The characters in the Bash Street Kids are all strange because they're insane, and they're insane because they looked at Plug's face.
- Come on, it makes sense. In addition, Plug is insane either as a result of seeing his own face in a reflective surface, or because he can never see his face as every surface it gets reflected in instantly shatters.
- Then how come Cuthbert and Teacher are sane?
- Teacher arguably isn't particularly sane. He appears to be quite dotty and in one comic was shown to obey every sign he reads, so perhaps that's how his insanity manifests itself. The same could be said for Cuthbert occasionally. Or perhaps Cuthbert's insanity, like Teacher's, manifests in a different way, in this case his obsessive swottiness.
- Do you count bad entries the creators don't admit exist as canon? If so, The Beano Video says Plug is an archetype.
- To be fair, the monks that are implied to look exactly like him don't talk.
- Then how come Cuthbert and Teacher are sane?
Daisy in "Crazy for Daisy" is an Unreliable Narrator
- Basically she's a classic Tsundere towards Ernest, hence why his less reliable qualities are exacerbated (the parts where she isn't around are her guessing at what was going on). The only alternative is that this is a children's comic strip about a girl with a Stalker with a Crush interfering with her life at every turn...
Smiffy is a troll
- He is actually of intelligence that makes Cuthbert look like a zombie, but prefers to mess with everyone by acting completely stupid. This would explain why Smiffy's intelligence keeps bouncing around in different strips, and why his stupidity sometimes manifests via Insane Troll Logic.
Cuthbert is Teacher's secret lovechild
They look identical and have the same eyesight problems. Cuthbert's aware of his true parentage, but Teacher refuses to acknowledge it or, possibly, isn't aware himself. Maybe Cuthbert's position as teacher's pet is a desperate attempt at bonding with a father who doesn't love him.