Courage: Underlying Themes (DARK THEORY)

Hello, Fanaticals! As we finish up Courage the Cowardly Dog week, we are going to end with probably the darkest theory I have found. Due to my own history with the subject, I will absolutely agree to this as a dark theory because no one wants to think about a beloved cartoon having this as an underlying theme that has its own theory.

TODAY'S WARNING is Domestic Violence related. As a survivor of DV myself, I can understand the sensitive nature to some people about this. If this is a big trigger for you, don't keep going. While the discussions may not be in depth, the insinuations of how deep it runs are there.

The Show is About Domestic Violence

There is actually quite a bit that can be used as evidence to this. From the get-go, we see Eustace is almost constantly emotionally abusive to Courage; always yelling and tormenting him. Even in the opening credits/theme, he yells at him about making him look bad before pulling out a mask to intentionally scare him.

Now, this is not a theory that I saw right away, but after having escaped a marriage shrouded in DV, it hit me like a ton of bricks the first time I rewatched the show because I could see everything. It may not be obvious at times, but for those who have lived through it, this theory can hit you pretty hard.

As we watch the series, we see Eustace's mother come into play a couple times. This is truly where we see the connection to the theory, as you see how his mother acts towards him, is how he acts towards Courage; that small tidbit almost circles back to our other theories about Courage being their son, not their dog. We all know that we have to physically acknowledge what is happening in order to break the cycle, and Eustace does not see the mistreatment from his mother: he, too, is just a small boy being yelled at by a parent.

There are also several times where Eustace either throws him into a room, out of the house, or just hits Courage in general. While normally it's an attempt at comedic relief for the situation going on, it shows a lot of Eustace's violent tendencies as well. It's also eerily reminiscent of Harry Potter, and even the undertones of Severus Snape as well. Although the feel leans more towards Snape, as a small boy trying to protect his mother from a violent father, you can also see a bit of Harry in the constant being thrown out or hit.

Overall, the feeling is definitely there for Courage in this underlying theme. We may never want to see the bad in our favourite shows, but when shows go down dark paths even in the story line, it's a bit easier to find the dark theories over the light ones. So, let me even out this darkness with the one light theory that I found that can also makes sense.

The Tub-Gator is Courage's Guardian Angel

In the series finale, there is a tub-gator that seems to just be a constant blessing in disguise as he talks to Courage. It has been theorized that this is his Guardian Angel. I also touched a bit on this character during our Purgatory discussion, as an example of his time in Purgatory coming to an end.

In the same light, we can see Courage's time of torture coming to an end overall, and that this character was sent to Courage to encourage him and be his positivity. While not necessarily conventional in the thoughts of a "Guardian Angel", the feelings are still the same as we watch Courage literally gather his courage to deal with one last villain.

Are these believable theories to you? Come join our community and talk about it with us! Join me next week as we take a dive into ruining the Future! Until then, keep on theorizing Fanaticals!