The Thnikkaman

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Revision as of 00:18, 14 July 2010

"Yeah. Shut up, kid!"

The Thnikkaman is the alter ego of Bubs, wearing a pair of flashy sunglasses and a piece of paper taped to his chest with "tH" written on it. Most of the other characters seem unaware that the Thnikkaman is Bubs; in cliffhangers, Coach Z attempts to reveal the Thnikkaman's identity, only to be thwarted by his own bad hand-eye coordination (though he later accuses himself of being the Thnikkaman). This is odd, since he takes off his glasses in the email monument, clearly showing his true identity. In Happy Dethemberween, Homestar Runner demonstrates that he, unlike the other characters, is aware of the Thnikkaman's identity. The other characters seem to have no response to Homestar's assertion that the Thnikkaman is just Bubs with a piece of paper taped to his chest. His powers (if any), background, and the reasons for the respect given to him are intentionally vague -- even the various other characters seem in the dark about the details of the Thnikkaman's existence. ("What exactly does that man do?" asks Strong Bad at one point.) His powers of distraction are amazing, as shown in monument, when he prevented Strong Bad from completing a monument of himself, as well as Homestar from finally putting on some pants.

"You never know what he'll bring us when you hear those high-pitched singers!"

Whenever he arrives someplace, an offscreen chorus sings "Here comes the Thnikkaman!", accompanied by those words dancing across the screen. Similarly, the chorus sings "There goes the Thnikkaman!" with the dancing words whenever he leaves. In Happy Dethemberween, the singers are actually seen, and they all resemble Bubs. His famous catch phrase "Yeah, shut up, kid!" is usually given in response to the question "Can I/we have some?" (although what "some" refers to has not been revealed). In a monument easter egg, the Thnikkaman takes off his cool shades, and also when Strong Bad and the Cheat ask if they can have some. In Fan Costumes '08, Strong Bad mentions giving "a full Thnikka" to a trick-or-treater, implying that a Thnikka may be a candy bar parodying Snickers.

The Thnikkaman has once called Marzipan, where he asked her to join his "Thnikkaband". The call begins with the chorus singing "You got a call from the Thnikkaman!" and ends with "Here hang-ups the Thnikkaman!", with the words dancing across the screen each time.

The Thnikkaman is also obliquely referenced in virus, when Bubs walks across the screen with his mouth replaced by a "broken JPEG" reading "TH".

Oddly, The Thnikkaman does not have any visible ears or a nose, so it is a mystery as to how the sunglasses are held up.

On Decemberween, he becomes the "Dethemberween Thnikkaman," a holiday figure vaguely akin to Santa Claus. Instead of a sleigh pulled by reindeer, he travels through the night sky in an unmarked van (with the letters "tH" painted on the side). During the night, he borrows people's hedge clippers and then places blank media in their slippers. He also cold calls random kids, offering them discount travel packages over the phone.

Complete Filmography

Here comes the mustachioed Thnikkaman!!

• Debut: Email monument
• FAQ (cover drawing)
• Marzipan's Answering Machine Version 12.2
• Email cliffhangers
• Fan Costumes '07
• Happy Dethemberween
• Donut Unto Others (when viewed in a decomplier)