Recap / Strong Bad Email E 97 Monument

Airdate: Monday, February 9, 2004

Sender: Kaitlin G.

Strong Bad: (singing) Oh, traipsing along, traipsing traipsing along, and a email got stuck in my eye!

"Another Fan" named Kaitlin G. thinks that a "SUPER COOL" guy like Strong Bad should build a monument in his honor "for all to enjoy".

Strong Bad: I'm assuming the G stands for generally overused girl's first name. Well generic name, you're really onto something here. Turns out I AM super cool.

It also turns out that Strong Bad already has a monument in his likeness... or at least in the likeness of his right foot. The "Population: Tire" sign turns out to be part of an aborted plan to make a statue of Strong Bad (out of an assortment of random junk, including blow-pops, a "Big Green Egg" grill, and a plastic palm tree).

Strong Bad: Yeah, there were big plans once. It was to be made of the finest materials, on a massive scale that would rival the Aztecs and their...Techno-Chocolate Land.

As Strong Bad wonders "What could possibly have distracted me from humbera hum...", we flash back to the initial construction of the monument, where Strong Bad and The Cheat have just finished the right foot part of the statue. Suddenly, they're distracted by the arrival of a mysterious figure known as "the Thnikkaman"!

Unseen Chorus: Here Comes The Thnikkaman!!!
Strong Bad: No way! Check it out, The Cheat. It's the Thnikkaman!

Strong Bad and The Cheat run off to meet the Thnikkaman (who is quite obviously Bubs wearing a pair of cool shades and a piece of paper with "tH" written on it taped to his chest), asking him if they can have "some". After he agrees, the Thnikkaman leaves to a chorus of "There Goes The Thnikkaman!!!"

Strong Bad: So you can see why I got distracted. I'd like to see you stay on task when you're starin' down the barrel of a loaded Thnikkaman. I don't care what you're doin. No one can resist. Speakin' of monuments, somebody should make one to the Thnikkaman. Oh the things that man does! Come to think of it, what exactly does that man do? Anyways, I'm gonna go try and find some of that Technochocolate. That stuff sounds a-prettypretty good!
(Strong Bad gets up and leaves. The Paper comes down.)

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Tropes:

• Brought to You by the Letter "S": The Thnikkaman has a sign with the letters "TH" written on it taped to his chest.
• Character Catchphrase: The Thnikkaman's appears to be "Yeah, shut up kid!"
• Continuity Nod: An Easter egg jokingly addresses Homestar's lack of pants, blaming it on him getting distracted by the Thnikkaman.
• Glasses Pull: The Thnikkaman dramatically takes off his shades while agreeing to let Strong Bad and The Cheat "have some".
• Malaproper: "Techno-Chocolate Land" is a mispronunciation of "Tenochtitlan", capital of the Aztec Empire.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: "The Thnikkaman" is just Bubs wearing Cool Shades and a piece of paper with the letters "TH" taped to his chest. Strong Bad doesn't recognize Bubs even when he briefly takes off his shades.
• Phrase Catcher: The Thnikkaman's back-up singers go "Here Comes the Thnikkaman!!!" when he arrives someplace, and "There Goes the Thnikkaman!!!" when he leaves
• Shaped Like Itself: Strong Bad describes the Stop Sign, which is to be the right foot of a statute of himself, as having "all the rightness of a foot without all the footdom of a right."
• What Could Have Been: In-universe. The cinder block and stop sign was going to become a full-scale Strong Bad monument. It gets cut short when Strong Bad and The Cheat hear the Thnikkaman coming to town.

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(Cut to Homestar holding a pair of slacks, standing in the Field)
Homestar: Well, I'll just, uh, put these pants on—
Unseen Chorus: Here Comes the Thnikkaman!
Homestar: Oh, Thnikkaman. It's the Thnikkaman! (Homestar drops the pants and runs off to the left, only to stick his head back in briefly, singing) Here comes the Thnikkaman!