Hunchback of Nowhere

“	One shouldn't act unkindly to others.	„
	~ Hunchback of Nowhere

The Hunchback of Nowhere is a character that appears in the Cartoon Network show, Courage the Cowardly Dog, that befriends the titular dog.

Bio

He is a lonely hunchback looking for shelter arrives at the farm after being turned away by everyone else; Courage quickly befriends the hunchback.

Personality

He is the grotesque hunchbacked man with a heart of gold who visited the Bagges one night. In fact, he is perhaps one of the nicer characters Courage has met in the entire series. He also holds the distinction of being the only character besides Muriel to stand up to Eustace on Courage's behalf.

Story

On a rainy night in Nowhere, a small and heavily deformed Hunchback travels through town looking for shelter, but he's repeatedly rejected by some bigoted residents. Sullen, he finds his way to the Bagge Farm. Peering in the window, he sees Courage being harassed by Eustace as usual, this time with a pair of over-sized pop-out eyeballs. The Hunchback requests a room to spend the night in, but Eustace, not surprisingly, rejects him. Courage is then ordered by Eustace to get his raincoat from the barn. Courage hurries through the downpour to the barn. Upon entering, however, he hears ringing, and finds the dejected Hunchback in the hayloft playing bells. Courage joins in, and the two quickly become friends. The Hunchback then takes Courage for a ride on a trapeze, which initially frightens him but he finds that he enjoyed the ride. It's not long before Eustace storms in from the storm and demands his raincoat from Courage. The Hunchback watches Courage bring his cruel master the garment, and shakes his head in disgust at Eustace's bullying. The Hunchback cheers Courage up by making some intricate shadow puppets with him.

The next morning, Muriel welcomes the Hunchback into the house and offers him breakfast. Eustace is horrified to see that The Hunchback has returned. Eustace rudely orders the Hunchback to leave and never come back, but Muriel defends the Hunchback from her husband's attitude. It's not long before Eustace begins to pick on The Hunchback, but The Hunchback is ready this time with some comebacks supplied by Courage (all of which are blunt statements about Eustace's lack of hair.) Muriel, fed up with her husband's behavior, kicks him out of the house to eat his breakfast elsewhere.

Later that night, Muriel is outside with an umbrella watching Courage and The Hunchback perform their bell duet on the barn roof. Eustace notices the Hunchback wearing his raincoat, and hurries up to reclaim it. He takes the opportunity to frighten Courage with his pop-out eyes again, almost knocking the little pink dog off of the roof. This finally pushes the Hunchback too far as he advances on Eustace, who steps back in surprise and fright. The Hunchback decides to show what 'real' ugliness is and reveals a large mask of Eustace's face, frightening the farmer right over the edge of the roof, where he lands on the ground and groans weakly.

When the rain finally lets up, The Hunchback says that it's time for him to continue his journey, but not before wishing Courage and Muriel goodbye. The Hunchback turns and walks into the night, chuckling merrily at his newfound optimism about kind people.

Trivia

• He is based on Quasimodo from Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, as is evidenced by his acrobatic skill, strength, hatred of violence, and liking of bells.