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Courage's Real-Life Origins (DARK THEORY)

Hello, Fanaticals!! Who is ready for this week? This is going to be a week with a lot of darker theories, which is no surprise as Courage was a very dark show for being a kids show. In fact, there are two episodes that, to this day, even as an adult I will not watch because of the nightmares they can induce. While last week's show, Bob's Burgers, has its own dark theories, there actually are quite a few theory themes that run very similar with Courage.


A very scary part of some of the theories from Courage the Cowardly Dog, are the theories that claim the show is stemmed from true events and people. While there is some evidence that shows heavy connections, there is no real proof that these theories are true. I'm not sure if that relieves me, or if I would rather know if it's true; but just the thought that either of these could be true is truly scary.


While not entirely dark theories, the roots of the theories are very dark. If you have never heard of these, I will warn you that they involve death, and a very old case of a serial killer. If this makes you uncomfortable, please do not continue this article. For everyone else, let's take a look at Courage's real-life origin theories.



Muriel and Eustace are Based on a Real Family Out of El Paso, Texas, USA

While I have no found evidence that Courage is not based on a true story, there are many that say otherwise; however, the creator apparently did take inspiration from horror movies and such, so it's not far-fetched that this could be a part of the inspiration that he took.


Once upon a time, there was a family who lived on the outskirts of a town in EL Paso, Texas. A couple named William and Margaret Patterson was a couple who when asked about had similar descriptions to how Eustace and Murial behaved. However, in March of 1957 the couple seemed to disappear into thin air overnight. While there have been no leads in their disappearance, this incident happened during the tri-decade long UFO conspiracy theories that began in Roswell and spread out to nearby areas.


There are also theories that the couple was murdered. At one point, their former caregiver admitted to seeing and cleaning up a small portion of blood and a piece of human scalp in the garage. Additionally, the caregiver witnessed a person putting a bloody sheet in their vehicle. This information was reported in an article from the El Paso Times, dated March 11, 2022[1].


Reportedly, no matter how or why the couple disappeared, the couple left behind their cat, which is where the inspiration of Courage has stemmed from in these theories.


While this is a fan theory of where Murial and Eustace stem from, the next part is much more chilling with even closer ties to the possibility of being a true story that the show is based on.



The Family was Based on Victims of a Serial Killer in New Mexico, USA

Possibly the most chilling real-life connection theory of all is the one that surrounds a family from Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. A man was apprehended back in 1999, but it was suspected that he had started his crimes as early as 1957; this man was called the Toy-Box Killer, but his name was David Parker Ray.


I will not go fully into his rap sheet or details, because much of it disgusted me and I grew up watching CSI and other shows like it. However, the biggest detail of what he did comes down to how he achieved the nickname that he got. He would place his victims in a small box and torture them before their inevitable ends.


The theory that parts of Courage came from him stems from that small detail. It is theorized to coincide with that detail in the essence that Courage and his humans lived in the middle of Nowhere, a very similar name, and lived in a home that (in some articles I have found) seem to resemble one owned by a family that became Ray's victims along with their dog.


The theory also follows that Courage was tortured like one of Ray's victims would have been, being driven to insanity with all the weird and creepy things that pop up in the house that he feels the need to save his family from. Yet most of what happens to them, happens in either their house or a small area that Courage can't really escape from because he's a dog and not a human. It's almost symbolic in a way; as a dog cannot escape a human situation, his victims could not escape the small box they were kept in.



While these were never theories and observations I had expected to find, it was actually these two theories that set off the idea for this site as I went down a deep, dark rabbit hole of dark fan theories at one in the morning and then could no longer sleep. Seeing these theories, I'm sure you can imagine why I didn't sleep that night!


Have you heard of these before? Have you heard different detail? Come join our community and let's talk about it! Join me tomorrow as we go into another darker theory, one I (as a parent) hope to never find myself in. Until then, keep on theorizing, Fanaticals!



News Sources:

[1] Title: 65 years, many theories, no leads: Pattersons still missing

Author: Trish Long

Date Published: March 11, 2022

Website Name: El Paso Times

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