Courage: Muriel's Missing Child? (DARK THEORY)

Hello, Fanaticals! As we continue this week of darker theories, today is going to be one of the two darkest posts of the week. A lot of emotions run wild when you think about theories that surround Courage and Nowhere. Courage is one of the most adorable cartoon dogs that can talk, with his constant anxiety and the way he always says that he's someone and then finishes with "and I'm not" makes us love him so much more.

Today's warning: this might trigger many people, as it talks about child death. As a mother, I can't imagine how I would feel if I lost either of my kids, so I am HEAVILY pushing caution to anyone who is super sensitive about this subject. Because theories or not, emotions are always present. If talk of child death affects you, please stop here for the day. If you are ready to look at theory regardless of content, then let's jump in!

The Bagges' Son Died, Courage Just Replaced Him

This was one of the first theories I ever read about surrounding the show and, while I can see it, I also can disagree with it to an extent.

This theory has the baseline that Muriel and Eustace had a son that died young, and when Muriel found Courage, she immediately adopted him and began treating him like her son. I think we can all agree that Muriel treats Courage more like human than a dog. While Eustace clearly treats Courage like a dog, he also does not stop Muriel's actions.

This could be due to either him recognizing her actions as grief, or it could be that he just doesn't care; as we get a good look into his childhood in a few different episodes, this could actually be plausible. His actions could also be explained that due to their obvious age, he grieved for their child a long time ago while Muriel never got over it.

The common thing amongst fans is that the Bagges definitely had a child at one point. Due to Courage being a male dog, the theory stands that it was a baby boy who mysteriously died or disappeared. Ironically, many people believe that he was taken and eaten by the Cajun Fox, who we meet in the second episode of the series, only to see him return in the fiftieth.

While the thought of a parent losing a child is heartbreaking, we have to admit that parents who lose their children grieve in different ways, and this could possibly have been Muriel's way to deal with her grief.

Courage is Their Son Who Believes He is a Dog

This is an extremely odd theory, but also slightly plausible; but it can go one of two ways; either Courage is a child who believes he is a dog, or a dog who believes he is a child. People have self-image issues all the time; sometimes by circumstance and others by things that are said around them. Truthfully, a very good case-in-point for a parallel for this would actually be Harry Potter. While Harry and Courage seem worlds apart, both characters struggle with their identities in ways that have become rooted in how they are perceived and named around them. It is this parallel that we draw from to give us this current Courage theory.

While it is actually "fanon" that Harry did not know his name until the day before he started at his muggle primary school, there are some things that went alongside it that DID, in fact, happen in canon. When we follow Harry at his relatives' house, we notice a pattern that he is normally called "boy" or "freak" more often than not. Now, what is canon is that there are times where Harry compares himself to a House Elf after he discovers what they are. Truthfully, if Harry had never gone to Hogwarts or had not had the experience of friends, it is entirely possible he would have continued to see himself as a slave; nothing more than a muggle House Elf.

On the flip side of this, Courage seems to have identity issues as well. Eustace, along with many other characters, have a tendency to call him "kid". This then brings forward the theory that Courage is actually a child, most likely a nephew as they are a bit older in age and less likely to have a child that young, rather than a dog. However, he could feel as though he is treated like a dog which would then bring about the confusion of his identity as everyone calls him "kid". However, there is also a secondary point to this: Courage is a DOG struggling with identity issues, wondering if he really IS a human due to the use of the nickname "kid". Not to mention the number of times he will say something along the lines of “or my name is Shirley, and it’s not!”

While idenity issues can be a semi-common struggle, it almost isn’t a surprise that it seems there is a theory that Courage has that problem himself. Especially when you consider that Muriel is absolutely fine with him eating at the table, while Eustace constantly yells at him that “no dogs at the table”. This could be a huge issue and it is a very sound theory that he struggles with knowing who he is. Courage could easily see himself as Muriel’s child or protector.

Identify crisis can be a hard thing to deal with, but even worse when you aren’t sure exactly what you are or if you are a replacement for something or someone else. Courage having an identity crisis could explain a lot of his actions and how he reacts to things as well.

Come tell us what you think about these theories! Join our community and swap thoughts about it with us. Join me tomorrow as we get a look into exactly WHERE Nowhere may be! Until the, keep on theorizing, Fanaticals!