Strong Bad facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Strong Bad |
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| Homestar Runner character | |
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| First appearance | The Homestar Runner Enters the Strongest Man in the World Contest |
| Created by | Matt and Mike Chapman Craig Zobel |
| Voiced by | Matt Chapman |
| Information | |
| Family |
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Strong Bad is a super popular character from Homestar Runner, a series of fun animated videos. He was inspired by characters called "The Strong Bads" from an old video game called Tag Team Wrestling. The voice of Strong Bad is provided by Matt Chapman, who also helped create the series.
Strong Bad loves to play jokes and pranks on the other characters in the show. He often does this with his loyal sidekick, The Cheat, and his big brother, Strong Mad. Strong Bad became super famous because of a special part of the Homestar Runner website called "Strong Bad Emails." This series became so popular that several DVDs were released, and you could even listen to the emails as a podcast! The first episode of Strong Bad Emails came out in 2001.
Even though Strong Bad was first meant to be the main "bad guy" of the series, he's now more like a mischievous character who sometimes acts like a hero. He still plays pranks and teases his younger brother, Strong Sad. Strong Bad seems to be influenced by cool trends from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s in the United States. This includes things like heavy metal music and classic video games and consoles. Because he's one of the most loved characters, you can even find merchandise like T-shirts and sweatshirts featuring Strong Bad!
Strong Bad is one of the most popular characters in the Homestar Runner series and has been very well-liked. In 2021, a website called Polygon even called Strong Bad an icon! They said that "Strong Bad Email was by far the most popular part of Homestar Runner." They also noted that the series and character have been a "huge comedic influence" on many people. Some other cartoons, like "Teen Girl Squad" (a comic drawn by Strong Bad) and "20X6" (an anime-style cartoon with Japanese versions of the characters, like Strong Bad's counterpart "Stinkoman"), even came from his emails.
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Strong Bad's Role in Homestar Runner
In the very first The Homestar Runner Enters the Strongest Man in the World Contest book and early cartoons, Strong Bad was mostly the rival to Homestar Runner. They often competed, and Strong Bad would sometimes cheat. As the series changed to focus more on the characters and their everyday lives, Strong Bad became less of a villain. He still doesn't always get along with Homestar and tries to prank him, but he mostly just thinks Homestar is a bit silly. Sometimes, though, they do get along!
Strong Bad, along with his strong but not-so-smart big brother Strong Mad and his yellow helper The Cheat, often act like the mischievous group in the series. Many short cartoons show them playing different practical jokes and trying out small scams. Even though these pranks are usually harmless, Strong Bad acts like he's a super clever mastermind. He also loves to show off how cool he is. Strong Bad even "rules" his own area called Strong Badia. It's just a field with a fence, a tire, and a stop sign that says "Pop: Tire" (meaning population) leaning against a cinder block. Besides Strong Badia, he and The Cheat also like to hang out at a place called "The Stick."
Strong Bad Emails: Your Questions Answered!
Strong Bad's most famous role is in the Strong Bad Email section. Here, he answers emails sent to him by fans. The Strong Bad Emails started small in 2001. Strong Bad would often make fun of the spelling and grammar in the emails. He usually typed with boxing gloves on an old computer. People often wonder how he types with boxing gloves, and this has become a funny running joke that seems to annoy Strong Bad! Most of the time, the cartoon shows other scenes beyond just him typing. After he finishes answering the email, "The Paper" or "New Paper" comes down with a link to his email address. Sometimes, you can find hidden animations, called Easter eggs, by clicking on words or pictures during or after the email. As of 2022, there are 209 Strong Bad emails! These cartoons started short but grew to include many famous catchphrases and running gags.
Trogdor the Burninator: A Fan Favorite
Trogdor the Burninator is a unique character that Strong Bad created himself. He first appeared in the 58th Strong Bad Email, which was called "dragon." In this cartoon, Strong Bad teaches viewers how to draw a fire-breathing serpent. Trogdor has funny details like stick-figure feet and one big, muscular arm. When he breathes fire and destroys things, it's called "burnination."
The Trogdor character became incredibly popular! Merchandise featuring Trogdor was always the best-selling in the store. Trogdor appeared in several games on the website and had a memorable song in his first appearance. He was even the main "bad guy" in the final episode of Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, called "8-Bit is Enough." In 2018, a board game called Trogdor!! The Board Game was successfully funded through a Kickstarter campaign.
References to Trogdor have popped up in many places in pop culture. The "Trogdor" song was a bonus track in Guitar Hero II. The dragon was also mentioned in the finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. On May 15, 2025, a reference to Trogdor was added to the video game Legion TD 2. A new Secret Card called "The Flaminator" was introduced. It shows Trogdor with his famous single beefy arm and big eyebrows. The card's caption, "Flaminating the countryside, flaminating the peasants!", is a direct quote from the original Trogdor song!
Fun Spinoffs and Other Adventures
A cool part of Homestar Runner is how the characters and world are sometimes re-imagined in different styles. Strong Bad appears in many of these spinoffs. For example, there's "Old-Timey Strong Bad," who looks like he's from the 1930s. There's also the comic book superhero "Strong Badman," and the anime-styled "Stinkoman."
Many parts of Homestar Runner actually started from Strong Bad Emails. This includes the cartoon series Teen Girl Squad and characters like Trogdor the Burninator and Homsar.
Getting to Know Strong Bad
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How Strong Bad Was Created
Strong Bad, along with other main characters from Homestar Runner, first appeared in a parody children's book in 1996. The book was called The Homestar Runner Enters the Strongest Man in the World Contest. In this story, friends Homestar Runner and Pom-Pom enter a strongman competition. Strong Bad is their opponent, and he tries to cheat.
To create a clear "bad guy," the creators were inspired by "evil" masked wrestlers. Some examples include Mil Máscaras and Mr. Wrestling II. Most importantly, they were inspired by the "Strong Bads" team from the NES video game Tag Team Wrestling. So, Strong Bad was drawn to look like a typical luchador. He wears a red-and-black mask, boxing gloves, and tights, and doesn't wear a shirt.
Only a few copies of this small, handmade book were shared with friends. There were no plans to publish it widely at first. Strong Bad wasn't revisited for several years. In 1999, the brothers wanted to learn how to use Flash. They decided to use the Homestar Runner characters as a fun way to practice.
Strong Bad's Character Development
The earliest Homestar Runner cartoons were about Homestar Runner competing in sports, with Strong Bad as his rival. The Brothers Chaps soon decided to focus more on funny moments that happened between competitions. This allowed them to develop Strong Bad more in cartoons like "Marzipan's Answering Machine" and "Strong Bad Email."
Strong Bad quickly became the most popular character on the website. Mike Chapman noted that fans really liked "how he rags on everyone, but isn't very threatening." The Brothers Chaps decided to give him his own segment, "Strong Bad Email" (often called "sbemail"), starting in 2001. It began as a short, advice column-like format where Strong Bad just typed at a computer. But the format quickly grew into more complex mini-cartoons. "Strong Bad Email" became a huge hit for the website! By early 2002, Strong Bad was already getting hundreds of emails every day. At its peak in the summer of 2003, he received eight thousand emails daily, before settling down to about two thousand a day.
Strong Bad first spoke with a noticeable Mexican accent and a deep voice. Over time, his voice gradually changed to be more gruff and less accented, with a wider range of sounds.
Strong Bad Beyond the Cartoons
Strong Bad in Video Games
Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People is a point-and-click adventure game based on Homestar Runner. Strong Bad is the main star! The game was made by Telltale Games with help from The Brothers Chaps. It was released for the Nintendo Wii's WiiWare service and Microsoft Windows. Later, it was also available for PlayStation 3 as a PSN download and for OSX. The game came out in parts, with five episodes making up the first season. There were no serious plans for a second season before Telltale Games closed in 2018.
Telltale Games also included Strong Bad as a character in Poker Night at the Inventory. This game came out on November 22, 2010. In it, Strong Bad plays Texas hold 'em poker against the player, along with other video game characters like Tycho from Penny Arcade, Heavy from Team Fortress 2, and Max from Sam & Max. Matt Chapman helped with the writing for Strong Bad's lines in the game.
Strong Bad's Music Adventures
Strong Bad Sings (And Other Type Hits) is an album from 2003. It features new or re-recorded songs from the Homestar Runner website. While many songs are sung by Strong Bad, other bands and characters from Homestar Runner are also included.
Strong Bad's spoken lines were featured in the Shellac song "Genuine Lulabelle" from their album Excellent Italian Greyhound.
Strong Bad also made a guest appearance on The Aquabats' 2011 album Hi-Five Soup!. He provided vocals on the song "Pink Pants!". On July 14, 2012, Matt Chapman appeared on stage at an Aquabats concert in San Diego. He was dressed as Strong Bad and joined the band to perform "Trogdor"!
A three-volume Homestar Runner soundtrack was released to music streaming platforms on April 10, 2020. All songs are listed as being by "Strong Bad," even though many are actually performed by other characters or are just instrumental music. This was due to how compilation albums are formatted.
Strong Bad in Other Shows
In 2011, Matt Chapman joined the team for The Hub series The Aquabats! Super Show! as a writer and director. In the 2012 episode "CobraMan!", which Chapman helped direct, he appeared on screen as a carnival worker named "Carl." Carl wore a wrestling mask just like Strong Bad's and spoke in Strong Bad's voice!
