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The Gangreen Gang
GangreenGang
Name: The Gangreen Gang
Nickname: Boys (referred to by Sedusa)
Gender: Male
Age: 14-17 (exact ages unconfirmed)
First appearance: Whoopass Stew (early) Buttercrush (official)
Last appearance: The Powerpuff Girls Rule!
Episode count: 28
Creator: Craig McCracken

The Gangreen Gang are supporting antagonists in The Powerpuff Girls. They are a group of trouble-making hoodlums who live in a shack at the Townsville city dump. Their members include Ace, Snake, Lil' Arturo, Grubber, and Big Billy.

They are a less significant threat to Townsville, described by Blossom as "...not even a criminal element, just a nuisance." The boys are mostly known for committing petty crimes, such as vandalism and harassment of the young or elderly. Their team name is a play on the term "gangrene", which is a skin condition.

The Gang are characterized by their green skin, and all the gang members have black hair, except for Big Billy, who has red hair. They appear to be teenagers, but they vary widely in height and body type. Their species is mutated human.

They originally appeared in the intro for Whoopass Stew as the villains The Powerpuff Girls are shown fighting, making them (alongside the Amoeba Boys, who appeared in the main portion of the short) the oldest recurring villains in the series. They also appear in The Powerpuff Girls Movie as tertiary antagonists.

The Gangreen Gang are a tribute to the works of cartoonist Ed Roth, particularly Rat Fink. They also bear a slight resemblance to Gorillaz (of which Ace became a member in 2018), Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, and the Toon Patrol (the weasels from Who Framed Roger Rabbit),

Biography[]

As shown in The Powerpuff Girls Movie, the Gangreen Gang are the first villains the girls ever encountered. Later, they are also the first villains (aside from Mojo Jojo) the girls are shown fighting after they are welcomed as superheroes. This is when the gang is robbing an old lady who was shopping and eating her groceries. They are then put in jail with Mojo Jojo and Fuzzy Lumpkins.

In "Telephonies", the Gangreen Gang make prank calls to the Powerpuff Girls to falsely report Mojo Jojo, Fuzzy Lumpkins, and HIM, leading these villains to wrongly recieve the girls' discipline when they were simply doing everyday activities. The villains later beat up the Gangreen Gang at the Mayor's office.

See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey[]

The Gangreen Gang appeared in the rock musical episode "See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey", where (along with other villains) they are causing chaos and terrorizing people in Townsville. The Powerpuff Girls arrive to try to defeat them. The Gnome eliminates all the villains, but he later loses his power, releasing the Gangreen Gang and all the other villains. Only Ace sings a solo line in the musical.

Big Billy is later seen along with all the other villains singing "Why Can't We All Get Along?" giving the message that they can have redeeming features, including in their villainy.

Members[]

Ace[]

Ace D. Copular (voiced by Jeff Bennett) is the Gang's leader, a mean-spirited, bullying, greedy opportunistic rogue. Ace's height is 6'1".

Ace

Ace

He sports a long, straight, greasy, slick-back hairdo, a scraggly mustache, an orange and cobalt-blue vest-jacket, a white shirt with long purple sleeves and neck collar, beige-yellow high-waist pants tattered at the ankles, black high-heel, Winklepicker shoes, and a pair of black pointed shades. He has long canine fangs, which make him look somewhat like a vampire. When he speaks, he sounds like the typical juvenile delinquent, mean and disrespectful. He has a nasally Italian New Yorker accent. Ace is of Italian descent.

As the Gang's smartest member, Ace is the instigator of most of their antisocial activities, and he does possess a certain charismatic charm that allows him to sweet-talk people who ought to know better, such as Ms. Keane and even Buttercup in the episode "Buttercrush".

In Power Lunch, Ace gains cryokinesis, the ability to generate ice and snow, from eating Popsicles and Slurpees. It is similar to Blossom's ice breath, but a lot more powerful. In the book "Buttercup and the Mind-Reading Juice", it is revealed that he is aquaphobic.

Style updates[]

  • In the earlier episodes (1998-2002), Ace was shown to have his shirt tucked in. However, in the later episodes, he was shown with his shirt out to give him a more thuggish look, and possibly to help with a visual issue - the outline of his butt was shown in Buttercrush, Telephonies, Slave the Day, and See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey (although that scene was recycled footage from Buttercrush). This style update makes him appear to some as if he is wearing tights with a one-piece.
  • His skin was originally a more yellowish shade of green, his hair and features were more rounded, he had a few spots or "moles" on his face (these three changes also applied to the other members), and only his upper canines were fangs (similar to a vampire). From 2002 onward, his skin was a darker shade of green, he had a more angular look, the moles disappeared, and all of his teeth were fangs. Sometimes his fangs are not visible and look more like normal teeth, particularly in the earlier episodes. Sometimes only one of his canine fangs is visible, but in some newer episodes (such as Aspirations) he has two visible canine fangs (again, making him look vampiric). His canine fangs almost always protrude from his upper lip.
  • In Buttercrush, Schoolhouse Rocked, and Bought and Scold, Ace has pink sclerae. However, they are orange in The Powerpuff Girls Rule!!!. In every other episode, they are either left white or hidden by his sunglasses the whole time.
  • In The Powerpuff Girls Movie, The Powerpuff Girls Rule!!!, and Telephonies (as well as in certain Powerpuff Girls Z episodes), it is revealed that he has pointy ears.
  • The only times that Ace is ever shown without his sunglasses are in the episode Buttercrush after Buttercup knocks them off, in the episode Sweet 'N Sour where the same thing occurs, again by HIM in Telephonies, and in the video game Chemical X-Traction where Ace takes his sunglasses off and throws them like a boomerang.

Ace's clothes[]

  • White baseball shirt with purple sleeves
  • Blue and orange ski vest (always shown opened over the shirt)
  • Black boots
  • Beige-yellow tattered bellbottom pants
  • Red white and blue striped wristbands
  • Black shades

Snake[]

Snake

Snake (voiced by Tom Kenny) is the Gang's second-in-command and a slippery, serpentine character who appears very sycophantic with a forked tongue, a long, sharply pointed nose, pink slitted eyes, black lips, a skinny body, and a Kangol hat turned backward. Due to his face being pointed, he is always shown facing sideways. He speaks in a hissing manner, sustaining the "s" sound. Snake is of Scottish-Japanese descent.

Snake is the Gang's second-in-command, but this mostly means that he is reduced to a yes-man to Ace. He does have his own personality, but it is usually silenced as Ace punches him when he speaks out of line. This could imply that Snake is more loyal to his friend Ace than he is independently evil, which makes sense since he can be quite insecure. It is revealed in Schoolhouse Rocked that his real name is Sanford D. Ingleberry.

In Power Lunch, he gains elasticity, the ability to stretch himself, from chewing gumballs. In the book "Smashing Lumpkins", it is revealed that he weighs ninety pounds.

Style updates[]

From 2002 onwards, Snake's lips are thicker, his eyes are a darker shade of pink, his voice sounds more sinister, and the hairs on the neck are gone.

Snake's clothes[]

  • Brown Kangol hat (always worn backwards)
  • Striped white guinea tank top
  • Striped yellow shorts
  • Black hi-top sneakers
  • Black and yellow striped wristbands (sometimes shown as yellow and white)

Grubber[]

Grubber

Grubber

Grubber (voiced by Jeff Bennett) is the Gang's most physically grotesque member, with untidy hair, an enormous chin, ragged clothes, a long tongue hanging out, and protruding eyes, resembling an Ed, "Big Daddy", Roth cartoon. Grubber is of British descent.

He appears to be mostly mute, instead communicating by blowing raspberries. However, he can occasionally demonstrate unexpected talents, such as playing the violin, speaking eloquently, or performing impersonations (at first, he performed them so poorly it was a wonder how he fooled anyone, but later he became able to do them perfectly).

In Power Lunch, he gains the ability to produce loud, supersonic belches, from drinking fizzy beverages.

Style updates[]

Grubber's shirt is changed from brown to purple.

Big Billy[]

BigBilly

Big Billy

Big Billy (voiced by Jeff Bennett) is a hulking, fat cyclops with a shock of red hair covering the top half of his face with a single big blue eye underneath. Billy acts as the Gang's muscle. Big Billy's height is 6'11" tall. He weighs 1014.1 pounds. He is the same age as Snake and Grubber, the middle-aged members of the Gang.

Though he does at times display a childlike innocence, Big Billy mostly just does the bidding of his more savvy and vindictive friends. Big Billy loves to eat, and will gobble more junk than the rest of the gang.

In the episode Schoolhouse Rocked, it is revealed that his real name is William W. Williams and that he has only one eye. In Slave the Day, he was saved by the Powerpuff Girls and began following them everywhere out of sheer gratitude, but he proved to be more of a hindrance than a help. In Power Lunch, he transforms into a rock, from eating hard candy. He is thrown by Snake to crush the Powerpuff Girls under his weight.

Big Billy's clothes[]

  • Green shirt with yellow stripes on the sleeves
  • Blue cuffed jeans with a belt
  • Black sneakers.

Lil' Arturo[]

LittleArturo

Lil Arturo

Lil' Arturo (voiced by Tom Kenny and by Carlos Alazraqui in Buttercrush) is a malevolent Mexican dwarf with straight hair swept forward over one eye, who looks as if he jumped out of a Picasso painting. He appears to be a reference to the 1970 George Akiyama manga, "Zeni Geba", and he sounds very much like Senor Wences. He has a rather prominent underbite.

Lil' Arturo seems to take the most amusement from the gang's activities. Lil' Arturo carries around a switchblade-style comb he refers to as "Maria Conchita Teresa Rosalita". His full name is Arturo de la Guerra. ('De la Guerra' is Spanish for "of War." This could imply that, since 'Arturo' is close to the word "Art" and its Spanish equivalent "Arte", his name could be a reference to Sun Tzu's The Art of War.)

In Power Lunch, he gains super speed, from drinking coffee.

Lil' Arturo's accent was changed in later episodes because the producers feared complaints of Latino stereotypes.

Lil' Arturo's clothes[]

  • Red-maroon shirt with a white shirt underneath
  • Black pants
  • Black shoes

Episode appearances[]

Book Appearances

  • Smashing Lumpkins
  • Bought and Scold (based on the episode)
  • DC Comics series (for some reason, the colors on Ace's vest are usually messed up. Also, in one issue where the Gang was stealing socks, Grubber actually spoke.)
  • Buttercup and the Mind-Reading Juice
  • No Girls Allowed
  • Where Is Chicken Pox
  • The Valentine's Day Mix-Up
  • The Powerpuff Girls Movie: A Novelization
  • Party Savers
  • Scary Princess
  • Teeth Thief (based on the Moral Decay episode)
  • Mojo Mayhem

Game Appearances

Ace appears in the online game FusionFall, where he and the Gang are in a rock band. He is also older and is dating Buttercup (known as Belladonna in the game after she gets amnesia due to a fight with Mojo Jojo. Ace took her in under this name and she now uses it as a stage name). In the game, Ace is about 25 and Buttercup is about 13 since the Girls are now in middle school. Also, Ace has a barely noticeable goatee instead of a mustache.

Gallery[]

Click here to view the Gangreen Gang's Gallery

Trivia[]

  • The Gangreen Gang's name is a pun on the word "gangrene", which they supposedly suffer from despite not dying.
  • Ms.Mojo ranked the Gangreen Gang as the #8 Powerpuff Girls villains.
  • In 2018, Ace was a temporary member of the virtual band Gorillaz, serving as a replacement for the original bassist Murdoc Niccals while he was in prison. Following Murdoc's return to the band, Ace became a doomsday prepper and moved to the desert stocking up food and munitions, waiting for the 'endless dark" (according to Murdoc in the commentary edition of the music video Humility).
  • With the revelation in The Powerpuff Girls Movie that the Gangreen Gang were the first villains the Girls ever encountered, it is unknown why the girls did not recognize them in "Buttercrush". Considering that they were terrified and lost, and that their encounter was short, it could be that the girls simply forgot the gang. But, after that encounter, the girls found them again after saving the city and send them to jail. The behind-the-scenes explanation is that the movie was made long after the episode, so their first encounter in the movie was not canonical at that time.
  • The Gangreen Gang and Princess Morbucks are the only villains that attended school with the girls.
The Powerpuff Girls
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Episodes and VHS/DVD releases - The Powerpuff Girls Movie - Powerpuff Girls Z
Characters: The Powerpuff Girls  (Main: Blossom - Bubbles - Buttercup Other: Bunny - Bullet) - Professor Utonium - Mayor - Ms. Bellum - Ms. Keane
Mojo Jojo - Fuzzy Lumpkins - HIM - Princess Morbucks - The Rowdyruff Boys (Brick - Boomer - Butch) - The Amoeba Boys - Sedusa - Gangreen Gang - Minor characters
Video Games: Fifth Generation Games:  Chemical X-Traction (PS, N64) - Bad Mojo Jojo (GBC) - Paint the Townsville Green (GBC) - Battle HIM (GBC)
Sixth Generation Games:  Relish Rampage (PS2, GCN) - Mojo Jojo-A-Go-Go (GBA) - HIM and Seek (GBA)
Seventh Generation Games:  Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z (DS)
PC Games:  Mojo Jojo Clone Zone - Princess Snorebucks - Mojo Jojo's Pet Project
Misc. Superpowers - Townsville
Creator: Craig McCracken
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