It’s Not Easy Being Green: Top Ten Green Characters

The theatrical release of Wicked arrived this past weekend, and green has got us dancing through life! Despite my career in music, I had never been able to experience the stage production, and my only exposure to the songs was when every music major ever was pairing up to do their own renditions of “What Is This Feeling?” or “For Good” for their senior recitals.

Well, it’s safe to say that Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo were phenomenal as Galinda and Elphaba, and I loved the special appearance from our hero and king, Jeff Goldblum. Since seeing the show, I was inspired to find some other *popular* characters who are also green. Below are my top ten!

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10. Slimer
Ghostbusters

The Ghostbusters’ first job took them to a nearby hotel where this menace was ravaging all the food carts. “That’s gotta be some cockroach!”

9. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Lean, green fighting machines, these turtle boys don’t cut [Shredder] no slack. Which one is your favorite? (Mine is Donatello!)

8. Gamora
Guardians of the Galaxy

Orphaned and stolen from her home planet, this “beloved daughter” of Thanos was a key member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, but she was eventually sacrificed in exchange for a Soul Stone. Now, through the magic of time travel, we’ve got a Gamora variant who knows nothing of the relationship she had with her former (future?) friends.

7. Oscar the Grouch
Sesame Street

Who lives in a garbage can on Ses’me Street? Os-car the Grouch! Despite his prickly appearance and demeanor, the kids love him – and I did, too! Perhaps we all connected to a carefree lifestyle where we never had to clean up after ourselves and somehow that would be okay.

6. Roger Klotz
Doug

Doug’s first day in Bluffington was off to a rough start when he accidentally got ketchup on Roger’s “new, suede shoes.” This local bully never let up and made life miserable for everyone around him. However, Doug always seemed to get the best of him, and he even outsmarted him in that first episode when he convinced Roger that neematoads really do exist in the local swamp. “Kalookakoo! Come out, you stupid neematoad!”

5. Shrek

Misunderstood and headstrong, Shrek just wants to go about his business in the swamp (another swamp!). But, when the evil Lord Farquaad starts rounding up all the fairy tale characters in the land and it interrupts his day, Shrek gets haphazardly thrown into a quest to save the Lord’s bride-to-be Princess Fiona. Like ogres, like onions, this plot has layers.

4. Yoda
Star Wars

Head of the Jedi council, Yoda made us all think we could move objects with our mind if we focused hard enough. Most of us met him for the first time in The Empire Strikes Back in the murky swamps (and ANOTHER swamp!!) of Dagobah where he mentored a young Luke Skywalker in the ways of the Force. Yoda trusted the Force, and his frustration was felt when others went against his word. “Patience, you must have!”

3. The Incredible Hulk

Lou Ferrigno, Eric Bana, Edward Norton, Mark Ruffalo… There have been a lot of Hulk’s in the past 50 years. I never saw the two standalone movies from the 2000’s, but I know enough about them. I appreciate how Marvel is starting to weave those stories into the current MCU. We’ve seen the return of Abomination through Shang Chi and She-Hulk. Now, we’ll get to see more characters from the Hulk universe with the release of Captain America: Brave New World including Red Hulk and The Leader.

2. The Grinch

He’s as cuddly as a cactus. He’s as charming as an eel. He’s a bad banana with a greasy black peel. I think of all the classic Christmas shorts that played during my childhood, How The Grinch Stole Christmas was easily my favorite (behind Rudolph). It was cartoony, colorful, and the song was iconic. I’ve grown to love the Jim Carrey/Ron Howard adaptation (though, my first experience with the movie in the theater was chaotic – we were in the very front row and I could barely tell what was going on). I quote it every year. “Dinner with me – I can’t cancel that again!”

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Honorable Mentions:

Shego
Kim Possible

Number Muncher

The Jolly Green Giant

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1. The Wicked Witch (Elphaba)
The Wizard of Oz/Wicked

Okay, you caught me. I made this list because we just saw Wicked and OF COURSE I’m going to put Elphaba at the top. Mistreated simply for the color of her skin, the racial undertones and struggles against political power in this musical are readily apparent. As of the end of Part I, I am fully behind Elphie’s plight against the Wizard who uses corruption and deceit to fool the people of Oz into following him. Is she truly wicked? Or was she thrusted into wickedness due to her circumstances? I guess we’ll find out next year!

Also, shout out to the original Wicked Witch of the West Margaret Hamilton who brought this character to life way back in the 1939 film! Perhaps there’s a little bit of wickedness in all of us.

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Thanks for stopping by to read my article! What do YOU think? Are there any other green characters who would be great for this list? Leave a comment, and let me know about them! Also, if you’re enjoying my content, I would greatly appreciate if you’d “like” my article and follow my blog to show your support!

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