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31 Noodle-Cooking Origin Stories of Pop-Culture Staples

By:: Timon DJ Spajic; Cracked Writers

October 08, 2023

31 Noodle-Cooking Origin Stories of Pop-Culture Staples

Did you know that children’s cartoon and book star Arthur wouldn’t have been made had his name not started with the letter “A.” The Incredible Hulk wouldn’t exist either if a mother didn’t lift a car. And Super Mario almost didn’t exist because of Popeye.

Many of your favorite characters were inspired by other creations or were created under forced inspiration. Here are some oddest origins of pop-culture icons…

31

Tolon Brown, son of Arthur creator Marc Brown, asked his dad to tell him a bedtime story about a weird animal. Arthur CRACKED.com Thinking alphabetically, Marc's first idea was 'aardvark'. The rest is history. — 26 Origins Of Characters' Signature Traits

30

VOLTORB IS A TSUKUMOGAMI GRAGKED.COM Some tools and other inanimate objects in Japanese folklore may acquire a spirit if enough time has passed, becoming a tsukumogami, or tool kami. In the games, Voltorb is said to have a connection to the introduction of Poké Balls, and if it were a tool kami that would mean it couldn't exist before the devices were invented. — Screenrant

29

31 Noodle-Cooking Origin Stories of Pop-Culture Staples — Origin Stories That Are Over-The-Top Dark (For No Reason)

28

Tropic Thunder's Les Grossman was Tom Cruise's creation. The character wasn't in the script, but Cruise said I think you need another villain other than just the 12-year-old drug king, and suggested somebody who embodies the sleaziest, seamiest side of Hollywood. CRACKED.COM — Grantland

27

Ringo Starr CRACKED.COM RICHARD STARKEY was always a drum wiz, and pals used to call his solos Starr Time. As for the Ringo part? Strap in, it's a bit of a thinker: he has a gold ring. A gold ring that he likes a whole bunch. — 15 Wild Origin Stories Of Celebrity Stage Names

26

CRACKED.COM Conan the Barbarian CONAN never shuts the f- up in his original stories. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Conan speaks mostly in scowls - a far cry from the character as created by Robert E. Howard, who talks all the goddamn time in learned, flowery language. — 5 Classic Characters Nearly Every Adaptation Gets Wrong

25

In the Golden Age Comics version of Batman's origin story, his mom wasn't shot. She died of the heart attack she got after seeing Joe Chill shoot her husband -- who tried to prevent Chill from stealing her necklace. CRACKED.COM — Gamespot

24

GOBOTS ARe JUST LIKE TRANSFORMERS. EXCEPT THAT THEY HAVE HUMANOID BRAINS. According to the Challenge of the GoBots animated series, a humanoid race called the GoBings lived on a planet that was devastated by war. The survivors sought help from The Last Engineer, who transplanted their brains into robot bodies. Renegades and Guardians alike became immortal metal beings, destined to battle until the end of time. CRACKED.COM http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0139769/ — 21 Horrifying Origin Stories Of Famous Characters

23

b ya The Team Fortress Spy is a glitch that never went away. A bug in the graphics caused some enemies to render as teammates. They pulled the old it's a feature, not a bug, and developed it into its own wildcard class. CRACKED.COM — The Surprising Origins Of 12 Iconic Video Game Characters

22

Heh-Heh Creator Mike Judge says Beavis' iconic laugh came from a kid in his calculus class who would sit in the front, and always bite his lip and turn back and go 'heh heh. CRACKED.COM — Daily Bruin

21

Donna Temple-Noble DOCTOR WHO CRACKED.COM Donna Noble married Shaun Temple, becoming Donna Temple-Noble. Donna = Lady, Temple = Tempus = Time, and Noble = Lord, for... Lady Time Lord. Not only that, but the Doctor's true name is... Clocky McTravel. — BuzzFeed

20

Dopey in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs doesn't talk because Disney couldn't find a voice actor they liked. Their original idea was for Dopey to talk non-stop. CRACKED.COM — 26 Origins Of Characters' Signature Traits

19

MAWILE IS A FUTAKUCHI ONNA GRACKED.COM The Futakuchi Onna are cursed women that have turned into supernatural creatures with a second mouth on the back of their head, covered by hair-like tentacles. In folklore, this can happen when the spirit of a deceased child possesses their step-mother, who starved them in favor of their biological children, to consume the food they were denied in life. — CBR

18

CRACKED.COM The story of how Remus Lupin became a werewolf is even more horrifying than we thought. Lupin was four years old and asleep when the werewolf broke into his room and bit him. It would've killed him if Lupin's dad hadn't arrived. — Origin Stories That Are Over-The-Top Dark (For No Reason)

17

Mario was only created because Nintendo couldn't get the rights to Popeye. When Shigeru Miyamoto was making Donkey Kong, Nintendo tried to license the Popeye characters, but that fell through, so he came up with new ones - including Mario, the player character. CRACKED.COM — New Yorker

16

Keanu Reeves CRACKED.COM That's actually his real name! And it's Hawaiian for cool breeze! The wild part is that his agent once tried to get him to change his name, to... CHUCK SPADINA — 29 Celebrity Names With Insane Backstories You Never Knew

15

CRACKED.COM R Jurassic Park JOHN HAMMOND was originally a greedy, unsympathetic jerk. Children gaping in awe at dinosaurs? На! The only reason Hammond creates the park in Michael Crichton's novel is getting tons of money, and cares about nothing except that. — Screen Rant

14

The Dursleys (from Harry Potter) kind of bonded over a battered sausage. When Vernon told Petunia he wouldn't hold her sister being a witch against her, she jumped on him in gratitude so hard that he dropped his battered sausage. CRACKED.COM — Vulture

13

BIRDO IS A RECURRING CHARACTER in MANY NINTENDO GAmes. AND SHe's A CROSSDRESSER. which roughly translates to: [MEDIUM WEIGHT CLASS It appears to be Yoshi's girlfriend, but is actually his boyfriend!? Не participates in the race with eggs! When the pink, bow-wearing dinosaur first showed up in Super Mario Bros. 2, the instruction booklet claimed, Не thinks he is a girl and he spits eggs from his mouth. He'd rather be called 'Birdetta. In fact, the Japanese booklet even uses the word omoikomu for thinks, which more accurately translates to wrongly believes. CRACKED.COM http://www.themushroomkingdom.net/birdo.shtml — 21 Horrifying Origin Stories Of Famous Characters

12

He'ScolledLink because: He'Sthe link betweentime periodSin The Legendor zeldo He's the link betweenthe player and the game The Triforce was originally 3 computer chipsthat neededtobelinked CRACKED.COM — The Surprising Origins Of 12 Iconic Video Game Characters

11

l'll Be Back Arnold Schwarzenegger had trouble pronouncing Pll and asked to say I will be back. Director James Cameron (correctly) refused to let him change the line. CRACKED.COM — HuffPost

10

Bender FUTURAMA CRACKED.COM In Futurama, Bender is named Bender because he was built to bend things. But he's actually named for John Bender from The Breakfast Club. Bender the character probably doesn't even know how much he loves fingerless gloves. — PopSugar

9

PoKéMoN When Jessie was little, her mother disappeared and she was put into a foster home. Jessie was sometimes forced to eat snow because the foster home was lacking in money and food. CRACKED.COM — Origin Stories That Are Over-The-Top Dark (For No Reason)

8

Jack Kirby came up with The Hulk after seeing a woman lift a car. Her baby got caught underneath it, and in her desperation, Kirby says she lifted the rear of the car to save her baby. Не realized that we can all do something like that in desperation or rage, which led him to The Hulk. CRACKED.COM — TCJ

7

Lady Gaga CRACKED.COM A producer thought her voice sounded like the Queen song Radio Ga-Ga. When he went to text her that bon mot, it was autocorrected to Lady Gaga. Cute, right? Well, that producer later sued her, claiming he deserved credit for her name and fame. — 15 Wild Origin Stories Of Celebrity Stage Names

6

CRACKED.COM Who Framed Roger Rabbit JESSICA RABBIT isn't just drawn that way in the novel. Jessica is a nasty piece of work in Gary К. Wolf's book. She's a gold digger who cares nothing for Roger, and will happily play patty cake with anyone if she stands to gain anything from it. — The A.V. Club

5

Sonic the Hedgehog's Dr. Robotnik was originally a human-egg hybrid. Не suffered a lab accident that bathed him and a rotten egg in a nearby fridge in chaos energy, turning him into a mutant in which human and egg combined. CRACKED.COM — Fandom.com

4

CABBAGE PATCH KIDS WeRe THE MUST-HAVE TOY OF THE 1980s. AND IF THEY WeRen'T BOUGHT, THeY'D Become SLAVES. According to a 1984 Christmas special, storybooks, and songs, Cabbage Patch Kids were hatched out of actual cabbages. Those who weren't adopted by eager consumers would be kidnapped by Lavender McDade, who would then force them to work in her gold mine. CRACKED.COM https://news google.com/newspapers ?nid=1291&dat=19860519&id= eNSzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=S/WDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2753,6912605&hl=en — 21 Horrifying Origin Stories Of Famous Characters

3

31 Noodle-Cooking Origin Stories of Pop-Culture Staples — The Surprising Origins Of 12 Iconic Video Game Characters

2

No Soup For You The Soup Nazi was inspired by real-life owner of Soup Kitchen International, Ali Al Yeganeh, who was known for having strict rules around ordering. CRACKED.COM — Know Your Meme

1

Bran GAME OF THRONES CRACKED.COM Where does Westeros' most famous peeping tom get his name? Bran is an Irish name that means Raven, much like the title he later receives. It's also a bit ironic, since the first thing we learn about him is that he can't fly. — BuzzFeed

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