Line #16 Headscratchers/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy


1	Headscratchers for ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy''. New entries go at the bottom.
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3	* Shouldn't Irwin be half Mummy and one-quarter Vampire instead of half and half?
4	** WritersCannotDoMath. This apparently extends to fractions.
5	** RuleOfFunny. He's 1/2 Vampire, 1/2 Mummy, and Pi Nerd. Seriously.
6	** Explanation: You can't be half a vampire you either are or you aren't a vampire.
7	*** That depends on vampire lore. According to Balkanic lore, you have the {{Dhampyr}}, which is a hyrbid betwixt a human and a vampire and the lore isn't clear on how they work or function either. To go with the second point, if we assume genetics are at play, the numbers are still off, as Irwin is 1/25th vampire with his dad, Dick, being directly 1/2, and the "mummy" part is a question that doesn't need to be answered. In terms of Dracula and Tanya's union, it's not clear (in the show or Bram Stoker's book) what type of vampire Dracula's supposed to be either.
8	[[hardline]]
9	* Why can't Grim leave Billy and Mandy given that they ''openly cheated'' during the limbo contest?
10	** Because their deal was a mystically binding contract, and, like any contract, if you don't put in ridiculously detailed fine print, the party doing the signing can take advantage of poorly worded clauses. He never said they had to win fairly, after all.
11	*** Nobody cheats TheGrimReaper!
12	*** Well then, if he wanted that, he should have stipulated such while detailing what exactly "cheating" means.
13	** Well when you really get down to it, Grim cheated first (or at least he tried). More specifically, he presented his offer in bad faith. He fraudulently led them to believe that the game they played would be something the kids were physically capable of winning. Grim can limbo under a bar 5 inches off the ground using his undead magic powers, but the kids cannot. They never had a chance to win fairly. It's like challenging someone to a contest of who can catch the most fish in an hour but not telling your opponent that he can "catch" the fish by just throwing an M80 into the water and gathering them up. Mandy just out-cheated Grim's cheat.
14	*** No, the example you listed is a case of not properly informing your opponent of all available maneuvers, whereas this is a case of a high discrepancy in skill level. How did he suggest that they would be capable of winning, anyway? ChessWithDeath is never meant to be something just anyone can win, and he repeatedly taunted that they had no chance of success. Anyway, presumably Mandy's move didn't break any explicit rules.
15	*** Not the point. The point is, in both cases the one party is not acting in good faith. And while you're correct that ChessWithDeath is not supposed to be something that's ''easy'', Death is not supposed to be unbeatable. There is always a chance that he can be beaten, which means there has to be some way for the challenger to actually win against the Grim Reaper. But in Grim's limbo game, there was never any chance that Billy or Mandy could possibly beat Grim, and he knew it. He presented them a game in bad faith, a game which was ''physically impossible for them to win''. In my book this is just another form of cheating.
16	*** Also, in thinking about it, Mandy didn't ''technically'' cheat at the game. Grim asked her if she had "any last words" before losing; she said "Kiss kiss" (the prompt for Mr. Snuggles to go crazy), the hamster jumped down and latched on to Grim's face, and ''he'' knocked over the limbo bar, which cost him the contest. Considering that Grim outright allowed Mandy to talk, it's more a case of HoistByHisOwnPetard than anything else.
17	** According to "Hurter Monke" the agreement is legally binding. He can do this but that would breach the contract and his scythe won't let him do that anyway. One loophole though is that it only applies on earth and the netherworld, not say Mars.
18	** Not to mention that the original deal was just to keep Mr. Snuggles. Grim was the one who added being their best friend to the deal out of overconfidence and offense at Mandy's boldness. So he really has only his own hubris and pride to blame for his situation.
19	*** The game was that they had to beat him, just not ''how'', thus, if this were like a contract IRL, it would be an "anything goes" situation.
20	[[hardline]]
21	* Whatever happened to the hamster that this whole premise was caused by? Did he just sort of die later on anyways?
22	** Wait, if they saved the hamster from his death, does that mean its immortal since his death never happened and evidenced with the whole yeti incident, cant be re-planned, but Grim said they he wouldn't kill the hamster. Period.
23	** Billy is Billy. He probably just got tired of Snuggles and either lost him or purposefully got rid of him, either that or he was only brought back to life, not immortal, and later on got eaten by Milkshakes, and it was never mentioned because Billy just forgot about him.
24	*** He did get eaten by milkshakes in one episode (the one where Mandy grew huge), but it didn't seem to stop him. He was still wearing his birthday hat.
25	*** And in that same episode, during the credits Mr. Snuggles escapes and Billy says [[LampshadeHanging "What? You didn't think we'd get rid of Mr. Snuggles, did you?]]
26	** Why does Billy want Mr. Snuggles to stay alive anyhow? Yes, Mr. Snuggles is a beloved childhood pet of Billy's, and it's always hard when one of them dies, but this hamster is WAY past his expiration date. Mr. Snuggles is old, weak, feeble, senile, and feral--a far cry from whatever he was in his youth. Letting Grim take him to the afterlife would be a MercyKill, pure and simple, because it would put an end to all of Mr. Snuggles' suffering. It's hard to understand why Billy can't see that Mr. Snuggles dying would be a ''good'' thing at this point (other than, you know, Billy being incredibly stupid).
27	*** It was Mandy who wanted Mr. Snuggles to stay alive. Mandy is the one who wouldn't allow Grim to reap Mr. Snuggles, only letting him do so if he one the bet. Meanwhile, Billy almost complied to Grim's demand to hand Mr. Snuggles over, only to get halted by Mandy. As for why Mandy wanted Mr. Snuggles to stay alive, she wants everyone and everything to suffer.
28	*** Billy is also pretty ignorant of other people's suffering.
29	[[hardline]]
30	* Why does Grim do all Billy and Mandy's chores? The deal was he would be their FRIEND forever, not their slave, not their servant and not their butler, so why's he serving them like he has no choice?
31	** Maybe it's because [[LoopholeAbuse they're going by what Billy and Mandy's definition of what a BFF is]]?
32	** It's simple. Grim wants to assure that he stays their best friend. Bad things happen if he doesn't.
33	*** Well, there was that one time (it was the "Brandon and Mallory" episode), he got in trouble with the law of the Underworld for breaking the agreement, so, yes, bad things will happen, specifically, Grim will lose his powers and spend eternity in Underworld Jail, which probably means, in the context of the show, no grim reaper to maintain order of some kind. Other than that, Grim does seem to like Billy and Mandy a little.
34	[[hardline]]
35	* Why is everyone (including monsters) terrified by Mandy? Does she have secret mind control powers, or are the supernaturals just wimps?
36	** It varies. For some beings, it's about how Mandy falls into the UncannyValley, often fueled by one of the following. For others, it's the MoodDissonance between her appearance and her cold, cold, extra-soulless stare. For still others, it's the simple fact that she's not scared, even though (unlike Billy) she has the capability of understanding why she should be scared. And [[DependingOnTheWriter sometimes]], she really ''is'' supernaturally creepy.
37	** This never did make any sense to me either. Mandy never ''does'' anything, all she does is walk around and act like a bitch to everyone, and they just fold. I get it, that's her character, but she doesn't seem to have ANYTHING to back up her alleged scariness, other than being very intelligent.
38	*** Well, no, that's not true. She's shown plenty of times that she is more than capable of physically fighting down normal threats, generally quick to outwit or overpower supernatural ones, and seems to have something somewhere between a high level of persuasion to actual mind control. She's not infallible(Pandora tricked her), but generally she has the upper hand.
39	[[hardline]]
40	* Does Billy and Mandy's school have a uniform/dress code or not? Depending on the episode, either 1) main characters and extras alike will be in some kind of school uniform, 2) everyone will be in regular clothes, or 3) the main characters will be in their normal outfits, while everyone else is in the uniform. Why??
41	** If you were a teacher, would you want to tell off Mandy (or her friend), for not wearing uniform?
42	** It could be that uniforms were implemented and they get some days to dress normal.
43	*** Endsville Elementary might be one of those schools where you have to wear a uniform or, if you aren't wearing uniform, you could get away with wearing only wear certain colors on school grounds (I went to a school like this) with a casual day, which probably why Billy's school outfit looks like his regular clothes or why they weren't wearing uniforms in earlier episodes.
44	[[hardline]]
45	* Ok why does Mandy choose to hang out with Billy when she doesn't even like him all that much or at all even?
46	** He's easy to manipulate and makes her feel smarter.
47	** Or maybe [[UnresolvedSexualTension he's the one person]] Mandy [[NohuggingNokissing cares about.]]
48	** It could be because (aside from Irwin with his crazy obsession) he's pretty much the only person who'll voluntarily spend time with her.
49	** Because then she can boss him around and command him to perform chores for her as detailed in the episode "Whatever Happened To Billy Whatsisname?"
50	** The movie Big Boogey Adventure shows that Mandy ''might'' care about him.
51	** Because when Billy is around her, she can keep him under control. One thing that is important to remember is that Billy on his own can sometimes become so psychotic, hostile, and unpredictable that he actually SCARES her. She can keep him on a leash basically.
52	[[hardline]]
53	* In some of the earlier episodes such as the first one with Nergal and the circus one, when Billy and Mandy are taken, why does Grim go back to their house and not the underworld?
54	** He may have sold his Underworld home when he became their friend, or have grown to like Billy's parents.
55	** He seemed to acclimate well to some of the ways of the mortal world: he appears to enjoy taking bubble baths, and even liked having a mother when one mistook him for her son in his Halloween costume; maybe he felt life (without Billy and Mandy) was far better than he had it in the underworld?
56	[[hardline]]
57	* For what reason, Mandy is considered pure evil? Most times she's just a Jerk, but not really evil.
58	** She DID take over the earth in that one future episode that was a parody of Dune
59	[[hardline]]
60	* There was an episode where Grim says that he was once "a total loser", followed by a real photograph of... someone. I take it that's supposed to be someone working on the show. Does anyone know exactly who?
61	** Oh, that's [[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0060446/ Jay Bastain]], one of the producers for the show.
62	[[hardline]]
63	* So who should have been the Keeper of the Reaper?
64	** [[RunningGag Yes!]]
65	[[hardline]]
66	* Why hasn't Mandy taken over the world already (aside from the fact that the show would be much shorter)? She's got close access to Grim's scythe, one of the most powerful objects in the universe that somehow can get swiped by at least two dozen people. What's keeping her from immediately dominating all mankind?
67	** It's suggested on a few occasions that Mandy wants to conquer the world on her own terms. Taking the scythe and using it would be the equivalent of cheating for her. In a bit of FridgeBrilliance, the episode "Substitute Creature" reveals that Mandy, for all of her cruelty, refuses to condone cheating--presumably, this extends to her own goals as well.
68	** One episode did show a BadFuture where she had taken over the world.
69	[[hardline]]
70	* So how did Mandy become the dark EmotionlessGirl anyway? Her parents seem to be pretty normal and there were no hints that shows how Mandy even became like this. We know that Billy became stupid because he got it from his father. Where did Mandy get her meanness from?
71	** According to one episode, she was born that way. As to exactly as to how and why she was born that way, it might just be that she just is.
72	[[hardline]]
73	* Given that Grim decapitated Jack for tricking him because "the grim reaper does not like being tricked" why didn't he enact a similar revenge loophole against Billy and Mandy?
74	** Jack forced Grim to accept a bargain by stealing his scythe. The kids requested the bargain and Grim accepted of his own free will. Intentionally or not, by preventing him from using his primary tool, Jack threatened Grim. Also, best friends don't decapitate best friends.
75	*** That and, if we assume that Grim sets up/binds his agreements with games and the outcomes thereof, you could argue that Billy and Mandy were playing the game as fair and square with the way Grim set up said game (by balancing the limbo game in his favor), as the rules were that they had to beat him in a game of limbo, just not ''how'' (with Mandy telling Mr. Snuggles "kiss-kiss" when Grim asked if they've had any last words). Since Jack (by virtue of being TooDumbToLive on top of it) got what he wanted by straight trickery and coercion alone, Grim gave it to him but, as per those terms, Jack was also punished (further contrasting the agreement with the main pair, as their outcome was more a reward).
76	[[hardline]]
77	* Where, exactly, did the joke about the Elvira expy's show getting cancelled when she turned 30 come from? The real Elvira's a senior citizen and still going (though the fact that [[OlderThanTheyLook she still barely looks 50]] probably helps).
78	*** HollywoodOld. It's a ref to how it's hard for actresses around 30 (or 40) to find specific roles (unless it's voice acting, usually) and there are many a story where an actress was passed over for a role because of their age. In "Atrocia's" (I think that's her name, IDR, it's been awhile) case, the actress being thirty means she's pushing the network's threshold but, because she's so recognizable and played the part so well, the character can't be played by a different actress, either.
79	[[hardline]]
80	* In "The Halls of Time" the kids and Grim age backwards when Billy and Irwin put their hourglasses back where they found them upside down. Grim was affected even though Mandy, Grim and Father Time found Billy and Irwin before the two could do anything to Grim's hourglass, and they couldn't even flip it over anyway because it was too large (if they tried anyway, the hourglass would've broken upon hitting the floor and Grim would've been {{Ret Gon\|e}}ned).
81	** If I recall correctly, they did it off-screen. We see them flip more than few hourglases while Grim was talking to Father Time and then they caught up to them.
82	[[hardline]]
83	* Pud'n wished for a bunny that would love him, but the bunny wanted to kill him because LoveHurts. I don't get it. Wouldn't the joke have made more sense if he just said he wished for a bunny? Is it simply physically impossible to get what you want from that genie? What would have happened if he had just wished for a bunny?
84	** Judging from how Thromnabular screwed over Grim even after he basically gave him a get-out-of-jail-free card by stipulating that his wish would free the skull from having to grant wishes, it seems like Thromnabular just enjoys twisting people's wishes for the fun of it.
85	*** JackassGenie?
86	[[hardline]]
87	* Why is it that Grim, his great aunt, and his grandmother all speak with a Jamaican accent, but neither of his parents do?
88	** RuleOfFunny? Though, Grim's mom spoke in a similar hard to place accent that [[WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory Dexter]] has and she appeared earlier in the show, so it's probably a case of AccentsArentHereditary.
89	[[hardline]]
90	* At the end of "A Dumb Wish", Mandy wishes that everyone on Earth would go away, leaving her all alone forever. Yet, how did they all come back in the very next episode?
91	** The show has many examples of NegativeContinuity.
92	[[hardline]]
93	* In "Keeper of the Reaper", the jury is split between jurors who want Grim to go with Billy and those who want Grim to go with Mandy ([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Fred Fredburger]]). Isn't that a hung jury, and shouldn't that result in a mistrial?
94	** Maybe Underworld juries use a simple majority system. Since Fred hadn't made his view known, he was the tie breaker.
95	[[hardline]]

Context Headscratchers / TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy