There were several different angles we could have taken this piece, but we decided to look at characters. By taking this approach, we can explore various character backgrounds and character secrets. Character backgrounds are often touched on in their respective shows and come into play in various ways, but character secrets are something else entirely. A character secret, while it may be alluded to in different ways in the show, is usually something that the actor and the show keeps hidden from the audience. This secret information is typically used to help the actor get into character, but it rarely has an impact on the overarching story. Well, some keen-eyed fans have spotted things that they believe reveal more about the character than they wanted us to know and, frankly, we’re convinced. Here are 15 Theories About Our Fave TV Characters That Make Us Rethink Life.
15. Barking At Strangers In Courage the Cowardly Dog
While real die-hard fans will be able to poke holes in this theory in places, we enjoy it for the most part. In Courage the Cowardly Dog, Courage is confronted by a crazy amount of monsters and demons and all manner of evil things. He must overcome his fears and fight them off in order to protect his family and friends. Now, the theory goes that Courage is actually just a normal dog at a house. All these monsters, aliens and demons are simply people passing by his house. This puts Courage in the position of the regular household dog barking wildly at passing people. His crazy imagination makes these passerbys into fantastical beasts and villains.
14. Barney’s Not A Womanizer How I Met Your Mother
One of the fundamental rules of the universe is that Ted from How I Met Your Motheris the worst. Knowing this, we can see how the following Barney theory was created. It’s true that Ted is telling this gigantic story to his kids. It’s true that the end goal of this story, as revealed in the series finale, was to convince his kids to be ok with their dad pursuing their “aunt” Robin. In order to get to this point, it was important for Ted to sully the good name of Barney. This is why the stories Ted told were always showing Barney as a womanizing jerk. Really, Ted was just a jealous homewrecker who wanted his kids to side with him when he ultimately betrays his best friend and marries Robin.
13. Yzma And Emperors New School
Alright, so technically most of this happens in the film, Emperors New Groove, but since this is a character list and the character of note, Yzma, is in the TV show, Emperors New School, we’re including it. The theory here suggests that Yzma turned the emperor before Kuzco, his father, into a fly. The proof is in the pudding. We know that animals can’t speak, but those who have been transformed into animals can. So, when that fly gets stuck in the web at the beginning of the movie and screams, “Help Me!” to Kuzco, we can assume this was once a person. But who? Later, when Yzma is proposing how to get Kuzco, she suggests turning him into a flea. So, this move is in her repertoire. What happened to Kuzco’s dad anyway? Apparently, as the show tells us, he was lost at sea. But this was what just Yzma told Kuzco. What if she was lying? What if that fly was really Kuzco’s dad?
12. Reversed Roles In Pinky and the Brain
Plenty of people have talked about this Pinky and the Brain theory, so it may be nothing new for you. Still, it’s important because it’s almost certainly correct. The theory suggests that Pinky is the genius and Brain is not. In almost every episode, this is shown to be the case. Still, people ignore it because Brain acts smart and Pinky acts stupid. But observe the evidence. Take a look at the episode called “The Smarts.” In this one, Brain makes some calculations that prove Pinky is the reason their plans to take over the world always fail. He then makes a machine that will make Pinky smart. But what do all Brain’s creations have in common? They almost always fail. So, let’s assume this one doesn’t work either. That means that when Pinky gets smarter, it’s basically because of a placebo effect. Pinky thinks he’s being aided by a working device, so he shows off his true smarts. Later, when Brain realizes that his calculations were off and that he is the actual reason the plans fail, Pinky reverts back to his old self, pretending to be dumb once again to satisfy the love of his life, Brain.
11. Toby Is The Scranton Strangler In The Office
The Scranton Strangler in The Office was a fun little mystery that hung over the show and its characters for a long time during the series’ run. In the end, we never did learn the true identity of the strangler, but many people online believe it to be Toby. This is probably the most evidence-based theory on the Strangler out there. We can see why Toby would turn violent. He’s alienated from everyone and has a horrible life. Whenever we hear of the strangler strangling, Toby has no alibi or is nowhere to be found.
Toby is then put on the jury when someone is accused (and found guilty) of the crimes. Later, Toby admits that he helped put away the wrong man. When he visits the man charged with the murders to let him know, Toby is strangled by the guy. Some people believe this act to be the man proving his guilt, but what if Toby simply mocked the man and told him that he was the actual Scranton Strangler? What if the man then strangled Toby in retaliation? OR what if Toby faked this encounter to help clear his name in the office? We know he owned a neck brace from when he broke his neck in Costa Rica, so it could have all been faked.
10. Bart Is A Stone-Cutter In The Simpsons
There are a million theories about The Simpsons, but this one is pretty solid. One fan on Reddit has proposed that before Homer became a Stone-Cutter, Bart was one. Now, since only sons of Stone-Cutters and those who save the life of a Stone-Cutter can get in, how does Bart do it? Well, he saved Mr. Burns’ life by giving him blood in “Blood Feud.” The theorist also suggests that, at first, Bart tries to throw Homer off the scent of Lenny and Carl, who are also members. Later, when Homer is trying to join, Bart is the one who encourages Homer to listen to Grandpa, as he was yammering on about being a member. Near the end, after Homer has been named the Chosen One, he orders Bart to remove Lisa from the room, and Bart does so immediately, even bowing a little. It was actually right in front of our eyes the entire time.
9. Mary Poppins And Miss Frizzle Are Time Lords
Even if Mary Poppins isn’t a TV show, we’re including her in this list because both she and Miss Frizzle from The Magic School Bus are likely Time Lords from Doctor Who. It’s science. Aside from the fact that Mary Poppins dresses like a Time Lord, specifically like Missy, she also has Gallifreyan technology with her bag (bigger on the inside), a sonic screwdriver of sorts in her umbrella, she is wildly intelligent, non-violent, resourceful and, “with a snap of her fingers, she can take you worlds you haven’t dreamed of.” The other hidden Time Lord is Miss Frizzle. Like Mary Poppins, Frizzle is very much like a Time Lord. She can travel anywhere and has Gallifreyan technology in the Bus. She even looks like the Doctor’s wife, River Song. We know that other Time Lords, if they were to exist, would be travelling around having their own adventures, and hiding from us, so both of these women fit the mold.
8. Sam And Dean’s Bad Luck In Supernatural
Supernatural fans started looking at all the goings-on in the show and wondered about the likelihood that all these incredible things could happen to the two brothers. After all, the show has been on the air for 13 seasons. That’s a lot of supernatural activity taking place around a couple of guys. The answer, fans argue, may be found in the first season. In the fifth episode titled, “Bloody Mary,” Sam and Dean were confronted by, well, Bloody Mary. To stop her, they smashed mirrors. In this supernatural world, smashing mirrors brings bad luck. Therefore, it’s because of this episode that their journey has been so turbulent.
7. Dennis In It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
There’s obviously a long-running joke that Golden God, Dennis Reynolds, is a serial killer in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. This is alluded to on a number of occasions, but we want to discuss the murder of Brian LeFevre specifically. The gang finds LeFevre’s wallet and they basically steal his identity. Dennis then gets really deep in this undercover act. We know Dennis has a weird thing about skin and he’s even acted like Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs at times, but this is the first time we see him transform into someone else.
Later, Dennis even gets aroused when impersonating LeFevre, describing the euphoria of “climbing into another person’s skin.” When it’s discovered that LeFevre was murdered by a crackhead outside Patty’s Pub, Dennis
6. Mr. Krabs’ Dark Secret In SpongeBob SquarePants
If there’s one thing we all learned from Blue Planet, it’s that whale carcasses feed on a lot of different underwater species. Well, one SpongeBob SquarePants fan suggested that maybe all the meat that goes into the food at Mr. Krabs restaurant, Krusty Krab, is from a whale carcass. Interestingly enough, Mr. Krabs has a whale daughter, Pearl. We don’t know anything about where the mother went, so it’s very possible that she died and has been feeding the citizens of Bikini Bottom for years.
5. Krillin Is The Best Fighter In Dragon Ball Z
No one could argue that Krillin is the strongest in the various Dragon Ball shows because some of the aliens have seemingly infinite strength, but what the human lacks in strength and alien power, he makes up for in fighting ability. At least, that’s why some fans suggest Krillin is the best fighter in the series. The evidence is actually pretty illuminating, so we will just list a bunch of it. Krillin kills three Saibamen warriors when one Saibaman smashes an equally strong human, Yamcha. Krillin cuts Nappa’s face with a Destructo Disc, which was more than anyone else could do. He also cut off Frieza’s tail, which, again, was more than any of Gohan, Vegeta and Piccolo could do. Finally, when Cell creates a bunch of Cell Jrs, the gang all go Super Saiyan to fight these incredibly strong things. Since Krillin is just a human, he can’t morph into anything else. So he just kicks arse as himself. In the end, he loses his fight against his Cell Jr., but that’s only because he was blindsided while HELPING OUT one of his Super Saiyan friends.
4. Gale In Breaking Bad
Remember Gale Boetticher in Breaking Bad? He was the guy that Gus hired to recreate Walter’s recipe. Fans started questioning why someone with Gale’s skills and demeanor would start cooking meth in the first place. We are never given much of Gale’s backstory. Well, what if he has no other job prospects? Some have suggested that he may have once been caught for child abuse. The proofs for this all rely on a weird mugshot-like picture that Hank had of him and a strange line he dropped about “consenting adults.” This would also make it fitting that Jesse was the one to kill him. Jesse was dead set against committing violence to children, so it would be kind of, if not accidentally, poetic.
3. Jack Is The Nightman In Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia
There are many different mysteries throughout It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and every good mystery results in countless fan theories. For this entry, we wanted to look at the theory which argues that Charlie’s Uncle Jack in the Nightman from Charlie’s incredible song, “The Nightman Cometh.” In this song, Charlie sings about the Nightman who comes into his room every night. In this misunderstood song about two men loving like brothers and sharing each other, we hear the lyrics, “I can’t fight you, man/ When you come inside me/ And pin me down with your strong hands/ And I become The Night.” Now, who do we know that has strong hands? That’s right. Uncle Jack.
It goes further than that. At one point in the show, we also heard Charlie say to Jack, “I don’t wanna share the room with you dude, cause I will spend the whole night wide awake just like when I was a kid and you tried to share my room… I am well aware of what wrestling is, it’s just not what uncles do to their nephews!” If there is any double meaning in Charlie’s song and it is, in fact, based on true events, Jack is the prime suspect.
2. Dale In King of the Hill
One of the many running jokes in King of the Hill is that Dale, the resident conspiracy theorist who is paranoid about everything, is totally unaware that his wife, Nancy, had been carrying on an affair with John Redcorn for more than a decade. Now, the reasons for why Dale is oblivious can be whittled down to a simple theory about his upbringing. We know that Dale’s father was gay and hid it from Dale his entire childhood. Since Dale watched his father and mother avoid intimacy, sleep in different beds than each other, and have male guests over all the time (for both parties), Dale sees this as normal behaviour. This is why he is never suspicious about his own wife and why John Redcorn’s visits are seen as acceptable.
1. Moe Knows Bart Is The Caller In The Simpsons
Part of the reason why Moe is one of the most beloved characters on The Simpsons is because he’s so self-deprecating and pitiful. We feel bad for old Kid Gorgeous. Well, one of the consistent storylines in Moe’s world is that he loves Marge. He’s long had a thing for the woman also known as Midge. Because of this love, fans have taken to thinking about how he treats the Simpson kids, specifically Bart.
For many years, Bart has called Moe’s Tavern and made a fool of Moe. What if Moe felt bad for Bart? He has had a front year seat for Homer’s shenanigans and questionable fathering techniques through the years. Maybe he knows who it is that calls him each time, but, rather than hang up and spoil Bart’s fun, Moe allows himself to be the butt of the joke to bring a smile to the kid’s face.
