Courage the Cowardly Dog is a cartoon show that ran from 1996 to 2002, and strongly influenced all who watched it in a number of ways. It was a show for kids that was not afraid to get dark, weird, deep, and a mix of all three in its episodes.
For many kids, it was their introduction to the horror and thriller genre. It also made excellent parody out of the common trope that animals in horror stories always seem to know whats going on before the humans do. Courage would see monsters, try to warn his ignorant humans, and then have to save them from the impending doom. Even today, many years later, fans still make memes of this memorable show. Here are ten of them.
Anime Mask
This meme is referencing one of the most talked about episodes of the show: "The Mask." This episode this talked about more than others because it actually has a lesbian relationship and deals with a pretty mature theme. A masked figure is escaping from her abusive ex-boyfriend and Courage helps her escape him to be with Bunny.
The mask is the creepy part of this episode. The meme does point out the fact that the mask looks a bit like an anime face with its huge eyes.
Courage And Muriel
While the audience can understand Courage, Muriel and Eustice do not. That is part of the show's humor. In fact, he doesn't even bark. He goes full on silly gibberish when speaking to them. Eustice abuses Courage and laughs but Muriel is sweet and does try to listen.
Despite listening, she always misunderstands her dog. It's hilarious, but very frustrating for Courage who is trying to save her life.
Scary
The monster referenced in this meme is from the episode, "Perfect." This creature is known as the "Bugle Monster." In this episode, Courage has a nightmare with this blue-skinned being in it. It looks a bit like a messed up CGI fetus but its actually a symbol of imperfection and Eustice's broken bugle that appears in the episode.
Due to its design and the fact that its CGI in a 2D cartoon, this is one of the more memorable and scary monsters of the series.
"Not Getting Out Of This Chair"
Eustice is very attached to his chair. Always the stubborn and angry old man, he typically complains and does nothing of strong value in any episode.
These aspects of him made the "Nope, not getting out of this chair" a meme sensation. There is an episode where Muriel, Eustice, and Courage all go on a cruise vacation but Eustice refuses to leave his chair out home so they bring him in the chair while he keeps repeating "Nope, not getting out of this chair." Its meme gold, so here he is with the opening cutscene of Super Smash Ultimate story mode. It is Galeem's opening blast that famously incapacitates all of the roaster except for Kirby.
Waking The Neighbors
Muriel is not the sharpest tool in the drawer. She is the sort of character that is more heart than brains. It leaves room for a lot of good comedy, such as this instance.
They live in a place literally called Nowhere. They have no neighbors, let alone shops, roads, or much else. Fans probably wonder where they even get their groceries. However, its a great place for creepy stuff to happen. After all, who is there to help them?
Courage And His Computer
Another piece of comedy gold in the show is the desktop computer that Courage uses. Courage often looks up what to do in various situations just like a human would. That alone is not what is funny though, as the computer is sassy. It speaks in a British accent and it can range from helpful to antagonizing.
The computer faithfully appears every season. It often refers to Courage as a "twit."
Unholy Noise
One reason Courage the Cowardly Dog has many loyal fans is that the scared dog is pretty relatable. Who would not be scared in his position? He is often the only thing standing between Muriel and Eustice's horrible deaths. He has few to no allys either and often has to work alone.
While his screams are incredibly funny, a lot of people would react the same in his situation.
What's Yer Offer?
"Return the slab" is among one of the most remembered lines in the show. It is also said by one of the most feared monsters of the show, King Ramses. He is the ghost of a pharaoh from ancient Egypt and comes to get back his slab that was taken by Eustice. Eustice is keeping the slab because it is worth a fortune.
So when the creepy ghost comes to them and asks for the slab back, Eustice eloquently replies with "What's yer offer?" Like Eustice's Bugle monster, King Ramses is another CGI monster.
"Change My Mind"
Here is a second version of the whole "not getting out of this chair" joke from the cruise episode. Even as the boat sank and Eustice was thrown into the ocean, he still refused to get out of his chair.
While its ridiculous, it definitely is a mood. There are plenty of times people don't want to get out of their chairs despite their need to go get something. Eustice must have a very comfortable chair.
Call Me Maybe
These are (mostly) the lyrics to Carly Jepsen's Call Me Maybe song which came out in 2012. Someone took the lyric and mixed it in with a reference to the King Ramses episode.
Out of all the minor characters of the show, it is this ancient ghost that has gotten the most meme attention. He scared a ton of kids and was obviously inspired by the plagues of Egypt, with are nothing to scoff at.