HOME | DD

Description
stupid dog, you made me look bad!

  Let this be the first of the many, many scorecards I have on the backlog. Maybe they'll all be out in December, but I highly doubt it with how crunched for time I am in terms of everything. University isn't giving me much of a hassle as much as finding the motivation to write descriptions anymore, especially after writing both my MLP and Adventure Time reviews, and I intend to go even further with my in-progress ATLA and Korra descriptions. A part of me feels like I'll stop doing descriptions altogether and just release scorecards, but I'm trying to hang on as much as I can before I go down the route of several other DA users.

  Anyways, Courage the Cowardly Dog is a show I've mentioned here and there in some other scorecards of mine, and in those moments I brought it up, I spoke highly of it... saying it could surpass the likes of Regular Show and Samurai Jack as my favorite CN show. While it might not seem that way from the pie chart, I will say that it is far more consistent than either of those two, and I still keep Courage near and dear to me to this very day.

UPDATE ON 3/31/2023: Nothing big, I just decided to shoot the rating down a bit, it was something I intended to do not long after I initially released the scorecard, so why didn't I do it by then? Simple-- updating scorecards takes a lot of time away from other scorecards that I should be working on. It's stuff like that that makes me understand why people decided to switch to Google Docs for their scorecards n shit. Nonetheless, this "demotion" isn't anything substantial as I still consider Courage one of the best CN shows and still one of my favorite cartoons, but I like to give stuff the "Amazing" or above rating to shows that stick with me long after I've seen them. Courage isn't quite like Regular Show or Samurai Jack for me, I do think about it but there's nothing about it that consistently blew me away like those two. In the end, it's just a matter of balance of why I decided to downgrade it a little-- Courage is still a great show regardless of what I've done

HISTORY: As usual, this was another cartoon that I grew up with and adored when I was younger, to the point where I'm certain I've seen every single episode at least once... besides 2 or 3 of them. However, the only episodes I could remember from start to finish were A Night at the Katz Motel, King of Flan, and The Mask-- I did remember many, many others, but not by the names of the episodes. For example, I definitely have seen Curtain of Cruelty when I was a kid, but I didn't immediately recognize it until a certain moment. There's always a scene in nearly every episode that made me say, "Yep, I've seen it before." I even remember The Fog of Courage being a thing that existed when it first came around in late 2014, but I never got the chance to see it until now.

  I was always hooked in by the general aesthetics and the villains, in fact, the latter is what I remembered most of going into my rewatch, which began on November 1st and concluded on November 30th-- not bad at all! I had lots of fun revisiting this classic, and I don't intend on making this review overly long since you know exactly the praises I'm about to give this show.

ANIMATION: Courage's animation is excellent across the board-- there's not a single aspect of it I dislike about it. The worst that they ever do is reuse voice clips for certain characters, but that's not a nadir whatsoever since it's a quirk associated with 90s cartoons in general, so it feels like a throwback to that era.

But when we're talking about the actual animation quality, it still looks stellar to this day-- the amount of creativity they put into the character designs and visuals cannot be overstated. I'm generally a fan of the way John Dilworth designs his characters, none of them are extremely complex and can be boiled down to simple shapes, but the distinct aspects of them come in the form of some quirk like Shirley's different colored irises, or the Cajun Fox's ginormous eyes underneath his shades, and even our main character Courage: I always noticed how his feet are drawn as if he's tip-toeing, and how there's distinctly a hole in one of his teeth. I know what I described sounds like every character design ever, but these aspects of the character designs make it so that no character or villain will ever leave my head-- they stand out in a way unlike any other cartoon I've seen.

and the backgrounds? They're even better, all of them feed back into the idea that Courage lives in a desolant and eerie location, the middle of Nowhere. There's a heavy usage of darker shades of blue and occasionally red in the night (the latter of which is the reason why Windmill Vandals is one of my favorite episodes), and rather realistic textures used for grass, clouds, and the ground-- perhaps they're high quality PNGs, but I can't say for certain since I'm not extremely knowledgeable on the animation process. I expect other people to understand what I'm getting at even if I'm not using the extremely specific terminology to pinpoint what makes the backgrounds and character designs as delightfully unearthly as they are.

Another aspect that circles back to how bizarre and creepy Courage's world is is the usage of CGI. You could say that the CG is dated, but there's an uncanniness to it that only enhances the horror vibe this show aims for most of the time-- it's been stated countless times, but I don't think King Ramses' Curse would be anywhere near as memorable as it is if not for how strangely King Ramses' movements are due to the dated animation. Honorable mention goes to the floating head in The House of Discontent, possibly the only time live-action was ever integrated, and the heavy grayscale on the disembodied head combined with the audio effects made me kinda terrified of him as a kid, and I still find its existence off-putting to this day, yet it's still one of my favorite episodes in spite of that.

tl;dr version: Courage has wonderful animation where every decision put into it makes it so the character designs, backgrounds, and animation techniques are the perfect blend between off-kilter and unique. It moves well enough and brims with details in places you wouldn't expect, particularly the textures in which they're all of high quality, especially for a 90s cartoon.

CHARACTERS: Before I talk about the actual characters, I just want to say that I really like the fact that there aren't many characters to speak of in the first place, it reminds me of how Ren & Stimpy would have a set number of characters that would reappear and play specific roles depending on the plot they're doing-- it crafts a strange world in this way, and that's not even mentioning the characters themselves.

All of these years later, I remember nearly every character in this series, and the only ones that have slipped my mind are rather minor characters like the Leutinant, and just so you know, I love just about every character here. Beginning with Courage, he has all of the qualities that make a protagonist likeable, the biggest being that he wants to protect his owners, including Eustace in spite of how he treats him, and does so in off-the-wall cartoonish ways that don't make him overpowered. But what I like the most about Courage is, as the name of the show suggests, he is by definition a coward as he's scared of the littlest things, but will put his fears aside when Muriel and Eustace are in danger. It's both formidable of him, and ironic for reasons that I don't need to explain, but this irony is one of my favorite parts of this series altogether, along with one of the funniest parts. Don't even get me started on Remembrance of Courage Past, my favorite episode (which I'll talk about later) that gave so much depth to Courage, and completely warped how I perceive him too.

   Muriel isn't anyone complex, but there are some quirks about her that make her memorable: her Scottish accent and attire, as I don't think we've ever seen her without her glasses unlike Eustace. I love how the conflicts of nearly every episode is initiated by her overgenerous nature, and how she's almost completely unphased by the horrors happening around her. Sometimes I question whether she can feel pain or not, as she's been transformed into horrific monstrosities and lets out nothing beyond a faint yell, or in the case of Courage the Fly, has her face ripped off, and has no reaction beyond "Eustace, put my face back this instant". Her bond with Courage is also sweet as she's one of the only characters in the show that treats him properly, and is the only one that deeply cares about him. Her love of Courage and kind personality, alongside the fact she's the victim of all the bizarreness in most episodes, made me invested even in the weaker episodes, simply because I do want to see Muriel unharmed and Courage triumphant.

Eustace is my favorite of this triad-- easily one of the best-written characters of his archetype: overly greedy and giving ne'er a care about the consequences of his actions. They play up those aspects of his character to such insane degrees that it makes Mr. Krabs' obsession of money look like nothing, and it makes the moments where he gets his comeuppance all the more hilarious. Every single time he has an opportunity to get rich, he will throw Muriel and Courage to the wolves and not look back-- he'll even get upset if Courage comes out unscathed, in spite of Courage always saving him from imminent danger. When people think back to the funniest moments on this show, they always circle back to Eustace since he is the backbone of this show comedy, and all those jokes land extremely well. I also like how several episodes suggest his family is bitter and coldhearted like him, such as his own mother, giving us an explanation to why he is the way he is, and I love the interactions between Eustace and his mom because it's funny to see Eustace be degraded in the exact same manner as Courage.

All of the side characters and one-offs are also extremely memorable too, like Di Lung, a character that would not be welcome in this day and age since he has a stereotypical Asian look and accent, topped off with a famous catchphrase that emphasizes both of those traits of his. I like how skeevy and outwardly cruel he is towards everyone, he's kinda like Eustace except not really because aside from 1 or 2 episodes, he's mostly regulated to quick gags.

I like Shirley because of her design, Romanian accent, and distaste of Eustace-- I always get a good laugh whenever she calls him "the stupid one", and the episodes about her cursing Courage's household are a joy.

There's Dr. Vindaloo, who's a quack and a genius at the same time, and his unpredictable mannerisms are what make his appearances both memorable and funny, like when he was delighted to be turned into lettuce in the episode Mondo Magic, but the most interesting aspect about him is that he can understand Courage even when he's speaking gibberish-- it makes it so that Courage has a quick access point if anything goes awry, but at the caveat of Dr. Vindaloo being Dr. Vindaloo, so it both balances out this quirk and adds a gag on top since it only further emphasizes his incompetence.

and how could I forget the computer? His posh British accent sells the arrogant personality, and the he and Courage have is fascinating. The computer always insults Courage, yet helps him in the end anyways, and there's actually a progression to be seen in their relationship as, over the course of the series, the computer becomes less hostile and Courage becomes more or less indifferent to its insults. There's even the episode Mega Muriel the Magnificent where both he and Courage come to an understanding of one another. That's how weird this show can be: A sentient computer and a dog have the most complex dynamic.

These are the characters that stick out in my mind the most when I reflect on this series, and we'll get to the villains in the next part of this review. All you need to know for now is that all of them are great.

tl;dr version: The cast of characters are simple, yet effective. They aren't ones I'd call flat in spite of having one main trait, mainly because they have other quirks that make them stand out-- that also makes them all really memorable, and funny. Eustace is the best of them though

GENERAL THOUGHTS: Once again, you probably know exactly what I'm about to say:

I've loved Courage the Cowardly Dog ever since I was a kid since it was the only show I saw that was willing to go for a horror vibe. It's not an outwardly scary show, but its atmosphere is unmatched by just about any other cartoon even to this day. Samurai Jack also placed a heavy emphasis on atmosphere, but it was going for a quiet vibe-- Courage goes for an unsettling one, and all of its elements exist to create such a tone. For a location literally called "the middle of Nowhere", they give it so much personality to emphasize just how alone Courage and his owners are-- it's always a desolant land where urbanism is miles away, and the only landmark being a barely functioning windmill. Not much actually stands between Courage and danger, and, combined with how simple yet likeable these characters are, always made me invested in episodes' conflicts.

But that surprisingly isn't Courage's biggest strength: That would have to be this show's villains. There's not a single one of them I dislike, and while not all of them are recurring, they managed to leave a lasting impression since their designs, voices, animation, and general creativity make them more than memorable. If I had to pick my favorite, I would have to go with Katz, as he is the complete antithesis to Courage-- he always keeps a lackadaisal appearance, contrary to Courage's apprehension, but is criminally insane. The first episode gives you an introduction to just how out-of-his-mind he is by feeding innocent hotel guests to oversized spiders just because he can, there's an episode where he rigs a submarine to explode, and the strangest of all: turning people into household machines to watch them fight gladiator-style. I also love his accent, as it somehow feeds back into his demented nature-- it just suits for him a reason I can't name.

On the other hand, you could get a villain like Le Quack, who's a French stereotype and isn't outwardly villainous, he's a lot more straightforward and goofy compared to Katz, and only relies on deceiving his victims into doing something for him, like when he got Muriel to rob a bank for him in Le Quack Balloon, and ofc there's his debut episode where all he does is steal house possessions. He's clearly meant to be a lighthearted and run-of-the-mill thief, and I found the two episodes he starred in to be funny because of that.

There are also other villains like the floating head in The House of Discontent and King Ramses, which each only appear in a single episode, and are two characters I can see giving children nightmares, but I already talked about them above. You know who I didn't talk about? Freaky Fred-- he only featured in the episode of the same name, yet gave birth to possibly the most famous episode of this show. He's not what I would deem a "villain", just someone who's insane, and the brief flashbacks that manage to say so much in little time, coupled with his lean stature and creepy smile-- it made for one of the strangest experiences I've had watching an episode, and I adore it-- it's just not one of my top episodes.

We could keep going with the examples, like the Clutching Foot whose entire persona is a mafia boss, or the episode where a stomach ulcer was the antagonist, an episode where an insidious advertisement campaign gets people addicted to flan and whose villain rolls around like an armadillo-- all you need to know is that all of these villains, their strengths, weaknesses, and especially their designs are so unique. All of these outlandish situations are the likes of which you couldn't get from any other cartoon out there. How many horror shows, especially for kids, exist outside of this one?

And for a show whose legacy is its memorable characters, there exists another side that ties all of these aspects together: its heart. It's mostly conveyed through Muriel and Courage's relationship, but there are a lot of episodes that are built either with wholesome character interactions or heavier stories. In the former's case, you get episodes like The Hunchback of Nowhere, The Tower of Dr. Zalost, Muted Muriel, and A Beaver's Tale-- all of these episodes are about Courage interacting and eventually bonding with a character, and it's nice to watch them play out since there's an element of intrigue as to how the relationship between Courage and said character ends, and all of them left me with a positive feeling.

  In the latter, you get episodes like Last of the Starmakers, The Mask, Perfect.... actually, let's just throw in season 4 period-- its vibe is a lot less "horror" than the seasons prior and it focuses more on pure storytelling than crafting an eerie atmosphere, and it's probably why it's my favorite season since the stories it does tell can be beautiful. I don't even need to say why Last of the Starmakers or The Mask are as wonderful as they are... but I will for this review, the former has a unique soundtrack, moments of quietness, a gorgeous sunset setting, and an extremely heartbreaking conflict with a beautiful conclusion, and The Mask? It's even better than the previous 22 minute special, tapping into some heavy subject material with abusive relationships, and the villain Courage goes up against isn't some creature from the unknown, but a dog just like him (not the same species though)-- it makes the episode a lot more "realistic" than any other Courage episode. In all those other episodes, you could rely on Courage to find a cartoonishly clever solution, but here? It's not that at all, and even when he does accomplish his goal, he gets nearly killed in the process-- without a doubt one of the most intense episodes, yet it's not my favorite.

That would go to Remembrance of Courage Past, an episode I didn't remember that well, but when I did... it completely warped my perception of how I see Courage, and I wish it was the finale instead of Perfect so that I can say Courage has one of the best finales ever made. Seeing how much pain Courage went through when he was just a puppy and still does as an adult, it hits way too close to home-- I described Courage as "formidable" for always being able to put his fears aside to save his owners, but when you take into account that he does it not for generic reasons, but because he lost his own parents because he was unable to save them-- it makes all the more sense why he's always alert, and it's depressing to think about too. The fact that this episode was done in a storybook format with crayon artwork added an extra layer to how sweet it begins and how devastating it was by the end. It's honestly one of the most heartbreaking episodes I've ever seen, one that changed how I see both Courage and this show altogether-- now when I go back to any past episode, I have to keep in mind what Remembrance of Courage Past revealed to me, and that means it told an effective, everlasting narrative.

tl;dr version: This section wasn't as long as I thought, but that's because the strengths of Courage should be obvious to most people. The villains are incredibly well-designed and unique, the atmosphere, while not making me wet myself, is still captivating and delightfully unsettling, and then there's the thing that ties all of these together: the immaculate, surprisingly sweet stories that thsi show is able to tell. An unheard-of mixture for sure, but it all came together to create something special and truly memorable.

CONCLUSION: Here's a big question: Is Courage the Cowardly Dog my favorite Cartoon Network show? I still think it goes to Regular Show, even though Courage is far more consistent than that one, and its highs are able to compete with RS too. I would place it as either my 2nd or 3rd favorite, or equal to that of Samurai Jack, which isn't bad at all because I love all three of these shows so much, and they're some of my favorites of all time. Courage the Cowardly Dog is a must-see-- its mixture of horror elements, simple but endearing characters, heart, and storytelling, makes it one of the most unique cartoons I've ever seen. Even the worst episodes aren't anything offensive, the two that I don't like were either barren or disappointing, but not overly so. I kinda hate the fact that I don't think super highly of Ball of Revenge, but that's just because I found it an underwhelming villain team-up (not like I was asking for one in the first place) and nothing more. They're completely drowned out by the amount of gold there is everywhere else anyway.

R.I.P. Thea White (voice of Muriel), Lionel Wilson and Arthur Anderson (voice actor of Eustace), all of you made these characters as great as they are.

Season Rankings:

4 > 2 = 3 > 1

Description
stupid dog, you made me look bad!

  Let this be the first of the many, many scorecards I have on the backlog. Maybe they'll all be out in December, but I highly doubt it with how crunched for time I am in terms of everything. University isn't giving me much of a hassle as much as finding the motivation to write descriptions anymore, especially after writing both my MLP and Adventure Time reviews, and I intend to go even further with my in-progress ATLA and Korra descriptions. A part of me feels like I'll stop doing descriptions altogether and just release scorecards, but I'm trying to hang on as much as I can before I go down the route of several other DA users.

  Anyways, Courage the Cowardly Dog is a show I've mentioned here and there in some other scorecards of mine, and in those moments I brought it up, I spoke highly of it... saying it could surpass the likes of Regular Show and Samurai Jack as my favorite CN show. While it might not seem that way from the pie chart, I will say that it is far more consistent than either of those two, and I still keep Courage near and dear to me to this very day.

UPDATE ON 3/31/2023: Nothing big, I just decided to shoot the rating down a bit, it was something I intended to do not long after I initially released the scorecard, so why didn't I do it by then? Simple-- updating scorecards takes a lot of time away from other scorecards that I should be working on. It's stuff like that that makes me understand why people decided to switch to Google Docs for their scorecards n shit. Nonetheless, this "demotion" isn't anything substantial as I still consider Courage one of the best CN shows and still one of my favorite cartoons, but I like to give stuff the "Amazing" or above rating to shows that stick with me long after I've seen them. Courage isn't quite like Regular Show or Samurai Jack for me, I do think about it but there's nothing about it that consistently blew me away like those two. In the end, it's just a matter of balance of why I decided to downgrade it a little-- Courage is still a great show regardless of what I've done

HISTORY: As usual, this was another cartoon that I grew up with and adored when I was younger, to the point where I'm certain I've seen every single episode at least once... besides 2 or 3 of them. However, the only episodes I could remember from start to finish were A Night at the Katz Motel, King of Flan, and The Mask-- I did remember many, many others, but not by the names of the episodes. For example, I definitely have seen Curtain of Cruelty when I was a kid, but I didn't immediately recognize it until a certain moment. There's always a scene in nearly every episode that made me say, "Yep, I've seen it before." I even remember The Fog of Courage being a thing that existed when it first came around in late 2014, but I never got the chance to see it until now.

  I was always hooked in by the general aesthetics and the villains, in fact, the latter is what I remembered most of going into my rewatch, which began on November 1st and concluded on November 30th-- not bad at all! I had lots of fun revisiting this classic, and I don't intend on making this review overly long since you know exactly the praises I'm about to give this show.

ANIMATION: Courage's animation is excellent across the board-- there's not a single aspect of it I dislike about it. The worst that they ever do is reuse voice clips for certain characters, but that's not a nadir whatsoever since it's a quirk associated with 90s cartoons in general, so it feels like a throwback to that era.

But when we're talking about the actual animation quality, it still looks stellar to this day-- the amount of creativity they put into the character designs and visuals cannot be overstated. I'm generally a fan of the way John Dilworth designs his characters, none of them are extremely complex and can be boiled down to simple shapes, but the distinct aspects of them come in the form of some quirk like Shirley's different colored irises, or the Cajun Fox's ginormous eyes underneath his shades, and even our main character Courage: I always noticed how his feet are drawn as if he's tip-toeing, and how there's distinctly a hole in one of his teeth. I know what I described sounds like every character design ever, but these aspects of the character designs make it so that no character or villain will ever leave my head-- they stand out in a way unlike any other cartoon I've seen.

and the backgrounds? They're even better, all of them feed back into the idea that Courage lives in a desolant and eerie location, the middle of Nowhere. There's a heavy usage of darker shades of blue and occasionally red in the night (the latter of which is the reason why Windmill Vandals is one of my favorite episodes), and rather realistic textures used for grass, clouds, and the ground-- perhaps they're high quality PNGs, but I can't say for certain since I'm not extremely knowledgeable on the animation process. I expect other people to understand what I'm getting at even if I'm not using the extremely specific terminology to pinpoint what makes the backgrounds and character designs as delightfully unearthly as they are.

Another aspect that circles back to how bizarre and creepy Courage's world is is the usage of CGI. You could say that the CG is dated, but there's an uncanniness to it that only enhances the horror vibe this show aims for most of the time-- it's been stated countless times, but I don't think King Ramses' Curse would be anywhere near as memorable as it is if not for how strangely King Ramses' movements are due to the dated animation. Honorable mention goes to the floating head in The House of Discontent, possibly the only time live-action was ever integrated, and the heavy grayscale on the disembodied head combined with the audio effects made me kinda terrified of him as a kid, and I still find its existence off-putting to this day, yet it's still one of my favorite episodes in spite of that.

tl;dr version: Courage has wonderful animation where every decision put into it makes it so the character designs, backgrounds, and animation techniques are the perfect blend between off-kilter and unique. It moves well enough and brims with details in places you wouldn't expect, particularly the textures in which they're all of high quality, especially for a 90s cartoon.

CHARACTERS: Before I talk about the actual characters, I just want to say that I really like the fact that there aren't many characters to speak of in the first place, it reminds me of how Ren & Stimpy would have a set number of characters that would reappear and play specific roles depending on the plot they're doing-- it crafts a strange world in this way, and that's not even mentioning the characters themselves.

All of these years later, I remember nearly every character in this series, and the only ones that have slipped my mind are rather minor characters like the Leutinant, and just so you know, I love just about every character here. Beginning with Courage, he has all of the qualities that make a protagonist likeable, the biggest being that he wants to protect his owners, including Eustace in spite of how he treats him, and does so in off-the-wall cartoonish ways that don't make him overpowered. But what I like the most about Courage is, as the name of the show suggests, he is by definition a coward as he's scared of the littlest things, but will put his fears aside when Muriel and Eustace are in danger. It's both formidable of him, and ironic for reasons that I don't need to explain, but this irony is one of my favorite parts of this series altogether, along with one of the funniest parts. Don't even get me started on Remembrance of Courage Past, my favorite episode (which I'll talk about later) that gave so much depth to Courage, and completely warped how I perceive him too.

   Muriel isn't anyone complex, but there are some quirks about her that make her memorable: her Scottish accent and attire, as I don't think we've ever seen her without her glasses unlike Eustace. I love how the conflicts of nearly every episode is initiated by her overgenerous nature, and how she's almost completely unphased by the horrors happening around her. Sometimes I question whether she can feel pain or not, as she's been transformed into horrific monstrosities and lets out nothing beyond a faint yell, or in the case of Courage the Fly, has her face ripped off, and has no reaction beyond "Eustace, put my face back this instant". Her bond with Courage is also sweet as she's one of the only characters in the show that treats him properly, and is the only one that deeply cares about him. Her love of Courage and kind personality, alongside the fact she's the victim of all the bizarreness in most episodes, made me invested even in the weaker episodes, simply because I do want to see Muriel unharmed and Courage triumphant.

Eustace is my favorite of this triad-- easily one of the best-written characters of his archetype: overly greedy and giving ne'er a care about the consequences of his actions. They play up those aspects of his character to such insane degrees that it makes Mr. Krabs' obsession of money look like nothing, and it makes the moments where he gets his comeuppance all the more hilarious. Every single time he has an opportunity to get rich, he will throw Muriel and Courage to the wolves and not look back-- he'll even get upset if Courage comes out unscathed, in spite of Courage always saving him from imminent danger. When people think back to the funniest moments on this show, they always circle back to Eustace since he is the backbone of this show comedy, and all those jokes land extremely well. I also like how several episodes suggest his family is bitter and coldhearted like him, such as his own mother, giving us an explanation to why he is the way he is, and I love the interactions between Eustace and his mom because it's funny to see Eustace be degraded in the exact same manner as Courage.

All of the side characters and one-offs are also extremely memorable too, like Di Lung, a character that would not be welcome in this day and age since he has a stereotypical Asian look and accent, topped off with a famous catchphrase that emphasizes both of those traits of his. I like how skeevy and outwardly cruel he is towards everyone, he's kinda like Eustace except not really because aside from 1 or 2 episodes, he's mostly regulated to quick gags.

I like Shirley because of her design, Romanian accent, and distaste of Eustace-- I always get a good laugh whenever she calls him "the stupid one", and the episodes about her cursing Courage's household are a joy.

There's Dr. Vindaloo, who's a quack and a genius at the same time, and his unpredictable mannerisms are what make his appearances both memorable and funny, like when he was delighted to be turned into lettuce in the episode Mondo Magic, but the most interesting aspect about him is that he can understand Courage even when he's speaking gibberish-- it makes it so that Courage has a quick access point if anything goes awry, but at the caveat of Dr. Vindaloo being Dr. Vindaloo, so it both balances out this quirk and adds a gag on top since it only further emphasizes his incompetence.

and how could I forget the computer? His posh British accent sells the arrogant personality, and the he and Courage have is fascinating. The computer always insults Courage, yet helps him in the end anyways, and there's actually a progression to be seen in their relationship as, over the course of the series, the computer becomes less hostile and Courage becomes more or less indifferent to its insults. There's even the episode Mega Muriel the Magnificent where both he and Courage come to an understanding of one another. That's how weird this show can be: A sentient computer and a dog have the most complex dynamic.

These are the characters that stick out in my mind the most when I reflect on this series, and we'll get to the villains in the next part of this review. All you need to know for now is that all of them are great.

tl;dr version: The cast of characters are simple, yet effective. They aren't ones I'd call flat in spite of having one main trait, mainly because they have other quirks that make them stand out-- that also makes them all really memorable, and funny. Eustace is the best of them though

GENERAL THOUGHTS: Once again, you probably know exactly what I'm about to say:

I've loved Courage the Cowardly Dog ever since I was a kid since it was the only show I saw that was willing to go for a horror vibe. It's not an outwardly scary show, but its atmosphere is unmatched by just about any other cartoon even to this day. Samurai Jack also placed a heavy emphasis on atmosphere, but it was going for a quiet vibe-- Courage goes for an unsettling one, and all of its elements exist to create such a tone. For a location literally called "the middle of Nowhere", they give it so much personality to emphasize just how alone Courage and his owners are-- it's always a desolant land where urbanism is miles away, and the only landmark being a barely functioning windmill. Not much actually stands between Courage and danger, and, combined with how simple yet likeable these characters are, always made me invested in episodes' conflicts.

But that surprisingly isn't Courage's biggest strength: That would have to be this show's villains. There's not a single one of them I dislike, and while not all of them are recurring, they managed to leave a lasting impression since their designs, voices, animation, and general creativity make them more than memorable. If I had to pick my favorite, I would have to go with Katz, as he is the complete antithesis to Courage-- he always keeps a lackadaisal appearance, contrary to Courage's apprehension, but is criminally insane. The first episode gives you an introduction to just how out-of-his-mind he is by feeding innocent hotel guests to oversized spiders just because he can, there's an episode where he rigs a submarine to explode, and the strangest of all: turning people into household machines to watch them fight gladiator-style. I also love his accent, as it somehow feeds back into his demented nature-- it just suits for him a reason I can't name.

On the other hand, you could get a villain like Le Quack, who's a French stereotype and isn't outwardly villainous, he's a lot more straightforward and goofy compared to Katz, and only relies on deceiving his victims into doing something for him, like when he got Muriel to rob a bank for him in Le Quack Balloon, and ofc there's his debut episode where all he does is steal house possessions. He's clearly meant to be a lighthearted and run-of-the-mill thief, and I found the two episodes he starred in to be funny because of that.

There are also other villains like the floating head in The House of Discontent and King Ramses, which each only appear in a single episode, and are two characters I can see giving children nightmares, but I already talked about them above. You know who I didn't talk about? Freaky Fred-- he only featured in the episode of the same name, yet gave birth to possibly the most famous episode of this show. He's not what I would deem a "villain", just someone who's insane, and the brief flashbacks that manage to say so much in little time, coupled with his lean stature and creepy smile-- it made for one of the strangest experiences I've had watching an episode, and I adore it-- it's just not one of my top episodes.

We could keep going with the examples, like the Clutching Foot whose entire persona is a mafia boss, or the episode where a stomach ulcer was the antagonist, an episode where an insidious advertisement campaign gets people addicted to flan and whose villain rolls around like an armadillo-- all you need to know is that all of these villains, their strengths, weaknesses, and especially their designs are so unique. All of these outlandish situations are the likes of which you couldn't get from any other cartoon out there. How many horror shows, especially for kids, exist outside of this one?

And for a show whose legacy is its memorable characters, there exists another side that ties all of these aspects together: its heart. It's mostly conveyed through Muriel and Courage's relationship, but there are a lot of episodes that are built either with wholesome character interactions or heavier stories. In the former's case, you get episodes like The Hunchback of Nowhere, The Tower of Dr. Zalost, Muted Muriel, and A Beaver's Tale-- all of these episodes are about Courage interacting and eventually bonding with a character, and it's nice to watch them play out since there's an element of intrigue as to how the relationship between Courage and said character ends, and all of them left me with a positive feeling.

  In the latter, you get episodes like Last of the Starmakers, The Mask, Perfect.... actually, let's just throw in season 4 period-- its vibe is a lot less "horror" than the seasons prior and it focuses more on pure storytelling than crafting an eerie atmosphere, and it's probably why it's my favorite season since the stories it does tell can be beautiful. I don't even need to say why Last of the Starmakers or The Mask are as wonderful as they are... but I will for this review, the former has a unique soundtrack, moments of quietness, a gorgeous sunset setting, and an extremely heartbreaking conflict with a beautiful conclusion, and The Mask? It's even better than the previous 22 minute special, tapping into some heavy subject material with abusive relationships, and the villain Courage goes up against isn't some creature from the unknown, but a dog just like him (not the same species though)-- it makes the episode a lot more "realistic" than any other Courage episode. In all those other episodes, you could rely on Courage to find a cartoonishly clever solution, but here? It's not that at all, and even when he does accomplish his goal, he gets nearly killed in the process-- without a doubt one of the most intense episodes, yet it's not my favorite.

That would go to Remembrance of Courage Past, an episode I didn't remember that well, but when I did... it completely warped my perception of how I see Courage, and I wish it was the finale instead of Perfect so that I can say Courage has one of the best finales ever made. Seeing how much pain Courage went through when he was just a puppy and still does as an adult, it hits way too close to home-- I described Courage as "formidable" for always being able to put his fears aside to save his owners, but when you take into account that he does it not for generic reasons, but because he lost his own parents because he was unable to save them-- it makes all the more sense why he's always alert, and it's depressing to think about too. The fact that this episode was done in a storybook format with crayon artwork added an extra layer to how sweet it begins and how devastating it was by the end. It's honestly one of the most heartbreaking episodes I've ever seen, one that changed how I see both Courage and this show altogether-- now when I go back to any past episode, I have to keep in mind what Remembrance of Courage Past revealed to me, and that means it told an effective, everlasting narrative.

tl;dr version: This section wasn't as long as I thought, but that's because the strengths of Courage should be obvious to most people. The villains are incredibly well-designed and unique, the atmosphere, while not making me wet myself, is still captivating and delightfully unsettling, and then there's the thing that ties all of these together: the immaculate, surprisingly sweet stories that thsi show is able to tell. An unheard-of mixture for sure, but it all came together to create something special and truly memorable.

CONCLUSION: Here's a big question: Is Courage the Cowardly Dog my favorite Cartoon Network show? I still think it goes to Regular Show, even though Courage is far more consistent than that one, and its highs are able to compete with RS too. I would place it as either my 2nd or 3rd favorite, or equal to that of Samurai Jack, which isn't bad at all because I love all three of these shows so much, and they're some of my favorites of all time. Courage the Cowardly Dog is a must-see-- its mixture of horror elements, simple but endearing characters, heart, and storytelling, makes it one of the most unique cartoons I've ever seen. Even the worst episodes aren't anything offensive, the two that I don't like were either barren or disappointing, but not overly so. I kinda hate the fact that I don't think super highly of Ball of Revenge, but that's just because I found it an underwhelming villain team-up (not like I was asking for one in the first place) and nothing more. They're completely drowned out by the amount of gold there is everywhere else anyway.

R.I.P. Thea White (voice of Muriel), Lionel Wilson and Arthur Anderson (voice actor of Eustace), all of you made these characters as great as they are.

Season Rankings:

4 > 2 = 3 > 1