Courage the Cowardly Dog

"The things I do for love."

- Courage's catch phrase in earlier episodes

"I've got a bad feeling about this, or my name is 'Stinky Lou Lou'... and thank goodness it's not!"

- Courage.

Courage is the titular main protagonist of the franchise of the same name. He is the dog of Muriel Bagge, who found him by a dumpster as a pup. Apparently he was abandoned as a puppy because his parents were sent in outer space by an evil veterinarian. Althrough Courage is easily scared, he is genuinely brave and still goes to great lengths to protect his owners.

He was voiced by Marty Grabstein.

In Beginnings
A pink puppy was born to Henry and his unnamed wife into a large, trash can. He was raised through example, and was quick to learn a lesson. Though his parents had an aristocratic fascination in canine objects, his well being was always of the utmost concern. While learning to catch a ball, he accidentally got his head stuck in between the bars of the fence, and was taken to the Pets of Tomorrow veterinary office. Here, he was freed by a seemingly good-hearted doctor, who gave him a lollipop and ushered him out of the room so he could speak to his parents alone. His tongue got stuck to the surface of the sucker, and then torn off, so the baby dog rushed back to be nurtured by his mother.

When he returned, the three were gone, and screams pleading for assistance could be heard from the hallway. He abandoned his candy and rushed in to find the vet carrying his parents away in a net. They begged not to be separated from their son. He rushed after them into a room of caged dogs, past which he discovered his parents being forced into a rocket ship. He tried to help them before its launch, but failed, as his fear drove him to flee into a garbage chute which led to a back alley. From there he watched as his family was sent away into space, while waving a tearful goodbye to them. Crying alone, he was found by a young red-haired Scottish woman who offered to take him home. Later to be known as Muriel. She named him Courage. He's been living under her care after she found him.

In Courage the Cowardly Dog
Courage the Cowardly Dog follows a dog named Courage, an easily frightened canine who lives in a farmhouse with Muriel and Eustace Bagge near the fictional town of Nowhere, Kansas. Abandoned as a puppy, Courage was found in an alleyway by Muriel, a sweet-natured Scottish woman, who fell in love with the pink puppy, and her husband Eustace, a grouchy, selfish, greedy farmer who constantly harasses Courage.

Courage, Muriel, and Eustace frequently run into monsters, aliens, demons, mad scientists, zombies, and other supernatural perils from myths and legends that Courage must fend off to save his owners, unbeknownst to them. Although most of the creatures that the three face are frightening or disturbing, some turn out to be sweet and simply in distress. The plot generally uses horror conventions, common to horror films.

Although episodic in nature, there are a handful of recurring characters in the show's cast, including Courage's sarcastic, sentient computer, the family physician Dr. Vindaloo, the Gypsy fortune-telling chihuahua Shirley the Medium, Eustace's mother 'Ma', and recurring villains, such as Katz and Le Quack.

Personality and Traits
Usually in normal situations, Courage is scared, mostly from Eustace's voodoo mask, that Eustace uses to scare Courage. But in situations where Muriel's and Eustace's life is in danger, Courage becomes very brave.

Beside his bravery, Courage is also very intelligent, and very quickly to find solutions to defeat various villains like Katz, Le Quack or various monsters. Courage has a computer that he uses for solving problems and finding answers for his problems.

In truth, Courage is a very kind-hearted dog and he will try to come up any solutions that might aid others beside his owners, such as The Duck Brothers, Bunny and The Hunchback. Another good quality about Courage is that Muriel's undying love for him is the major source of his strength.

Trivia

 * Despite the show's title and his obvious cowardice, Courage is actually the bravest character on the show. This ironically fits the name Muriel gave to him when he was a toddler, as he would later became that character.
 * Courage spoke English quite often in the first season, but from the second season onward, his dialogue became increasingly limited to gibberish, mumbling, and screams, only speaking occasionally or when he really had something to say.
 * Courage has many sounds that he's known for, such as his strange laugh at the end of some episodes.
 * Courage is the only character (aside from Katz and Le Quack) who ever speaks directly to the audience. The frequency with which he does so (nearly every episode) makes this one of his trademark characteristics.
 * During Courage's first flashback in Remembrance of Courage Past, his mother reveals his father's name when she calls him as he was playing with Courage.
 * Courage and Muriel are the only characters to be seen in every episode.
 * Courage's favorite food is apparently dumplings.
 * Courage is good at making shadow puppets as shown in The Hunchback of Nowhere.