'' is a Webcomic created by Dave "The Knave" White. A parody of modern superhero comics, it features the adventures of Ken Watanabe, aka "The Japanese Beetle", who serves for justice in his own hilarious way. It debuted in 1996 .
The original version of the Japanese Beetle was a much different affair, usually relying on parodies of other comics events like the romantic-comedy girlfriend, both in appearance and her use of a 10-ton mallet to smack Ken when he's being an idiot. As the series drew to a close, Ken and the Squirrel are stuffed in White's pocket as he heads to a convention and find a portal to another dimension, the implication being that this is the world of the comic's next incarnation (since Asashi appears in her familiar blonde form). Eventually, White ended this series as he left Carnegie Mellon, but he kept the ideas with him.
One year after the Beetle's abrupt end, White revived the series and characters in a regular webcomic, with updates each weekday (eventually reduced to every Monday, Wedensday and Friday). This series is the one that introduced the basic framework for the series as well as practically all of the familiar characters. The series continued its familiar formula of parodying major comic book events and depicting its characters in bizarre situations until September 11 , 2001 . Unfortunately, White had been pursuing a storyline in which America was the villain, and subsequently had to drop the entire idea as he felt it would be inappropriate at the time. The series continued on for almost a year, finally concluding with a parody of Frank Miller 's The Dark Knight Strikes Again , at which point White ended the series so that he could "live life to its fullest".
The Japanese Beetle returned in the middle of 2003 , because White missed the character and because, in his own words, "(m)y idea of 'living life to its fullest' translates to 'sitting around on the couch, eating M&Ms and watching re-runs of Futurama .'" The new Beetle comics were hosted by Graphic Smash until late 2004 , when they were moved to a self-titled domain hosted by 741.5 Comics.
During the week of July 19 , 2003 , the story took a bizarre turn as Ken apparently travelled through time, meeting past incarnations of the Japanese Beetle. Soon after, he began shifting through realities, until he found himself back in the 1998 just before the World Trace Center attacks, at which point he said "Let's talk." The subsequent strips have Ken talking to a disembodied voice, later confirmed by White to be himself (but not the Cartoonist), basically discussing the strip's future. At first Ken thinks this is an ultimatum to straighten up, but White tells him that the point is for Ken to get up and do something interesting, so that he will have the will to write the comic again - at which point Ken wakes up from a long dream he's been having, since the end of the previous series. Talking with Katie revealed that the new villains introduced in this new series were fought and defeated by the Beetle-Bots. However, the series reached a rather abrupt "end" in February 2005 when White stopped updating.
- (real name Ken Watanabe): Skyline City's most (in)famous hero, Ken would love for you to believe that he has a dramatic superhero origin (parents killed by street mimes, adopted by an eccentric uncle, inherited a fortune). In truth, however, he simply got drunk at a college party and decided to become a superhero because he figured that they got "all kinds of crazy chicks". Using his charge card, he bought a jetpack and a laser pistol and started fighting crime. Normally an idiot and a Mysogynist , Ken does occasionally have flashes of intelligence and inspiration that allow him to save the day. More often than not, however, his enemies are just much dumber than he is. His superhero uniform consists of a black Baseball jersey with a large white B on the front, jeans, and goggles which he wears while flying. In White's parody of Spider-Man 's Identity Crisis series, , Ken temporarily adopted several new super-powered identities, including Honeybee , Rebound, Inkspill and AOL .
- --- : A classic version of the Beetle, he wears a white and red costume reminiscent of Superman , but patterned after Japan 's flag. Whenever the Golden Age Beetle needs help, he pulls Ken into the past, where the Modern Beetle becomes Little Nipper, the Golden Age Beetle's sidekick. Ken learned the hard way that the Golden Age Beetle wanted his help at the Battle of Midway - fighting for the Japanese. Ken immediately left, allowing the Golden Age Beetle to attack America's ships; this has no effect on the real world, since this was all part of a dream.
- --- : Another classic version of the Beetle, he wears a white jumpsuit with green gloves and a green mask with blank eyes and antennae (though this may be his real face). He operated in the 1970s, fighting villains like the Stagflator and Bra Burner. After hearing about Richard Nixon 's resignation, the Bronze Age Beetle went on the road to discover the American Spirit. After dealing with some racists, he and Ken are attacked by his old enemy National Nightmare, at which point Ken decides to leave.
- --- : Yet another classic version of the Beetle, he is a parody of . He is older than Ken, but wears a similar costume and drives a 1984 Chevy Impala (which looks like a tank) and has had a number of slain sidekicks (a parody of Robin , in both costume and their alter egos). He soon reveals that he's insane, having eaten the brains of the Questionnaire, the March Hare, and the Skyline City Philharmonic Orchestra to gain their power, which leads Ken to jump again.
- --- : Operating in 1994, the Modern Age Beetle is a parody of Cable and Shatterstar . He is large, overly muscled, and wields a gigantic, "extreme" gun. He is also the leader of Psyberblood S.T.R.Y.K.E. Force (a parody of the 1990s version of X-Factor ). When Ken comments that he was around in 1994, and it was nothing like this, he sets into motion the end of his dream.
- : Ken's sometimes roommate and best friend, the two met when the housing office of Thornton-Mellon university made them roommates. The Cartoonist is an analogue of Japanese Beetle author Dave White. He is depicted as being much more successful with women than Ken, though this seems to be a parody of Mary Sue s rather than a blatant example of them. After Ken's recovery from near-self destruction, the Cartoonist moved out to find his own way in life, but reinstated as Ken's roommate in the 2003 series. Since then, he has apparently gone steady with Sarah. He apparently has the power to change the comic's universe, but is generally too apathetic to do anything.
- : Ken's ex-girlfriend, Asashi was one of the characters introduced in the comic's earliest days, though she underwent a major redesign between then and the webcomic days. Asashi is a student of Thornton Melon University on a Kickboxing scholarship, and during the brief period when Ken was dean, was transferred to the foxy boxing team. They began dating when she found his drunken, inept advances (he mistook "Is that your face or did your neck throw up?" for a Pick-up Line ) charming. A very smart woman, her brains and insight have helped save the day when Ken was hopelessly floundering. In the end, Ken's endless perversion and self-serving attitude caused Asashi to break off the relationship. Despite several attempts at reconciliation, the relationship seems dead (especially since Ken has moved on to Kremlina). Eventually they patched up their differences and became friends again when Ken sought help after nearly dying.
- : Asashi's roommate and a former bank teller. She is clever, sexy, and lucky in love (unlike Asashi, paralleling Ken and the Cartoonist's relationship). Ken once asked Sarah out in an attempt to make Asashi jealous, but Sarah saw right through the plan and asked one of her ex-boyfriends, a super-handsome underwear model/investment banker, to go as Asashi's date and turned the tables on Ken. In the 2003 series a similar storyline happened, but this time Sarah had her ex pose as a supervillain called the Elimidator, who put the two women in a deathtrap to prove Ken's ineptitude. Unfortunately, Ken happened to find Sarah's sneaky manipulation attractive and proposed to her instead. After the 9/11 series change, Sarah started operating a Webcam news service out of her shower, offering to get rid of the pop-ups censoring her if she got enough donations. She has apparently become an item with the Cartoonist.
- : Ken's biggest fan, he was tricked into attending her sixth birthday party by being told it was a meeting of his fanclub. Katie idolizes Ken since he saved her from being hit by a truck, and has something of a crush on him. Eventually, Ken agrees to let her help out, using his Beetlecomputer to support him in the field. During the "The Japanese Beetle Strikes Again" event, Katie started wearing a Leopard -print T-shirt and ears and performing field missions, such as the rescue of Shrinky Dink. She has no powers to speak of, but has a jet scooter she uses to fly.
- : The unnamed commissioner of Skyline City's police, he is a parody of Batman 's long-time friend James Gordon . He's overworked, underpaid, and underprepared to deal with the superhuman threats facing his city. However, he does his job as best he can, and has been doing so for forty years. He has no plans of retirement, apparently believing very much in the old movie cliche of Retirony . He deputized Ken into the police force, and also removed him for endangering the mayor's life during a ninja attack. At the end of the day, though, the two are good friends and trust one another.
- : Ken and the Cartoonist's next-door neighbor, George is a square-jawed, nature-loving outdoorsman and a blatant parody of Mark Trail . When he took Ken out on a nature walk, he was mauled by a Wolverine , ate poisonous berries, and was left in the woods following Ken's first battle with the Flying Squirrel. George developed an immense dislike for the Squirrel, getting the park bulldozed and turning it into a parking lot all for the sake of revenge. He ended up becoming the Squirrel's roommate when the supervillain Blackmail ed him by threatening to report him for growing Marijuana . When the Squirrel revealed his plans to hibernate, George forced him to get a job, on pain of losing his Testicles ; this resulted in the Squirrel winning $7,000,000 on the Game Show Seven (a parody of Who Wants To Be A Millionare? ).
- : Ken's landlord, and the Grim Reaper . Unlike traditional depictions, Mr. Mortimer isn't dark or morbid; he can actually be quite amicable when he wants to be. He tends to use his imposing presence to scare his tenants into paying their rent. He lives with his wife, who has been dead and decomposing for a long time, which is why he doesn't have many guests. After Ken blew up his apartment, Mr. Mortimer moved him to a rooftop penthouse so he couldn't do as much damage. He attempted to start the Apocalypse in 1999 , but his fellow horsemen bailed out because they had Super Bowl tickets. He has not appeared in the 2003 version of the comic.
- (real name Max Witter): One of Skyline City's most beloved and prominent superheroes, Max Factor's most distinguising feature is his hair, which is harder than steel following a careful mixture of Shampoo s, Conditioner s and hairspray. In his civilian identity, he is the dean of Thornton-Mellon University, and has clashed with the Japanese Beetle in both identities. He was imprisoned by the Frenchman for a period of time, during which Ken temporarily took over the dean's chair. Max Factor was among the team assembled by Ken to fight Hypnotron in the post- 9/11 storyline which concluded the 1998 series. In the 2003 series, Ken nicknamed him Metrosexual Man , which lead to Max Factor kicking him in the groin. In addition to his hair, Max Factor seems to be able to fly, and employs various gadgets and tools themed around hair-care products (such as acidic hairspray).
- ''', the anti- Communist Sentaor was actually Cryogenically Frozen by the CIA so that he could battle Communism when it rose again. He first appeared to help the Japanese Beetle fight the Monsters of Socialism, managing to instill American Consumerism in them by showing them a pair of blue jeans. He would return on several occasions to help Ken fight Kremlina, but does not believe in the former villain's reformation. As in the past, McCarthy sees Communism everywhere, even when his subordinates just think of the pair as "a couple of crazy kids in love". In this sense, McCarthy's portrayl in the Beetle comics is like a combination of his historical self and Captain America (and ironically similar to the Ultimate Marvel version of that hero). McCarthy does not have any recognized super powers, but has exhibited some special abilities in the past, such as his Flaming Dragon Kick (a Street Fighter reference).
- : A superhero who was locked in an Easy Bake Oven for twenty years, Shrinky Dink was rescued by Katie and recruited to join Ken and his team. He has the ability to shrink to microscopic size, as well as a high intellect and mechanical skills, making him an obvious parody of The Atom (comics) (Ray Palmer). He has also apparently invented Big-O-Gas, which can enlarge those who have been shrunk.
- : A former member of the Legion of Super-Pets along with Shrinky Dink (don't ask). He was apparently being used by the government to provide cheap power by running in a giant hamster wheel. His super powers seem to include super-speed and the ability to store large object (like fully-grown humans) in his cheeks.
- : A direct parody of Hellboy , he appeared in the 2003 series in a story arc parodying the movie based on the comic book. In that arc, Ken is suspended from the force for endangering a civilian's life and goes to join the BFD, thinking it's all a hoax, only to learn that it's real. At the end of the arc, Heckboy invites Ken to join full-time, but he rejects the offer and misses the chance to handle the invasion of the space-babes.
- (assumed name Ryu Watanabe): The Japanese Beetle's oldest and most common foe. He was deputized by Ken in the 1994 series, after convincing the Squirrel of how bad super villains have it. He once claimed that he was a mutant, born with a Squirrel 's ears and tail along with super-sharp fangs and claws, and was trained in the art of Ninjitsu by Chinese ninjas. However, this seems to be a fabrication, since when Ken said that he didn't believe it, the Squirrel immediately switched his story to " Bitten By A Radioactive Squirrel ." In the 1998 series, the Squirrel is back to being Ken's arch-rival, though the two have teamed up on occasions. The Squirrel has used a number of clever schemes over the years in his attempts to take over the world. After winning $7 million on a game show, he formed a Deep Woods Capital, a Venture Capital business dedicated to funding super villains (including an attempt to drive the Beetle to suicide). He also commissioned the construction of Hypnotron, an evil robot he entered as a Presidential candidate. Following 9/11 , the Squirrel became a media analyist on the Fox News Channel under the alias Ryu Watanabe (a pun off of the Beetle's real name, as well as a reference to Street Fighter 's main character and his rival Ken). When Hypnotron replaced George W. Bush and took over America, Ken found the Squirrel working at a Fast Food restaurant and convinced him to help overthrow the evil robot. His first appearance in the 2003 has Ken hot on his heels following a robbery of the city's Strategic Acorn Reserve. The Squirrel's superpowers include flight and the ability to talk with squirrels.
- : The former leader of the Monsters of Socialism and Ken's current girlfriend. When she was eight, the sight of a neighbor child's Lemonade stand drove her into a Socialistic frenzy, inspiring migrant farmers into smashing the stand. From that point on, she became a champion of the Socialist cause, leading the Soviet supervillain team in an attack on America. However, an encounter with the Japanese Beetle and Joe McCarthy managed to instill the beginnings of Capitalism in her. She briefly teamed up with the Beetle to stop Chinese Communists from brainwashing the world with Mao Zedong 's preserved head, but reverted to her evil ways when she attempted to smuggle a Nuclear Warhead into the Fourth Of July fireworks. Though she was apparently killed in the attempt, Kremlina had secretly been rescued by Ken, who hid her from the authorities. The two had a brief relationship, which ended as soon as Asashi and Sarah got to her. When Ken was kicked off the police force, Kremlina decided to temporarily split with him so he could regain his focus; instead, however, he almost drunk himself to death. After turning his life around, Ken managed to win Kremlina's love back with honest shows of devotion. The two also fight crime together as partners. After 9/11 , Kremlina turned herself over to the authorities for her past crimes, and was incarcerated in the maximum security prison Tartarus 13 and became a model prisoner, even refusing to go with Ken when he arranged a jailbreak to get her out. As of the 2003 series, she is still in prison, but has occasional visits with Ken. Kremlina has occasionally given off an unknown energy from her gloves and combat knife, but whether this is a superpower or simply a special device remains unknown.
- : Kremlina's former teammates, a group of Communist supervillains. Their members include the Cosmonaut, who was transformed by Cosmic Rays ; Ilya Murometz Jr., son of the mythical hero, and MiG-1000, a super-intelligent weapons designer. After Kremlina left the team, she was replaced by a black-haired clone. The Monsters had a brief joke appearance as members of the Cleveland Reds during a story arc which had the Sperm Pirates as members of the Pittsburgh Pirates , but have not shown up since the end of the 1998 series.
- (real name Jay Walker): Possibly the most dumped-upon man in the Beetleverse. On the same day, he was fired, evicted, tested positive for Herpes , and his wife left him. He was forced to get an embarrassing job, wearing a Bluejay costume as an advertisement for a local diner, just to be able to live. Adding injury to insult, the Japanese Beetle caught him Jaywalking and had him arrested for "ruining our city's beloved traffic patterns." Initially Jaywalker did his best to get out of jail, never once even pretending to be a supervillain. However, he became so embittered with the city that upon his release from prison, he decided to become a true supervillain, plotting to destroy the city with a Nitrogen -powered bomb. Walker seemed to have developed a Psychosis while in prison, holding conversations with his bluejay costume (which seemed to talk back). However, his plan was easily thwarted by the Beetle, and he ended up back in jail. Ken later recruited Walker as part of his team to defeat Hypnotron, and the unlikely supervillain was apparently killed in battle with the android. Jaywalker never exhibited any super powers, though he apparently possessed the intellect to build a device capable of turning a city's sewer system into a massive bomb.
- : One of the Japanese Beetle's most confounding villains - but not in a good way. Despite his name, the Frenchman wears a , only to be stopped by Ken. The Frenchman also showed up in the 2003 series in a remake of his first appearance, where Ken went to his restaurant as his first date with Asashi.
- : Strange visitor from another world, El-Vis is a parody/ Pormanteau of Elvis Presley and Superman . His home planet Argon was apparently doomed to destruction, so his scientest father El-Al sent him into space on a rocket (however, El-Al forgot to carry the two and learned too late that planet wouldn't blow up for another five billion years). The rocket landed in Mississippi , where it was discovered by a pair of Hillbillies (actually Snuffy Smith and Maw). The child, now named Todd Smith, grew to maturity at an incredible rate, and set off to the city to learn his origins (from a Betamax tape El-Al left in his rocket). Todd exploited the legal system to get a job as a journalist, but ended up on the obituary beat, which lead to his meeting Mr. Mortimer, who just so happened to own a Betamax player. The tape revealed that Todd's ship was supposed to land in Ken's apartment, braining him (and apparently killing him); this would lead to Todd becoming friends with the Cartoonist and ending up a famous superhero with a Sweedish Stewardess . However, El-Al forgot to calculate the effects of Ken's hair gel, which caused Todd to land in his adoptive parents' field instead while Ken got the fame that was rightfully his. In a fit of rage, Todd (now calling himself by his Argonian name El-Vis), broke into Ken's apartment and attempted to kill him for ruining his life. Ken was badly beaten, only to be saved by Todd's adoptive parents, who revealed themselves as his REAL parents (El-Al had stolen him from their house, since he was childless). His mother banished him to the Negative Zone for a "time out", saving Ken. Later, El-Vis was brought back to fight in a parody of DC's Our Worlds At War event, but was killed. Despite this, he reappeared in the post- 9/11 version of the comic, in which Hypnotron coerced him into fighting Ken again by holding the shrunken city of Branson , Missouri (a parody of Kandor ) hostage. Ken managed to easily defeat El-Vis, and undid Hypnotron's brainwashing by forcing him to watch Hee-Haw reruns. Later, a super-powered woman named Scylla convinced El-Vis that she was his lover, and that the two of them had a daughter. However, Scylla was apparently working for Hypnotron. El-Vis' last major appearance had him battling a giant Huggawump, a battle which Ken interrupted because he (and the author) were tired of the bizarre form of narration which lead to that battle.
- : Also called the side is violent, his Vanilla calm, and his Strawberry sassy (a parody of Two-Face ). Multifacet's first documented appearance was as a member of the Flying Squirrel's team on the game show Seven, where he was beaten by the Squirrel and lost his cut of the money. He later robbed the bank at which Sarah worked, kidnapping her and the Beetle, who managed to defeat the villains. Multifacet was later sprung by the Monopully Corporation, who set him up as the CEO of Steve and Edie's Ice Cream (a parody of Ben And Jerry's ). From that position, he killed Monopulley's executives and began making various disgusting flavors such as Chocolate Diarrhea Surprise and Rainforest Crunch (which is full of Leeches , which he used in a string of bank robberies. However, Ken easily tracked him down and defeated him. Multifacet has no super powers and seems almost compelled to commit a bank robbery in each of his crimes. He is always accompanied by a trio of henchmen, each wearing one of the colors that makes up his body. His former personal assistant/henchwoman Cheryl (aka Chocolate Thunder) would go on to work for the Flying Squirrel as a part of Hypnotron's election campaign.
- : A parody of the Riddler , Questionnaire is a villain who uses his intellect to thwart hero and villain alike. In his first appearance, he was the keynote speaker at a villain convention, where he stole all the other villains' weapons and gimmicks. He also seems to possess the Riddler 's compusion to leave clues, but Questionnaire is not compelled to be honest; his string of clues was supposed to lead the Beetle to Tajikstan , while he hid out in Bermuda . Unfortunately for him, Ken and the Commissioner chose to forget about the crime and went to Bermuda on their own for vacation, running into Questionnaire there. Ken chased Questionnaire to a nude beach, where the sight of old, ugly naked men mentally scarred him. Questionnaire's next appearance was as a member of Evilcrat Party. When he questioned the plan of using Hypnotron as their new candidate, Hypnotron brainwashed him and made him Streak through the lobby. In one of his last appearances, Questionnaire was the brains behind Ken's team of villains sent to overthrow Hypnotron after he stole the Presidency.
- : Dr. E.E. Ness' ultimate creation and the main villain of the strip following the events of 9/11 . After the Evilcratic Presidential Candidate was indicted, the Flying Squirrel and Ness introduced Hypnotron as a replacement candidate. Hypnotron's Hypnotic powers and public appeal allowed him to take an 80% lead in the polls, but his popularity took a big hit when he kissed a baby without proper insulation, and electrocuted the child. At a press conference, Hypnotron dared the media to follow him, which resulted in the discovery of his tryst with a Black And Decker vacuum. It soon became apparent that Hypnotron was out of control when he proposed to use humans as fuel for robots and killed the other Evilcrats, except for the Squirrel, who formed an uneasy alliance with Ken and Asashi to defeat the android. In a rare moment of insight, Ken had Hypnotron disqualified from the race on the grounds that he was too young to be President, which distracted Hypnotron enough for Ken to remove the bolt that held his head on his body, disabling him. Hypnotron later showed up in the post- 9/11 part of the series, in which he had replaced George W. Bush as the President and was hypnotizing all of America. After breaking free from the brainwashing, Ken organized a team of villains (while disguised as Tengu) to battle Hypnotron. The rather dim-witted villains opted for an all-out assault, which failed spectacularly until the Enabler snuck up on him and removed the bolt once more. This was Hypnotron's last appearance in the series.
- : Built by Dr. E.E. Ness, the future creator of Hypnotron, the Doomsday weapon is, in White's own words, "the love child of Astro Boy and Big Boy ". He is an advanced android capable of transforming into the gun-laden Second Amendment Mode, as well as wielding the super-powerful Heston Gun. However, its ultimate flaw was the fact that it used Windows 98 , causing a General Protection Fault in the middle of its fight with the Beetle. The Doomsday weapon was scrapped and later used as the basis for the Beetle-Bots.
- : A race of horribly adorable aliens, the Huggawumps came to Earth to spread love and happiness. When met with resistance at first, they used their Lovetronic Emanations to make people happier and more receptive - except for the still suspicious Ken. During a talk with one Huggawump, Ken learned that they feed off of love before releasing their spawn in the planet's core and allowing their newly-hatched young to eat everything else. Even when faced with this knowledge, Ken resolved to do nothing to stop them, saying, "Figure out how well a creature that lives off of other peoples' love will fare in 21st century America." True to his word, the Huggawumps found themselves starving to death soon after and fled the planet. A giant Huggawump showed up later and fought El-Vis in a symbolic battle for America's innocence - which Ken ended because he was tired of the direction the story was taking.
- : A parody of the episode ''What is Reality?'').
- : A Ninja wearing a giant Tengu costume, Tengu is the leader of a clan of ninja operating out of Skyline City. He had a minor appearance in the 1994 comic, but had his first major appearance in the 1998 version. In it, the ninjas attempted to kill the mayor, but when confronted by Ken, Tengu revealed that he had forgotten why they were trying to kill him in the first place. To learn the truth, Ken knocked Tengu out and put on his costume, holding the mayor at swordpoint. After giving it some thought, the mayor revealed that he took an illegal campaign donation from the ninjas in return for making ninjitsu exempt from the city's professional services tax. When the Commissioner learned what Ken had done, he suspended the hero, leading him into a downwards spiral. After 9/11 , Ken and the Flying Squirrel joined forces to defeat Hypnotron. With his heroic allies lacking, Ken had to turn to his enemies to help defeat the android. While carrying out this plan, Ken wore Tengu's costume once more, though the Squirrel revealed his identity to the other villains after Hypnotron's defeat.
- : A contract hitman with a variety of powers that allow him to fool the victim into thinking he's their "bad conscience", depicted in cartoon fashion as a little evil man sitting on his/her shoulder. The Enabler was hired by Deep Woods Capital to kill the Beetle, who had just been fired and kicked out of his apartment. Drowning his sorrows in a bar, Ken fell for the Enabler's ploy and began drinking even harder, which caused Kremlina (who worked at the bar as a waitress) to kick him out. Undaunted, the Enabler managed to get even more alcohol into Ken, who was soon after discovered by Katie. When Katie noticed the Enabler, Ken caught on and realized that the black-clad man was not his conscience. When an enraged Ken accused him of ruining his life, Enabler sarcastically replied, "Don't be stupid. All I did was get you drunk. The only one who ruined your life is you." Enabler then attempted to kill Ken with a mind-bolt, but the hero's resiliance allowed him to survive. Some time later, Ken tracked Enabler to his bar and beat him senseless in revenge. After 9/11 , Enabler was made a part of Ken's team of villains as the stealth guy. While the rest of the team was being beaten by Hypnotron, Enabler snuck up on him and removed the bolt that held his head in place, effectively defeating him.
- : A group of modern-day Pirates , they first made their presence known by robbing the city's First National Sperm Bank in broad daylight. They then contacted the mayor, threatening to stain his intern's dress with the stolen goods and using it to Blackmail him (in a direct parody of the Monica Lewinsky scandal). Ken teamed up with Max Factor (a regular donator at the sperm bank) to defeat the pirates, destroying their submarine in the process. They later returned as music pirates, using Napster to illegaly download music; though their escape was thwarted, Ken realized that he couldn't arrest them and had to let them go free. In their final documented appearance, the pirates joined the Pittsburgh Pirates as part of a plan to rob America's national treasures (until it was observed that Cincinnati , Milwaukee and Saint Louis don't have any such treasures).
- : A supervillain with an incredible physique - and an even more impressive vocabulary. Though strong, he has a bit of a glass jaw, and is relatively easy to knock out. However, this doesn't stop him from getting right back up and fighting the hero again. As Ken learns, the only way to REALLY stop him is to say a word which he hasn't learned yet, which will cause him to sit down and ponder it. His incredible strength is apparently the result of steroids, as Ken learned when a swift kick to the crotch had no effect ("non-sexual destructisity", as the villain called it). SD was part of the muscle on Ken's team of villains sent to defeat Hypnotron.
- : A minor villain, Doc Lobster (a parody of Doctor Octopus ) first appeared in the story arc about the villain's convention where the Questionnaire made his first appearance. He was called in as the weapons expert for Ken's team of super villains to battle Hypnotron, but was soon after defeated by Ken and put behind bars. Doc Lobster made his first villainous appearance by claiming that crime was a performance art, which got him a government grant, making him untouchable. Ken's only recourse was to send a letter to his Congressman , which lead to the dissolution of the National Endowment For The Arts . In the 2003 series, Doc Lobster makes an appearance that parodies Spider-Man 2 , where he steals Lobster -related items and is tricked into stealing the fake element Lobsterium (a spraypainted baseball in a hamster ball). Doc Lobster has a set of mecahnical tentacle arms and a mind for weaponry.
- : One of Doc Lobster's best friends, a super-intelligent talking gorilla who dresses as a Beatnik and is a parody of Gorilla Grodd . He first appears in the supervillain convention, where he (like the other villains) is robbed by the Questionnaire. He sees through Ken and the Commissioner's disguises and says that if they don't track down the Questionnaire and return the stolen goods, he'll sue the city. Bongo is later called upon to join the attack on Hypnotron as the creative type (though he also serves as muscle). His final appearance is in the story arc where Doc Lobster has turned crime into a performance art. Bongo is called on by his old friend to help with his latest performance, Armed Robbery. When Ken gets the NEA dissolved, Bongo and Lobster are stranded in Lobster's house at the bottom of the ocean, wondering who gets to eat whom first.
- : A British supervillain with cold-generating powers, Lord Chillingsworth appears as a large man with a bare chest, bowler had and mechanical arms or gauntlets. He appeared in the 2003 series, defending a cold generator planted by Monopulley to lower the city's temperature and raise natural gas prices. Ken teamed up with Max Factor to fight the villain, eventually learning that Chillingsworth was a robot. After destroying him, Ken disguised himself as Chillingsworth and used the hyper-emergency repair subroutine to locate his creators, which allowed him to arrest them and expose the plot. When last seen, Chillingsworth's head was being used by Ken as an icemaker.
- : Appearing in the 2003 series, Giant S is a parody of The Big O , albeit styled like a woman. Its pilot is a woman who wears a business suit identical to Roger Smith 's as well as a mask. At first she appears stomping through Skyline City aimlessly, which causes Ken to ask why she isn't using her giant robot to, say, rob banks - which she immediately sets off to do. However, Ken manages to defeat her rather easily by blasting one of Giant S's knees, sending it off balance.
- : A disgruntled scientest, Dr. Rodriguez used his theories of brain expansion to give himself a super-large cranium and became a supervillain to get revenge on those who mocked him. His ultimate creation was the Atkinsoid, an android raised on the Atkins Diet , which turned out to be a double-edged sword when the lack of vegetables crippled it. This didn't stop Brain from using his telekinesis to control the Atkinsoid, but it gave the Beetle the chance he needed to get in close and fight Brain, allowing Ken to easily knock him out. However, the villain's brain-dome was revealed as an escape vehicle, which did him no good when it flew directly into the blades of a police helicopter. The brain was placed in a fishbowl and handed over to the cops.
- : A pre-teen Eco-terrorist with plant control super powers in the same vein as Poison Ivy . Holly believes that humans took what rightfully belongs to plants, and seeks to take it back by destroying the city. She is aided by her servant Trunk, a super-strong but stupid human (similar to Bane , mirroring her partnership with Poison Ivy in Batman And Robin ). When Ken confronted her, he learned that she was allied with the Flying Squirrel, who shared similar environmentalist attitudes. When it was realized that Ken and Holly were at a stalemate, Ken proposed single combat between a representative of humanity and plants. Ken stood for humanity while a Begonia represented plants and was easily defeated.
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