The Hunchback of Nowhere
Original air date: 1/14/2000 (produced in 1999)
Production code: CCD-106a
The Gods Must Be Goosey
Original air date: 1/14/2000 (produced in 1999)
Production code: CCD-106b
"The Hunchback of Nowhere" features examples of the following tropes:
- Baldness Mockery: Courage attempts to help the Hunchback get back at Eustace's constant mockery of his appearance by writing out insults for him to say. All of them are different phrasings of "You are bald", which works wonders as that's one of Eustace's main Berserk Buttons.
- Blunt "No": When Muriel asks if Eustace has any sense of hospitality, Eustace bluntly says he doesn't with a smirk on his face.
- Can't Take Criticism: Eustace ridicules the Hunchback's appearance in increasingly insulting ways, but he takes offense over simply being called bald.
- Department of Redundancy Department: When the Hunchback is looking for shelter at the beginning of the episode, the owner of one of the houses he tries turns him away with the words, "Sir, you are ugly, hideous, and furthermore... not at all pleasant to look at."
- The Dog Bites Back:
- Played for laughs. In one of the few instances where he gets back at Eustace, Courage helps the Hunchback think up some pretty sick burns to counter Eustace's mean-spirited insults towards him. Most of them commenting on Eustace's baldness. The funny part is that not only does Courage (and by that extent the Hunchback) get under Eustace's skin, but when he tries to tattle to Muriel, she points out that it's true that he is bald.
- Later, it's Played for Drama when, fed up with Eustace's mistreatment of Courage, the Hunchback retaliates for pushing things too far by scaring Eustace off the barn roof with the farmer's own visage.
- Foil: Between Eustace and the Hunchback. Eustace is a rather normal-looking man, but his personality is made ugly by his cruel treatment of Courage and overall rudeness. Meanwhile, the Hunchback may not be pretty, but his kindly and affable personality shines through his appearance.
- No Sympathy: When Eustace whines about the Hunchback calling him bald, Muriel points out that he is bald. Unlike most examples, Eustace deserves it.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
- Courage reacts nervously to anyone who is either shifty at worst and strange-looking at best. If his first reaction to the Hunchback and his polite inquiry for shelter is compassion and pity, this tells you that whoever this is, they're nowhere near as bad as they look.
- While Courage and the Hunchback are playing in the barn, Eustace comes in and shouts "Courage!" This is the first time Eustace ever calls Courage by name (and the only time Eustace does so while directly addressing him) instead of "stupid dog". You know he's really angry at Courage for not only forgetting to bring back his raincoat, but giving it to the Hunchback that he so detests.
- In turn, the Hunchback also has his moment in the climax. For most of the story, he can only watch as Eustace abuses Courage and react with sadness and pity. But when Eustace goes as far as to nearly scare poor Courage off the barn roof to punish him for giving the Hunchback his raincoat, said Hunchback finally confronts the cruel farmer, as though indicating that Eustace has crossed a line.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Courage and the Hunchback are this for each other. The Hunchback's visit is one of the few times Courage doesn't have to worry that a visitor might be any danger to his family, and Courage (along with Muriel) are the only few people he's ever met who treat him kindly without judging his appearance.
