If there's one cartoon from the 21st century I truly believe deserved más attention during its initial run, it's Dave the Barbarian. The mostrar had a considerable amount of wit and quite a bit of creativity that had been missing from a lot of caricaturas during that time. Combined with the fact that all of the characters were dumb, the jokes worked even better. Anyway, too pay tribute to this series (which I actually might consider purchasing if it was on DVD) I am going to count down my parte superior, arriba 10 favorito! episodes.
10) Web- I'm going to be honest and say that back in the day, I'm one of the few fans of the mostrar who actually wasn't a big fan of this episode o even Band for that matter, which is ironic considering those two were played on the same showing. However, now I truly see the genius of this episode, not that I didn't see a bit of it there before. Anyway, the episode is about dulces being in debt because she purchased too many shoes online using the 'worldwide spiderweb'. That concept alone is brilliant. The fact that the writers actually found a logical way to insert modern technology into a medieval setting shows just how much thought went into this. However, I think the true genius of this episode shines when the bill collector shows up and the rest of the episode involves Candy, Chuckles and, of all characters, The queen of the topo People going around and trying to pay a 300,000,000 dreckle debt that they all just happen to owe one-another. And hey, I think every fan remembers Oswidge's song, Steve the Egg. What lands this one at number 10 only is the same reason I don't put Band on this list: I felt like it went a little too far with the stupid humor this time around. I don't even know why I feel this way, I just too.
9) I amor Neddy- Ned Frischman is one of those characters I would have liked to see más of. Sure, he got 2 episodes dedicated to him, but the stories involving this guy were just so creative. Maybe the mostrar had lasted longer, he might have gotten más exposure o maybe the writers were starting to run out of ideas for him, I don't know. Either way, this is personal favorito! of the episodes featuring him as it does something tu wouldn't expect from a mostrar like this: not only does it mock sitcoms but also reality TV. I'm not gonna lie, the moment this episode truly becomes great is when Dave and his family try to combat Ned's sitcoms por having people go into their house and watch their everyday lives. I especially amor how the narrator refers to reality TV as fiendish. It does a very good job satirizing both, and like web, it finds a perfectly logical way to make these concepts work in a medieval setting, again mostrando a great deal of thought was put into it.
8) Girlfriend- What a great concept: having Dave start a romantic relationship with an evil princess! I amor it! When first looking at a character like Irmaplotz, you'd never guess she had so many things in common with Dave, and I like how we do see this carry on in future episodes. Girlfriend tackles all the issues, young love, having to learn to cope with the biggest of differences between your lover, dealing with a breakup, it's all there and handled very well. The humor is also excellent and honestly, I actually kind of supported the romance. I'm not gonna lie, I thought Dave and Irmaplotz made for a really cute couple and I find it a real shame they couldn't be together. Actually, what I really like about this episode is some of the unexpected turns it takes. After Dave finds out Irmaplotz is evil, instead of dumping her on the spot, he decides the two of them should try living on the other's shoes a little bit. They soon find out they can't bring themselves to do it and this is the moment Dave breaks up with her. Naturally, Irmaplotz wants revenge and she gets it... por sending filthy pixies to make the kingdom dirty! That is pure gold! And how does Dave defeat them? Driving them off with his own painfully uninspired poesía that he delivers with a Megaphone that he tied a ardilla to for no reason! And just as it seems Irmaplotz is about to forgive Dave, Dave says something stupid thus making her a recurring villain for the series. I think my favorito! line in the whole thing would have to be when Irmaplotz says she's half good on her father's side, basically mostrando that the villains in this mostrar are naturally born evil, a nice little homage to the old-school generic villain.
7) Sorcerer Material- In a mostrar like this, character development isn't really a focus, so to get an episode like this is kind of special. The episode begins with the hilarious concept of Oswidge having an illness called Hicats, in which he hiccups cats. In order to cure this illness, they go to the castillo of a sorcerer named Malsquando who reveals that Oswidge never actually took Sorcery classes but instead worked as a cafeteria chef. That's kind of interesting. We actually learn something about one of the main characters, and that's part of what makes this stand out to me. The jokes are also top-notch, especially the brilliant visual gag involving Fang asking where they can find a cure for Hicats while all the while banging her head against a glass with the cure of Hicats inside of it. Also, this is one of the only times we get to see Oswidge do something cool. I'm not gonna lie, the way he defeats Malsquando in combat is just great.
6) Beauty and the Zit- This is yet another great concept that just happens to involve a romance in this series. I think what I like most about this one is that it actually shows a different side to Candy. Throughout most of the series, dulces is portrayed like most teenage girls, having a rather shallow view on men and only taking interest in those who look hot. However, this episode on the other hand parodies Beauty and the Beast, as the título implies, por having dulces fall in amor with a zit, and it works. She discovers that her fecha for a dance she went to is a jerk and that the zit that Oswidge accidentally brought to life is the nicest guy she's ever met, dulces learning right then and there that there is beauty within people. I'm not gonna lie, I felt legitimately sorry for the two when Dave mistook the Zit for an evil monster and killed him with super strong zit cream. Of course the episode also has some great jokes, such as a brilliant parody of Beauty and the Beast's título song and the bit where dulces gets bored from hearing Zit's evil laugh for más than 10 seconds.
5) King for a día o Two- What happens when Dave gets responsibility? That is what this episode respuestas and the final result is pure genius. It starts off when dulces complaining about her duties in which Dave talks about how he'd be a much better ruler, so what does he do after dulces gives him a position of power? He lets the power go to his head and make a bunch of laws just for the heck of it. At first, everyone loves him for it but it's not long before he starts making stupid, terrible laws, the final straw being when he orders the subjects to shave every single cat in Udrogoth. I also loved how he forced everyone to attend his musical, Oh Pastry. What a funny concept for a live stage play. Though honestly, I didn't think the play looked that bad for what it showed us. I'd actually like to see a full-length version of it performed in real life. Yeah, it looked devoid of a plot, but it also looked like fun. Though this episode is at its best when Chuckles takes over the kingdom while Dave is performing and immediately starts making laws that the villagers amor más than Dave's.
4) Red Sweater of Courage- In this episode, Dave finally comes to the realization that his cowardice is a bad thing. Okay, that is already a recipe for brilliance. So, how does he gain bravery? Why, por wearing a magical red sweater of course! From this point on, the rest of the episode is just great with Dave using his new-found bravery for all the wrong things. It's not just enough for him to face monsters, no, he actively looks for danger, even going so far as to make Malsquando, Chuckles and Quosmir, the 3 most powerful male villains in the series, angry at him to the point where they band together to destroy the kingdom. Nothing spells fanservice más than having recurring villains team up in a mostrar like this. I also like the en general, general twist in which the family realizes Dave's bravery prevents him from thinking up good strategies. There are of course a lot of great jokes in this episode, such as Dave insulting a woman's fashion and having fuego breathed on him as a result, though my favorito! moments involve the methods of which Dave uses to make the villains mad, not just at him but at each other when he turns them against themselves. Honestly, what really makes this one stands out is the concept of Dave being Valiente and mostrando just what would happen if he remained that way throughout the rest of the series. Though I'm not gonna lie, I thought the Chuckle-Bot was kind of lame. It's like, we're seeing a mech for the first and last time in this series and all they give us is a replica of Chuckles that stomps buildings with its butt? I know that's supposed to be funny, but come on.
3) Rite of Pillage- Of all the episodes in this series, this is easily one of the funniest. Once again, we got a great concept with Dave having to prove himself a true barbarian, but we also get some great satire, like the scene with the receptionist. Some of the best jokes come from this episode and I amor how the guy in charge of the Rite of Pillage looks like the grim reaper. I often like to think the bit with Dave screaming when he touches his shoulder is a reference to the touch of death. The funniest twist in the whole thing though is how Dave only passes the exam por getting a perfect score in penmanship. It's a really obvious Deus Ex Machina, but it's intentional and handled very well. Though I'm embarrassed to admit I still don't get the laying waste joke.
2) The Cow Says Moon- This episode takes number 2 for almost getting the most laughs out of me. Of the two halloween specials, this was easily my favorite. First of all, it's an Irmaplotz episode. What's not to like? But what's más is that I simply amor her evil plan this time around: making Dave look like a dork. It's not often tu see a villain try something like that, so I really like that concept. But honestly, the best jokes from the various things Dave transforms into. See, the conflict in this episode involves Dave being bitten por a werecow and transforming into one himself. Throughout the rest of the episode, he gets bitten and transformed por a kitten, Uncle Oswidge, a blender and ultimately a gym teacher, and the way the narrator makes all of these beings sound like the most threatening creations of all time is just hilarious. The way they have Dave change back to normal is really clever and the twist ending where Dave turns Faffy into a weredave is just the icing on the cake.
1) A Pig's Story- When I read the summary for this one, I couldn't wait to see it, honestly, it exceeded my expectations. Even to this day, I don't just consider this the best episode of Dave the Barbarian, I think this is one of the most brilliant episodes ever created for a comedic cartoon series. The plot for this episode is that Chuckles discovers that the narrator is the whole reason Dave and his family keep winning their battles, so what does he do? He puts a mind control spell on the narrator and makes himself the hero! I don't normally see this idea being used and it is such a great concept. Granted, the Powerpuff Girls tried something similar in an episode where Mojo locks the narrator in a closet and takes over the role in an attempt to have the girls kill each other, but hey, he didn't take control of the narrator's brain. Oh, and the brilliance doesn't stop there. After becoming a hero, he defeats the barbarians using the same lame enemies he attacked them with at the beginning, which is a lot más insulting to the main characters than, say, creating an army of super-powerful monsters. No, having an army of humanoid pretzels defeat the main characters is much más humiliating therefor it's much más clever. Then just as all seems great for Chuckles, guess how the problem is solved? This is just so creative: the narrator catches Laryngitis, thus he's unable to narrate the rest of the episode, so Dave holds auditions to hire a new narrator to make them the heroes again and ultimately hires an astronaut who inserts them into a el espacio setting. That is just so out there and unexpected, tu can't help but break out into hysterics when it happens. This is just such a genius and well-executed episode, it deserves nothing less than the number 1 spot. It also helps that this was the only episode to take up a whole mostrando instead of just the first half, so it had even más time to tell its story.
10) Web- I'm going to be honest and say that back in the day, I'm one of the few fans of the mostrar who actually wasn't a big fan of this episode o even Band for that matter, which is ironic considering those two were played on the same showing. However, now I truly see the genius of this episode, not that I didn't see a bit of it there before. Anyway, the episode is about dulces being in debt because she purchased too many shoes online using the 'worldwide spiderweb'. That concept alone is brilliant. The fact that the writers actually found a logical way to insert modern technology into a medieval setting shows just how much thought went into this. However, I think the true genius of this episode shines when the bill collector shows up and the rest of the episode involves Candy, Chuckles and, of all characters, The queen of the topo People going around and trying to pay a 300,000,000 dreckle debt that they all just happen to owe one-another. And hey, I think every fan remembers Oswidge's song, Steve the Egg. What lands this one at number 10 only is the same reason I don't put Band on this list: I felt like it went a little too far with the stupid humor this time around. I don't even know why I feel this way, I just too.
9) I amor Neddy- Ned Frischman is one of those characters I would have liked to see más of. Sure, he got 2 episodes dedicated to him, but the stories involving this guy were just so creative. Maybe the mostrar had lasted longer, he might have gotten más exposure o maybe the writers were starting to run out of ideas for him, I don't know. Either way, this is personal favorito! of the episodes featuring him as it does something tu wouldn't expect from a mostrar like this: not only does it mock sitcoms but also reality TV. I'm not gonna lie, the moment this episode truly becomes great is when Dave and his family try to combat Ned's sitcoms por having people go into their house and watch their everyday lives. I especially amor how the narrator refers to reality TV as fiendish. It does a very good job satirizing both, and like web, it finds a perfectly logical way to make these concepts work in a medieval setting, again mostrando a great deal of thought was put into it.
8) Girlfriend- What a great concept: having Dave start a romantic relationship with an evil princess! I amor it! When first looking at a character like Irmaplotz, you'd never guess she had so many things in common with Dave, and I like how we do see this carry on in future episodes. Girlfriend tackles all the issues, young love, having to learn to cope with the biggest of differences between your lover, dealing with a breakup, it's all there and handled very well. The humor is also excellent and honestly, I actually kind of supported the romance. I'm not gonna lie, I thought Dave and Irmaplotz made for a really cute couple and I find it a real shame they couldn't be together. Actually, what I really like about this episode is some of the unexpected turns it takes. After Dave finds out Irmaplotz is evil, instead of dumping her on the spot, he decides the two of them should try living on the other's shoes a little bit. They soon find out they can't bring themselves to do it and this is the moment Dave breaks up with her. Naturally, Irmaplotz wants revenge and she gets it... por sending filthy pixies to make the kingdom dirty! That is pure gold! And how does Dave defeat them? Driving them off with his own painfully uninspired poesía that he delivers with a Megaphone that he tied a ardilla to for no reason! And just as it seems Irmaplotz is about to forgive Dave, Dave says something stupid thus making her a recurring villain for the series. I think my favorito! line in the whole thing would have to be when Irmaplotz says she's half good on her father's side, basically mostrando that the villains in this mostrar are naturally born evil, a nice little homage to the old-school generic villain.
7) Sorcerer Material- In a mostrar like this, character development isn't really a focus, so to get an episode like this is kind of special. The episode begins with the hilarious concept of Oswidge having an illness called Hicats, in which he hiccups cats. In order to cure this illness, they go to the castillo of a sorcerer named Malsquando who reveals that Oswidge never actually took Sorcery classes but instead worked as a cafeteria chef. That's kind of interesting. We actually learn something about one of the main characters, and that's part of what makes this stand out to me. The jokes are also top-notch, especially the brilliant visual gag involving Fang asking where they can find a cure for Hicats while all the while banging her head against a glass with the cure of Hicats inside of it. Also, this is one of the only times we get to see Oswidge do something cool. I'm not gonna lie, the way he defeats Malsquando in combat is just great.
6) Beauty and the Zit- This is yet another great concept that just happens to involve a romance in this series. I think what I like most about this one is that it actually shows a different side to Candy. Throughout most of the series, dulces is portrayed like most teenage girls, having a rather shallow view on men and only taking interest in those who look hot. However, this episode on the other hand parodies Beauty and the Beast, as the título implies, por having dulces fall in amor with a zit, and it works. She discovers that her fecha for a dance she went to is a jerk and that the zit that Oswidge accidentally brought to life is the nicest guy she's ever met, dulces learning right then and there that there is beauty within people. I'm not gonna lie, I felt legitimately sorry for the two when Dave mistook the Zit for an evil monster and killed him with super strong zit cream. Of course the episode also has some great jokes, such as a brilliant parody of Beauty and the Beast's título song and the bit where dulces gets bored from hearing Zit's evil laugh for más than 10 seconds.
5) King for a día o Two- What happens when Dave gets responsibility? That is what this episode respuestas and the final result is pure genius. It starts off when dulces complaining about her duties in which Dave talks about how he'd be a much better ruler, so what does he do after dulces gives him a position of power? He lets the power go to his head and make a bunch of laws just for the heck of it. At first, everyone loves him for it but it's not long before he starts making stupid, terrible laws, the final straw being when he orders the subjects to shave every single cat in Udrogoth. I also loved how he forced everyone to attend his musical, Oh Pastry. What a funny concept for a live stage play. Though honestly, I didn't think the play looked that bad for what it showed us. I'd actually like to see a full-length version of it performed in real life. Yeah, it looked devoid of a plot, but it also looked like fun. Though this episode is at its best when Chuckles takes over the kingdom while Dave is performing and immediately starts making laws that the villagers amor más than Dave's.
4) Red Sweater of Courage- In this episode, Dave finally comes to the realization that his cowardice is a bad thing. Okay, that is already a recipe for brilliance. So, how does he gain bravery? Why, por wearing a magical red sweater of course! From this point on, the rest of the episode is just great with Dave using his new-found bravery for all the wrong things. It's not just enough for him to face monsters, no, he actively looks for danger, even going so far as to make Malsquando, Chuckles and Quosmir, the 3 most powerful male villains in the series, angry at him to the point where they band together to destroy the kingdom. Nothing spells fanservice más than having recurring villains team up in a mostrar like this. I also like the en general, general twist in which the family realizes Dave's bravery prevents him from thinking up good strategies. There are of course a lot of great jokes in this episode, such as Dave insulting a woman's fashion and having fuego breathed on him as a result, though my favorito! moments involve the methods of which Dave uses to make the villains mad, not just at him but at each other when he turns them against themselves. Honestly, what really makes this one stands out is the concept of Dave being Valiente and mostrando just what would happen if he remained that way throughout the rest of the series. Though I'm not gonna lie, I thought the Chuckle-Bot was kind of lame. It's like, we're seeing a mech for the first and last time in this series and all they give us is a replica of Chuckles that stomps buildings with its butt? I know that's supposed to be funny, but come on.
3) Rite of Pillage- Of all the episodes in this series, this is easily one of the funniest. Once again, we got a great concept with Dave having to prove himself a true barbarian, but we also get some great satire, like the scene with the receptionist. Some of the best jokes come from this episode and I amor how the guy in charge of the Rite of Pillage looks like the grim reaper. I often like to think the bit with Dave screaming when he touches his shoulder is a reference to the touch of death. The funniest twist in the whole thing though is how Dave only passes the exam por getting a perfect score in penmanship. It's a really obvious Deus Ex Machina, but it's intentional and handled very well. Though I'm embarrassed to admit I still don't get the laying waste joke.
2) The Cow Says Moon- This episode takes number 2 for almost getting the most laughs out of me. Of the two halloween specials, this was easily my favorite. First of all, it's an Irmaplotz episode. What's not to like? But what's más is that I simply amor her evil plan this time around: making Dave look like a dork. It's not often tu see a villain try something like that, so I really like that concept. But honestly, the best jokes from the various things Dave transforms into. See, the conflict in this episode involves Dave being bitten por a werecow and transforming into one himself. Throughout the rest of the episode, he gets bitten and transformed por a kitten, Uncle Oswidge, a blender and ultimately a gym teacher, and the way the narrator makes all of these beings sound like the most threatening creations of all time is just hilarious. The way they have Dave change back to normal is really clever and the twist ending where Dave turns Faffy into a weredave is just the icing on the cake.
1) A Pig's Story- When I read the summary for this one, I couldn't wait to see it, honestly, it exceeded my expectations. Even to this day, I don't just consider this the best episode of Dave the Barbarian, I think this is one of the most brilliant episodes ever created for a comedic cartoon series. The plot for this episode is that Chuckles discovers that the narrator is the whole reason Dave and his family keep winning their battles, so what does he do? He puts a mind control spell on the narrator and makes himself the hero! I don't normally see this idea being used and it is such a great concept. Granted, the Powerpuff Girls tried something similar in an episode where Mojo locks the narrator in a closet and takes over the role in an attempt to have the girls kill each other, but hey, he didn't take control of the narrator's brain. Oh, and the brilliance doesn't stop there. After becoming a hero, he defeats the barbarians using the same lame enemies he attacked them with at the beginning, which is a lot más insulting to the main characters than, say, creating an army of super-powerful monsters. No, having an army of humanoid pretzels defeat the main characters is much más humiliating therefor it's much más clever. Then just as all seems great for Chuckles, guess how the problem is solved? This is just so creative: the narrator catches Laryngitis, thus he's unable to narrate the rest of the episode, so Dave holds auditions to hire a new narrator to make them the heroes again and ultimately hires an astronaut who inserts them into a el espacio setting. That is just so out there and unexpected, tu can't help but break out into hysterics when it happens. This is just such a genius and well-executed episode, it deserves nothing less than the number 1 spot. It also helps that this was the only episode to take up a whole mostrando instead of just the first half, so it had even más time to tell its story.
