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This Villain was proposed and approved by Villains Wiki's Pure Evil Proposals Thread. Any act of removing this villain from the category without a Removal Proposal shall be considered vandalism (or a futile "heroic" attempt of redemption) and the user will have high chances of being | ||
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| “ | You're sitting on a gold mine here! I knew you would turn one of your little inventions into a cash cow. We could make a fortune with these things! | „ |
| ~ Dick trying to convince Professor Utonium to profit off the girls |
| “ | You know I've been reading about you guys, and I think it's really great what you do here in Townsville. But you know, I've been all over the world, and there sure is a lot of evil out there. It's too bad there aren't more of you girls out there to help save everybody. Gee, if... there was only a way to make more of you girls, we could help save people all over the world, and that would be good, huh? | „ |
| ~ Dick Hardly tricking the girls into helping him. |
Professor Richard "Dick" Hardly is a minor antagonist in the Cartoon Network superhero TV show The Powerpuff Girls, serving as the main antagonist of the Season 4 episode "Knock It Off".
He was Professor Utonium's old collegemate who, after seeing the Powerpuff Girls and their powers, has decided to make a business based off the trio themselves, which was blatantly named as Powerpuff Girls Xtreme.
He was voiced by Jeff Bennett, who also played Ace, Grubber, Big Billy, Major Man, Mike Brikowski, Harold Smith and Mastermind in the same show, H.A.R.D.A.C. in Batman: The Animated Series, the Joker in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Ozzy in The Land Before Time: The Great Valley Adventure, Ichy in The Land Before Time: Journey Through the Mists, Bradley Uppercrust III in An Extremely Goofy Movie, Dr. Hamsterviel in Lilo and Stitch Series, Tong Fo in Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomnesss, and D.A.V.E. in the animated series The Batman.
Appearance[]
As a human, Dick is a man who wears glasses whose shape changes with his eyes, a white coat with a pink shirt under it, black pants, and wears black moccasins for footwear. He also has blonde hair which is in a small ponytail.
As a monster, Dick's appearance has changed drastically; his skin has turned green with his hands having a darker green color looking like if he has gloves, six tentacles are on his chest, his ponytail got turned to a rat tail that is longer that his original ponytail, and somehow, his glasses turned into sunglasses. All of his clothes are gone and the only clothing left he has are his pants.
Biography[]
Backstory[]
Dick Hardly was an old college roommate of Professor Utonium. Though Utonium initially considered him a friend, Dick always took advantage of him and unlike the former, he only sought financial profit in science. Dick's bad deeds towards Utonium was to cheat him and always steal his projects, making him do his work for him while Dick had time to go out with friends and women while never listening to Utonium when he wanted Dick to be more interested in science. However, whether or not Utonium always saw him as otherwise is beyond anybody's guess.
Knock It Off[]
Dick Hardly seeing the Powerpuff Girls' monetary potential.
One day, Professor received a call from Dick, who was planning to pay a visit to the Utonium residence to see what he’s been up to (or most likely, to steal yet another one of his old friend's projects). Once he came, Utonium welcomed Dick and gave him a tour to the interior of the house. However, when Dick saw Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup and their unbelievable powers, he believed that the girls were worth a great deal of money. When Dick ignored Utonium's warnings many times who tried to say something about his ideas with his daughters, Utonium demanded Hardly to leave when he realized how greedy he was since they were young, and still is. Utonium then demands Dick to keep away from him and the girls for good, stating that his visit is officially over. However, Dick was still interested to find out more about the Powerpuff Girls. The next day, he offered the girls a ride home from school, and slightly asks for the ingredients. Unaware of what he was planning, the girls then take a flask of Chemical X from Utonium's laboratory and gave it to Dick.
He proceeded to go to an abandoned factory and make his clones of the girls, which he named "The Powerpuff Girls with Chemical Xtreme", starting a business and selling them to all the people in their respective countries around the world and obtaining fame and money in the process. He gradually gets more and more avaricious as a result and treated the clones as nothing more than selling products, using minimum materials and Chemical X so that they would fall apart, and he could continue selling more copies; he even orders his employees to cut off half of the sugar supply to increase sales. At one point, his employees mistakenly created a seemingly perfect version of Buttercup, and he had her melted down for her Chemical X, which resulted in the clone being killed in the process. With the pass of the time, Dick's factory also started to grow to the point of being turned into a dark and twisted place.
Eventually, although Dick gained more wealth and fame as he swore, the original girls realized that Dick cheated them when they saw one of the commercials of "The Powerpuff Girls with Chemical Xtreme" on TV, realizing that he was willing to sell his false Powerpuff Girls to anyone willing to pay him for them, even criminals. The three girls went to his factory, where they confronted him for lying to them and stealing the Chemical X, but despite being exposed to his lies, Dick (almost psychotically) refuses to back down, stating that he was planning to steal more of the chemical. The girls ordered him to return the Chemical X they gave to him, but Dick greedily refuses and instead ingested the vial containing the chemical, leaving the girls confused and horrified. At first, Dick seems fine, but then the Chemical starts to take effect on his body, first causing a spasm attack in which he foams from the mouth. He gets up all well and good, but then suddenly transforms into a giant yellowish-green mutant with tentacles. Dick then used his new powers to attack the girls, who then fight back. Unfortunately, Dick has proven to be too strong for the girls and locks them in a dome, hoping to drain them of their Chemical X for his purposes. In the meantime, Utonium, having caught wind of Dick's plans, heads over to the factory.
Utonium finally enters the factory and finds out what happened after he saw all of the deformed clones, the dying girls, and the monstrous Dick. Declaring this to be the last straw, Utonium angrily demands Dick to stop draining the Chemical X from the girls, but Dick refuses by threatening to kill Utonium if he tries to stop him. Utonium offers to take the girls' place so that he can make more of the Chemical X for Dick as his slave, but the latter still refuses to release the girls and instead orders the deformed clones to capture Utonium. As Utonium struggles to get free, he tearfully tells the girls that he loves them. Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup reply, "We love you, too!" to Utonium just as they finally succumb to their deaths.
These tragic words touched the deformed clones, finally seeing how much the Professor loves the three girls while Dick had only used them for his greed. Having had enough of this, the deformed clones freed Utonium and rebelled against Dick, confronting him on the fact that he never gave them love. Seeing the clones confront him, Dick angrily demanded them to obey him as he was their master, but one of the clones stated he is only a master of evil. Determined to put him down for good, the angry clones surround the screaming Dick and restrain him to the ground. Afterward, they sacrifice themselves to destroy Dick with their powers, causing a fire that engulfs the entire factory. The remaining clones allowed Utonium to escape with his daughters before they perished. As the factory burns, Utonium cries over the loss of his daughters, but his love was enough to revive them back to life, much to his delight. When Bubbles asks what happened to Dick and the clones, Utonium replied that "Dick may have gotten the formula right, but the one ingredient that he forgot was love.", which the clones wanted all along. Utonium and the girls then head home while Dick makes one more scream of agony before he finally dies. Although it's not confirmed, it is highly likely Dick's crimes were eventually revealed to the public and his company was shut down by the authorities, destroying Dick's reputation for good.
Relationships[]
Friends/Allies[]
- Professor Utonium (formerly)
- Powerpuff Girlz Xtreme (minions; formerly)
Enemies[]
- The Powerpuff Girls
- Professor Utonium
- Powerpuff Girlz Xtreme (killers)
Personality[]
| “ | Well, old Dick may have gotten the formula right, but the one ingredient he forgot, was love. | „ |
| ~ Utonium on Dick that it was his lovelessness and greed that lead to his downfall and demise. |
Dick is shown to be extremely selfish, greedy, manipulative, and corrupt. During his PPG scheme, he tried to make countless artificial Powerpuff Girls and sell them to the people for money and fame, and was Professor Utonium's "former friend" after he revealed his true intentions. Despite being a one-shot antagonist and ironically a human being, he is often regarded as one of the most memorable and heinous characters in the entire franchise.
A self-absorbed and calculating cheater since he was young, Dick always wanted other people to do his work for him, while he had time to do and go whatever or wherever he wanted. In the present, Dick had the interest of visiting his old friend, Utonium, in the hopes of mooching off of his work, although he then completely forgot about that when he was much more interested in using the Powerpuff Girls to achieve money and fame. Upon meeting the Powerpuff Girls after school one day, he promised to rid the world of evil with the help of his "own" Powerpuff Girls however it was a farce as he would easily sell off his copies to both sides of the coin.
Dick's greed and malice started to grow when his creation "The Powerpuff Girls Xtreme" achieved to get every attention of the whole world, as he even turned more psychotic when The Powerpuff Girls demanded the Chemical X back. Dick is also uncaring and apathetic for the clones as he was perfectly fine with them falling apart in order to get more sales, and had one killed because she was perfectly made. When Dick was turned into a giant mutant monster after he swallowed the Chemical X, he proved to be even more ruthless than ever when he killed the Powerpuff Girls even knowing that they are just children. Dick was uncaring and unsympathetic when Utonium begged Dick to stop killing the girls nor for his feelings towards his daughters, as he even made fun about it. In addition, Dick warned Utonium to not interfere in his plan or else he would feel his wrath while he was draining the Chemical X out of the girls. This could mean that Dick's monstrous form is a remarkable symbol of his own sadistic and selfish personality deep inside his heart.
Despite his truly depraved and vile acts, Dick is a cowardly man since he gets scared when the girls confront him and tell him to give back the Chemical X. When the clones turn on him for not loving them, he gets angry and tells them to get back and reminding them that he is their master (instead of their father). Only for one of the Bubbles clones to retort that he's a master of evil. He screams, "NO!" as the clones kill him. It should also be noted that unlike other villains from The Powerpuff Girls, who have some level of morality and humor, Dick shows no redeeming qualities, and never showed any sense of morality to the Powerpuff Girls, Professor Utonium and neither of his own creations. When he was first introduced to the Powerpuff Girls he even said "What do you mean, your girls? You mean you made those things"? Thus indicating he didn't consider them people at all.
Overall, Dick's greed and selfishness proved to be his downfall, as when he almost managed to kill the Powerpuff Girls, the disgusted clones turn against him and use their powers to destroy him, much to his horror. These actions are what have made him one of the darkest and evilest among Hanna Barbara's villains.
Quotes[]
| “ | Oh...I was just in the neighborhood and wanted to see what the old roommate was up to. So, you gonna let me in or what? | „ |
| ~ Dick to Professor Utonium. |
| “ | You're sitting on a gold mine here! I knew you would turn one of your little inventions into a cash cow. We could make a fortune with these things! | „ |
| ~ Dick to Professor Utonium about Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles. |
| “ | Professor: Listen! I don't appreciate you referring to my girls in that manner. Dick Hardly: Come on! Professor: Come on nothing! You just keep clear of me and my kids, pal. Consider our little visit over! |
„ |
| ~ Utonium to Dick after he kicks the latter out of his house. |
| “ | Give it to me, give it to me! Yes, YES, YEEEESSSS!!! | „ |
| ~ Dick when he succeeds in getting the Chemical X. |
| “ | Sugar... spice... and everything nice... and an accidental dose of Chemical X... oops! | „ |
| ~ Dick creating his own Powerpuff Girls. |
| “ | Behold...the new and improved...Powerpuff Girls with Chemical Xtreme! | „ |
| ~ Dick presenting his creations to the people. |
| “ | FASTER, FASTER!!! | „ |
| ~ Dick abuses the power by ordering his employees to go faster in making Powerpuff Girls. |
| “ | Hmm... too ugly, useless. What's this? This one's perfect! I thought I told you to cut back on the sugar! Take it back and melt it down for its Chemical X! | „ |
| ~ Dick ordering to destroy a Buttercup perfectly made. |
| “ | Dick Hardly: Hahahaha, I'm glad you came, girls... I NEED MORE CHEMICAL X!! Blossom: We'll never give you any more Chemical X! Dick Hardly: Well, that's just fine, because I was planning to TAKE IT!! |
„ |
| ~ Dick Hardly being confronted by the girls for cheating them off. |
| “ | You know for a second there, I thought I was gonna turn... into a monster or something! | „ |
| ~ Dick before turning and beginning to turn into a monster. |
| “ | Get this junk outta here! (swats away fake Powerpuffs) You WILL give me your Chemical X!!! | „ |
| ~ Dick preparing to drain the girls of their Chemical X. |
| “ | You're too late! | „ |
| ~ Dick reveals his true colors to Professor Utonium, who is searching for the Powerpuff Girls. |
| “ | Professor: Dick, No! Stop, you're destroying them! Dick Hardly: Stand aside, Utonium, or be crushed by my wrath!! Professor: I can't, Dick! I won't! Please, take me instead! I'll do anything you want! Dick Hardly: Am I to understand that you're sacrificing your life for theirs, and you'll stay here and make X forever?! Professor: Yes. Just don't hurt the girls. They're my family. Dick Hardly: YOU FOOL!! Why should I let them go when I have you both?! Take him away!! (A bunch of Powerpuff Girl Clones confront Professor Utonium) Professor: Oh, Dick, what have you made? |
„ |
| ~ Dick showing his depraved and evil nature to Professor Utonium. |
| “ | Dick Hardly: I said take him away, you mutants!! Huh?! (Clones begin chanting Dick's name.) Clone Blossom: You never gave us love! Clone Buttercup: Where was our love? Dick Hardly: Get back! I AM YOUR MASTER!!! Clone Bubbles: Only a master of evil, Dick! (The clones then surround Dick against his will) Dick Hardly: No! Nooo!! NOOOOOOOO!!! |
„ |
| ~ Dick gets attacked by his own creations. |
| “ | NOOOOOOOO!!! | „ |
| ~ Dick's last scream before his death, right after the Professor and the girls go home. |
Trivia[]
- Dick Hardly is the third villain in the series who got very close to killing the Powerpuff Girls, the first being the Rowdyruff Boys and the second being the ordinary children who were tricked by Mojo Jojo; out of all of them, however, Dick came the closest when he drained the girls of their Chemical X. All three times the Girls were revived before it was too late:
- The girls were resurrected by the cries and tears of the people of Townsville.
- The children used their powers to resurrect them upon realizing Mojo Jojo's trickery.
- Utonium's fatherly love resurrected the Girls.
- He is also one of the few characters in the series to actually die, the others being The Broccoloids, Bunny, The Gnome (although he did accept his death after realizing the errors of his ways), The Pickloids, and The Rowdyruff Boys (although they were later resurrected by HIM).
- Dick makes a cameo appearance in the Villainous short "The Lost Cases of Boxmore".
- Dick can be considered as a dark parallel to Professor Utonium (which is pretty fitting). Both were immature in their youth and eventually became scientists who went to the same college. The difference between them is that while Utonium outgrew his bullying and became a man who is diligent, honest, and caring towards even artificially created beings (such as the Powerpuff Girls themselves), Dick retained his selfishness and remained lazy, treacherous, and cruel, to the point of viewing the Powerpuff Girls Xtreme clones as nothing more than just a source of financial profit. Thus, Dick Hardly serves as an example of what Professor Utonium would've become if he'd remained a selfish person when he became a scientist and eventually a father.
- He, along with Mojo Jojo, Sedusa, Mike Brickowski, Lenny Baxter, and the Gangreen Gang, is one of the only villains to successfully capture all of the Powerpuff Girls.
- Due to his overall corrupt nature, especially with his own Powerpuff Girls Xtreme business, he has exemplified each of the seven deadly sins.
- Greed: The primary reason behind his Powerpuff Girls Xtreme business, as all he ever wanted from that is a ton of profit with its products, which are basically knock-off creations of the real Powerpuff Girls themselves.
- Pride: He only cares about no one but himself, to which he only treats his own creations as profitable items rather than living beings.
- Wrath: He really doesn't take it well when his own plans were interfered, or got completely thwarted in some way or another. Shortly after his mutation, he threatens to crush Professor Utonium with his wrath.
- Sloth: When he was in college, he was much less productive than his old roommate Professor Utonium. Years later, with the inception of the Powerpuff Girls Xtreme business, it's apparent that he's putting what's seemingly a limited amount of proper effort when creating his own products.
- Gluttony: With the success of his Powerpuff Girls Xtreme business, he doesn't have any sort of plan to slow it down due to his excessive greed. He also swallows an entire vial of Chemical X, causing him to mutate into a monster.
- Envy: It's evident that he despises the fact that his old collegemate Professor Utonium is more practically successful than he himself is, which ranges from being more academically ahead to having the Powerpuff Girls, whom he sees as being profitable because of the trio's powers.
- Lust: During his college years, he has displayed some suggestive interests for ladies in general. Years later, in one scene, after the success of his business, he's shown holding two ladies in bikinis from side-to-side, indicating that he was still a womanizer.
External Links[]
- Dick Hardly on the Pure Evil Wiki
- Dick Hardly on the Powerpuff Girls Wiki
