Courage The Cowardly Dog Main Characters / Characters

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Courage

"The things I do for love..."

^{Click here to see him when he's scared}

Voiced by: Howard Hoffman (pilot), Marty Grabstein (series)

A timid pink dog of no known specific breed (although some sources call him a beagle) who tries to overcome his fears and save his owners Muriel and Eustace from all sorts of bizarre threats using only his wits, whether they be supernatural, earthly or from the depths of space.

Action Pet: He has faced numerous horrors that are enough to send a normal human running to the loony bin. But Courage goes through any lengths to save his owners.
Action Survivor: As the protagonist of a horror series, Courage is often not in a position to directly fight his adversaries and usually relies on various other means (typically luck) to survive and turn the tide against the various horrors.
All-Loving Hero: Fearful as he may be, Courage is a sensitive and caring soul who relies on his endless empathy for everyone to solve problems and save the day, and he's mortally terrified of even accidentally hurting anything that's not actively malicious. Furthermore, he has a knack for befriending monsters and helping them when they need it most.
Alone with the Psycho: In "Freaky Fred", Eustace "accidentally" locks him in the bathroom with Fred, who shaves off all of his fur, except for his tail.
Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: A pink-furred dog, though he looks purple in low-light scenes.
Amusing Injuries: Courage takes a lot of pain in many episodes (most notable perhaps in Mecha-Courage) but he's usually okay and even laughing (albeit as if slapped silly).
Animal Reaction Shot: At almost everything he finds scary, it instantly cuts to him screaming with his mouth open. Different things happen during the screams each time so that each scream doesn't get repetitive.
Animal Stereotypes: Courage is very loyal to his owners.
Badass Adorable: A lovable, easily scared but loyal Heroic Dog. One of the main tenets of true courage is the ability to confront and conquer your fears. He conquers said fears many times to protect his family.
Because You Were Nice to Me: Courage will go above and beyond to protect Muriel since she's the one who adopted him after his parents were shot into space by a psycho veterinarian. He also generally tends to be calm and friendly around people who show him kindness and affection whereas otherwise he would be extremely timid and easily frightened.
Beware the Nice Ones: Selfless as he might be hurting Muriel or his other loved ones is one shot at getting screwed. The Cruel Veterinarian learned this the hard way.
Big, Thin, Short Trio: Courage is the Short one of the three protagonists compared to Muriel's Big and Eustace's Thin.
Body Horror: Several of his screams result in such to him, such as his teeth flying out, organs popping out of his body, or even him turning inside out.
Brats with Slingshots: In the pilot he dug a massive hole simply to dig out a slingshot.
Break the Cutie: His childhood was one long breaking cycle for him. Even today, it's clear he's breaking from all the danger, yet opts to keep going.
Breaking the Fourth Wall: Does this everytime he lampshades something wrong is going on followed by an And I'm the Queen of Sheba quote.
Butt-Monkey: Courage gets injured a lot, usually by Eustace or the Monster of the Week.
Canine Companion: However, this dog is the main protagonist here.
Captain Obvious: In the early episodes he had a tendency to point out the obvious. Though he got better as the first season went on this probably contributed to him becoming a Speech-Impaired Animal in later seasons.
Cartoon Dog Breed: He's a bright pink former stray with brown "noodle ears" and a single brown spots on his back, of no known breed. Some old promotional materials call him a "beagle," but those are dubiously canon.
Cartoony Tail: Depending on how one views it his tail either looks broken off or just really short with spiky fur.
The Cassandra: Muriel and Eustace never heed his warnings. Although the fact that he yells at them in gibberish doesn't really help.
Character Catchphrase:
- "AAAAAAAAHHH!"
- "NOOOOOOOO!"
- "YES!"
- "The things I do for love..."
- "I know I'm not gonna like this."
- "Muriel, I'll save you!"
- "What do I do? What do I do?!"
- "...or my name is [strange name], and it's not."
The Chew Toy: Not to the same extent as Eustace but his pain is usually Played for Laughs and he never seems to get a break.
Civilized Animal: Courage is the Bagges' pet dog but can otherwise act like a human and occasionally speaks English.
Classical Anti-Hero: Though just barely. Would be a straight hero and often is if not for his massive cowardice.
Covert Pervert: Courage is a Nice Guy, but there are occasional hints of him having a perverted side. In "Remembrances of Courage Past", he's scrambling around a laboratory and opens a door with a woman showering in it. He closes it, but doesn't leave before getting a second glance, and this is when he was just a puppy! Also, in "Hard Drive Courage", it's strongly implied that he keeps a suggestive collection on his computer.
Cowardly Lion: Courage The Cowardly Dog really lives up to his name! He is easily terrified of nearly everything around him but the lengths he will go to look after people, especially Muriel shows that this little guy has a ton of...well...courage. Even if he's seized with terror he stops at nothing to protect his owners from the supernatural. Literally in the Italian dub, where his name is changed to Leone, Italian for "lion".
Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Not an idiot per say; he's more chicken than dog, but when Muriel is in danger, he'll always do whatever it takes to save the day.
Dark and Troubled Past: His parents were kidnapped by a Mad Doctor when he was only a pup. It's no wonder why he's so timid.
Deadpan Snarker: When he can talk, he often speaks to make dry remarks about what's happening to himself and the Bagges.
Determinator: No matter how terrified he is or how powerful his opponent may be, Courage will never back down. Best exemplified in the battle with Mecha-Courage.
Dirty Coward: Usually not, but Played Straight on at least one occasion; in "Shirley the Medium", while he at first tries to save Eustace from the monster in Horst's money box, when the monster blocks off their escape route, Courage yells, "Okay, you can have him!", throws Eustace to the beast, and bugs out in a hurry. Since this is Eustace we're talking about, you won't feel bad for him.
Dirty Kid: Surprisingly, he is shown to have been one in one of the flashback sequences of when he was a puppy in "Remembrance of Courage Past". While looking for his parents, he stumbles upon a woman showering and happily takes a second look before continuing his search.
Dogs Are Dumb: Inverted all things considered. While Eustace always calls him a "stupid dog", Courage is anything but stupid (heck, he has far more common sense than either of the two humans he lives with).
The Dog Bites Back:
- He gives the Cruel Veterinarian, the same man who took away his parents, a taste of his own medicine by sending him back into the rocket where he is sent to the moon and mercilessly mauled to death by the same dogs he sent there (including Courage's parents).
- There are plenty of instances where Courage will torment Eustace or even allow him to get hurt, such as one time when he's so fed up by Eustace that he throws him into a monster's hands with no hesitation.
  Courage: Okay, you can have him!
Dub Name Change: In the Italian dub, his name is Leone (it means "Lion", which makes him an almost literal example of a Cowardly Lion).
Evil-Detecting Dog: He's always the first (and only) to detect danger. He is seldom wrong about his detections.
Extreme Doormat: He takes crap from Eustace mostly and other baddies more than he should without even considering to bite back.
Expy: He is based after Hamilton from John R. Dilworth's short Smart Talk with Raisin, even down to his design.
Flanderization: Originally spoke English regularly but as the series progressed his lines became increasingly limited to gibberish and screaming, only using English once in a while or when he really has something to say.
Flat "What": Non-verbal. Occasionally Courage will witness something so bizarre he can't even scream at it, instead responding with weird visual gags that accurately sum up how utterly perplexed he is.
Freudian Excuse: Courage's constant cowardice was given a reason in "Remembrance of Courage Past" where it's revealed an insane veterinarian captured both of his parents and sent them into outer space for the unrealistic experiment of making dogs stronger, leaving him an orphan until Muriel adopted him both instantly and lovingly as her (and later Eustace's) pet.
Fur Is Clothing: Played for Laughs in "The Quilt Club" and "Dr. Le Quack, Amnesia Specialist", in which the lower half of Courage's fur is ripped off and in both instances, he's wearing briefs. Like most examples, this is probably non-canon (as not only has he taken baths in his fur, but in a more serious moment in which Freaky Fred shaves him, he is not wearing underwear).
Gag Nose: He has a large nose with a zigzag on it.
Good Is Not Soft: As kind as Courage can be, a close look at his actions shows that he has no compunction at all about leaving villains to their fate and is actually willing to try fighting them head on if needed. Villains who are misguided or who are well intentioned but otherwise resorting to drastic methods he will be willing to help. Villains who are irredeemable, knife-twisting jerks he will gladly leave to die.
Guile Hero: Being a small and meek dog, he's not usually in a position to out-muscle or beat up the villains and monsters he's up against, leading to him trying out some more hare-brained, deceptive, or diplomatic ways to defeat them.
Hair Color Dissonance: His fur is usually pink, but it becomes purple when he gets wet or if the scene takes place in the dark.
Hammerspace: How, exactly, Courage manages to fit anchors and full-grown whales into pockets that he doesn't even have is inexplicable and simultaneously hilarious.
Heroic BSoD:
- In "Remembrance of Courage Past", just seeing a missing dogs ad on the side of a milk carton reminds Courage of his Dark and Troubled Past, causing him to go motionless aside from blinking for at least twelve hours straight. Only being told he's going to the vet breaks him out of it, because he's fully aware just how evil that very same veterinarian is.
- He has other moments too, including an occasion where his eyes turn to snow and static is heard.
Heroic Dog: When Courage sees danger, he always cowers in fear. Then he always rescues his family, in spite of being scared.
Heroic Self-Deprecation: The whole premise behind "Perfect", is this. He is faced with a Sadist Teacher known as The Perfectionist who constantly berates him for not being perfect, and it gets so bad that it gives him horrible nightmares.
Hey, You!: Much like how Eustace almost never calls Courage by name, he also never calls him by name. Heck, he doesn't even address him in any way except for "farmer" when talking to the Shadow. Despite this, Courage does know what his actual name is, such as singing "Eustace and Muriel" in order to preserve their marriage against the Goose God's advances.
Humiliation Conga: Quite a few episodes have Courage taking a lot of beatings, such as "Mega Muriel the Magnificent" and "Courage vs. Mecha-Courage". The former has him nearly dying just to get the computer to leave Muriel while the latter has him taking numerous hits, only barely escaping death because Mecha-Courage ran out of juice.
Informed Species: Downplayed; he is called a beagle by some sources, and while he doesn't look like one (aside from his short stature and floppy ears), he certainly acts like one; real-life beagles are known for being jumpy, fearful, and extremely loud when they howl — just like Courage.
Iron Butt Monkey: The injuries he suffers on a regular basis are never permanent and he always seems resilient to bounce back up. This even contributed to his Victory by Endurance against Mecha-Courage.
Ironic Name: Look at the title of the show. He manages to prove himself worthy of both ends of the title, with him being utterly terrified of anything big or small that troubles him but also never willing to flee without protecting his friends and family first.
It's Personal: While villains he encounters have a personal beef with him (even allying themselves with Eustace at one point) Courage has a personal beef with the veterinarian who sent his parents into space. This speaks volumes when Muriel wonders about his fate and Courage growls at the mere mention of him.
Large Ham: Prone to overreacting, especially when screaming or trembling.
Laughing Mad: A few episodes end with Courage cackling at the camera.
Lovable Coward: Subverted. Courage is timid and physically feeble (justified considering how horrifying his foes tend to be) but never lets his fear get in the way of saving Muriel. Therefore he's more like a Cowardly Lion or The So-Called Coward.
Loyal Animal Companion: No matter how scared Courage gets in an episode he lists Muriel's safety over his own.
Made of Iron: He never seems to have any permanent bruises from his injuries... & he suffers a lot of them. Which makes every single injury that he sustains disappear regardless of how severe they are.
Major Injury Underreaction: His typical response to suffering a brutal injury such as getting Squashed Flat or beaten senseless is to either groan or let out a wheezing cackle.
- There are notable exceptions such as enduring a savage beating by Mecha-Courage or being ganged up on by Mad Dog's henchmen where he foregoes the laugh, playing the serious and painful injuries he gets deadly seriously.
Make Me Wanna Shout: A usual trait of his Overly Long Screams. Usually Played for Laughs. Played Straight in "Ball of Revenge": He defeats the Villain Team-Up by screaming loud enough to send the villains flying.
Manchild: To a degree. Courage is somewhat childish in his hobbies, such as playing with toys and building sand castles. He occasionally spends his time chewing on an old boot or something else and talks to his computer.
Meaningful Name:
- Despite all his screaming and flailing he doesn't run away when his owners are in trouble because "Courage is not the absence of fear; courage is fighting and overcoming your fears." In fact, Muriel named him Courage because he showed courage (as seen in "Remembrance of Courage Past").
- The Italian dub changes his name to Leone, meaning "lion".
Momma's Boy: In the adoptive sense, but Courage is very loyal towards and devoted to protecting Muriel, who is like a mother to him.
Monster Mouth: One of his teeth has a hole bored straight through the center as though with a drill for some reason.
My Greatest Failure: His inability to save his parents as a child deeply affected him and remembering the event was enough for him to have a Heroic BSoD in the finale.
My Greatest Second Chance: He gets revenge on the man who took away his parents and saves his new owners, preventing history from repeating itself.
Narrative Shapeshifting: He typically does this to explain what terrible situation Muriel and Eustace are in but they never listen.
- It is unknown if this is just an ability Courage is able to do as it's mainly used for laughs. But on rare occasions, he uses it to get himself out of a jam.
- This would later bite him in the ass during a joke in "Evil Weevil", where he calls in some pest exterminators to deal with Jeeves Weevil. When Courage takes on the form of the insect to explain he just gets hit by bug spray for all his trouble.
Nervous Wreck: Very, very often the poor dog is often in shambles and worrying about everything.
Nice Guy: A selfless character who works to benefit others with usually little to no regard for his own well being. He's even willing to help out monsters who aren't as evil as they appear to be.
Nigh-Invulnerable: Courage survives a lot of really painful and serious injuries due to the show's cartoony slapstick humor.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: As Courage is aware and pointed out himself in one of his catchphrases he often suffers in his quest to save his home and protect his masters whenever the Monster of the Week is about to inflict something atrocious upon Muriel, then Courage takes the beating himself because often times that was the only way to shield Muriel.
Oh, Crap!: If something bad's about to happen, this will always be his reaction, especially if Muriel's life is on the line.
Only Sane Man: Of the Bagge family. Usually Eustace and Muriel are Too Dumb to Live and Courage is always the only one who realizes they are in danger. He does warn them many times but neither of them take his barking as a genuine warning that they should scram.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: You know shit gets real when Eustace's scary mask doesn't frighten Courage in the absolute slightest.
- From the same episode: Courage has always reacted with fear whenever Muriel would make a passing mention to the Monster of the Week but when she wonders aloud about the fate of the veterinarian, Courage growls in anger.
Overly Long Scream: A trademark of the character. Almost no episode is complete with at least one of these coming from Courage, be it because of the Monster of the Week, Muriel being in danger and so on. He even deliberately weaponizes it at one point.
Parental Abandonment: Revealed in the last episodes of the series when an evil doctor rocketed his mom and dad in hopes to create a race of super strong space dogs. Luckily Muriel found him as a baby in a nearby alley.
Phrase Catcher: Eustace and countless bad guys have called him a "stupid dog".
Pintsized Powerhouse: Courage is capable of carrying Muriel and Eustace over his head while running away from whatever that is chasing them.
Perpetual Frowner: Mainly due to being a Nervous Wreck, a mellow frown is his default expression which usually goes into terrified teeth gritting or a pissed off scowl from there. He can smile though, which he usually does when he’s finally at ease and relaxed with Muriel.
Properly Paranoid: If Courage is scared there is always a good reason. Except during a Season 1 episode where he and Eustace go to a diner and it seems the owner turns the customers' heads into food. It turns out his "victims" are alive and well and he just made head-shaped meat sculptures using his customers as models.
Protagonist Title: He is the main character of the show and his name is the show's title.
Refuse to Rescue the Disliked: He's been reluctant quite a few times to save Eustace, a Jerkass of the highest order who regularly abuses and bullies Courage and never treats him any better despite saving his life many times.
- In "Shirley the Medium", Courage grabs Eustace and tries to carry him away from a demonic entity that was trying to drag Eustace into a money box, only to throw Eustace at the monster.
  Courage: Okay! You can have him!
- In "Queen of the Black Puddle", when the titular Black Puddle Queen abducts Eustace to have him over for dinner at her place Courage couldn't care less about what's happened and only reluctantly ventures out to save him just to relieve the worries of Eustace's wife Muriel, whom Courage does care about.
- It should be noted that this usually averted in cases where Eustace wasn't too much of a Jerkass. Such as in "Evil Weevil" where Courage is genuinely concerned over his deteriorating health and finds a (rather unorthodox) method of reviving him. Or in "The Snowman Cometh" where he saves Eustace before the sun melts all of him.
Ridiculously Cute Critter: The prime feelings that he espouses in the audience are sympathy, protectiveness and going awww over his cuteness.
Rubber Man: He is able to stretch change into different forms and in fact, he does that often. He exploits this in "Journey to the Center of Nowhere", when he's tied up by evil eggplants and escapes by taking a deep breath and deflating his body until it's thin enough to slip through the vines.
Sanity Slippage: It's heavily implied that Courage has gone crazy when he plays with the marionettes of Eustace and Muriel at the end of "The Great Fussili".
Save the Jerk: He always goes out his way to save Eustace in spite of the latter's massive cruelty towards him. Of course, Eustace never appreciates it in the slightest. As displayed in "Queen of the Black Puddle," Courage does so for Muriel's sake, as despite everything she does love and care about him.
Screams Like a Little Girl: He gives a particularly feminine-sounding scream in "Evil Weevil". This was lampshaded at one point where he runs back to the farmhouse screaming like this and wearing red high-heeled shoes!
Signature Laugh: He has two: a wheezing cackle that he makes either after getting injured or at the end of an episode and an embarrassed-sounding laugh.
Silent Snarker: In his non-speaking moments he non-verbally expresses his disdain and exasperation at things.
The So-Called Coward: He seems to prove his name 'Courage', even more so than the 'Cowardly' part of the title.
Speech-Impaired Animal: Subverted in the early days of the show, where he spoke more freely usually. He played it more straight later. Even in the later seasons, it's occasionally subverted. Notably, the episode "Muted Muriel" cheats a bit by having him explain to Muriel, in perfectly coherent English, how the Monster of the Week needs to be staved off.
Strong Family Resemblance: It is revealed in "Remembrance of Courage Past" that his parents look just like him, except that his dad has bushy eyebrows and a mustache and his mom has eyelashes and lipstick and wears a hat and shoes.
Super Not-Drowning Skills: He seems to have an impressive lung capacity, perhaps as a Required Secondary Power to his Overly Long Scream. Examples of this in action include "King Ramses' Curse" when he swims from the attic to the basement to drain the water out of the flooding house, and "Bride of the Swamp Monster" when he watches the reunion between the titular monsters, holding his breath the entire time.
Supreme Chef: Courage appears to pull off superb culinary skills from mac and cheese to fancy French cuisine.
Talking Animal: He talks frequently in the early episodes, but later becomes a Speech-Impaired Animal over time. This is actually a result of CN forcing Dilworth to give Courage less talking lines as they felt he was funnier as a babbling animal. The latter is somewhat subverted at one point. Realizing that he can't talk to Muriel directly, he runs to a payphone and calls her.
This Is Gonna Suck: Courage's second most common expression, behind abject terror, is to acknowledge that when he’s up for a task, things are going to get very unpleasant. He even often says "I know I'm not going to like this..." before he is about to do a dangerous task.
Undying Loyalty: He's always loyal to Muriel. And by extension Eustace, even though Courage is fully aware that he's a literally dog-kicking jerkass, because Eustace makes Muriel happy.
The Unintelligible: As the series went on, the gibberish-to-English ratio tipped towards the former to a major degree, meaning Courage would speak coherent English less and less to a point he would just babble and other characters would still know what he was saying (except Eustace and Muriel, of course).
Voluntary Shapeshifting: He changes into various shapes and forms when screaming gibberish to anyone who'll hear him, and while this is normally used as a visual gag, this proves really handy at times when the going gets tough for him.
Weirdness Magnet: Weird things just happen wherever Courage goes. You could justify it by Nowhere just naturally attracting the supernatural, except for the fact there have been multiple episodes where him and the Bagges are visiting another town (or even another country), yet weird things still happen to them.
Whale Egg: In "Muted Muriel", he lays a golden egg so he can pay Shirley for her help.
Wife-Basher Basher: To Mad Dog for Bunny — let's elaborate. He jumps through the back of his car and drives it in front of a train, effectively ending his reign of terror. Although Mad Dog survived with cartoonish injuries, he's been beaten silly in the wreckage of his car and left without his girlfriend to abuse any longer.
Wild Take: Frequently, he reacts to the horrors he observes by having his eyes grow large. Heck, some of his wild takes would put Ren Höek to shame.
Would Hit a Girl: In "Queen of the Black Puddle" while being attacked by the Queen, Courage grabs a leg from the skeleton of one of the Queen’s victims and bonks her on the head with it four times.

Muriel Bagge

"Oh my!"

Voiced by: Howard Hoffman (pilot), Thea White (series; 1999-2021), Kath Soucie (as a child in "Little Muriel")

A sweet old Scottish lady who found Courage abandoned by an alley and took him home. She is constantly in danger from the things that come to Nowhere, but she always smiles at some point during the episode. She also loves using vinegar in all of her cooking, and in an early episode picked up playing the sitar and also has a fondness for tea.

AB Negative: It's revealed in the episode, Bad Hair Day that she has an incredibly rare blood type, ABXYZ, that happens to be sought after by Growth Industries for their hair growth experiments. It's sufficiently rare that her doctor notes she's the only patient he has with that type.
Accent Adaptation: In the Latin American Spanish dub, she speaks with a thick German accent in replacement from her Scottish one.
All-Loving Hero: She's always kind to people she meets and invites them into her home. And she loves Eustace despite his Jerkass personality. The only person she seems to dislike is Eustace's mother.
Beware the Nice Ones: A Running Gag has her hit Eustace with a rolling pin whenever he abuses Courage. Also, she once successfully defeated KATZ when he was strangling the poor dog.
Big Beautiful Woman: There have been multiple plots about the villain of the week falling in love with Muriel, so she might be considered this.
Big Fun: She's not only rather fat, but also just as kind. In strong contrast to Eustace.
Big, Thin, Short Trio: Muriel is the Big one of the three protagonists, compared to Eustace's Thin and Courage's Short.
Blind Without 'Em: She's shown to have trouble seeing without her glasses in "Muriel Meets Her Match". And she's apparently deaf as well. "You know I can't hear without my glasses, Courage." Although that makes more sense when you remember that Courage has to rely on gestures to communicate.
Bratty Half-Pint: She was quite a handful as a child, as seen in the episode "Little Muriel".
Brave Scot: Despite being a frequent Damsel in Distress, she can sometimes fall into this, as well. Just watch the numerous times she wields out her signature rolling pin to hit someone who's significantly inconsiderate (like Eustace).
Captain Oblivious: Is always fooled by the bad guys no matter how bizarre or obvious their disguises, even if said villain has menaced them before.
Cathartic Chores: It's implied that cooking and cleaning are Muriel's way of coping with Eustace's boorish behavior and other dangerous things that she unwillingly attracts. In "King Ramses Curse", when the final curse is destroying their home, Muriel freaks out and proceeds to go into Cope by Creating mode by frantically cooking and baking dozens of cakes, and only stops when the curse is lifted.
Character Catchphrase:
- "AAAAAAAAHHH!"
- "Oh my!"
- "[Name of a dish]... with a wee bit of vinegar."
Chekhov's Gun: Muriel's cooking is always used to solve whatever problems Courage comes across.
Cool Old Lady: A kindhearted and motherly old woman, who is very protective of her dog.
Cordon Bleugh Chef: She's undeniably a good cook, but tends to add "a wee bit of vinegar" to everything, including candy and dog food. If you cook — a tiny bit of acid, such as vinegar, can make food taste bright and fresh.
Damsel in Distress: She is commonly the reason Courage goes so far to try to beat the many villains that attack the middle of Nowhere.
The Ditz: Although she means well, she seems to not be that very smart and never seems to expect all the horrible things that head toward their house.
Dub Name Change: In the Norwegian dub, she is named Matilda.
Elective Mute: The plot of "Muted Muriel" has Muriel give up talking altogether when she gets sick of Eustace ignoring her. Of course, she's back to talking by the end of the episode thanks to Courage and Shirley.
Even the Loving Hero Has Hated Ones: Muriel is a Nice Girl through and through; she's always kind to people she meets and invites them into her home, and she loves Eustace of all people despite his Jerkass personality. However, she makes it very clear on multiple occasions that she hates Ma Bagge. Best seen in "Mother's Day", where she refuses to accompany Eustace to visit her ("I'm not going to see that woman!") or the ending of "The Sand Whale Strikes", where she actually seems pleased that the woman's lost. Given how Ma is one of the main reasons Eustace is curmudgeonly jerk he is today, this is quite justified.
Muriel: Well, I'm glad that all worked out.
Eustace: But the whale got me Ma!
[Beat]
Muriel: [smiles] I'm glad that all worked out.
Everyone Has Standards: Even she's forced to vocally agree with Eustace when she realizes that Mood-Swinger Basil the thief truly is nuts.
Eyes Out of Sight: Her glasses obscure her eyes, and the one time she has them off, her eyes are shut tightly.
Fat Idiot: Downplayed. She is very chubby, but how dumb she is varies from episode to episode.
Friend to All Living Things: Her fatal weakness is unconditional love for all living things, regardless of whether or not they'll reciprocate her kindness.
Genre Blind: She is quite oblivious to danger, interacting with all manner of creepy people without considering that they might mean her harm.
Good Parents: She adopted Courage and raised him as her own child. He might be a bit of a coward, but he also grew into a good-hearted and chivalrous dog under her care, even with Eustace there.
Granny Classic: A kindly old lady who takes in the titular abandoned pup.
Horrible Judge of Character: Her Fatal Flaw. She is always nice to strangers (usually the Monster of the Week) and fails to see what they are plotting. Oh, and she married Eustace, for some reason.
Housewife: A devoted, hard-working one and apparently a good cook.
The Ingenue: Usually too innocent to realize she's in danger.
Iron Butt Monkey: Muriel can take a lot of wear and tear, in sharp contrast to her husband's frail frame. This was lampshaded in "Mega Muriel the Magnificent".
Jerkass Ball: She pretty much became a female version of Eustace after having her kindness removed by an alien visitor in "Car Broke, Phone Yes". However, she managed to get it back by the end of the episode.
Kindhearted Simpleton: Downplayed. She's not exactly stupid, she's just really oblivious, but kindhearted nonetheless.
Major Injury Underreaction: There have been some times some extreme Body Horror has happened to her, but she treats it as an inconvenience, though sometimes painfully inconvenient.
Mama Bear: Whenever Eustace scares Courage, she bashes him over the head with a rolling pin or whatever else may be handy at the time. In a few episodes, she also extends this to the Monster of the Week. For example, when she comes upon Katz strangling Courage in "Katz Motel", she smashes a tennis racket over his head and saves Courage without a second thought.
Minnesota Nice: It's hinted at, with the fact she wears large Midwestern boots.
Morality Pet: Is one of the few things that Eustace cares about. Sometimes.
Multiple-Choice Past: Currently, Muriel has white hair from old age. Whenever a younger version of Muriel appears, her hair color is never the same; it has been shown brown (in a flashback), red (in what was either a painting or photo), blonde (in a dream sequence), and even white (when she was actually turned into a child)!
Meaningful Name: Her name could be interpreted as "merry old bag", since she's a perpetually optimistic old lady.
Never Mess with Granny: She sometimes hits Eustace with a rolling pin whenever he does something to scare Courage.
Nice Girl: She's very sweet, caring, and trusting, to the point of being way too naive.
Nigh-Invulnerable: While she doesn't suffer anywhere nearly as much comical physical abuse as her dog or husband do, she's surprisingly resilient.
Opaque Lenses: Muriel's glasses are not transparent.
Opposites Attract: It's rather surprising that someone as sweet and kindhearted as her married a misanthropic jerk like Eustace.
Parental Substitute: Muriel adopted Courage when he was an orphaned puppy, and raised him like he was her own child.
Parenting the Husband: Eustace is constantly demanding food and attention from Muriel, and feels jealousy over how much she dotes on Courage. It must be a result of Eustace's strained relationship with his real mother.
Ping Pong Naïveté: Her intelligence/stupidity. There are episodes in which she either seems like the only sane woman or have enough common sense, and there are episodes in which she gets wwwaaaayyyyy Too Dumb to Live.
Pre Ass Kicking One Liner : If she says "Oh you are cheeky!" expect to get hurt. She once bashed Eustace hard enough to send his head into his stomach when she said this and slapped a paleontologist hard enough to see stars one time due to a dirty joke he made.
Rolling Pin of Doom: Her weapon is a rolling pin, which she often uses to beat Eustace when reprimanding him for terrorizing Courage.
Seven Heavenly Virtues: Muriel herself is typically very nice and well-mannered, and because of this, she's befitting for all of these virtues.
- Kindness: This one's pretty much the easiest to be pointed out, knowing how normally warmhearted she really is in front of others.
- Charity: She is pretty welcoming towards someone else, especially if they are really not that threatening and/or menacing to her.
- Diligence: Unlike her husband Eustace, Muriel does more of the effort for the Bagge family's current living conditions, both in and out of their home.
- Patience: Besides her limiting moments, she knows how to hold her anger much better than Eustace does.
- Humility: She doesn't give her own self that much regard, especially considering her selfless attitude.
- Chastity: She has never expressed any sexual interest throughout the show, even when she's married to Eustace (either because she's not that kind of person, or that she's simply infertile).
- Temperance: It seems that she's relatively more capable of controlling her hunger than Eustace does, which is rather ironic since she's physically bigger than he is.
Supreme Chef: Can cook and prepare a wide assortment of different dishes, with or without the involvement of vinegar. In addition she's entered and won first place in at least two types of cooking contests (albeit one was for dog food but Dr. Vindaloo enjoys it despite knowing so and Eustace also had no problem eating it until he found out it was dog food.) and people have tried to steal her recipes on occasions (even comprising the main plot of "Katz Kandy").
Too Dumb to Live: Most of the time, she does life-threatening actions that she wouldn't have even tried if she had known better. Such as "Muriel Blows Up" for example, when she eats an explosive cyborg carrot missile twice. Though she does have her moments of clarity (ex. "Family Business").
Trrrilling Rrrs: She sometimes trills her "R"'s. This is more exaggerated in the Latin American Spanish dub, as she speaks with a German accent.
Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Inverted. Muriel used to be an insufferable bratty child (when she was 3 years old at least). Now she's very gentle and kind.
Vague Age: While Muriel (like Eustace) is definitely an older woman, just how old she is isn't very clear in-universe. While most characters treat her like an elderly woman, she is also young enough that her mother-in-law (who herself is still rather spritely and energetic) is still alive. One episode also implies that Muriel actually dyes her hair white, meaning she may actually be somewhat younger than she appears to be.
Weirdness Magnet: Something strange happens all the time despite the show being set in the middle of Nowhere. Muriel is usually the target of the Monster of the Week or whatever is happening in any episode.
What Does She See in Him?: Her marriage with Eustace is difficult to understand, seeing what a spiteful jackass he can be. They have Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other moments in "The McPhearson Phantom" and "The Mask" though. John R. Dilworth has stated that Eustace may have resorted to nondescript dishonest methods to win her over in the past.
What the Hell Is That Accent?: Her dialect is some weird mix between Scottish and Minnesota Nice; one gets the impression that she's originally from Scotland but lived in the Midwestern US for so long that her accent Americanized somewhat. The Latin American Spanish dub, on the other hand, make her speak with a German accent instead.
Women Are Wiser: While Muriel's naivete varies Depending on the Writer (especially since she's a Horrible Judge of Character), she's always wiser and more reasonable than her Jerkass husband.

Eustace Bagge

"Stupid dog!"

Voiced by: Howard Hoffman (pilot), Lionel Wilson (episodes 1-33), Arthur Anderson (episodes 34-52), Jeff Bergman (CN 20th Anniversary bumper, Straight Outta Nowhere), Wallace Shawn ("The Fog of Courage")

A cranky old farmer who hasn't a modicum of kindness in the slightest. He thinks he can fix anything and grow anything, but this is never the case. He also has an insatiable greed for money. Later in the series we learn that he didn't have the best childhood, growing up with an uncaring mother and a selfish older brother, and his abusive home life is implied to be the reason behind his unpleasant attitude.

Click here for Eustace's self-demonstrating page.

Abusive Parents: His mother's treatment of him echoes his own treatment of Courage. And considering how Muriel acts as a mother figure to Courage, Eustace is kind of like a horribly abusive father figure.
Accidental Hero: He manages to single-handedly defeat Katz's Mutant Jam by complete accident using his Ooga Booga Mask.
Aesop Amnesia: In "The Curse of Shirley", he learns empathy and compassion... for half a minute. If anything, he's worse than ever afterwards.
All Abusers Are Male: He often treats Muriel and Courage as servants rather than his actual family members.
Anti-Role Model: He's greedy, mean, cruel toward his dog, bossy toward his wife ("Where's my dinner?"), and generally unpleasant. In short, a perfect example of a character who children shouldn’t grow up to be or whose actions children should not be imitating.
Anti-Villain: He tends to have a Freudian Excuse for his behavior, and deep down loves his wife, although he rarely demonstrates this.
Arc Villain: In "Ball of Revenge", with Katz, the Queen of the Black Puddle, the Clutching Foot, and the Weremole as his accomplices. Also a Non-Action Big Bad since while the rest of his villain band is attempting to kill Courage, he just watches from the sidelines. Once all is said and done, this of course earns him some Laser-Guided Karma in the form of Muriel's rolling pin to his head. One could say he might have gotten off easy, though it should be noted that he was only watching from the sidelines and not actively trying to harm Courage.
Asshole Victim: Eustace will usually end up having something bad happening to him, often by getting transformed, trapped or imprisoned, seriously injured or killed, or just being unlucky enough to have his plans fail. He deserves most of it because of how rotten he is to literally everyone.
Bad People Abuse Animals: He's very abusive towards Courage, and in some cases, he has captured animals to get a big cash reward without caring about them.
Bald of Evil: He's very embarrassed about his hair loss. And it isn't because of old age, it seems to have been a problem since childhood.
Baldness Angst: To a point where just flat-out saying that he's bald will cause him to go on a rage-inducing breakdown. He's so self-conscious about this that he loses to the exact same comeback three times in a row.
Eustace: You know how you spell "ugly"? U....u, u, u, u, u, u!
Hunchback: And you sir are extremely...bald.
Eustace: (Incoherent angrish) Oh, yeah? Well, you look like something the cow spit up!
Hunchback: You sir are extremely bald.
Eustace: (More incoherent angrish, head starts to cook) And the only thing uglier than this (Pulls out a mirror) ...Is this! (Pulls out a second mirror) Hehehehehehe!
Hunchback: Are you bald? (Beat) Yes.
Eustace: Grrrrrm!
Berserk Button:
- Cheating him out of money, and messing with his hat, chair, or truck, are the most effective ways to enrage him.
- Courage's mere existence seems to be one for him. Probably when it comes to getting Muriel's affections. He especially doesn't like it whenever Courage is allowed to sit at the table for meals.
- His mom.
- Being called bald.
Big Eater: He constantly demands that Muriel cook for him, and his hunger saved Courage and Muriel from Katz once.
Big, Thin, Short Trio: Eustace is the Thin one of the three protagonists, compared to Muriel's Big and Courage's Short.
Blah, Blah, Blah: One of his catchphrases. He says this when something doesn't interest him.
Blaming the Tools: When the Spirit of The Harvest Moon criticized Eustace, for his inability to grow anything, he gives the excuse of "bad soil," rather than admit he's a lousy farmer.
Blind Without 'Em: Like Muriel, he can't see well without his glasses. He once got dragged halfway across the world without even knowing it. It becomes an important plot point in "The Curse of Shirley": Eustace is cursed to be rained on until he shows generosity, and the rain gets so bad that it floods the Bagge house and threatens to destroy it. So later in the episode, when Eustace loses his glasses, he looks at Courage and sees a young child (presumably himself as a young 'un, given the appearance) being rained on; he feels sorry for "the child" and gives him his hat, a selfless act that ends up stopping the rain curse.
The Bully: He often picks on Courage.
Bullying a Dragon: Occasionally, Eustace seems to take glee in taunting monsters and supernatural beings that are proven to be much more powerful than him. A special mention goes to Eustace back-sassing the Spirit of the Harvest Moon in "The House of Discontent".
Eustace: 'Least I got arms and legs! You don't even have a neck! Hahaha!
Spirit of the Harvest Moon: Get out of my face.
Eustace: Make me!
Butt-Monkey: The main one, besides Courage. He has really bad luck due to being karma's punching bag.
Captain Oblivious: Just like Muriel, he's always fooled by the bad guys no matter how bizarre or obvious their disguises, even if said villain has menaced them before.
Carry a Big Stick: His usual response to supernatural threats? "That's it; I'm gettin' me mallet!"
Character Catchphrase: Lots of them.
- "AAAAAAAAHHH!"
- "Stupid dog!"
- "Stupid [object/person/location of Eustace's ire]!"
- [Pulls out mask to scare Courage] "OOGA BOOGA BOOGA!"
- [After Muriel hits him with a rolling pin] "OW! What did I do?!"
- "Oh, Wicket!"
- "Big deal!"
- "What's your offer?"
- "Who the heck are you?"
- "We don't want any!"
- "No solicitors!"
- "Blah, Blah, Blah!"
- "Muriel! Where's my dinner?!"
- "What's — huh?!"
- "That's it, I'm gettin' me mallet!"
- "I'm a farmer! FARMER FARMER FARMER!"
- "Not getting out of this chair."
- [When Courage pesters him] "Get away from me!"
The Chew Toy: Many episodes end with Eustace suffering some horrible fate, such as Demonic Possession or getting Eaten Alive. Of course, since Status Quo Is God, he's shown to be alive and perfectly okay by the next episode.
Comedic Sociopathy: He might be one of the most unpleasant protagonists to walk in animation, but it doesn’t stop him from having loads of hilarious banter with his family, bystanders and even villains. Inversely, he’s also on the receiving end of some of the harsher slapstick the show has going.
Cool Mask: His impressive-looking Ooga Booga mask that he uses to scare Courage and a Monster of the Week in one episode.
Deadpan Snarker: Often makes remarks in an obnoxious (and usually angry) way with all his "Big deal!" and "Blah Blah Blah!"
Depending on the Writer: How much of an Jerkass Eustace is very much depends in the episode. Sometimes he'll be a relatively harmless Grumpy Old Man or more rarely a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who genuinely cares about Muriel. Other times he'll be an out-right villain exploiting or otherwise harming innocents for his own ends and who will happily leave Muriel and Courage to die to save his own skin.
Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: He never holds back on his insults, even in the face of powerful monsters. Not surprisingly, this usually won't end well. For example in "King Ramses' Curse", he repeatedly refuses to return Pharaoh Ramses' tomb slab. After Ramses casts the three curses, Eustace thinks he's got a chance at keeping the slab. Ramses pulls one last curse up his sleeve: he turns Eustace into an engraving on his coffin.
Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: He, of all people, scares Katz's Mutant Jam shitless using his Ooga Booga mask, basically taking care of the episode's Monster of the Week. He also manages to fight Katz to a standstill, despite being a frail old man.
Dirty Coward: He will sometimes leave Courage and/or Muriel to their fate to save his own skin. In fact, in "The Shadow of Courage", at the end of the episode, the titular Shadow declares Eustace to be an even bigger coward than Courage himself.
Disproportionate Retribution: He's done everything from scaring Courage for kicks because he didn't want to listen to the dog, to outright attempting to physically strangle him for being too irritating or attempting to kill him for being liked by Muriel more. This reaches its most extreme conclusion in "Ball of Revenge", where he hires some of Courage's previous villains to kill the dog because Muriel gave Courage his favorite bedsheets.
Distressed Dude: He often gets caught in dangerous situations along with his wife.
The Ditz: Shirley the Medium refers to Eustace exclusively as "the stupid one", and for good reason. He's shortsighted, has a stunning lack of common sense, and overall seems oblivious to the world around him even more so than Muriel. When going on a game show in "Farmer Hunter, Farmer Hunted", he proves to be so dim that he can't even answer questions that a child would have no trouble with.
Eustace: [when shown a globe and asked what it is] It's a bowling ball covered with throw-up!
Does Not Like Spam: Despite being a Big Eater even he can't stand eggplants and carrots, and to a lesser extent, cold cuts.
Dub Name Change: In the Norwegian dub, he's named Rasmus, while in the Latin American dub, he's Justo (Juste).
Dysfunctional Family: He was emotionally abused by his mother and brother. It's unknown what role his father played though, as he's only mentioned and not even seen in flashbacks. Regardless, it's no wonder why Eustace is such a horrible person.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He's a cruel old man who hates pretty much everyone. However, Muriel and his mother are the closest thing he has to loved ones, as he has genuine Pet the Dog moments with them. He also keeps a picture of his late father under his hat (literally), as seen in "The Sand Whale Strikes", implying that he also cared about him. Although, if he cares or not about Muriel varies Depending on the Writer.
Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Almost everyone except Muriel and his mother just calls him "the Farmer" (including Courage himself). In fact, Eustace is the only one of the trio who never has an episode named after him, and the ones that do focus on him refer to him as "Farmer" (ex: "Farmer Hunter, Farmer Hunted", "Aqua Farmer"), and a few online sources here and there even refer to him as such.
Everyone Has Standards: He's a grouchy, grumpy, mean old git, but even he believes that no little boy should be without a hat on a boiling hot summer's day.
Evil Old Folks: Usually, he's more of a grumpy, crabby Jerkass than actually evil, but he definitely fits the bill in "Ball of Revenge", orchestrating a Villain Team-Up to kill Courage.
Eyes Out of Sight: Just like his wife, Eustace never has his eyes revealed behind his glasses, even keeping them on while sleeping. One episode has him losing his glasses, and also like Muriel, his eyes are shut tightly.
Fatal Flaw: His arrogance and greed often blind him to the peril he stumbles into, leading him to ignore Courage's warning and inevitably suffer a terrible fate.
Fearless Fool: In many situations, he's completely uncaring of the danger and reacts to all the creepy monsters in front of him as they were normal people, acting annoyed and rude to them, even if they are threatening his life. For example, he wasn't scared at all of King Ramses, the absolutely horrifying mummy who told him "Return the slab or suffer my curse!". His only reaction was "What's your offer?" in an angry tone, as King Ramses was just some guy in front of him.
Flanderization: He was just grumpy and selfish in the earlier episodes, but became a Psychopathic Manchild as the series progressed.
Four Eyes, Zero Soul: He has a low-down and greedy personality, so his glasses do well even as Sinister Shades since his eyes are rarely seen.
Freudian Excuse: His mother is much worse than he is, and his brother was The Ace and rubbed it in Eustace's face his entire life. The end of "The Curse Of Shirley" has his "true self" shown to him by a mirror. What is it? A sad little boy. He also knows that his baldness is due to his mother being bald. No wonder he's so screwed up.
Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Despite his awful childhood, no one cuts him any slack for being rude at best and outright sadistic at worst. Just ask Shirley.
Genre Blind: Eustace can be very stupidly stubborn in the face of obvious danger.
Get-Rich-Quick Scheme: Tries schemes in getting a lot of money many times, never works out for him.
Gonk: Compared to his wife Muriel, Eustace himself has displayed ugliness not only internally, but also externally, thanks in part to his visibly large chin.
Greed: Many episodes have him obtaining (only to lose it later), wanting, or basically bathing in money he found.
Green and Mean: He normally wears green overalls, and is one of the nastiest citizens living in the town of Nowhere.
Grumpy Old Man: Should be really obvious at this point that he's a crotchety old man with a bad attitude, considering what he does for most of the series.
Hair-Trigger Temper: He gets angry rather easily, especially when he's around Courage. In "Hothead", an experimental hair growth serum gives him the ability to make things explode whenever he's mad (and it ends with Eustace himself literally exploding).
Hammerspace: Where does he pull the gigantic fright mask from when he scares Courage?
Hate Sink: Zig-zagged. Eustace is a Grumpy Old Man and a greedy bastard who is nothing but nasty towards Courage and puts his pride and love of money above all else. This makes the fate he suffers at the end of many episodes very satisfying to watch. However, unlike the usual Hate Sink, he wasn't written only to be hated by the audience. The creator John Dilworth said that he gave Eustace a Freudian Excuse to make him more human and understandable.
Heavy Sleeper: In "Profile In Courage", Courage repeatedly tries to wake him up, even throwing a Cartoon Bomb at him. Eustace sleeps through all this.
Hey, You!:
- He almost never calls Courage by name, instead calling him "stupid dog" or just "dog". He refers to Courage by his real name only a few times, the first in "The Hunchback of Nowhere", the second in "Ball of Revenge", and the third in the Cartoon Network 20th Anniversary Party bumper.
- Hilariously enough, Eustace seems to get this treatment from the show itself, as while all episodes centered around Muriel are titled after her ("Invisible Muriel", "Muriel Blows Up"), the Eustace-centric episodes only address him as "farmer" ("Farmer Hunter, Farmer Hunted", "Aqua Farmer").
Hypocrite: He calls Courage a "stupid dog" when he himself gets injured, maimed, transformed, and otherwise killed for being Too Dumb to Live. In addition, he criticizes Courage for not doing anything right when Eustace himself can't cook, can't grow anything in his farm, and can't fix anything, not to mention that he's completely useless during whatever ordeal the Bagges come across. In short, Eustace is exactly everything he calls Courage out for being, with the only difference being that he's a much bigger coward than Courage, which at one point was even lampshaded by the Shadow in "The Shadow of Courage".
I Ate WHAT?!: Once accidentally ate dog food Muriel was cooking thinking it was his dinner. He quickly scrubbed his tongue and spat it out when he found out the truth.
Iconic Item: The green mask he uses to scare Courage in the intro, always accompanied with "OOGA BOOGA BOOGA BOOGA!"
It's All About Me: Aside from a couple of Pet the Dog moments, he usually never cares about anything other than himself.
I Just Want to Be Loved: Between his ball-busting mother, his damn near perfect Big Brother Bully, and his Disappeared Dad, Eustace is starved to death for affection. It really puts his apparent jealousy of Courage in perspective.
Insufferable Imbecile: In addition to being one of the biggest Jerkasses in the show, Eustace is also pretty stupid as evident via explanation in The Ditz up above, especially whenever he ignores any type of warning to not do anything that would put him in danger by doing it anyway, which even earned him the nickname "The Stupid One" by Shirley.
Iron Butt Monkey: He's survived, or healed from, all manner of ridiculously painful and deadly injuries on a regular basis. Inversely to Muriel and Courage, however, who can take plenty of abuse and get back up to keep going, Eustace is often taken out by one large blow that deals him a bad fate for the episode.
Ironic Name: His own name means "fruitful", yet he's barely shown doing any farm work throughout the show, despite being labelled as a "farmer" (which is best displayed in the episode "The House of Discontent", where it tackles his rather limited farming experience).
Jerkass: He hates Courage more than anything, is fairly neglectful to Muriel, and has no patience for anyone or anything whatsoever. The episode "Curtain of Cruelty" even had him labeled "the meanest creep in Nowhere."
Jerkass Has a Point:
- Eustace once told Muriel that Dr. Vindalooo doesn't know what he's doing. He's not wrong.
- At the start of "Dr. Le Quack, Amnesia Specialist", as he is fixing the roof of the house, Muriel intervenes and orders him to stop the noise, lest he wake up the neighbors. Eustace then reminds her that they don't have any neighbors since they're in the middle of Nowhere.
- He considers Fred to be a freak. Given what Fred does to Courage, and what we learn about his past, it's honestly hard to argue he's wrong about that.
- In Family Business, Eustace wasn't wrong saying Basil deserves to rot in prison.
- During Camp Site of Terror while he and Courage were in the middle of tracking down Muriel and their belongings he points out Courage was just wasting his time sniffing for a lead when they could just follow the tire tracks.
- In one of the bumpers, Eustace calls the automotive repairmen highway robbers. Given they lie about how long it took to fix the truck, he isn't wrong.
Jerkass to One: Eustace is an all-around asshole to everyone, but he's especially an asshole to Courage, constantly insulting him, scaring him, and even physically abusing him to a degree.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While he rarely shows it, Eustace's Pet the Dog moments and his Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other moments with Muriel show that there actually is some amount of heart buried beneath that crotchety greedy exterior. Also, in very "rare" circumstances he's also willing to team up with Courage and helping him. Keyword is "rare".
Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Most of the time. In "Curtain of Cruelty", he was hit by an energy wave that can turn people nice, but he was unaffected by it.
Karmic Butt-Monkey: This sicko hates Courage for no reason, to the point where he actually takes joy in Courage’s misery. So it’s safe to say that any misery he suffers at the hands of the bad guys is cosmic punishment.
Kick the Dog: Literally; he takes whatever opportunity he can to torment Courage or even physically harm him. At least some of it stems from jealousy since Muriel tends to pay more attention to Courage than to him, but he also does so just for laughs or to get Courage to leave him alone especially when Courage tries to warn him about impending danger.
Know-Nothing Know-It-All: He thinks he knows everything and can fix anything, but this is never the case, in fact, he knows less than most other people. In "Farmer Hunter, Farmer Hunted", when he sees a globe of the Earth, he thinks it's "a bowling ball covered with throw up".
Lack of Empathy: He doesn't really have much empathy toward most people, especially Courage.
Lantern Jaw of Justice: Inverted; he has a rather impressive jawline, but he's lazy, feeble, and a total Jerkass.
Laser-Guided Karma: He gets struck by this almost every episode... Eustace is literally karma's punching bag. Ironically subverted in at least one episode: he suffers a horrible fate where he didn't deserve it ("The Demon In the Mattress").
Laughably Evil: He has his funny moments, also thanks to his Butt-Monkey status.
Lazy Bum: He's very much often seen just sitting on his own red chair, barely doing any of the housework for the Bagge family's residence.
Lazy Husband: Does little more than read the newspaper, watch TV, and demand his dinner.
Lean and Mean: He's skinny and very mean, in contrast to his wife who is an overweight but sweet Cool Old Lady.
Leitmotif: A jaunty fiddle tune. It gets a Dark Reprise in his more antagonistic (as in, more antagonistic than usual) role in "Ball of Revenge".
The Load: On most trips, he doesn't do anything noteworthy other than needing to be rescued.
Losing Your Head: In "Mega Muriel the Magnificent", Courage's computer invades his body and runs into a wall, causing Eustace to fall apart like a broken doll and forcing the computer to invade Muriel instead. He then spends the rest of the episode as a disembodied head sitting on his chair, unaware of his bodiless state.
Meaningful Name: Eustace Bagge could be interpreted as "Useless Baggage", which is what he is during most adventures. Could also count as a Stealth Pun for "Money Bag", given Eustace's meaning.
Mean Character, Nice Actor: Quite a few Cartoon Network bumpers portrayed him as such, to the point of him being one of the few people who speaks cordially to Scrappy-Doo. In the Cartoon Network birthday celebration, he even speaks fondly of Courage while showing a photo of his family to Muscle Man (though he still jokes about Courage's cowardice) and gets offended when Muscle Man mistakes Muriel for a monster.
The Millstone: He actively hinders and endangers his family's attempts to survive in this dangerous world. Special mention goes to "King Ramses' Curse", which happens almost entirely due to Eustace's continual stubbornness against the threats of a powerful monster.
Mr. Fixit: Zigzagged depending on the episode. He claims that he can fix things and we occasionally see him working on things in the background, but whenever his skills as a mechanic is actually brought up proper he's usually portrayed as inept. However "Windmall Vandals" reveals that Eustace can actually rebuild the windmill at lightning fast speed; which comes in handy when the titular ghostly vandals come to slaughter the Bagges, as the windmill is the only thing that keeps them at bay. It is implied that Eustace can fix things but he is either too lazy or angry to put it to good use.
Money Fetish: He's often convinced to help Courage's Rogues Gallery for money, and even bathing in cash.
Never Gets Fat: A gluttonous Lazy Bum who always wants Muriel to cook for him, but for some reason his hard-working wife is overweight, while he remains skinny. Subverted when he transforms into a Kangaroo Monster in "The Transplant" and actually gets very fat after eating too much. Likewise in King of Flan, where he gets immensely fat after eating so much flan after getting hypnotized.
Never My Fault: A Running Gag is that Eustace scares or hurts Courage for fun, which results in Muriel promptly bashing him over the head with a rolling pin or whatever else may be handy at the time, after which Eustace angrily demands, "What did I do?!" Also in his mind, everyone and everything is stupid apart from himself; even when a (now-cursed) hat turns him into stone, he manages to call it a "stupid hat" after having crumbled into a pile of dust.
Nigh-Invulnerable: Like Courage, Eustace can get seriously harmed and yet never suffer anything permanent, due to all the cartoony violence. Apart from his deaths which need to be subjected to Negative Continuity to be reversed.
Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Once in a blue moon, Eustace is capable of being more than just the cranky load.
- In "Mission to the Sun" he somehow wrangled an asteroid and rode it like bull through space which gave Courage and Muriel a ride to escape from the surface of the sun.
- "Night of the Were-mole" ends with Eustace dragged underground by a were-mole transformed Dr. Vindaloo. We first hear Eustace screaming in horror, but then whacking sounds followed with Eustace chuckling in satisfaction — implying that Eustace of all people may have won the fight against a were-mole. Though whether he got transformed into one later is left up to the viewer's imagination.
Opaque Lenses: His glasses are not transparent.
Out of Focus: If he's not involved in the plot in some way, he usually only appears at the beginning and ending. Special mention goes to Cajun Granny Stew, where he's completely absent.
Perpetual Frowner: He normally smiles when he wants to laugh at Courage's (or someone else's) pain or sees an opportunity to gain fortune.
Personal Raincloud: In "The Curse Of Shirley", Shirley casts a spell that creates a small storm cloud over his head to teach him a lesson in kindness. Of course he doesn't learn for most of the episode and it leads to mushrooms growing on him. The cloud only goes away when he sees a small boy in desperate need of a hat to shade his head from the sun. Really it was Courage holding up a broken mirror. What Eustace saw was himself as a little boy but couldn't recognize the child.
Pet the Dog: Sometimes does something nice to prove he's not a complete bastard, though these moments involving Courage are very rare. As a rule, he generally acts marginally nicer to Muriel than everyone else... sometimes.
- On a more general note, while he can't stand him, Eustace is at least willing to put up with Courage, if only for Muriel's sake.
- In "The Magic Tree of Nowhere", while he initially complains about Muriel not making his breakfast, he immediately calls the doctor when he realizes her condition is serious.
- In "The Curse of Shirley", a hallucination caused by the curse has him see Courage as himself as a young boy with no hat. So he gives him the hat in order to protect him from the rain.
- In "Katz Kandy", he also defends Muriel and even puts up a fight with Katz.
- At the end of "1000 Years of Courage", he gives Muriel a bunch of bananas as a prize for winning a game of Bingo.
- He never once utters "Stupid dog!" to Courage in "House of Discontent", although that's a little more because he didn't really interact with him in the episode.
- In "Mecha-Courage" he initially insults the titular robot but after the robot starts to give Eustace what he wants he says the robot isn't bad and actually starts petting it.
- In "The Mask", he's very concerned about Kitty after he learns about her past, and reassures Muriel when she worries about her faults (though he subverts this trope in its literal sense when he makes it clear that he doesn't give a damn if Courage is okay or not in the same breath that he reassures Muriel).
- His moments with Muriel in "The McPhearson Phantom" due to marriage counseling.
- In "The Hunchback From Nowhere" he surprisingly calls Courage by his name.
The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Eustace is supposed to be a farmer, yet he is very rarely seen doing any farm work, preferring to just sit and watch TV instead. Granted, the land on the farm isn't exactly what one would call "fertile."
- The occasional presence of cows on the farm points seems to imply that it's a cattle farm, but nothing concrete gets stated about it.
- The farm also has a henhouse, but it's normally empty. The hens only appear when it's plot-relevant, usually when the Chicken From Outer Space is the Monster of the Week. Hilariously, when the henhouse gets destroyed too many times, it appears that several chickens have decided to move out, like they're tenants.
- In "The Magic Tree of Nowhere", it's mentioned that he hasn't grown anything in 50 years, not even weeds.
- This becomes a plot point in "The House of Discontent", where the Spirit of the Harvest Room challenges Eustace to grow a plant, threatening to kill him and Muriel if he fails.
- Of course, Eustace's inability or unwillingness to grow anything largely depends on what the plot requires. "Journey to the Center of Nowhere" explicitly depicts eggplants growing in the Bagge farm.
Psychological Projection: He repeatedly calls Courage stupid and mocks him for his cowardice and not doing anything right. When it comes down to it, Eustace is exactly everything he calls Courage out for being; he gets injured, maimed, transformed, and otherwise killed for being Too Dumb to Live at least Once an Episode, can't cook, can't grow anything in his farm, and can't fix anything, is completely useless during whatever ordeal the Bagges come across, and, as noted by the Shadow in "The Shadow of Courage," is an even bigger coward than Courage himself.
Psychopathic Manchild: Eustace is a Bratty Half-Pint in an old man's body. In fact, Eustace's relationship with Muriel seems less like husband and wife, and more like son and mother; Eustace hardly does any work while constantly demanding food and affection from Muriel, and also getting jealous over Muriel's apparent preference for Courage.
- In "Mother's Day", when Ma Bagge gave Courage a teddy bear, Eustace threw a temper tantrum and whined, "Why don't you ever get me anything?"
- In "Ball of Revenge", Eustace conspires with some old villains for an evil scheme, because he was fed up with Muriel constantly pampering Courage; for Eustace, the last straw was when Muriel gave Eustace's favorite blanket to Courage.
Riddle for the Ages: According to the creators, he managed to win over Muriel in his youth through performing some unknown dark deed. What exactly that is has not been revealed.
Running Gag: Him pulling out a green mask and yelling "BOOGA BOOGA BOOGA!" to scare Courage whenever he feels like it.
Sadist: Eustace really gets a kick out of Courage's own suffering.
Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: He's an old man who doesn't give a rat's ass about being respectful.
Seven Deadly Sins: Given his usual personality all throughout the show, it's pretty easy to point out that he's applicable to all of these sins.
- Greed: He gets enthusiastic whenever he hears about, or sees something that's materialistically valuable, such as money or gold.
- Sloth: Even though he's occasionally referred to as a "farmer" by others, Eustace himself is actually a lot less productive than both his wife Muriel and their pet dog Courage. This is supported by the fact that the former is often seen just sitting on his signature red chair, either watching something on the television or reading the latest newspapers, while the other two were left doing more activities than he does.
- Wrath: Since he's normally stubborn, that also means he has the shortest temper among the Bagge family.
- Envy: He gets jealous if someone else gets more of the beneficial treatment from his wife Muriel than he himself does, best displayed in the episodes "The Magic Tree of Nowhere" and "Ball of Revenge". Granted, this can be heavily stemmed from his less-than-satisfactory life with his own family, which is what made him the bitter man he is today.
- Gluttony: If he sees something he perceives as both edible and delectable (especially if he's really hungry), he will try to consume the entirety of it all to himself.
- Pride: He has a lot less consideration for others, even to his own wife Muriel, than for his own self.
- Lust: While much subtler than the other sins here, he gets more excitement from other stuff that's enjoyable to him than being with Muriel, such as Courage's (usually undeserved) suffering. At the same time, he downplays "Lust" in the sexual meaning that's usually associated with this sin, since in one episode, he's attracted to the Queen of the Black Puddle, but that's only because the Queen herself mercilessly hypnotized him.
Signature Laugh: He has three recurring laughs: a smugly mocking "huh-huh-huh," a proudly arrogant "Hehe-hehe-hehehe-he," and a boisterous "AH-HAHAHA!".
Small Name, Big Ego: He has an inflated opinion on his own pathetic skills.
Sour Outside, Sad Inside: He's always angry and unpleasant, but episodes like "The Curse of Shirley" and "Farmer-Hunter, Farmer-Hunted" show that that he lashes out at everyone due to a miserable childhood and an abusive home life.
Spoiled Brat: He treats Muriel and Courage more like servants than family and often throws temper tantrums when he doesn't get what he wants.
Strong Family Resemblance: He looks like his parents and his brother. Lampshaded in "The Sand Whale Strikes", when the Sand Whale has confused Eustace for his father, Ickett. Eustace pulls out a picture of his father (who looks exactly like him with a huge beard) and says, "I don't see the resemblance."
They Killed Kenny Again: Due to Negative Continuity, despite suffering an assortment of horrifying demises (ranging from literally exploding with rage and destroying the entire house to getting turned into a golden statue and so on and so on), he is shown alive and well by the next episode.
Thin Chin of Sin: He has a large protruding and pointy chin and is a greedy jerk who has often been the main villain of several episodes.
This Is My Chair: Eustace always sits in his armchair, and in a few episodes would refuse to get off it and would get mad at anyone who tried to sit in it.
No sir! Not getting out of this chair!
Throw the Dog a Bone:
- He somehow comes out on top at the end of "Bad Hair Day", covered in hair from head to toe and carrying two huge stacks of money. Of course the fact that it's implied that he earned the money legally (allowing himself to be used in an experiment to grow hair) as well as the fact he didn't do so at the expense of either Muriel or Courage (trying to get money for Muriel being taken initially notwithstanding) likely allowed him to dodge his particular dose of Laser-Guided Karma that episode.
- In "Heads of Beef", it looks like he's getting set up to be eaten by a cannibal pigman and his wife, but instead turns out they're actually a nice couple who give him a hearty meal of hamburgers. The pigman's wife even makes a sculpture of Eustace out of beef which certainly gives him some that attention he craves so much.
- A strange instance happens in "Invisible Muriel;" an invisible Eustace sneaks into a government agency's gold vault, not realizing until it's too late that the government agents in charge of the place planned on melting the stuff down to make statues. Eustace gets stuck on the conveyor belt, gets turned into a statue... and joyously basks in the attention and praise of the public at his unveiling.
  Ma, if you could see me now...
- "Aqua Farmer" is a rare episode Eustace is genuinely the protagonist going against Jojo, a smug, Jerkass dolphin. He challenges the dolphin to race, which he loses, but then wins the rematch thanks to training and Courage's help (mostly the latter).
Token Evil Teammate: One would wonder how an asshole like him gets such a kindly wife and a loyal dog.
Too Dumb to Live: Like Muriel, he often blissfully gets in harm's way. Sometimes, Eustace is too stubborn to get out of harm's way, which often unavoidably leads to a gruesome death.
Took a Level in Jerkass: In "Ball of Revenge", he hired several villains to kill Courage; even going as far as holding his own wife Muriel captive, to use as bait to lure Courage.
Took a Level in Kindness: Whenever he and Muriel hosted Cartoon Cartoon Fridays, he was way more genial than he would ever be in-show; justified because there it's a case of Animated Actors off the clock. Though averted in the original hosting bumpers when he did the job solo. Then he would just nag and complain about the classic CCF bumpers, the lack of parents in Ed, Edd n Eddy, and how awful the viewer's tastes are in the viewer's choice cartoon segment.
Tragic Villain: Due to his sad childhood and backstory, he can come off as a bad guy who deserves sympathy sometimes.
Treated Worse than the Pet: His mother likes Courage more than him.
Troubled Abuser: He's a complete bastard and Jerkass to everyone and everything he comes across, especially Courage, who he constantly insults, scares, and even physically abuses. Come "Mother's Day," we're introduced to his mother, Ma Bagge, who treats him the exact same way he treats Courage. It's seen that not only does the abusive behavior come from his mother, but also from his father and brother, the former two heavily preferring the latter and constantly compared him to his brother.
Unexplained Recovery: No matter how badly Eustace turned out at the end of the show, Status Quo Is God, and the Reset Button will be hit for the next episode with him coming back none the worse for wear.
Ungrateful Bastard: No matter how many times Courage saves his life, Eustace will still treat him like crap. Once in "Shirley the Medium", Courage was annoyed by Eustace's ungratefulness and decided to throw him away during the middle of a rescue attempt, terrified that there was no escape and being unwilling to die for Eustace. An even bigger example is in "Farmer Hunter, Farmer Hunted" where he tried to shoot the Deer, after the Deer was convinced by Courage to spare Eustace.
Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: A lot of humor in the show comes from just how much of a douchebag Eustace can be, and the negative consequences he suffers because of it.
The Unfavorite: He's apparently the unpopular child to his mother. She even likes Courage more than him.
Used to Be a Sweet Kid: It is suggested that he used to be a good-natured child until his Dysfunctional Family made him too rotten.
Vague Age: Eustace (like Muriel) is definitely an older man, but exactly how old he is isn't made clear in-universe. He is treated as an elderly man by most other characters, but is young enough that his mother (who herself is still very strong and energetic) is still alive. However, he is a less pronounced example than Muriel, as he does show some physical signs of advanced age (such as his lack of teeth, his enlarged ears, and - of course - his baldness).
Verbal Tic: He tends to mutter to himself (it even sounds like he's saying the word "mutter" over and over again) when frustrated or confused.
Villainous Glutton: A rare skinny example of a bad guy with an enormous appetite - most likely because most of his dinners get ruined before he can eat it.
Villain Protagonist: By the end of the series, he's pretty much an evil protagonist. In "Ball of Revenge" he becomes an antagonist for the episode by hiring some old villains to get back at Courage.
Weirdness Magnet: He, like his wife and dog, is not immune to the strange things that happen in Nowhere.
"Well Done, Son" Guy: He badly wants the validation of his mother, but she couldn't care less about him.
What the Hell Is That Accent?: Eustace's accent is American, but exactly where in America it's from is a mystery. He seems to combine elements of various different rural accents spanning the length and breadth of the US with a little British influence, such as saying "me" instead of "my" — which he may or may not have picked up from Muriel.
Yank the Dog's Chain: In many cases he has come across a load of money only to lose it at the end of the episode.
- In "Record Deal" Eustace makes a lot of money being Velvet Vic's manager, but Shirley steals it claiming it's her "licensing fee".
- In "Angry Nasty People" Eustace makes a lot of money from being in the titular reality show, and later starts his own talk show, only for Mr. Nasty to reveal his agent screwed him over and takes his money away.
- In "Last of the Starmakers" the General gives Eustace a bag of money for telling him where the Starmaker was, but at the end of the episode reveals the money was made out of experimental rocket fuel, which proceeds to shoot Eustace into the sky and blow him up into stars.
- In Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! meets Courage the Cowardly Dog several people are mind-controlled by the main villains to leave treasures at the Bagge farm. Eustace is ecstatified and even sings a Glam Rap about how rich he is. At the end of the movie, the money is returned and Eustace is crying about being robbed.

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