Long before Wade Wilson stole the crown, Ren And Stimpy’s Powdered Toast Man was the ultimate parody of superheroes. The Ren And Stimpy Show is a cult animated series that ran on Nickelodeon from 1991 to 1995. The show follows the title duo, an angry Chihuahua named Ren and a dumb cat named Stimpy. The show quickly became famous for its chaotic tone and crass humor and was filled with dark jokes that went over the heads of many younger viewers.
Ren And Stimpy would become a cult hit, inspiring later animated shows like Spongebob Squarepants. Later seasons of the show were considered a disappointment, however, and it was canceled by Nickelodeon in 1995. The duo made a brief comeback in 2003 with Ren & Stimpy “Adult Party Cartoon” for Spike TV. This show was aimed at mature audiences and was significantly darker and grosser than the original series. Fan reaction to this spinoff was extremely mixed and it was quickly canceled.
Ren And Stimpy had a bizarre line-up of supporting characters, but few were quite as unique as Powdered Toast Man. This character is essentially depicted as being a Superman-style hero - but with a head made of two slices of toast. The character first appeared on commercials within the series, arriving to save breakfast for Ren and Stimpy by scraping pieces off himself to form powdered toast. The toast is noted for tasting awful unless he farts on it.
Powdered Toast Man comes with a bizarre set of superpowers, including flight powered by flatulence and firing breakfast treats as weapons, like shooting raisins from his mouth. Powdered Toast Man also has a mild-mannered secret identity as Pastor Toastman, but while he might be supremely confident in his own abilities, Ren And Stimpy repeatedly shows him to be a terrible hero. He often causes more damage by trying to help, like saving a cat from a tree but causing a plane crash. He also frees the President following an embarrassing accident with his zipper, but his solution puts him in hospital. Later, while acting as temporary President, he burns the Bill Of Rights to light a fire.
Powdered Toast Man later dies in Ren And Stimpy season 5 episode “Dinner Party,” after holding in a burp causes his head to pop off and eaten. Powdered Toast Man is a dark, but somewhat loving, parody of superheroes and comics. Despite being universally beloved within the show itself and having an ego to match, he’s hilariously ill-suited to saving people. His lack of care often causes fatalities and in most cases, it would have been better if he wasn’t around to save the day at all.
Even Deadpool, who is far from a conventional hero, manages to save lives and do some good occasionally. The fact nobody within Ren And Stimpy appears to realize how awful he becomes part of the gag. In one of the more bizarre pieces of trivia about the show, Powdered Toast Man also appeared in a Marvel Comics crossover with Spider-Man, where the duo team up to take down Dr. Donut. This one of the many reasons Ren And Stimpy’s Powdered Toast Man remains a cult hero to this day - which is the only heroic role he’s suited for.
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