On the heels of the January, 2023, debut of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force reunion movie, Plantasma, Adult Swim announced the surprise renewal of the venerable adult animated series for a five-episode 12th season, nearly a decade after the series’ cancellation in 2015.
The series premiered in 2000 on the Cartoon Network’s then-new Adult Swim adult animated block, and young fans of staying up late, eating fast food, and using Visine to moisten their red, dry eyes found A.T.H.F. to be the perfect companion for their late night mood.
The series stars a trio of super-powered fast food items which had been created by a mad scientist named Dr. Weird so that he could watch them drive into a brick wall. The Aqua Teens are Frylock, a flying order of French Fries and the de facto brains of the group; Meatwad, a childish clump of ground beef who can transform into any shape; and Master Shake, a giant floating milkshake who proves to be generally useless.
Aside from the titular trio, though, the show is populated by an endless series of strange and colorful characters who — whether appearing regularly or in one-off appearances — were often as popular as the main characters themselves. With a highly-abbreviated season on the way, there’s limited room for returning favorites.
Below, then, is a list of every character, other than the main trio, who may return for Aqua Teen Hunger Force’s twelfth season:
Carl Brutananadilewski
With the Aqua Teens’ headquarters in a run-down house in suburban New Jersey, it made sense that their next-door neighbor would be an irritable bald man almost always seen in an undershirt and jeans trying to enjoy his life and his beloved New York Giants despite the fact that he barely tolerates his super-powered neighbors – and is often openly hostile to them – he’s usually drawn into their adventures very much against his will. Odds are very good that despite the fact that the Aqua Teens’ antics sometimes get him killed – Carl will be back to have them use his above-ground pool against his will.
Likelihood of return: 100%
Ignignokt and Err, aka The Mooninites
The Mooninites are a pair of aliens from the Moon whose character design is in the flat style of 8-bit video games from the 1980s. They often visit Earth to bother the Aqua Teens, especially Meatwad who — in his childlike innocence — is usually susceptible to their petty cons and schemes. When confronted, they come up with transparent rationalizations like that they didn’t have fathers growing up and therefore weren’t taught to steal right.
Likelihood of return: 100%
Oglethorpe and Emory, aka The Plutonians
Enemies of the Mooninites since high school, the Plutonians are jagged and torn in appearance, which is explained as the result of Emory losing his keys in a woodchipper and the pair diving in to retrieve them. Oglethorpe is obese and orange and speaks with a thick German accent, and his only article of clothing is a droolband (a headband worn below the mouth). Emory is small and green and wears a headband around his forehead in the normal fashion. While the Plutonians appear in less episodes than the Mooninites, they are still iconic enemies.
Likelihood of return: 90%
MC Pee Pants
Voiced by nerd rap star MC Chris, MC Pee Pants is a rapper from Hell who wears a diaper and a shower cap and has yellow eyes, and comes to Earth in different forms (an old man, a cow, a vampire, a worm) and releases “hit” records that detail his overly-complicated world conquest schemes. In one episode, he planned to bore a hole into Hell with a blood sugar-powered drill so that he could release a horde of demons who would then operate his diet pill pyramid scheme. His singles contain subliminal messages that program his fans – pretty much only Meatwad – into carrying out his plans.
Likelihood of return: 85%
Boxy Brown
Created by Meatwad (who is also his cousin by marriage) out of a cardboard box and a poorly-drawn face, Brown is an African-American who can only be heard by anyone he is directly speaking to, and his dialogue is often accompanied by a blast of funk music. He’s first seen in the second season episode where he and Meatwad go to a farm instead of the Super Bowl, and he was last seen in the film Plantasm. While he was voiced by series cocreator Dave Willis in the series, in Plantasm he was voiced by rapper/political activist Killer Mike. Despite only appearing in a half-dozen episodes — and only speaking in two-thirds of those — Boxy remains a cult favorite among series fans.
Likelihood of return: 80%
D.P. and Skeeter, aka The Frat Aliens
Both voiced by comedian Patton Oswalt, D.P. and Skeeter speak and behave like typical Earth college “frat boys.” They discover Earth while cruising in their space ship while “space drunk,” and crash into the laser fence that Carl built to keep the Aqua Teens off of his property. They’re later immortalized — among other villains — in a pinball machine that master Shake built to commemorate his “amazing adventures.” They would later appear in a series of 2022 webshorts titled Aquadonk Side Pieces, as many popular Aqua Teen characters did, in their own episode “Frat Aliens: Hell Week.”
Likelihood of return: 70%
The Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future
C.G.C.P.F. is an insane, rooster-shaped robot who shows up and tells insanely long-winded and untrue stories. In his first appearance, he tells Carl about a Christmas when he was eight in which Carl was made to eat carpet by his father and watch his house destroyed by robots and lasers. Unable to get rid of him, Carl sells his home to Glenn Danzig, whom the robot can’t stand.
Likelihood of return: 70%
Markula
The vampiric landlord of the Aqua Teens, Markula is over 4000 years old and openly hostile to his tenants. In his first appearance, he has soldier spiders kidnap the trio and cocoon them, and then gives their house to a robot couple (played by SNL vets Fred Armisen and Rachel Dratch) who try to kill Carl. Markula is eventually killed by Carl with garlic champagne following a landlord/tenant dispute over who would have to pay for a broken gas pipe. Like most A.T.H.F. characters, death doesn’t keep him from making return appearances.
Likelihood of return: 60%
The Dumbassahedratron
An immature, obnoxious parallelogramic creature who lands on the Aqua Teens’ lawn and pretends to be the “Wisdom Cube,” from which all wisdom in the universe emanates, although he’s later revealed to be the Wisdom Cube’s cousin. The Dumbassahedratron spouts an endless series of inane conversation, obvious lies, and terrible jokes. He was last seen in Hell, where his endless stream of BS amuses Satan greatly. Seeing as characters escape from Hell regularly on the show, there’s no reason The Dumbassahedratron couldn’t also return.
Likelihood of return: 40%
Merle, Flargen, and Dingle, aka The Leprechauns
These leprechauns are also low-level scam artists who stole a rainbow machine from Dr. Weird and set it up in the forest. They then send out spam emails to trick people into stepping into the rainbow to receive gold, at which point they rob the victim for their valuables, junk, and shoes. When Carl has his gold chain stolen by the Leprechauns, the A.T.H.F. step in to defeat them. While the trio were last seen getting killed at the end of season two, death hasn’t stopped characters from returning to the series before.
Likelihood of return: 20%