The 10 Creepiest Villains In Courage The Cowardly Dog

Cartoon Network’s iconic show, Courage The Cowardly Dog provided nightmare fuel for many a child in its time of airing. Each episode mostly revolved around the pink dog Courage fighting off ghastly paranormal creatures and protecting the old couple that adopted him. These monsters usually come knocking at Courage’s door, who literally lives in the middle of nowhere. Most of the show’s antagonists are sly, or sarcastic, compared to the exaggerated beasts that one is mostly accustomed to for a children’s cartoon, and it’s this nature of the villains that add to the atmospheric scares in Courage.

The show has definitely aged well and is often seen as one of the scariest cartoons with some of the creepiest villains.

10 Fred

Making his debut in the episode Freaky Fred, Fred is Eustace and Muriel’s nephew. On the surface, he’s a smiling person. In fact, he practically smiles in every scene. Fred is a barber by profession, as he suffers from Trichotemnomania. His condition is an obsession that finds him shaving and cutting all hair that lies in front of him.

His perpetual wide-toothed grin and his handling of the scissors makes Courage paranoid, as Fred forcefully attempts to shave off Courage’s fur to the point of complete baldness. His uncontrollable tendencies land him up at the “Home for Freaky Barbers.”

9 Mattress Demon

The Mattress Demon evokes classic themes of horror films that revolve around possession and exorcism. As its name suggests, it’s a supernatural force that takes control of mattresses. It also has the ability to take control of any person sleeping on it, as can be seen from Muriel’s transformation. Under the Mattress Demon’s control, Courage’s owner Muriel turns into a green creature with wavy hair, and a chilling demonic voice.

If that isn’t scary enough for the cowardly dog, the monster then passes on to possess Eustace for a brief moment.

8 Cruel Veterinarian

The Cruel Vet is an overarching antagonist in Courage’s storyline. Fans of the show often regard him as the first “monster” that Courage encountered. In the episode, Remembrance of Courage Past, it is revealed that Courage’s parents were separated from him by the Cruel Vet. The doctor used his parents to launch them in space for an experiment that failed and took their lives, orphaning Courage.

He acts like a kind, old man as he offers candy to lure dogs. But, once he gets hold of the canines, he engages in sadistic and brutal experiments.

7 The Stitch Sisters

Elisa and Eliza Stitch are Siamese twins who run a quilt shop. They often trap young women and sew them into quilts, imprisoning their souls forever in their process. Apart from their pale looks and evil grins, the Sisters also sound scary. Usually, they can be quoted saying, ‘Weave, believe, belong!”

Much like the aforementioned Cruel Vet, the twins pretend to be friendly, old ladies selling their quilts to naive customers. According to the show’s mythos, they lived in prehistoric times. When they came in possession of a half-living quilt with the ability to trap human souls, they ended up being immortal.

6 Black Puddle Queen

The Queen of the Black Puddle or Black Puddle Queen is an underwater entity that seduces people in her underwater palace and devours them. Unlike other sea nymphs, she doesn’t wait for victims to reach her palace. Instead, she herself actively hunts for potential victims.

The creepy thing about Black Puddle Queen’s powers is that she can turn into any form of water, be it steam or tap water. This leads to increased possibilities of her being able to lure people from any part of the world. She’s known as the puddle queen, as she brings people to puddles and then closes the puddle, trapping them inside a void.

5 The Ulcer

The Ulcer, one of the show’s most surreal characters, is literally an ulcer with a tiny human body. He traps people in a dingy showroom and asks them to perform an act for him. If he doesn’t like their talent, he dips them into a pool of toxic stomach acid.

His origin is stranger as the Ulcer was once a man who lived in Hollywood. Fed up with the showbiz and pretentiousness of the life over there, he turns into a cynical, lonely ulcer inside his own stomach! The process of him turning into a monstrosity like this is, however, never touched upon and is open to interpretation.

4 Katz

Perhaps the most iconic villain from the series, Katz is a tall, lean cat and is widely regarded as Courage’s arch-nemesis. He has appeared in several episodes and even has his own theme music. Often speaking in a calm British accent, he indulges in psychopathic and sadistic activities.

He appears in various scenarios, from selling business ideas as a conman or facing off against Muriel in a cookery competition. The scares mostly arise out of his sinister calmness. Katz can transform people into inanimate objects or even feed them to spiders without batting an eye.

3 Eustace’s Bugle

The CGI fetus. The Blue Creature. Eustace,’s Trumpet. The Bugle Monster is known by many names. The creature is an other-worldly manifestation of Eustace’s bugle and appears in Courage’s nightmares. The bugle was offkey and defected when Eustace got it. He then forgot to fix it, abandoning the instrument in one dusty corner of the house.

While the dog is asleep one night, the bugle turns into a deformed blue creature with a gloomy face. The character’s CGI animation along with his quote, “you’re not perfect” makes for some genuine horror. Rather than threatening Muriel or Eustace like other villains, Bugle Monster targets Courage’s insecurities and self-esteem issues.

2 Spirit Of The Harvest Moon

Rather than its punishments, the Spirit of the Harvest Moon is scary mainly for its appearance. The spirit is shown as a floating face with blackened eyes and lips. For some strange reason, it asks Courage and his human owners to grow a plant within ten minutes. When they don’t take the spirit seriously, it raises the temperature towards extreme levels, melting all surroundings.

Because of its unique and disturbing physical features, the Spirit of the Harvest Moon is undoubtedly one of the scariest monstrosities on children’s TV.

1 Ramses

Just like Bugle Monster, what sets Ramses apart is a CGI-based animation style that’s different from the rest of the series. Ramses was an Egyptian king who now wanders the earth as a ghost. When a slab from his burial tomb ends up with Eustace, he plans to ask for it calmly. But, Eustace refuses to comply, greedily hoping to sell the artifact for a quick buck. This results in one of the creepiest scenes from Courage, as the orange-skinned, lanky Ramses brings about three plagues on the dog’s family.

He also brings three plagues, similar to the ones brought about by Moses and God against the real-life King Ramses in Biblical pantheons. Ramses’s steel-eyed expression and his monotonous phrase, “return the slab,” arguably make him the creepiest antagonist of the show.

About The Author

Shaurya Thapa
(724 Articles Published)

Shaurya Thapa is an Indian freelance journalist who mostly dabbles in writings on cinema, music, and human interest features. When it comes to Screen Rant, he writes lists on a wide array of subjects ranging from international films to mainstream Netflix series and comic book trivia. He also hosts a podcast called ‘BhindiWire’, an Indian parody of IndieWire.

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