The Gangreen Gang (1998 TV series)

The Gangreen Gang
Name:	The Gangreen Gang
Nickname:	Boys (referred to by Sedusa)
Gender:	Male
Age:	14-17 (exact ages unconfirmed)
First appearance:	Whoopass Stew (early) Buttercrush (official)
Last appearance:	The Powerpuff Girls Rule!
Episode count:	28
Creator:	Craig McCracken

The Gangreen Gang are supporting villains of the original series. They are a group of trouble-making hoodlums, punks and thugs who live in a shack at the Townsville city dump. Their members include Ace, Snake, Lil' Arturo, Grubber, and Big Billy. They're lesser recurring villains in The Powerpuff Girls, described by Blossom as, "...not even a criminal element, just a nuisance." The boys are mostly known for committing petty crimes, such as vandalism and harassment of the young or elderly. Their team name is a play on the term "gangrene", which is a skin condition.

The Gang are characterized by their green skin, and all the gang members have black hair, except for Big Billy, who has red hair. They appear to be teenagers, but they vary widely in height and body type. Their species is mutated human.

They originally appeared in the intro for Whoopass Stew as the villains The Powerpuff Girls are shown fighting, alongside the Amoeba Boys, making them and the Amoeba Boys the oldest recurring villains in the series. They also appear in The Powerpuff Girls Movie as the tertiary antagonists.

The Gangreen Gang are a tribute to the works of cartoonist Ed Roth, particularly Rat Fink. They also bear a slight resemblance to Gorillaz (which Ace became a member of in 2018), Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, and the Toon Patrol (the weasels from Who framed Roger Rabbit),

Ms.Mojo ranked the Gangreen Gang as the #8 Powerpuff Girls villains.

Biography

According to The Powerpuff Girls Movie, the Gangreen Gang are the first villains the girls ever encountered. Later, they are also the first villains (aside from Mojo Jojo) the girls fight after they are welcomed as superheroes. This is when the gang is robbing an old lady who was shopping and eating her groceries. Then after being fought, they are put in jail with Mojo Jojo and Fuzzy Lumpkins.

See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey

The Gangreen Gang appeared in the rock musical episode See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey, where (like other villains) they are causing chaos and terrorizing people in Townsville and the Powerpuff Girls when they arrive, they defeated them succeed. Only Ace sings a line (solo). Yet, when it comes to The Gnome, he is responsible for eliminating all the villains, but later, when the Gangreen Gang and all the villains revive, the Gnome loses power. Only Ace sings a line.

They are also seen along with all the other villains singing "Why Can't We All Get Along?" (though only Big Billy is shown) giving to understand that they can also have redeeming features, including in their villainy.

Members

Ace

Ace D. Copular (voiced by Jeff Bennett) is the Gang's leader, and a mean-spirited, bullying, greedy opportunistic rogue. Ace's height is 6'1".

Ace

He sports a long, straight, greasy, slick-back hairdo, a scraggly mustache, an orange and cobalt-blue vest-jacket, a white shirt with long purple sleeves and neck collar, beige-yellow high-waist pants tattered at the ankles, black high-heel, Winklepicker shoes, a pair of black pointed shades, and even fangs. He looks somewhat vampiric. When he speaks, he sounds like the typical juvenile delinquent, mean and disrespectful. He has a nasally Italian New Yorker accent. As the Gang's smartest member, Ace is the instigator of most of their antisocial activities, and he does possess a certain charismatic charm that allows him to sweet-talk people who ought to know better, such as Ms. Keane and even Buttercup in the episode Buttercrush. In Power Lunch, Ace has Cryokinesis, the ability to generate ice and snow (it was gained from eating Popsicles and Slurpees), similar to Blossom's ice breath, but a lot more powerful. In the anime, he uses cards as weapons hurling them at his opponents. He's considered to be the best looking one of the gang. In the book, "Buttercup and the Mind-Reading Juice", it's revealed that he is aquaphobic, although in Powerpuff Girls Z episode 50, ("Him's Big Plan: Part 2"), he's seen sitting in a hot tub. Ace's of Italian descent.

Style updates:

• In the earlier episodes (1998-2002), Ace was shown to have his shirt tucked in. However, in the later episodes he was shown with his shirt out to give him a more "thuggish" look and possibly to help with the rump issue - the outline of his butt was shown in Buttercrush, Telephonies, Slave the Day, and See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey (although that scene was recycled footage from Buttercrush). Some people say this style update makes him appear as if he is wearing tights with a one-piece.

• His skin was a more yellowish shade of green, his hair and features were more rounded, he had a few spots or "moles" on his face (these three changes also applied to the other members), and only his upper canines were fangs (similar to a vampire). From 2002 onward, his skin was a darker shade of green, he had a more angular look, the moles disappeared, and all of his teeth were fangs. Sometimes his fangs aren't visible and look more like normal teeth (particularly in the earlier episodes). Also, sometimes only one of his canine fangs is visible, but in some newer episodes (such as Aspirations) he had two visible canine fangs (again, making him look vampiric). His canine fangs almost always protrude from his upper lip.
• In Buttercrush, Schoolhouse Rocked, and Bought and Scold, Ace has pink sclerae. However, they are orange in The Powerpuff Girls Rule!!! and yellow in the Powerpuff Girls Z series. In every other episode, they are either left white or hidden by his sunglasses the whole time.
• In The Powerpuff Girls Movie, The Powerpuff Girls Rule!!!, and Telephonies (as well as in certain Powerpuff Girls Z episodes), it is revealed that he has pointy ears.
• The only times that Ace is ever shown without his sunglasses are in the episode Buttercrush after Buttercup knocks them off (they also get knocked off in the episode Sweet 'N Sour and kicked off by HIM in Telephonies) and in the video game Chemical X-Traction where Ace takes his sunglasses off and throws them like a boomerang.

Ace's clothes:

• White baseball shirt with purple sleeves
• Blue and orange ski vest (always shown opened over the shirt)
• Black boots
• Beige-yellow tattered bellbottom pants
• Red white and blue striped wristbands
• Black shades

In the anime series, he wears a tattered white t-shirt, yellow and orange wristbands, and a red and purple vest.

In the reboot, he has a short shirt, longer hair, and no mustache or wristbands.

Snake

Snake (voiced by Tom Kenny) is the Gang's second-in-command and a slippery, serpentine character who appears very sycophantic with a forked tongue, a long, sharply pointed nose, pink slitted eyes, black lips, a skinny body, a Kangol hat turned backward, an always pronounced hiss, and a snake-like voice. He's the Gang's second-in-command, but mostly this means that he is reduced to a yes-man to Ace. He does have some personality of his own, but it is usually silenced due to Ace punching him when he speaks out of line. This could imply that Snake is more loyal to his friend Ace than he is independently evil, which makes sense since he can be quite insecure. It's revealed in Schoolhouse Rocked that his real name's Sanford D. Ingleberry. In Power Lunch, his superpower's elasticity, the ability to stretch himself (it was gained from chewing gumballs). In the Powerpuff Girls Z episodes, Snake is known as Znake (Ivy in English) and possesses the ability to put people to sleep by rubbing their legs penetrating their nerve endings although he has some problems with Buttercup as she has a lot of protein in her fibers. In the English dub of Powerpuff Girls Z, Ivy is a female as a scene would be considered unsuitable. Ivy continued to be female. Due to his face being pointed, he is always shown facing sideways. In the book "Smashing Lumpkins" it is revealed that he weighs ninety pounds.

Also in Powerpuff Girls Z, he apparently comes from a wealthy family.

Style Updates: (2002 onwards): Lips are thicker, eyes are a darker shade of pink, the voice sounds more snake-like and sinister, hairs on the neck are gone.

Snake's clothes:

• Brown Kangol hat (always worn backwards)
• Striped white guinea tank top
• Striped yellow shorts
• Black hi-top sneakers
• Black and yellow striped wristbands (sometimes shown as yellow and white)

In the anime, he has wavy blue hair covering one eye, a sailor outfit, black and pink hi-tops, and the colors on his wristbands are switched. He is of Scottish-Japanese descent.

Grubber

Grubber

Grubber (voiced by Jeff Bennett) is the Gang's most physically grotesque member-untidy hair, enormous chin, ragged, grubby clothes, a long tongue hanging out, and protruding eyes, resembling an Ed, "Big Daddy", Roth cartoon and looks as if he has been living in a cave all his life. He also appears to be mostly mute, communicating instead through blowing a raspberry. However, he can occasionally demonstrate unexpected talents, such as playing the violin, speaking eloquently, or performing impersonations (at first, they were so obvious it was a wonder how he fooled anyone, but later he was able to do them perfectly). In Power Lunch, he can do loud, supersonic belches (it was gained from drinking fizzy beverages). In the anime, he has the ability to morph into anyone he wants (although he still retains green skin and purple eyes.)

Grubber is of British descent.

Style Update: Shirt changed from brown to purple.

Grubber wears a tattered shirt and pants with a rope for a belt. His anime clothes look similar except he now wears a black belt and purple shoes. His father resembles him and has the same speech pattern.

Big Billy

Big Billy

Big Billy (voiced by Jeff Bennett) is a hulking, fat cyclops with a shock of red hair covering the top half of his face with a single big blue eye underneath. Billy acts as the Gang's muscle. Big Billy's height is 6'11" tall.

Big Billy weighs 1014.1 pounds. Though he does at times display a childlike innocence, he mostly just does the bidding of his more savvy and vindictive friends. In the episode Schoolhouse Rocked, it is revealed that his real name's William W. Williams and that he is a Cyclops. Big Billy loves to eat and will gobble more junk than the rest of the gang. In Slave the Day, he was saved by the Powerpuff Girls and began following them everywhere out of sheer gratitude, but eventually, he became more of a hindrance than a help. He's the same age as Snake and Grubber, the middle-aged members of the Gang. In Power Lunch, he's just a rock (it was gained from eating hard candy). In the anime, he possesses super strength (although he's not as strong as Buttercup as he requires both hands to lift a car and she can lift the Professor's van with only one hand).

Clothes:

• Green shirt with yellow stripes on the sleeves
• Blue cuffed jeans with a belt
• Black sneakers.

In the anime, he wears a white one-shoulder shirt and spiked wristbands and still wears blue jeans.

Lil' Arturo

Lil Arturo

Lil' Arturo (voiced by Tom Kenny and by Carlos Alazraqui in Buttercrush) is a malevolent Mexican dwarf with straight hair swept forward over one eye who looks as if he just jumped out of a Picasso painting, Lil' Arturo seems to take the most amusement from the Gang's activities. He appears to be a reference to the 1970 George Akiyama manga, "Zeni Geba,", and he sounds very much like Senor Wences. Lil' Arturo carries around a switchblade-style comb he refers to as, "Maria Conchita Teresa Rosalita." He has a rather prominent underbite. His full name is Arturo de la Guerra. ('De la Guerra' is Spanish for "of War." This could imply that, since, 'Arturo', is so close to the word "Art" and the equivalent Spanish word, "Arte,". his name may be a reference to Sun Tzu's The Art of War.) In Power Lunch, his superpower is super speed (it was gained from drinking coffee). He possesses this ability as well in the anime but he's not very good at using his powers. His accent had to be changed in later episodes because the producers feared complaints of Latino stereotypes.

Clothes:

• Red-maroon shirt with a white shirt underneath
• Black pants
• Black shoes

In the anime, he has a female counterpart. (even though he is a boy in the English dub). She wears a frilly pink dress with matching shoes.

Episode appearances

• Whoopass Stew (Do not speak)
• Buttercrush (Lil' Arturo was voiced by Carlos Alazraqui in this episode)
• Telephonies (Lil' Arturo is voiced by Tom Kenny for the first time)
• Schoolhouse Rocked
• Slave the Day
• Daylight Savings (cameo)
• The Powerpuff Girls' Best Rainy Day Adventure Ever (mentioned)
• Twisted Sister (cameo)
• Something's a Ms. (Mentioned)
• Criss Cross Crisis (Teen Girls' Voices)
• Bought and Scold (non-speaking, although Arturo can be heard laughing with Mitch)
• Power Lunch
• Moral Decay
• Film Flam (cameo by Ace and Lil' Arturo only)
• The Powerpuff Girls Movie (Ace has the only speaking lines)
• Divide and Conquer (poster cameo)
• Shotgun Wedding (picture cameo)
• The Boys are Back in Town (cameo)
• See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey (Ace has the only clearly-heard lines)
• Bang For Your Buck
• Documentary (cameo)
• Girls Gone Mild (Pictured)
• Sweet 'N Sour (cameo)
• Live and Let Dynamo (in the Girls' imaginations Inside Dynamo)
• Oops, I Did It Again (Mentioned)
• A Made Up Story (Non speaking cameo)
• Night Mayor (flashback)
• Aspirations
• West in Pieces (as Gang Verde)
• Roughing It Up (cameo by Ace, Snake, and Big Billy only)
• The Powerpuff Girls Rule! (Ace is the only one with any lines)

Book Appearances:

• Smashing Lumpkins
• Bought and Scold (based on the episode)
• DC Comics series (for some reason, the colors on Ace's vest are usually messed up. Also, in one issue where the Gang was stealing socks, Grubber actually spoke.)
• Buttercup and the Mind-Reading Juice
• No Girls Allowed
• Where Is Chicken Pox
• The Valentine's Day Mix-Up
• The Powerpuff Girls Movie: A Novelization
• Party Savers
• Scary Princess
• Teeth Thief (based on the Moral Decay episode)
• Mojo Mayhem

Game Appearances:

• Paint the Townsville Green (Gameboy Color)
• Chemical X-Traction (Ace and Big Billy only) (N64)
• Him and Seek (Gameboy Advance)
• Mojo Jojo's Clone Zone
• Princess Snorebucks
• Relish Rampage (PS2 and Gamecube)
• Gamesville (PC)
• Cartoon Network's FusionFall (Ace only, although Lil' Arturo is mentioned, and jackets for all the gang members are available) (Online)
• Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosion XL (Ace makes a cameo) (Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)

Ace appears in the online game FusionFall, where he and the Gang are in a rock band. He is also older and is dating Buttercup (known as Belladonna in the game after she gets amnesia due to a fight with Mojo Jojo. Ace took her in under this name and she now uses it as a stage name.) In the game, Ace is about 25 and Buttercup is about 13 since the Girls are now in middle school. Their couple's name, according to the fans, is Acecuppo or Acecuppa. Also known as Acercup. Also, Ace has a barely noticeable goatee instead of a mustache.

In the English dub of the anime series, Ivy has a crush on Ace.

Gallery

Click here to view the Gangreen Gang's Gallery

In Powerpuff Girls Z

This version of the Gangreen Gang is similar to the original with a few exceptions:

• In the original series, the Gangreen Gang had white teeth and their tongues would be either green or pink (with the exception of Grubber). In the anime, they had yellow teeth and their tongues were always pink. Also, their skin is a darker shade of green and they have no "moles."Also, each member comes from a family like them, only without the green skin.
• Ace's known as Ace Haramatsu, however in the English dub, he is renamed Bobby Green (by the 50th episode). He is voiced by Andrew Francis. Unlike the original, he does not have a New York accent and his hair has tints of green in it. Otherwise, he looks very similar to the original Ace.
• Snake is a girl named Ivy in the English dub and is referred to as Znake (being male in the original Japanese dub) by other fans. She looks similar to the original Snake facially but has blue wavy hair covering one eye and a sailor outfit. Ivy apparently has a crush on Ace, as seen in episode 14 (Attack of the Gangreen Gang). Ivy comes from a wealthy family and loves the computer. In fact, she once told her father, "Relax, Pops. I've only been on for like 16 hours today" to which her 'pops' responded, "16 hours? No wonder she's turning green like that." Ivy was voiced by Tabitha St. Germain in the American version.
• Lil Arturo is a girl in the Japanese version and is known as Weevil. She perhaps resembles her American counterpart the least. In the English dub, she is supposedly a boy, but still wears a pink dress and pink scarf. Unlike the original, she does not have a Mexican accent. She has green hair and no nose. He is voiced by Maryke Hendrikse.
• Grubber's known as Lunk in the English dub (after the 50th episode). He is voiced by Peter New. Lunk looks very similar to the original Grubber, but he doesn't have a nose, he doesn't communicate with blowing raspberries, and his eyes don't pop out of his head. He can shapeshift by twisting his hair but keeps his green skin and purple eyes, (the only time this trick worked successfully was when he turned into Ace, who also have green skin like him, despite his sunglasses lens were purple. Bubbles, however, still fell for it).
• Big Billy is known as Big Boy in the English dub (after the 50th episode). He is voiced by Richard Ian Cox. He looks very similar to the original Big Billy except he has brown hair and one eye mostly shown. He's also much smarter.
• All of the members (except Ivy) had their original names from the original Powerpuff Girls series in their first appearances (Ace, Grubber, etc.) but were later changed (Bobby Green, Lunk, etc.).
• This version of the Gang has their hideout as an abandoned apartment in the city, unlike the originals who hung out in a shack at the city dump. Also, this version actually spends time with their respective families, while the originals did not seem to even have families.

Trivia

• In The Powerpuff Girls Z English dub, Snake is female and known as Ivy in the English dub. However, in the original version, Lil' Arturo is female and Snake is male.
• Their name is a pun on the word "gangrene", which they supposedly suffer from despite not dying.
• Ace, Snake, Grubber, and Lil' Arturo have black hair while Big Billy has red hair.
• In 2018, Ace was a temporary member of the virtual band Gorillaz, serving as a replacement for the original bassist Murdoc Niccals while he was in prison. Following Murdoc's return to the band, Ace became a doomsday prepper and moved to the desert stocking up food and munitions, waiting for the 'endless dark" (according to Murdoc in the commentary edition of the music video Humility).
• In the episode "Telephonies", they were beaten up by Mojo Jojo, HIM, and Fuzzy Lumpkins for making prank calls to the girls which left Mojo, Fuzzy, and HIM at the receiving end of their fists when they were simply reading, taking a bath, and exercising, respectively.
• With the revelation in The Powerpuff Girls Movie that the Gangreen Gang were the first villains the Girls ever encountered, it's unknown why the girls didn't recognize them in "Buttercrush". Considering that they were terrified and lost and that their encounter was short, it can be possible that they simply forgot them, but unlikely as after that encounter, they found them again after saving the city and send them to jail. The most likely explanation is that as the movie was made long after the episode, their first encounter in the movie wasn't canonical at that time.
• They and Princess Morbucks are the only villains that attended school with the girls.