is subject to the whims of his id, his "bad self", Trogdor literally IS id. While Strong Bad cannot commit violent acts on the scale of Trogdor's delirium, some deep, primitive part of him would like to, and it is through Trogdor's escapades that he can live out some of his dark fantasies while at least partially conforming to the world's standards of acceptable behavior. Strong Bad, like us, admires Trogdor because he is something that most of us will, for reasons of conscience, never be. Trogdor unabashedly acts on any feeling he has, and if innocents must pay the price for his freedom of action, even in blood, he feels no regret whatsoever. Conscience is all that keeps anarchy in check, and Trogdor is a textbook example of the results of unrestrained passion and impulse. Strong Bad himself unwittingly recognizes the link between dragons and "The Shadow" with the final line of Trogdor's theme song: "The Trogdor comes in the night."
Several parallels can be drawn between Strong Bad and Trogdor, to the extent that one almost seems to be drawing traits from the other. Most obvious is Trogdor's "beefy arm", which is undeniably human. Considering Strong Bad's pride in his musculature and strength, it is obvious that Trogdor's arm is Strong Bad's presence within him physically manifesting itself. Note that the arm never serves any function other than decorative, however. Lack of civilized control over a creation, perhaps? Has Strong Bad truly "created a monster"? Strong Bad has no fear about the themes that Trogdor introduces, however, and considers himself the dragon's equal in some respects. After all, both get satisfaction from victimizing innocents who are incapable or unwilling to fight back; just as Strong Bad receives no retribution to his abuse of Strong Sad, there is no chance that unarmed serfs and thatched huts could oppress Trogdor in any way. This relationship is made explicit when, after Strong Bad draws his loving rendition of Trogdor, he discovers that Strong Sad has also drawn a dragon much better rendered than his. His response is to callously destroy Strong Sad's picture with fire, doing some "burninating" of his own. He then celebrates his conquest with a cry of "Trogdor strikes again!", blurring the line between his deeds and the dragon's deeds further. The point is finally driven home when Strong Bad performs Trogdor's theme song, in which he erroneously asserts that "Trogdor was a man". It is not long before he corrects himself, but his momentary confusion is telling.
Did the Chapman Brothers have all of these themes in mind when designing Trogdor, who is, on the surface, a harmless little drawing? Possibly and possibly not. The Chapman Brothers have certainly proven themselves intelligent and with respect for the sophistication of their audience, but sometimes even the most brilliant creative minds inadvertently add subtexts without being fully aware of them. In any event, Trogdor's rampages not only serve entertainment purposes but also act as an outlet for Strong Bad to exercise - and exorcise - his baser tendencies. And Trogdor's massive popularity within the world at large shows that he is certainly not alone in his darker inclinations. Sometimes the abyss is closer than we think.
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