Baman Piderman is a Web Animation by Alex Butera and Lindsay Small
, featured on Mondo Mini Shows. It follows the lives of Baman, Piderman and several others who inhabit a white, empty landscape while having surreal adventures.
Main Characters
The four main characters.Baman
A rubbery being based on the DC Comics superhero Batman. He seems to be the more intelligent of the two and usually offers suggestions on what activity they should be doing. Baman works for a large yellow creature that he referred to as his boss, at least until Squib takes his job. He also lives in a small, boxlike house and appears to be able to drive it with a ship's wheel. Sometimes parts of his body dislocate from him and are able to be reattached. He is in a romantic relationship with Tuba.
- Acrofatic: Despite his stout and sluggish appearance, Baman is actually pretty fast.
- Base on Wheels: Baman is able to drive his house.
- Big Fun: He's bigger (both in height and width) than most people and is usually the one to get everyone into the fun.
- Birds of a Feather: It makes sense why Baman hit off so easily with Piderman. They're both pudgy, silly, superhero-based creatures who just want to have fun and hang out with friends.
- Blank White Eyes: These are not caused by his mask, proven when he removes it on at least two occasions. When he gets pupils, he gains telepathic powers.
- Blessed with Suck: Being practically made of rubber does seem cool, but looks like it makes it difficult for him to move normally. Not that he even minds though.
- Butt-Monkey: Baman's started to go toward this. Boss kicked his house, Tuba's Dad made him uncomfortable, a giant snowflake destroyed his house, and then he lost his job to Squib.
- Chest Insignia: It looks remotely like a...bat? Maybe?
- Cool Mask: He calls his mask a hat.
- Divergent Character Evolution: In the first few episodes, he and Piderman were practically the same goofy characters. In time, he became the somewhat more mature, yet weirder one of the two.
- Dramatic Unmask: When Baman takes off his mask for Pumkin, Piderman is shocked. Pumkin faints when he does it again later.
- Expressive Mask
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: His bizarre rubbery movement happens so quickly that it's easy to miss just how comedically weird his limbs contort in the process
- George Jetson Job Security: Baman loses his job to Squib pretty quickly.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Piderman.
- Interspecies Romance: Baman is dating Tuba, a living tuba.
- Magic Feather: In Happy Winter Friends (Part 2), turns out the wish was literally inside of Baman all along.
- Nice Guy: Not as much as Piderman, but he's still very jovial and forgiving of most people.
- Pointy Ears: When Baman takes off his mask, it's revealed that those pointy things really are his ears...or horns...or something else.
- They do perk up when he's surprised/in danger/excited and do the opposite appropriately.
- Rubber Man: Baman can be stretched, squished, and pulled through himself.
- Silly Walk: Rarely ever walks normally. In fact, that's how Piderman finds out they have an imposter Baman in "Revealations".
- Smarter Than You Look: Baman is smarter than Piderman, but by how much we don't know.
- Stock Superhero Day Jobs: We still don't know what his job is. Something to do with shipping. Starting with "Play Da Concert", he is now a music critic.
- Use Your Head: Baman tends to smash through doors and windows instead of opening them.
- What, Exactly, Is His Job?: To be more precise, was.
- Averted as of the latest episode - he is now a music critic.
- Whole Costume Reference: To Batman.
Piderman
A lazy, slightly overweight being based on the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man. He seems to have the same abilities as Spider-Man, but he often uses for unnecessary purposes like grabbing small objects or dragging himself along the ground instead of walking. He lives in the larger of the two houses, which usually serves as the setting of the shows. Since the episode Make Da Cards, Piderman's door is shattered from when Baman came inside. Piderman appears to be the more childlike of the duo, and is often prone to panic attacks.
- Acrofatic: He can walk on walls, and sometimes actually uses his web to get out of danger. He can barely walk, though.
- Birds of a Feather: It makes sense why Piderman hit off so easily with Baman. They're both pudgy, silly, superhero-based creatures who just want to have fun and hang out with friends.
- Blank White Eyes: All the time. These may or may not be caused by his mask. That is, if he is even wearing a mask.
- Chest Insignia: It's a real spider. Or, more likely, a pider.
- Cool Mask: Like Baman, he wears a mask.
- Crush Blush: He blushes a lot when around Wanda.
- The Ditz: He's the more naive one of the group.
- Divergent Character Evolution: In the first few episodes, he and Baman were practically the same goofy characters. In time, he became the more nice and immature one of the two.
- Expressive Mask: Maybe? "Fimd Da Jobs" hint that only the blue part of Piderman's body is actual clothing. Meaning that it's his actual face and not a mask.
- Fat Idiot: Piderman is quite pudgy and gullible.
- Freak Out: Being the more sensitive and naive one, he's more prone to freaking out and getting distressed. In "Revealations" he absolutely loses it when there's an imposter Baman in his house. He becomes a blubbering, incoherent mess who keeps spastically moving around. It takes gentle comfort from Pumkin to calm him down.
- The Heart: He's the most sensitive and caring person of the group.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Baman.
- Nice Guy: He's constantly nice with everyone and rarely ever gets mad.
- No Mouth: Maybe. The show leaves it ambiguous whether Piderman is wearing a mask, like Baman, or if it really is his face.
- Running Gag: He seems to be getting fatter and less able to move on his own every episode.
- Ship Tease: Many episodes imply that Piderman is romantically interested in Wanda. Same goes for her.
- Silly Walk: Not to the extent of Baman however.
- Simpleton Voice: Talks like this. Likely to add on to his kiddy nature.
- Whole Costume Reference: To Spider-Man.
Pumkin
A pumpkin introduced by Baman in the episode Hab Da Pumkin, and has been a major character since. While a regular pumpkin, he appeared to possess some level of sentience and could be seen moving around on his own several times and operating a phone. Pumkin also has the ability to function as some sort of video game console. He is eventually carved by the Dese Guys, which causes him to rot, and screams frequently to express his displeasure. As of Happy Winter Friends Part 2, Pumkin is restored and is given a humanoid body. He is then shown to be something of a shy worrywart, but he cares greatly for his friends and comes to return the affection given to him by Squib. He lives with Piderman.
- Ambiguously Gay: Only "ambiguously" because he technically has No Gender, though he seems to identify as male. He has many Ship Teases with Squib, who also has No Gender but is referred to as a male In-Universe, has a very keen fashion sense, and fits many Moe tropes. His technically Ambiguous Gender has led to quite a bit of Viewer Gender Confusion, but he's considered male by most, and Word of God says he identifies as male.
- Ascended Extra: Started out as a supporting character. But after he gains a real body, he joined the ranks as a main character.
- Anthropomorphic Objects: Of a pumpkin.
- A Day in the Limelight: "Squib Week", shared with Squib.
- The Blank: His face as of now.
- Butt-Monkey: Is a frequent victim of many character's antics.
- Companion Cube: Like Tuba, he at first appears to be a regular inanimate pumpkin before showing actual sentient qualities after the early episodes — Then he gains a regular body.
- A Dog Named "Dog": A pumpkin named "Pumkin".
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal:
Word of God says that it's because wearing pants would imply that he has something to hide, which he doesn't. - Interspecies Romance: With Squib.
- No Mouth: At least, after he gains his humanoid form. Before this, Dese Guys carved eyes and a mouth into him.
- Only Sane Man: He's one of the most grounded characters in the show.
- Shrinking Violet: Shown to be quite shy in some scenes.
- Silent Bob: Sometimes, mainly after he loses his mouth and gains a real body.
- Smarter Than You Look: He's one of the more knowledgable characters. Often seen reading books, partaking in more intellectual hobbies, and rarely acts weird.
- The Speechless: He has no mouth, so he can't really talk. However, when Those Guys carved him when he was still just a regular pumkin without a body, he did scream. A lot.
Squib
A mass of tentacles Baman and Piderman first encountered when they went to find a wish to make Pumkin better. It followed them back to Piderman's house. Enjoys tormenting Pumkin, but does so out of love.
- A Day in the Limelight: "Squib Week".
- Ambiguous Gender: Shows no overt sexual characteristics, but does get rather femininely jealous when it sees Pumpkin with Wanda. Apparently, Squib is neither.
- Ascended Extra: After it's Heel–Face Turn. It joins the main group, now functioning as a four-man band.
- Combat Tentacles: Tends to be the "muscle" of the group thanks to it's many strong tentacles. He fought Red Squib to save Pumkin when they were in the forest.
- Cute Little Fangs: The only time you'll probably ever see these on a tentacle monster.
- Heel–Face Turn: As of "Revealations", s/he is no longer shown as a villain.
- Interspecies Romance: With Pumkin.
- Metamorphosis: Seeing as how Red Squib can transform into a human-like body, the same can be said with Squib. "Ghost Night 2" seems to imply that Squib wants to go through with it — albeit reluctantly.
- Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Before it's Heel–Face Turn, Squib was kind of a bully.
- No Gender: Although Squib is referred to as a male by Baman and Piderman, the series' co-creator said Squib's gender is "Squib."
- The Prankster: Likes pulling pranks on Pumkin out of affection.
- Stalker with a Crush: Squib definitely has some feelings for Pumkin, though it has some odd ways of showing it.
- Tentacle Rope: In Happy Winter Friends (Part 2) when Squib has a hold of Baman. Also on Pumkin in Fimd Da Jobs.
- Tsundere: Towards Pumkin.
- What, Exactly, Is His Job?: Squib stole Baman's job, but we still don't know what it is.
- When Trees Attack: Squib's first appearance is when it's impersonating a tree, using a snowman as bait.
Supporting Characters
Tuba
A sentient tuba that first appears in Make Da Band and is in a domestic relationship with Baman. She communicates by making tuba sounds, moves by dragging herself along the ground, and drinks "Peabnut Bubber" as medicine.
- Animate Inanimate Object: She's literally a tuba.
- Big Eater: She sure does love cake. In "Escape Da Cakes" she effortlessly swallows a gigantic pile of chocolate cakes that Baman was trapped under.
- Companion Cube: At first, but after the first few episodes, Tuba unambiguously has sentience.
- Intelligible Unintelligible: Everybody else seems to understand what Tuba says, but all the viewers hear is Tuba sounds. Her father got subtitles, at least.
- Interspecies Romance: She's in a relationship with Baman.
- The Smurfette Principle: Subverted, she was the only confirmed female in the cast until Wanda makes her official appearance in Ghost Night."
- Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: In Tuba's first appearance with any sort of accessory, she has a big pink bow tied below her bell.◊ Fitting as she was the only female character initially.
Boss
A giant, yellow, lion-like monster. He is the boss of an unknown job, and really hates jokes.
- Ambiguous Looking Cat: Probably, based on his cat-like eye.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Do not tell him a joke.
- Canis Major: One unlikely possibility for what species Boss is.
- Demoted to Extra: After he fires Baman, Bosses' prominence rapidly dwindled. He mostly pops up every now and then in the background.
- Large and in Charge: The largest character in the show and was formerly Baman's boss.
- What, Exactly, Is His Job?: What is he the Boss of?
- Panthera Awesome: What he would likely be if feline.
- Talking Animal: If he even is an animal.
- The Faceless: We only ever see as much of him as this picture does. We have seen a single eye, which was bright pink with a tiny, catlike pupil and long, thick, strangely placed eyelashes. It seems like he may be bipedal, judging by the sound of his footsteps and the times we've seen his legs in action (never more than two), but most images of him show him with what looks like a lower half.
- As of "Drawing Song", it's confirmed that Boss has 4 legs.
- Your Size May Vary: Sometimes he doesn't seem more than twice another character's height, other times he seems the size of a skyscraper
Bug
A small, perpetually grumpy ladybug. He(?) is very serious about his work, though it is unclear what exactly he does. If you try to step on him, he will give you an angry glare.
- Perpetual Frowner: Always seen with an angry glare. His face does change a few times though.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: As a night guard, he immediately leaves when he witnesses paranormal sightings in "Ghost Night 2 Teaser".
- Silent Snarker: Always glares at characters during their antics.
- New Job as the Plot Demands: Shown to have many jobs.
Tuba's Dad
The father of Tuba who lives in the forest accessed through the Pizza. Seems to be a bit obsessed with his daughter's relationship with Baman, and is quite defensive of his actions that others call "weird". He has an unknown affiliation with the Basement Guys, and is currently plotting something sinister, though what it is remains a mystery.
- Ambiguously Evil: Started acting rather shifty in Season 2, at which point we also begin to glimpse an as-of-yet unrevealed connection with Dese Guys. His verse in the Season 3 opener song is essentially an enigmatic pseudo-Villain Song, foreshadowing his "great mission" with the piece of Baman's finger he got the previous season. Dese Guys provide back-up vocals for said verse.
- Intelligible Unintelligible: Like his daughter, only speaks in tuba sounds. However, unlike his daughter, he has been given subtitles.
That Thing
- Piderman: "Baman, what is that thing?!"Baman: "I dunno."
A mysterious little....robot....thing...that seemingly pops up out of nowhere. Nobody seems to know just what that thing is, much less what it does. Though a flashlight seems to be at least one of it's functions, as seen in "Ghost Night"
- Deus ex Machina: May be a literal version of this. As he sometimes appears out of nowhere to help the main characters with a situation. To the bafflement of everyone else.
- No Name Given: Only ever referred to as "That Thing."
- Phrase CatcherPiderman: Baman what is that thing?Baman: I don't know.
- Tin-Can Robot: Possibly
Thought bubbles created by Piderman. He thought of them when comparing Baman's regular behavior to the imposter Baman in "Revealations". Since then, the bubbles never went away, so they became the house pets.
- It Can Think: Later episodes reveal that they are sentient and aware of their surroundings. Imaginary!Piderman once provided a chorus to Baman's ballroom dance with Tuba.
Wanda
A mysterious ghost girl who was previously a spirit trapped inside Baman's Happy Winter Friends Wish Wand. She was accidentally freed when Red Squib broke said wand, and she then began haunting Piderman's house. She now lives with Piderman and enjoys pulling pranks.
- An Ice Person: She's heavily associated with ice and cold, having been born from a Winter Friends Wish wand, being a frosty shade of blue, often making icy "chiming" sounds while flying and building her home deep within Piderman's fridge.
- Autocannibalism: Departs a room like this once, just to be weird.
- Bedsheet Ghost: Looked like this before she was officially allowed to stay at Piderman's house.
- Cute Ghost Girl
- Dastardly Whiplash: In "Noir Detective".
- Flight: As a ghost, she has the ability to fly and float around a will.
- Forgotten First Meeting: With Pumkin. Since she was the spirit trapped inside Baman's Happy Winter Friends Wish, she was the one who gave Pumkin his body. Pumkin doesn't remember this until Wanda shows him her memories.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: Type B. She scared everyone into the basement so she wouldn't be lonely. After Piderman agrees to be her friend, she brings him back to the living room. Everyone else is dumped into the basement to join the Dese Guys for a tea party.
- She does it again in Ghost Night 2, sending Baman, Piderman, Pumkin and Squib on an arduous and spooky journey so she can get a picture of all of them patting her head.
- Intangible Man: She can phase through walls and objects with easy, but it seems she can also interact with physical objects just as well. She can even phase other people through walls as evidenced with Piderman in "Ghost Night."
- Meaningful Name: Her name may be a reference to her being trapped in a wand before being freed.
- More Teeth than the Osmond Family: Often shapeshifts to have these when she tries to scare people.
- The Prankster: Once she becomes a confirmed resident of Piderman's house, she begins to pull pranks on everyone (especially Pumkin) for no reason other than to weird people out. She effectively took over the role of Squib when she was the Loving Bully to Pumkin before being more honest about it's feelings.
- Psychic Link: Seems to have one with Pumkin since she was the one who healed him and gave him his body.
- Reality-Changing Miniature: Has a dollhouse of Piderman's house, along with a Voodoo Doll of Red Squib.
- Reality Warper: She seems to have created her own dimension within Piderman's basement and his fridge.
- True Blue Femininity: Always associated with blue and one of the few characters with a confirmed gender.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: She occasionally changes herself into more terrifying forms in order to scare others.
Basement Dwellers
The many living beings that have taken residence in Piderman's basement.- A Day in the Limelight: They've had multiple spotlight episodes, centring in each one of them.
- Evil Counterpart: They serve as one to the main characters. That being said, however, they're not really evil.
- True Companions: They all show degrees of attachment with each other.
Those Guys
Two discolored creatures that resemble Baman and Piderman who live in the latter's basement. That Guy is the green Piderman-looking one, The Other Guy is the blue and yellow Baman-looking one. They first appeared in Guess Da Number, in which they carve Pumkin. Later, they break out of the basement door to borrow an ingredient for a cookie pie, which they share with their housemates. They are often causing mischief, but the truth is that they just want to make friends. They **really** want to make friends. They have an affiliation with Tuba's dad, but their objectives are unclear.
- Affably Evil: They mostly mean well, but their off-putting personality definitely creeps everyone out.
- Ambiguously Evil: Maybe? While they usually appear to be weird loners who do confusing acts to befriend people, many episodes imply that they're up to something grander and may even be in cahoots with Tuba's father.
- Ax-Crazy: Only really seen in their first appearance, where they carve Pumkin's face off.
- Basement-Dweller: The most prominent Basement-Dweller(s) in the show.
- Beware the Silly Ones: They can be pretty competent at times, even if their intentions are really benign.
- Blank White Eyes: All the time.
- Costume Copycat: That Guy is wearing a version of Baman's costume, and The Other Guy is wearing a version of Piderman's costume. Their body types also seem switched.
- Evil Counterpart: To Baman and Piderman. However, they are not evil, but they are weirder.
- Evil Duo: Always seen together — Evil is kinda stretching it though.
- Evil Sounds Deep: They have deep voices. They probably aren't evil, but they do like causing trouble. They also have vague hints of some sort of Russian-ish accent.
- Expressive Mask: Just like the main duo.
- Friendly Enemy: Later on in the show, no one is really annoyed with them that much now and are allowed to leave the basement whenever they want.
- Harmless Villain: Their most "villainous" episode was in Revealations, and even then, when they were outed by Piderman and Pumkin, they decide to help them.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With each other.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: They do seem to care deeply about the Pizza Portal and Red Squib.
- No Mouth: That Guy, Like Piderman.
- Oddball Doppelgänger
- Palette Swap: They're basically Piderman in Baman's suit and Baman in Piderman's suit, with different colours.
- Pointy Ears: The Other Guy.
- Simpleton Voice: Like with nearly every talking character.
- Smarter Than You Look: They seem to know more than they let on — not to mention how they have ties with Tuba's Dad's master plan.
- Those Two Guys: Umm, yeah.
- Whole Costume Reference: To Baman and Piderman.
Pizza
A pizza pie with a disturbingly realistic face. His mouth is a portal to a forest where Tuba's dad lives and squibs hatch from trees. It is under the care of the Basement Guys, who kept it hidden until Baman and Piderman needed it for a journey.
- A Day in the Limelight: "Paint Da House", where gets a stomach ache.
- Minor Major Character: Personality-wise, he's not that important. His ability to transport people to the forest, on the other hand, practically kickstarts all the story arcs in the show.
- The Stoic: Mostly seen with a generic neutral face.
- Token Good Teammate: The only Basement-Dweller that hasn't intentionally caused any problems to the main characters.
Red Squib
A burgundy-colored squib that hatched during the second journey through the Pizza, and despite attempts to send it back, it remains close to Piderman's house. This squib is crankier and meaner than the green one. It randomly decided to form a cocoon during the Best Friends Band concert, and when it finally hatched, it gained a humanoid form but acted no different than before.
- A Day in the Limelight: "We Hab Da Problem", where he gains a real body.
- And I Must Scream: Implied and a light example, we last see him in "Ghost Night 2", where he's possibly paralyzed on the couch in the basement, but with a comfy blanket and only seems to be bemused by his predicament.
- The Bully: With his human form, Red Squib has become much more aggressive and enjoys harassing everyone else.
- Combat Tentacles: Uses them to attack the main characters in "Revealations" and "Play Da Song". He loses them after he gains a real body.
- Cyclops: His humanoid form has one yellow eye.
- Eldritch Abomination
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He really cares about Those Guys and Pizza. Made evident at the end of "We Hab Da Problem", where Those Guys start pouring praises over him for his transformation, which causes Red Squib to blush. He then immediately stops bullying the main characters (at least temporarily) to have a tea party with Those Guys.
- Evil Counterpart: To Squib pre-transformation. Now with Pumkin post-transformation.
- Hazy-Feel Turn: After "We Hab Da Problem", Red Squib is not as aggressive as before — but still loves bullying people when he has the chance.
- Jerkass: So far, all Red Squib has done is attack Baman and Piderman and throw hissy-fits.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He seems to secretly like Those Guys and affectionately pets Pizza in the head when walking past him in the basement.
- Multi-Armed and Dangerous
- Metamorphosis: Hatched into a humanoid form in We Hab Da Problem.
