Welcome friends, imaginary or otherwise. Today weâll be taking a crack at 1123 Wilson
Way, and the colorful cast therein. Thatâs right, weâre digging into the Cartoon
Network hit, Fosterâs Home for Imaginary Friends⌠to figure out whoâs the most
good, whoâs the most evil and where everyone else sits on the morality spectrum. Unlike some of its contemporaries which relied
on physical comedy for a laugh, Fostersâ humor and storytelling were both very dialogue-
and character-centric. These choices, as well as the showâs general
concept, gave us an incredibly diverse selection of characters to choose from, even outside
the featured cast. Weâll be doing our best to cover everyone
who made an impact on the show, but if we miss anyone who you guys feel is particularly
important, be sure to let us know in the comments below. Iâm Brad with WickedBinge and this is Fosters
Home for Imaginary Friends: Good to Evil. Letâs get started. As usual, weâll be starting with the most
pure and working our way down⌠These characters are The Good. Now, Fosterâs had a very wholesome premise
and a great number of characters to compete for the title of Most Good. For the Gold Medal though, we proudly present
Madame Foster, the homeâs proprietor. Now, Madame Foster isnât exactly a saint. She can be conniving, irresponsible and she
once shanghaied Bloo in a fabric shoppe when the fair was in town. Even at her purest, her main concern is simply
having fun, sometimes at the expense of those around her. In fact, while sheâs considered a local
hero - awards included - and can be counted on for sage advice from time to time, Madame
Fosterâs MO is that she is still a child at heart. She refuses to grow up. So how does she beat out some of our more
responsible entrants? To answer that question, we have to consider
context. As we said, Fosterâs Home has a very sweet
premise, but that premise only extends to the house itself. Actually, the society it exists in is remarkably
hostile. But as far as weâve seen, Madame Foster
is the only person in the world who has done anything to confront this issue. She actually opens up her heart and her home,
and her purse, to house, feed, and clothe these abandoned entities and find them new
families whenever possible. To consider Madame Foster is to consider her
imperfections, but also her mission. She is someone who has, through her life,
maintained sympathy for the plight of an otherwise-helpless public, all because she never grew up. Quite honestly, thatâs nothing short of
revolutionary. Our Silver Medal goes to everyoneâs first
thought when they hear the words âFosterâsâ and âGoodâ in the same sentence. Itâs Wilt. Wilt is one of those unique cases whoâs
simply too good for his own good. For example, it takes him an entire episode
to enunciate the word âNoâ, and once made it clear he would he happy to drown in quicksand
to spare his friends the rescue effort. In nearly every episode, Wilt is a saint,
but he loses out on the Gold Medal because of one of the most emotional episodes of the
series. The two-part episode Good Wilt Hunting delves
into Wiltâs past regarding his injuries, his long-lost creator, and his people-pleasing
ways. In a very nuanced presentation, we learn that
Wiltâs subservience is a subconscious response to his trauma - he feels he has to live in
penance for âletting downâ his creator. And you can actually see, by the end of the
special, Wilt has actually learned how to stand up for himself. But he also makes clear that his heart is
still very pure in that, rather than coming to live with his creator, he choses to stay
at Fosters to await another kid who needs him. Donât lie. You totally cried at that scene like the rest
of us. Next we have our Bronze Medal recipient, Frankie. Frankie put up with a lot, you guys. She was a live-in chef, maid, one-woman PR
firm, and big sister to even friend under the houseâs custody. In fact, as she said herself, her job was
arguably the biggest part of her life, and she rarely ever complained even when her personal
ambitions or her social life had to take the back-burner. More than that, though, Frankie believed in
the good of people, one of the many things that put her at odds with her employer, Mr.
Herriman. In fact, Frankieâs relationship with Herriman
was easily her most stressful - his tendency to demean her and treat her as a child, tended
to exacerbate a certain temper in her. For her few outbursts, and her subtle conniving
streak, Frankie was universally loved by the friends of Fasters, baring Duchess, and took
her role as caretaker seriously. She also stepped in as a caretaker for Mac. She was also sought after by World for her
kind and fun personality, and was the only one able to calm him after the climax of Destination
Imagination. I think deep down, we all wish we had a big
sister as cool as her. Then thereâs Mac, the 8-year-old protagonist
and perhaps the purest imagination Fosters has ever seen. Mac is meant to be our Everyman, a human lens
through which to view an otherwise fantastical world. But Mac integrates himself into the house
well with his creativity, his altruism, and his positive and helpful outlook. From his first visit, he endears himself to
the residents simply by being a good kid. But as our main character, Mac also goes through
the most development as the show progresses. He gradually becomes less naive, most apt
to stand up for himself, and even experiences some of the milestones that come with growing
up. The holiday special, in which Mac struggles
with outgrowing Santa Claus, is a good example of this. But Macâs patience isnât ironclad and
occasionally, his friendship with Bloo pushes him to recklessness, and thatâs to say nothing
of how he comes in contact with sugar. Still, heâs a good kid with a good heart,
something thatâs always in high demand. Eduardo, the Accidental Action Hero, comes
after. Eduardoâs definitely the softest friend
in the bunch, and his overemotional nature is his usual calling card. Created to be an intimidating but fundamentally
gentle giant, Eduardo admits he could never bring himself to hurt a fly. The first thing Mac and Bloo do when they
meet him is comment how his fearsome appearance contrasts his soft and cuddly nature. But actually Eduardo is capable of great feats
of courage when necessary, particularly to protect the people he loves, and though he
canât always control his phenomenal strength, he can always be counted on to use it for
good. Eduardo is also incredibly empathetic, weathering
the complete colonization of his flesh in order to host a family of imaginary fleas. But Eduardo can also be led by his fears and
insecurities, for example he once lied to a group of toddlers hyping himself up into
something he wasnât, only to have to scramble to keep one of them from finding out the truth. Itâs also been demonstrated that his childishness
can be a bit of a double-edged sword - he could definitely be petulant when he wanted
to be. But Ed really did teach us all to never judge
a book by its scary purple cover, lest we miss out on the friend thatâs inside. Our most bizarre entry, Coco, is up next. A hybridized creature based around the hallucinations
of a dying, shipwrecked child and then âdiscoveredâ by two self-centered scientists, Coco undoubtedly
has the weirdest origin story in the showâs canon (seriously, go check out what the creators
said on the matter. Itâs buck wild.) But Coco is normally a perfectly affable,
if somewhat chaotic, individual. Her most defining trait is her ability to
lay colorful plastic eggs which contain random, but usually helpful, items. Fitting this ability, Coco can usually be
counted on to havee helpful intentions but also though her execution can be... unorthodox. Sheâs no saint: her absurdity has caused
problems before, and apparently sheâs never someone to take murder off the table. But she places pretty comfortably in the good
for her loyalty and her general disposition. Itâs never really clear whatâs going on
upstairs with Coco, but you can usually be at least ninety-nine percent sure that she
never means any harm. Goo is next. A bright and upbeat personality with an incredibly
active imagination, Goo was forbidden from Fostersâ grounds for her ability to overpopulate
the house in a matter of days. It wasnât until Mac snuck her in and a series
of misunderstandings threatened their friendship that Mac was able to help her confront her
own imagination. He reasons with her that, rather than creating
an army of friends, it would be easier on her and everyone if she got to know the ones
she has already. This seems to resonate with her, through the
rest of her appearances sheâs as invested in getting friends adopted as anyone else. From then on, she uses her powers to aid the
house, and the occasional scheme, and even reigns in her incredibly short attention span
to organize adoption fairs. Goo does occasionally lapse into her old ways
unintentionally, but these are hardly crimes of character. Some of these occasions, though, are driven
by hubris. She can be hypercompetitive, especially when
she fears being outmatched creatively, as well as demanding, but sheâs still god for
her motivation and her brightness, as well as the appreciation she has for the art of
imagination. Wouldnât kill her to slow down her speech
a little though. The last of our Good guys is Bloo, Macâs
imaginary companion and the drive behind most of the houseâs troubles. Bloo can be petulant and self-centered, something
that all of his closest friends attest to at least once a piece, but his problem really
is his shortsightedness, compounded by his abundance of energy. Bloo has good intentions, mainly in the earlier
seasons, but he gets carried away very easily and maintains a lack of self-control. Certainly, he likes attention and getting
his own way, sometimes at the expense of others. But he can usually be counted on to have his
priorities straight, once reminded. One such example is the episode Cuckoo for
Coco Cards in which Bloo predictably becomes so wrapped up in collecting all the cards
without Cocoâs help, that he ends up making a fool of himself and hurting those around
him, be it his friends, his enemies, or even total strangers. It should be noted that most of Blooâs exploits
are a pretty common trope - having a character do bad things to justify the karmic abuse
they receive in turn. But when Bloo isnât indulging his mischievous
tendencies, heâs a pretty good guy. Thereâs definitely something to be said
for his friendship with Mac, and he never hesitates to act if someone is in danger,
further, he can be counted on to apologize when prompted. But blue as he is, heâs definitely as close
to morally grey as they come without actually crossing over. With the Good characters out of the way, we
now enter more neutral territory⌠These characters fall in The Grey Area. Our next entrant, Mr. Herriman, is described
by the showâs creators as the âstodgiestâ friend Fosterâs had ever seen. In fact, the pilot episode establishes him
as a staunch disbeliever in the good of humanity. He considers it a âregretful fact of lifeâ
that children simply tire of their imaginary friends and abandon them. On top of this, he serves as the business
administrator of Fosters and does spend a considerable amount of energy trying to have
Bloo taken out of their custody. But the same episode also demonstrates a subtle,
blink-and-youâll-miss-it nod to another facet of his character, this side remarkably
softer. The moment in question takes place shortly
after Duchess swoops in and snatches a chance at adoption away in front of all the friends
in the house. Mr. Herriman doesnât react with any outward
sympathy towards his despondent charges but he does stay behind to see them off. Itâs hard to glimpse his face, but it is
a very enlightening moment - of course he cares about his own kind and feels their pain
with their status as orphans. Stickler though he might be, Mr. Herriman
does truly care about Fosters and its mission for this reason, and throughout the series
he does go through great lengths to see it protected. Unfortunately, his commitment doesnât mean
his track record is completely clean - heâs an antagonist more often than not - but without
him, as we do see, nothing would really get done business-wise, so he places pretty comfortably
atop the highest stratum of grey there is. Jackie Khones, the deadpan starker of the
series and favored pet of the show runners, is next. Now, Jackie is the houseâs inside man - he
can usually be counted on, but only for a price, and that price is usually a sandwich. In fact, Jackie is definitely a friend whoâs
in the game for himself, from investigating his own crimes as a private detective, to
taking Madame Foster to court over his lunch. Thereâs actually a lot about Jackie that
never made it into the show - the writers liked him so much he actually had a pretty
extensive - somewhat contradictory - backstory. Definitely look into that if you have time! But for the purposes of his placement here,
heâs not the worst, but probably not the best either. We can only halfway judge our next entrant,
Macâs Mom, by her own merit. The other half is for what she represents. Imaginary friends are, in this world, only
imaginary in name. They have wholly unique personalities (itâs
even established that itâs impossible to âcopyâ a friend even if thatâs the creatorâs
intent), as well as biological needs which, if left unsatisfied, will cause them to suffer. Kids and adults alike acknowledge that these
creatures are just as alive as they are, but itâs considered acceptable to discard them
once they arenât needed for companionship anymore. Even worse, imaginary friends have no legal
protection and can actually be sold for profit as commodities, as the show has demonstrated. In this world, a normalized right of passage
is disowning a living creature who depends on humans for survival. Thatâs what it means to grow up in the Fosterâs
world, and that is utterly terrifying. Macâs mother is a hardworking single parent. She clearly has a great deal of affection
for her two sons, but she also believes in abandoning the life forms her societyâs
children create. Sheâs the reason Bloo lives at Fosterâs
in the first place. You canât fault her for accepting what is
presented to her as normal when she has two kids to feed, but the thing about injustice
is, even when good people perpetuate unwillingly, innocent people are still hurt. At the very bottom of the âneutralâ pile
we have our most famous entrant, the OG meme formerly known as Cheese. In his day, Cheese made quite an impact on
Fostersâ audience, and probably rightly so. Heâs simple, cartoonish and saturated in
random, gross-out humor. Looking back, though, heâs basically that
intentionally-irritating, universally-hated kid you remember from middle school. I mean, Cheese just wasnât funny - what
was wrong with us in 2008? Like the entities he places directly above,
Cheese doesnât have a parsed worldview and thus doesnât to apply any sort of morality
to his actions, instead he just acts on whatever impulse happens his way. His two most prominent appearances cement
him as a thorn in Frankieâs side, the former of which results in Fostersâ utter destruction. In fact, Cheese is never treated or regarded
as anyone as a nuisance. And honestly, thatâs probably how it should
be. With the Grey Area complete, we now move into
the dark side. These characters are The Bad and The Evil. The Extremeasaurs, specifically the Extremeasaur
Fighting Circuit, are, as an aggregate, the first on the list. Now, it isnât precisely fair to call these
creatures evil because they are - ultimately - only fulfilling the purpose behind their
creation. It would be more accurate to call them fighting
machines with varying levels of sentience. Most of them behave similar to animals, though
some have been shown to some degree of personality. Letâs look specifically at the behemoth
that the gang takes on in the pilot. Heâs big, he never speaks, and he seems
to only think with his stomach. Mac is even able to get him to turn on Terrance
and Duchess, despite them being the ones whoâd freed him. Conclusively, you canât really fault these
things for being destructive and vicious any more than you can blame an attack dog or a
rooster in a cockfight, but unfortunately, theyâre another example of the systemic
disadvantages that come with being an imaginary friend. Our next villain is World, a diminutive face-shaped
imaginary friend and the main antagonist of the television special Destination Imagination. On his own, World was more or less harmless,
if very emotional stunted and vindictive, but he became a real threat when armed with
his magical toy chest. World was unique - even sympathetic - among
friends weâd classify as evil in that he was motivated by fear rather than desire. Like all friends, World desired a companion
but despite the extent of his power, he lived in constant fear that his companion would
be taken from him. Frankie surmises this trauma was the result
of his creatorâs parents keeping their child from him. In this vein, even at his most powerful, World
isnât precisely a despot. When he sets his sights on Frankie, he doesnât
lure her into his world under false pretenses, nor does he ever keep her from leaving. Instead, he wishes to share his world with
her and appreciate her presence, something she was seriously missing back at Fosters. Similarly, heâs only provoked to rage when
Frankie is hurt by her friendsâ selfishness or when he believes theyâve kidnapped her. He is still a villain in his own right - he
spend most of the movie in various guises trying to throw the gang out of his pocket
dimension, but youâre given the chance to sympathize with him, and he ultimately comes
around, which is more than we can say for our next few. Our next offender is Berry, an adorable little
friend with more than a few screws loose. Berry is marked by her obsession with Bloo
and her fanatical desire to have him to herself. Her possessive, self-described âloveâ
has led her to do some pretty egregious things, namely making numerous attempts on Macâs
life, manipulating and threatening the other friends of Fosters, and even commandeering
a millionaireâs estate (complete with tying up the family and assuming a new identity)
in order to appeal to Blooâs materialism. Berry is one of the few instances of a yandere
in Western animation. Made famous by anime, this archetype is typically
charming and demure, but with the capacity for acts of intense evil. Further, this character is usually a female
motivated by a pathological fixation on their romantic interest. In every instance, though, Berryâs attempts
end in her utter humiliation. Bloo, in his typical obliviousness, rebukes
her advances once he catches on, and Berry is always carried away - quite literally - in
her ensuing tantrum. The showâs very first antagonist, Terrence,
takes our bronze medal of Bad. This kidâs your typical mean older brother,
whoâs favorite hobby out side of soap operas is torturing Mac. In fact, though itâs his mother that ultimately
pulls the plug, Terrance is one of the biggest reasons for the family throwing Bloo out in
the series pilot. Heâs unfortunately just one of those punk
kids who isnât really happy unless heâs making other people miserable, and even allied
with other villains in an attempt on Blooâs life, just because he knew how much Mac cared
about him. Bloo further demonstrates this desire extends
beyond his immediate family, and heâs happy to work as a bully for hire, He never gets
away with his actions, nor does he But he doesnât fall as low as he might though for
about the same reason youâd expect, he usually isnât smart enough to do any lasting damage. Still, Mac says it best, the guyâs a jerk. The most forgiving among us might excuse Terrenceâs
actions as the outbursts of an angry teenager, You definitely canât call our Silver Medalist
anything but pure evil, though. Itâs Her Royal Duchess, aptly called the
Duchess of Wails, in one eponymous episode. A blue-blooded pedigree with an omnipotent
sense of entitlement, Duchess spends her days at Fosters demanding she be waited on hand
and foot. Unlike most friends, Duchess doesnât have
any desire to be a companion but rather sees potential kids for the assets they can offer
her. She demonstrates this in the pilot, as well
as the lengths sheâs willing to go to exact revenge on those who stand between her and
the life she feels she deserves. She never develops, nor does she ever attempt
it, and her appearances become scanter as time goes on. In her day, though, she had a particular vendetta
against Bloo and plotted consistently to have him thrown out, or simply to antagonize him. She even proves herself too rotten for an
Extremeasaur to eat. Youâre probably wondering, whoâs left? And who could possibly beat out our two previous
entrants when our Bronze is a violent bully and the other is a bourgeois nightmare? The answer my surprise you. Our Most Evil, spunky reporter Erin Peterson. I know, I know, you donât remember this
character. Really, she wasnât a character so much as
a plot contrivance. But she really drives home exactly whatâs
wrong with Fostersâ world. Just hear us out. Erin Peterson is presumably the top news anchor
in the city Fosters is located in. Sheâs been in league with Fosters before,
usually by appointment, but does allow a few minutes of some of her bulletins to helping
friends get adopted, and at one point she agrees to do a piece on Fosters after Frankie
spends a few weeks petitioning her. Peterson doesnât display any surface-level
malice in any of her appearances, nor does she appear particularly intelligent, as Bloo
is able to fool her with his terrible acting. Despite her affability, though, Peterson is
the pinnacle of whatâs wrong with her society - she is conscious of, and even sympathetic
to, the plight of imaginary friends in her community. But despite being a prominent cultural figure
thanks to her station in the media, she does nothing to alleviate it. Instead, she actively profits off of it without
any second thoughts. The best example of this is in The Big Cheese,
where she and crew arrive for a piece on Fosters shortly after Cheese has destroyed the house. Without missing a beat, she turns the story
into an expose, and Frankie has to be the one to make that work in their favor. The reporter doesnât place where she does
because she is a bad person, only by what she represents. After all, those who are silent in the face
of oppression, by default, choose the side of the oppressor. To do so with the power at her disposal is
no war crime, but it is significantly worse than any other crime on the list. So for that, spunky reporter Erin Peterson,
here thy shall be condemned. Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends was a really
cute show. The character models were consistently surreal
and adorable, the colors were all cheerful, and the writing was light and fun without
being irreverent. There are significantly few truly bad characters,
and in this vein, itâs very much in keeping with real life. But in passing, Fosters also calls attention
to another, less-savory fact of real life involving societal structures. Sometimes, evil doesnât take the form of
a character you can categorize as âbadâ on a moral scale. Sometimes, evil is a system that leaves people
out, and the villains are those that choose not speak out against it due to convenience. Itâs a lesson we should all keep with us
for the future. But what do you think? Whoâs the most evil character in Fosters
Home for Imaginary Friends? Let us know in the comment section below. Make sure to hit that notification bell and
binge our Good-to-Evil playlist. Where we break down the morality of the characters
in your favorite shows, cartoons and movies. But most importantly, stay wicked!
