Courage The Cowardly Dog: Good to Evil By Landry Bohn
We interrupt this program to bring you Courage: The Cowardly Dog, Good to Evil.
I’m Kyle with WickedBinge and today we’re counting down the denizens of the middle of
Nowhere, starting with the most pure, to the most vile.
All told, this is one of our more comprehensive lists, with effort taken to include every
notable member of the cast, ranging from the Bagge family, their many associates, and of
course any and all notable nasties that the farm played host to over the years.
For the record, this means counting any monster who appeared more than once, or sufficiently
traumatized us all when we were six.
Without further ado, let’s get to it...
As always we have our Most Good to start off the list, but this is one of those rare occasions
where our top contender isn’t someone to be emulated.
Actually, she stands to show us all that there is indeed such a thing as ‘too good’.
Of course, we’re talking about Muriel Bagge.
Now, as a character, Muriel isn’t particularly unintelligent, at least not by the show’s
standards.
Her problem is that she’s naive, certainly, but that naivety is fundamentally tied to
her kindness: she believes that everyone shares the same good intentions that she does, no
matter how frightening their appearance or off-putting their demeanor.
She’s good at the expense of being undiscerning.
In fact, her trusting nature predictably gets her in trouble at roughly the same rate as
her husband’s obstinance, and because it comes from a place of kindness, she’s even
less likely to learn her lesson than Eustace.
But of course we can’t call Muriel’s extensive kindness an exclusively negative trait: she’s
a demonstrably good surrogate mother for Courage, and on more than one occasion she’s managed
to charm her way out of the jaws of death.
The episode Curtain of Cruelty is a good example of how Muriel is more than just a liability,
and for all the trouble she causes, it’s no stretch to say that Courage would be incomplete
without her.
Our Silver Medal goes to the Fish, or the Bathtub Barracuda, the very last new character
the series introduced.
This fishy friend only appears once in the whole series, but his brief time on camera
has an immense positive impact on both Courage and the viewers at home.
He reassures Courage that perfection is an impossible and unnecessary standards, and
that he is beautiful, flaws and all.
Courage spends the entire episode being put down - it is implied - by a manifestation
of his own insecurities, and the inner peace he receives from this entity gives him the
strength he needs to overcome him.
For his brief appearance and little development, the Fish was a worthy addition to this list
because he so perfectly illustrates the nature of the overall cartoon: surreal, certainly,
but also warm and sympathetic.
He even manages closes out the show with a smile, after being cooked alive.
Our cowardly hero Courage takes third.
Courage is a really, really good boy, guys.
In fact, though he places lower on the list than some others, it’s safe to say that
Courage’s actions are usually the most beneficial to those around him.
In the years after he’s taken in by Muriel, Courage constantly ruminates to himself that
he will do anything for love.
In fact the premise of the series is that Courage defies his very real fear of whatever
threat his family faces in order to protect them.
He can be counted on to take charge in the face of Muriel’s obliviousness and Eustace’s
hostility.
He can even be counted on to come to the aid of the townspeople of Nowhere and the occasional
creepy-crawly that comes to the farm, even at the expense of his personal safety.
Courage has literally gone to the ends of the Earth to keep his family together, but
it’s only at the very end of the final season that we find out why: Courage wasn’t actually
abandoned as a pup, but rather orphaned.
In a surprisingly painful flashback, we see Courage lose his parents to an evil veterinarian,
a traumatic experience that adds a whole new depth to his character.
It shows us, here is a pup who’s seen what can happen if he doesn’t do everything he
can to stop the bad guy.
It also gives us an insight into why he tolerates Eustace so well - Courage is just happy to
have a family, and he’s not about to let anyone take that away from him.
The pig chef Jean Bon, and his wife, come next.
These two restauranteurs appear in only one episode in which Courage suspects them of
grinding unsuspecting customers for hamburger meat.
After a series of comedic misunderstandings, though, its revealed that the two of them
simply enjoy making meat sculptures of their clients, making them one of the few creatures
in the series whom Courage ends up being wrong about.
It’s an unorthodox, but certainly inoffensive, creative venture, certainly nothing to rank
them any lower for.
Branching out slightly, we have the Magic Tree of Nowhere.
A testament to this show’s animation, the tree was a pretty unsettling visual but still
a very benevolent character.
To repay Courage for planting him, the Tree grants his and Muriel’s wishes, though it
invokes Eustace’s jealousy in the process.
This leads to Eustace actually chopping the tree down but, even as it lays dying, it offers
its flowers to Courage so he can save Muriel from a mysterious illness.
In the end, though, Tree does manage its revenge on Eustace for cutting it down, proving it
isn’t entirely benign.
Our next entrant is Dr, Vindaloo, aka MD Quack, who serves as the Bagge’s physician.
Known for his dottiness and exaggerated accent, as well as his unfortunate medical incompetence,
Vindaloo does what he can to be there for the tiny family as a healthcare provider.
His usual bad advice is never given out of malice or bad faith, but rather ignorance.
The guy’s got heart, he’s just in the wrong line of work, is all.
Next we have Hunchie, otherwise known as the Hunchback of Nowhere.
An allusion to the famous novel by Victor Hugo, Hunchie is a deformed but kindhearted
bell-ringer who is consistently turned away for his appearance until he meets Courage.
The two immediately bond over bells and aerial silks, and Courage eventually manages to sneak
him into the house and teach him how to stand up to people like Eustace.
In the end, he even manages to come to Courage’s aid, and offers the insight, “One shouldn’t
act unkindly to others.”
Then there’s Kitty and Bunny, two best friends from the “wrong side of the tracks” who
appear in the two-part episode “The Mask”.
Kitty, who’s remarkably prejudiced against dogs and repeatedly beats Courage to express
this, is at first made out to be the villain of the story.
She seems to solidify this when she rudely comments on Muriel and Eustace’s insecurities,
but the show manages to subvert that expectation.
She’s actually on the hunt for her friend, who’s been forced into an abusive relationship
with a Doberman gangster Mad Dog.
Given their experience with him, Kitty and Bunny are both hesitant to trust Courage,
but as they manage to escape to safety, Kitty relents that she was wrong and that dogs aren’t
inherently evil.
Further, the words she had for Muriel and Eustace actually motivate them to change their
behavior and reassure the other that they still love each other despite their faults,
something that happened very rarely.
The Bagge’s sardonic Computer, a character all his own, comes next.
An artificial intelligence, the Computer often acts as an ally to Courage, at the expense
of belittling him at the same time.
But at least his advice is always sound, no matter the situation, that’s more than most
of us can say about the Internet.
We can’t really discount, though, that the Computer has been an antagonist before, albeit
in a corrupted state; the sincerity of his allegiance is implied to be begrudging, but
Courage nonetheless can rely on it.
Given the threats that the farmhouse weathers, that alone puts the AI in the Computer comfortably
as… good enough.
Of course, just below “good enough” is our grey zone: characters who operate on a
clear moral gradient but still gain at others’ expense.
Here we find Conway the Contaminationist, perhaps the sweetest villain of his time.
Conway hailed filth as a panacea, and managed to impose a lifestyle based around it on the
Bagges until they were on the verge of poisoning themselves to death.
Arguably, though, Conway never meant any harm; he simply believed that his good experiences
with filth were universal when that wasn’t the case.
Guy doesn’t win points as a houseguest, though.
Next we have the American military, illustrated by the General, the Lieutenant, and the federal
agents.
True to their stereotype, the General and his men are incredibly ineffective at handling
supernatural threats and more concerned with covering up their existence from the public.
In fact, the General interacts frequently with the Bagges and their farm, and his mission
can sometimes complicate the situation Courage finds himself in that week.
A good example of this is the episode Last of the Starmakers when the General separates
the last living Starmaker from her babies and hands her over to two federal scientists.
Nevertheless, the General and his subordinates are at least committed to the safety of the
public and has acted as an ally to the Bagges before, namely is disarming a sentient carrot
before Courage could die from ingesting it.
Lastly we have Shirley, a talking chihuahua-medium who lives in a caravan on the outskirts of
Nowhere.
Shirley is consistently an ally to Courage and only ever doles out a supernatural punishment
unto the farm once Eustace has antagonized her.
Mostly, she’s shrewd, but agreeable, so long as she’s paid for her services.
But her affability is somewhat cheapened by the destructive nature of her magic, regardless
of the intent behind it.
For example, to startle a ‘vow-of-silenced’ Muriel into speaking, she jeopardizes innocent
lives by sending a spirit of destruction onto the farm.
That’s to say nothing of the way she handles those who cross her, or any unfortunate who
becomes collateral damage.
She’s also caused at least one misadventure for Courage through simple carelessness, so
she fits pretty comfortably as the least ‘Good’ we can offer.
Moving on down, we have the dark side.
These characters are those who come to the farm with no ill will against the Bagges themselves,
but can be counted on to see the family as collateral damage…
These are The Bad and The Evil.
First is The Storm Goddess, a young maiden with atmospheric powers who mistakes Courage
for her own beloved pet dog.
Though the Goddess was herself was emotionally pained by the loss of her puppy, she tried
to steal Courage away as a replacement and, when Muriel tried to stop her, nearly made
her a casualty.
She serves as the main antagonist in the episode she appears in, but her character doesn’t
seem to mean any real harm, and she leaves the farm alone once her original dog is returned.
She’s reminiscent of how humans saw their gods in antiquity, very much human in mentality
but unconcerned with human affairs and capricious to the damage they do.
Following her is King Ramses, who is nothing if not clear about what he wants.
Really, he is not the antagonist of his eponymous debut.
He is merely disgraced royalty who - by his mythology - has had his afterlife sorely interrupted.
There is the argument, though, that Ramses is indiscriminate with his wrath considering
the nature of his three plagues, particularly the blight of locusts which threaten Muriel
and Courage as seriously as Eustace.
But Ramses also halts the plague when his treasure is surrendered, demonstrating a capacity
for mercy.
Simply put, Ramses is more a representation of consequence than of malice.
He is a repercussion that Eustace is blind to.
You can’t fault karma, after all.
Next, Di Lung.
Descended from the Evil Empress, who was deposed by China’s rightful ruler, Di Lung has served
as one of the most frequently recurring antagonists Courage has faced.
HIs many devious exploits include replacing Courage with a robot, turning him into a fly,
and literally removing Muriel’s bones with chopsticks.
But these were comparatively minor assaults for Courage, and Di Lung even attempts to
right at least some of his wrongs, so what does his villainy have that brings Di Lung
so close to reigning Supreme Evil?
Di Lung actually lands where he does for a reason other than his many acts of aggression
- rather it is the surreal and ethereal nature of his appearances.
Di Lung often appears out of nowhere without explanation, and his presence usually contrasts
with whatever situation or background surrounds him.
This makes him a bit of an enigma; he’s a reminder that Courage lives in a world where
reality isn’t quite right.
But he is hostile as well as enigmatic.
Di Lung usually commits crimes against the Bagges or anyone without reason, and clearly
enjoys ridiculing those he comes in contact with.
In addition to solidifying the absurdity of Courage’s world, Di Lung illustrates - simply
by being - its coldness as well.
Finally, we have Eustace.
Eustace is not fondly remembered, owed to his lack of bravery and scant moral fibre.
He is also remembered as a very bad owner to Courage, especially considering the countless
life-debts he owes his cowardly canine.
Further, Eustace is also one of those characters who never learns their lesson.
The shows lack of overall continuity disallowed any real character growth for the farmer,
and instead punished him, constantly and spectacularly, for his insolence.
Eustace is unfortunately a complex character we ultimately can’t root for because he
disrespects a basic tenet of human decency: he’s a jerk to his partner and to their
dog.
There are times in which he displays genuine affection for Muriel and Courage, and there
are times when you get to see him in a better light but, really, some people just aren’t
nice.
And between frequently berating his wife and dog, calling out hits on his own family, and
selling anything and everything down the river for a buck, Eustace is just one of those types.
Cajun Fox is next.
A sly, suave character with a nonexistent moral compass, the Fox only exists to cook.
In preparation for a cookoff, in which he hopes to debut his Cajun Granny Stew, he realizes
his recipe is missing a granny, and predictably, he goes after Muriel.
Perhaps for his reflective sunglasses, which give him a curiously vacant look, the Fox
is among Courage’s most intimidating adversaries.
He leads him on a chase, only to be done in by his own soup pot.
Courteous as he might be, Cajun Fox was hoping to cook an old woman alive for the sake of
a competition, so he probably wouldn’t object to landing where he does on our list.
Our Bronze medal of Evil goes to Katz.
Suave and sophisticated, Katz is very much Courage’s antithesis.
He’s an incredibly selfish con artist with significantly few moral ties, and he’s usually
composed enough to stay a step ahead of any situation.
But Katz is not particularly destructive, and thus not deserving of a lower rank despite
causing the most trouble throughout the series.
He does demonstrate the ability to care for other life-forms for example, being a dedicated
pet owner to a family of spiders, and most often, he would rather scam people rather
than hurt them.
Still, in the eternal war between cats and dogs, the enmity between Courage and Katz
is a fight between good and evil, and there’s really no question as to who our evil is.
Benton Tarentella and Errol Von Volkhein come next.
In life, the two were notorious snuff film directors, with twelve victims under their
belt to give them the highest known body count in the series.
That alone condemns them to the very worst echelons of our list, but they actually manage
to take a step further.
For some reason of another, Tarentella refused to stay dead, and manages to actually raise
Von Volkhein from the dead so that they can feast on Muriel on film.
Perhaps the darkest aspect of these characters is how seriously they’re played.
Like, these guys actually murdered twelve people while posing as directors, and they
don’t even pretend to approach the subject lightly.
And then the Night-of-the-Living-Dead rise from the grave that Volkhiem does, all for
the purpose of eating Muriel’s brain on camera...
But like all good directors, Tarentella follows the script, and the both of them screw off
after Courage rewrites the ending.
Still, these guys were almost the most loathsome characters in the show’s extensive arsenal.
Almost.
Conclusively, The Cruel Vet takes home our Most Bad Award.
And honestly, I hope the guy chokes on it.
The Vet arguably sets up the series as we know it by traumatizing and orphaning an infant
Courage.
In fact, he drives home that age-old aesop that the monsters of the world aren’t broken
bugle-creatures or a disgraced King of Egypt, but humans.
And as a human, the vet truly is as monstrous they come.
Based on conjecture during the Cold War about animal testing and the space race, the Vet
kidnaps and launches innocent dogs into orbit, expecting the hostile environment of space
will lead to their offspring being “super-dogs” as a result.
As was mentioned, this is the fate that he imposed on Courage’s mother and father.
But it really is his disposition rather than his mission that make him so heinous.
Because on the surface, he just seems like a regular doctor.
He smiles, offers baby Courage candy, and has no intention of attacking people, save
for those who might compromise his research.
That such a superficially-harmless person could be so horrible as to experiment on animals
for profit behind closed doors, that’s real-world horror right there.
In fact, even before you meet the Vet, you see the effect he has had on the one pup who
managed to escape him.
Earlier in the video, we touched on Courage’s paranoia that everything in the world wanted
to hurt him and his family.
This is a major focal point of his character and here we have the man that taught him to
think that way.
The Vet is a worst-case scenario, he is what will happen if Courage does not face what
terrifies him.
Cartoonish as the set-up is, that’s a reality that any survivor of significant trauma is
familiar with, the perpetual “what-ifs” that come afterwards.
Courage the Cowardly Dog was a cultural icon for its dark absurdity and warm undertones,
as well as its colorful cast of characters.
If you have any we missed, or you wanna talk about your own moral ranking, be sure to drop
us a line in the comments below.
Make sure to hit that notification bell and binge our Good-to-Evil playlist.
Where we break down the morality of the characters in your favorite shows, cartoons and movies.