2974. Larry-Boy

LarryBoy (or, alternatively Larry-Boy) began as a super hero alter-ego of Larry the Cucumber in Big Idea's Christian children's series Veggie Tales, who later received a self-titled cartoon series. First appearing in "Dave and the Giant Pickle", LarryBoy is the vigilante-crime-fighter and defender of the fictional Veggie-populated city of Bumblyburg. His trademarks are his purple and yellow latex suit (with purple mohawk), super-suction ears (semi-modified toilet plungers), and catchphrase (in response to some statement of a hero being needed): "I . . . am . . . that . . . hero!"

The world and character of LarryBoy originally mirrored Tim Burton's Batman films. The key parallels exist in the form of the "Larry-mobile" (which can transform from a modified car in the shape of LarryBoy himself to a plane or boring machine), which emerges from a Wayne Manor-esque mansion outside of town, the technically savvy butler named Alfred (Archibald Asparagus) and dark, somewhat gothic soundtrack and lighting throughout the sequences featuring the title character. In these first episodes LarryBoy himself is a secondary character to Junior Asparagus (and in Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed, Laura Carrot) who encounters small, deceitful creatures who tempt him into some form of wrong-doing (i.e. lying or telling rumours) and as the bad influence of the creatures increases, so does the size of the creature itself. LarryBoy then appears in an attempt to solve the problem through super-hero force, and is largely unsuccessful while the young Veggies in a crisis of conscience attempt to right their wrongs. As the truth is revealed, the evil creatures are reduced in size/potency and are neutralized. In the third LarryBoy (LarryBoy and the Bad Apple), the character's crime-fighting style is more reminiscent of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man, and as he is part of the sin-problem allowing the villain to gain influence in Bumblyburg, he is then instrumental in stopping said villain and restoring peace.
A somewhat different version of LarryBoy is presented in LarryBoy: The Cartoon Adventures (also known as Larryboy). This' was a 2003 television show the aired on Qubo in 2003 starring the voice of Mike Nawrocki as LarryBoy and based on the characters created by Phil Vischer and Chris Olsen. It started out on as a DVD series which later came on to Qubo in 2006. In Season 1, Archibald Asparagus (referred to as Archie rather than Alfred), Bob the Tomato and Junior Asparagus carry over from VeggieTales, the rest of the characters being invented for this series. In this version LarryBoy's alter ego is revealed to be a mild-mannered janitor at The Daily Bumble Newspaper, who also attends super-hero classes at the local college. These classes are taught by Master Bok Choy who references the "Super Hero Handbook" (The Bible) as the basis for his lectures.