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Death Punchies is the fourth episode of Regular Show's first season. It first aired on September 27, 2010, and was written & storyboarded by JG Quintel, Mike Roth and Jake Armstrong.
Synopsis[]
Rigby learns an ultimate martial art and becomes the bully of the park.
Plot[]
Mordecai and Rigby are preparing to play their new game "Dig Champs", but trouble soon arises as they disagree on who should be Player One. Mordecai suggests they play punchies for it, and instantly beats Rigby, who proclaims that he's sick of Mordecai always getting his way due to him being stronger. Mordecai reminds him that everybody beats him at punchies, bringing up an incident where Skips caused him to have surgery on his butt. Rigby runs off embarrassed and cries about how weak he is. He then discovers an ad in a phone book for "Death Kwon Do", which he sees as an opportunity to finally beat Mordecai.
Rigby visits the Death Kwon Do Dojo but is deemed unworthy for the martial art, due to him not being "pure of heart". Rigby argues back and is threatened by Sensai, the Death Kwon Do instructor, who turns his back on him. When turning around, Sensai finds that Rigby is gone, along with a page ripped out of his Death Kwon Do notebook detailing "The Death Punch of Death". To make matters worse, he is then informed that someone has just Death Kwon Clogged the toilet.
Back at the Park, Rigby learns the ways of Death Kwon Do, by wearing cut-off jean shorts and a mullet. He unleashes his power on a drawer in his room and decides to test out the Death Punch on people in the Park. He then exacts his revenge by attacking Muscle Man, Hi Five Ghost, Pops and Skips, before causing major damage to Park property, such as the Snack Bar, the fountain and the circus tent. With his new powers trialed, Rigby is ready to punch Mordecai, who is oblivious as to what's occurred back at home. Mordecai enters his room to find the place completely wrecked and finds the Death Kwon Do ad in the phone book laying on the ground. Mordecai looks outside to see Rigby beating up strangers in the park. Knowing how Rigby got these powers, he takes a visit for himself to the Death Kwon Do Dojo.
Later, Rigby has terrorized the entire park, and is camping out on the roof of Pops' house, forcing his co-workers to tend to him, with Skips massaging his feet and Pops fanning him. Mordecai approaches the house, now also wearing a mullet and cut-off jean shorts. Rigby orders Muscle Man and Hi Five Ghost to bring him down to the ground so he can punch Mordecai. Rigby attempts to do so, but Mordecai is left still standing. He reveals to Rigby that he has learned the "Death Block". Furious, Rigby continuously punches Mordecai, causing a giant crater to form, which with each punch, gets bigger and turns into a pit. This eventually causes lava to start leaking from the ground walls.
Mordecai warns Rigby to stop because they're both now in danger due to the lava, but Rigby doesn't care and won't quit until he beats him. Mordecai then has an epiphany, realizing how cruel his beatings must have been for Rigby in the past, and fakes a fall to make Rigby stop. Rigby excitedly exclaims that he can finally be Player One, but then cries that it doesn't matter anymore because he's gonna die in the lava. Mordecai then reveals that he stole more than one move, and uses the "Death Jump" to bring both Rigby and himself to safety. Later, the duo start playing Dig Champs again, this time with Rigby as Player One. As expected, Rigby dies almost instantly, and complains that he wants to be Player Two.
Characters[]
- Mordecai
- Rigby
- Sensai
- Muscle Man
- Pops
- Skips
- Hi Five Ghost (non-speaking role)
- Benson (flashback, non-speaking role)
Locations[]
- Park
- Death Kwon Do Building
Video[]
Trivia[]
Production Notes[]
- This episode received 1.980 million views nationwide.
Worldbuilding[]
- Rigby is revealed to have had surgery on his buttcheeks, leaving behind a scar that makes it look like he only has one cheek.
Episode Connections[]
- This episode marks the first part of a series-wide "Death Kwon Do" trilogy, followed up by "Sandwich of Death" in Season 4 and "Death Kwon Do-Livery" in Season 6.
- "Dig Champs" would be the subject of one of Rigby's questions when he entered the national game show "Expert or Liar".[1]
- The close-up of Rigby's butt in this episode would later cause problems for the Park crew when their lives were converted into a Blu-ray boxset. [2]
- Pops flies into the Sun after being punched by Rigby. This is an unintentional piece of foreshadowing, given how Pops would fly into the Sun once again in the series finale.[3]
- When Mordecai recalls the times he has punched Rigby, a shot from the Season One episode "The Unicorns Have Got to Go" is shown.
- Despite being aired one month before said episode, this episode was produced later in the series.
- The shot taken from this episode is also tinted with lighter colors to give the impression that the scene takes place during the daytime.
Pop Culture References[]
- "Dig Champs" is a reference to the 1982 video game Dig Dug.
- This episode features the song "You're the Best" by Joe Esposito.
Goofs[]
- When Mordecai says that he's Player One, his feathers are a darker shade of blue.
- Right before Mordecai and Rigby are about to fight, Skips and Pops disappear from the top of the house.
- When Rigby continuously punches Mordecai, Muscle Man's eyes are seemingly healed, but later, they are seen to be busted again. Pops' arm sling also disappears.
Alternate Versions[]
UK[]
- "What about you with your crappy mullet?" was changed to "What about you with your cruddy mullet?"
- "My pepperonis are roasting down here!" was changed to "My chest hairs are roasting down here!"
- During the flashback, the shot of Mordecai kicking Rigby in the crotch was replaced with a shot from earlier in the episode where Mordecai punches Rigby on the sofa.
Official Releases[]
- On iTunes and Amazon Prime, the episode was paired with "Caffeinated Concert Tickets" under "Volume One". It was released digitally on September 27, 2010 for the price of $2.99 in HD, or $1.99 in SD.
- The episode would later appear digitally on a special iTunes-exclusive collection called "Best Episodes in the World", this time paired with "A Bunch of Full Grown Geese". This version also featured an interview with JG Quintel about the episode.
- This episode is available as part of the following DVD sets:
- Slack Pack
- The Complete First and Second Seasons
- Special Feature: Commentary with JG Quintel and Mike Roth
- Season One (Region 2 DVD)