Original air date: 3/18/2000 (produced in 1999)
Production code: PPG-209
Imaginary Fiend: The new boy in school creates an imaginary friend named Patches who starts causing trouble.
Cootie Gras: The young girls at Pokey Oaks Kindergarten are stalked by Harry Pitts, who’s rumored to have cooties. When Mojo Jojo finds out the Powerpuff Girls are also grossed out by Harry, he makes the boy his new ally.
Imaginary Fiend provides examples of:
- Bottle Episode: The entire episode is set at the school, with the exception of the opening scene.
- Bunnies for Cuteness: The girl's imaginary friend is a bunny with a floral print dress. Being a bunny was Bubbles's suggestion, who likes cute things.
- But Now I Must Go: The girls’ own imaginary friend, which they created to fight Patches, has to depart after fulfilling her purpose.
- Cassandra Truth: At first, nobody believes Mike when he tries to tell them that Patches is behind all the pranks happening in class. He even gets punished for them. It's not until Bubbles sees the chair move on its own that the class realizes Mike was right.
- Comically Missing the Point: When Ms. Keane announces she has a little surprise for her class (namely that they have a new student starting today), Blossom guesses that Ms. Keane is getting a nosejob, Bubbles guesses that Ms. Keane is getting married, and Buttercup guesses that Ms. Keane is getting fired.Ms. Keane (annoyed) No, not that kind of surprise.
- The Cuckoolander Was Right: Bubbles, out of everyone in this episode, was the only one who suspected something about Patches and the only one who didn't get mad at Mike, and was able to prove Mike's innocence when she witnessed Ms. Keane's chair move on its own.
- Death Glare: Ms. Keane gives one to Mike after he’s caught trying to dip a girl's hair in the paint and being forced back to his seat. She gives another one to him after her chair slides out from underneath her all by itself, which is interrupted by Bubbles sticking up for him.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Bubbles saying, "I imagine we've finally met our match," is what give Blossom the idea for the girls to use their imaginations to fight Patches.
- Everyone Has Standards: Bubbles is the only one who doesn’t laugh at Mike's imaginary friend.
- Fall Guy: Mike, due to Ms. Keane accusing him for everything Patches did when he never did anything.
- Foreshadowing: Note that in every scene where Mike talks about Patches and gets blamed, Bubbles is the only one looking worried and concerned, as if suspicious over what's really going on.
- Happy Harlequin Hat: Patches wears one.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: Mike’s reason for creating Patches. At the end of the episode, Bubbles offers to be Mike’s friend.
- I Shall Taunt You: Patches taunts the girls through a message he writes on the chalk board.
- Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: When the Girls work together to think up their own imaginary friend to fight Patches, they end up with a super-strong, super intelligent bunny scientist in a floral-print dress and combat boots.
- Not Helping Your Case: Mike laughs when Patches' paper ball hits Bubbles, making him look guilty.
- Not-So-Imaginary Friend: Played with; Patches is an Imaginary Friend in that he was created by the imagination of Mike, and only Mike can see him. But on the other hand, he’s still real enough that he can interact with the world around him to cause trouble.
- Not What It Looks Like: Subverted and then played straight. At first it is assumed Mike is disrupting the class and blaming Patches to get out of trouble, such as throwing balls of paper and dipping a girl's braid in some paint, but then things get more outlandish as Blossom's word "cookie" gets changed to "dookie" without Mike ever doing anything, and Ms. Keane's chair moves on its own which is noticed by Bubbles.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Bubbles is more calm and down-to-earth in this episode, given that she shows concern for Mike, is the only one in the room who doesn’t laugh at Patches, and was able to witness Patches' doings and stick up for Mike.
- Only Sane Man: Bubbles seemed to be the only one suspicious and worried when Mike insists Patches is the one who disrupted the class, she was also the only one who didn't laugh at him when he brings up Patches the first time. In addition, she witnessed Ms. Keane's chair move on its own, allowing her to speak up in defense of Mike and prove he’s innocent.
- Overly Long Gag: The "Sit!"/"But...!" exchange, which ends with Buttercup interfering.
- Punny Name: The boy who imagined Patches is named Mike Believe (make believe).
- Shout-Out:
- When Blossom crashes into the coat rack, she's briefly dressed like Eric Cartman; she even comments aside, "Uh, he tripped me, seriously."
- When imagining someone to stop Patches, Bubbles thinks of Koosalagoopagoop.
- Shrinking Violet: Mike, at first.
- Stating the Simple Solution: Buttercup asks Mike if he can’t simply make Patches go away, since he created him to begin with. Mike, however, quickly informs her that he already tried, and failed.
- Takes One to Kill One: The girls are unable to fight Patches since they can’t even see him, so they create their own imaginary friend to kick his butt.
- Take That, Scrappy!: For another series, even! Bubbles suggests the Koosalagoopagoop from Dexter's Laboratory to fight Patches, but Buttercup shouts her idea down, saying, "No one likes that Koos jerk!" At the end, Bubbles offers to create Koosalagoopagoop as a companion for the Bunny, she says, "You mean that Koos jerk? No thanks."
Cootie Gras provides examples of
- Abhorrent Admirer: Harry serves as this to the girls, due to his unkempt appearance and the belief that he has cooties. Mojo exploits this by recruiting the boy, using his presence to frightens the girl away when he is commiting crimes. Harry does get the chance to kiss Blossom on the cheek near the end of the episode, but this only makes the girls realize that cooties aren't real. Interestingly, the girls now appear to reciprocate his affections, as they almost immediately give Harry a big smooching.
- Adults Are Useless: Aside from the Mayor, none of the main adult characters appear in this episode. Of course, they would have been able to inform the girls that cooties aren't real, thus ruining the plot.
- Affectionate Nickname: As they move in to kiss him, the girls call Harry a "cutie", which is a pun on the word cootie.
- Anywhere but Their Lips: After learning cooties aren't real, the girls develop a crush on Harry, which they act upon by smooching him up until his face is covered with several red lipstick marks, though none of them are on his mouth.
- Anti-Villain: Harry could count as one. All he wants is to receive a form of affection from a female peer, and focuses his attention on the girls when Mojo recruits him. While he lets Mojo use him to scare the girls, he doesn't do anything malicious, as his presence alone is enough to scare the girls away. Arguably, the one questionable act he commits is kissing Blossom on the cheek without her consent.
- Back Blocking: The Girls are shown with their backs to the camera when they start kissing Harry all over the face.
- The Bad Guy Wins: While not truly a villain, Harry willingly let Mojo use him to keep the girls from interfering with his crimes across Townsville. All Harry wanted was to reciprocate his affections, and only becomes fixated on the Powerpuff Girls when Mojo recruits him. He does succeed in giving Blossom a kiss on the cheek , something he appears to be very proud afterwards. Harry finally wins at the end, as the girls having realized that cooties aren't real, have seemingly developed a crush on him, calling him a cutie before covering his face with red lipstick marks.
- Believing Their Own Lies: As the episode progresses, a mad with power Mojo seems to genuinely believe that cooties are real. This leads to his downfall at the end of the episode, where he drops Harry in the pit with the girls. All this does is force the girls to face Harry before inevitably learning the truth about cooties. With the tables now turned, the girls first leave Harry Covered in Kisses and then fly out to beat up Mojo before tossing him in jail.
- Body Horror: The girls' nightmare of being infected by Harry's cooties, which involves warts shaped like him growing all over their body before popping into full, miniature clones of him. "All over their body" even includes coming out of their eyes, dramatically slow too.
- Catapult Nightmare: The girls rocket themselves awake after their cooties nightmare.
- Chair Reveal: Mojo does this twice: once to the Mayor and then to the girls after luring them to the Townhall, which he has taken over.
- Chick Magnet: Harry becomes one once the girls learn cooties aren't real. All three girls, now thinking he's a cutie, immediately corner him before giving him a big smooching that leaves his face covered with several red lipstick marks.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: Once it is revealed that he doesn't have cooties, Harry doesn't receive a beating from the girls like Mojo. Instead, they give him a big smooching that leaves his face covered with red lipstick marks before flying out of the pit to beat up Mojo, leaving Harry with no means to climb out.
- Covered in Kisses: Happens to Harry of all people at the end. After nothing happens to Blossom when she gets a kiss from Harry, the girls all realize that cooties aren’t real and that they had nothing to be afraid of. With the tables now turned, the girls seemingly develop a crush on Harry, now thinking he's a cutie. All three girls proceed to corner Harry before giving him a big smooching that leaves his face covered with several red lipstick marks.
- Cuteness Proximity: Almost immediately after learning that cooties aren’t real, the girls are no longer scared of Harry. Instead, they now think he’s a cutie, which they call him before they give him a bunch of kisses.
- A Day in the Limelight: for Harry, who is a background character in the show.
- Dating Catwoman: Downplayed. Instead of punishing Harry for helping Mojo commit crimes, the girls smooch the boy up until his face is covered in red lipstick marks, implying they might have developed a crush on him.
- The Don: Mojo’s successful crimes, thanks to having Harry, eventually make him rise to the top of the Townsville Underworld, with other criminals pledging loyalty to him. He goes into full Don mode after taking over Town hall and declaring himself mayor of Townsville.
- The Dreaded: Harry is feared by his classmates at Pokey Oak for having cooties, which is why Mojo uses him against the Powerpuff Girls. Of course, this trait is abandoned in this episode once the girls realize that cooties aren't real.
- Drunken Montage: A variation on this trope occurs when Mojo goes on a successful crime spree, showing neon signs of the places he robs.
- Easily Forgiven: The girls show absolutely no hostility towards Harry once it is revealed that he doesn't have cooties and even give him a big smooching, ignoring the fact that he essentially helped Mojo terrorize the city. It's implied that they realized that Harry actually never really meant any harm, though it's possible that the girls had genuinely developed a crush on him.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: After being shunned by his classmates for being a cootie freak, Harry is finally shown affection when the girls kiss him until his face is absolutely covered in red lipstick marks.
- Forceful Kiss: Harry spends most of the episode teasing the girls with the threat of kissing them. When he is dropped into a pit with them, he chases them with the intent to kiss the first girl he gets. He succeeds in planting a kiss on a cornered Blossom's cheek, much to her horror. The girls would turn the tables once they realize cooties aren’t real, and subject him to a big smooching, though he is certainly not complaining.
- Forgot About His Powers: The girls seem to forget that they can fly when they are dropped into a pit with Harry, only flying out after they finish kissing Harry.
- Girls Have Cooties: Gender-flipped, all girls in Pokey Oaks believe Harry to have cooties. And in an interesting twist, so do the boys.
- Gross-Up Close-Up: Whenever we are treated to a good shot of Harry's saliva-infused smooching lips.
- Heart Symbol: A couple of hearts float around Harry after he gets kissed by the girls
- I Didn't Mean to Turn You On: Harry seems to have this effect on the girls after kissing Blossom. Not only does it make them realize that cooties aren't real, the girls now think that he is actually kind of cute, implying that they have developed a crush on him. Seconds later, Harry's face is covered in red lipstick marks.
- Ironic Echo: "Love is in the air! Can't you just smell it?" initially begins the episode to set the stage. It's later disturbingly used over the image of a large prisoner looking down and grinning menacingly at Mojo Jojo.
- Irony: The girls spend the entire episode afraid of getting kissed by Harry, only to wind up kissing him in the end.
- Karma Houdini: After helping Mojo terrorize Townsville, Harry avoids any punishment for his actions and even gets kissed by the girls. It's implied that the girls may have developed a genuine crush on him, even if it was only for one episode.
- Mood Whiplash: The episode starts as a basic warm and upbeat romantic day in Townsville with couples enjoying each other's company, only for the mood to shift once Harry appears.
- It happens again at the end of the episode after the reveal that cooties aren't real. The girls go from being completely terrified of Harry to being warm and loving towards him
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Mojo pretty much had Townsville at its knees near the end of the episode thanks to Harry being able to scare the girls away when he committed crimes. At the end he decides to trick the girls into a trap so he can let Harry have his way with them. In doing so, Mojo forced the girls to face Harry alone, which inevitably led to them learning that cooties weren't real.
- Nightmare Sequence: The girls have one in which Harry infects them with cooties. Which, in this nightmare, are warts that look like Harry’s face.
- Not Afraid of You Anymore: When Harry finally manages to kiss Blossom, she and the girls quickly realize that cooties are not real. With this knowledge, they proceed to corner Harry...And kiss him all over the face.
- Out-of-Character Moment: Buttercup has no issues with kissing Harry in this episode. It's a stark contrast to "The Rowdyruff Boys," when she doesn't hesitate to show her disgust of kissing.
- Pet the Dog: Rather than beating him up and tossing him in jail once they find out cooties aren't real, the girls willingly reciprocate Harry's affections by giving him a big smooching that leaves his face covered in red lipstick marks.
- The Pig-Pen: Harry Pitt. This is why the girls and their classmates are disgusted by him. He's incredibly filthy, which they believe is why he has cooties. Ironically, when the girls learn that cooties aren't real, they end up kissing Harry despite his dirty appearance.
- Prison Rape: Not actually shown, but very strongly suggested that this is going to happen to Mojo. In fact, the page image of that trope is from this episode.
- Sadist: Harry did seem to enjoy scaring the girls during the heists. At one point, he playfully winks at them just to scare them away.
- Shout-Out: To The Godfather. One criminal says to Mojo, "forget the other bosses, our allegiance is with you" and kisses his hand, while another shuts the door on the camera... in the middle of an alleyway.
- "Have you said hello to my leetle friend?"
- Smooch of Victory:
- After realizing that cooties aren't real, the girls corner Harry before giving him a big smooching, showing that they are no longer scared of him.
- On the receiving end, Harry, who had been ostracized by his peers for having cooties, is finally shown affection when the girls kiss him all over the face, leaving him Covered in Kisses as visible proof.
- Stalker with a Crush; Despite seemingly targeting all the females at school, Harry takes a particular interest in the Powerpuff girls when Mojo uses him to scare them off.
- Story-Breaker Power: Averted. When they are trapped in a pit with Harry, the girls seem to forget that they can fly out. This might just be that they were filled with so much fear of being that close to Harry, the idea never came to them.
- It's worth mentioning that the adult characters are strangely absent, thus forcing the girls to learn the truth about cooties themselves.
- "Take That!" Kiss: Harry gets this from the girls in the end, after using his "cooties" to scare them off, allowing Mojo to almost take over Townsville, and giving a terrified Blossom a kiss on the cheek without her consent. Though the way they kiss him is more affectionate than most examples of this trope.
- Villainous Crush: Harry is implied to have one on Blossom, as he primarily targets her when she and her sisters are in the pit with him. Interestingly, Blossom seems to be the one who kisses him the most when she and her sisters give him a smooching. This may imply that Blossom herself developed a little crush on him, too, even if it was for one episode.
- The Voiceless: Harry doesn't speak throughout the episode, aside from nonverbal vocalizations such as smooching.
