Today is the birthday of the one thing most people know about my favorite web cartoon. Trogdor the Bunrnator is a character from the series Homestar Runner. In the episode of Strong Bad Email that Trogdor first appeared in, Strong Bad was asked how to draw a dragon, and Trogdor was his triumphant final result. After making fun of everyone's else's attempts to draw dragons, Strong Bad belts out a powerful metal track about the legendary Bunrnator.
Trogdor is the stand out character of the Homestar Runner website for reasons I don't think anyone really understands except that he's really cool. But regardless his legacy is a powerful one. After his initial toon, Trogdor appeared in a number of Videlectrix games, including the Trogdor arcade game, Peasants Quest, Trogday Micro Game for the Gameboy Color, Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, and even the non Videlectrix video game Guitar Hero II, where his legendary theme song is playable. He even has a board game, and you know I have the Kickstarter edition with the expansion and extra meeples. Anyway, I love you Trogdor, Happy 20th birthday.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: I would argue that Trogdor’s fame is rooted in design and presentation. He is literally depicted as something cool that can be easily drawn in the margins of notebook paper! Trogdor the Burninator has a simplified design that was made for middle school boys who think they’re tough, but exaggerates those traits so that they can be co-opted with a sense of affectionate irony (the big beefy arm on his back comes to mind). Top that off with a screamable name, an art tutorial, and a killer song, and you’ve got an easy reference to show you’re hip with the 2006 crowd!]
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