Ed Wuncler Sr.
Edward "Ed" Wuncler, Sr., also known as Ed Wuncler I, is the secondary antagonist of The Boondocks. a wealthy businessman with his embarassingly inept, trash-talking, thuggish grandson Ed Wuncler III in The Boondocks.
Description
Mr. Wuncler is an overweight, rich realtor whose family founded the town of Woodcrest and lived in the area for over a century. He acts as the hyperbolic archetypal capitalist in the show seen praising the freedom to exploit cheap labor and complaining about high taxes in "The Block Is Hot". The wealthy Wuncler owns the mortgage loan on Granddad's house (as he does with every house in Woodcrest) and somehow Woodcrest's police force, and is embarrassed by his inept grandson, Ed Wuncler III. Wuncler also owns the fictional fast food restaurant franchise, "McWuncler's", and the character bears a resemblance to his voice actor.
Wuncler sometimes does things considered racist, such as referring to Grandad as "Robert Freedman", and employing only illegal Mexicans at his restaurants; ultimately, though, his racism is portrayed as simply being a byproduct of his insatiable greed rather than an active hatred of those from different races. Ed seems to have taken a general liking to Robert, referring to him as "Old school", and even funding his Soul Food Restaurant venture in the episode "The Itis", though this may have merely been a plot to lower property values in the area so that he could purchase the nearby park and "develop" it. He also has a sweatshop which is run by 12-year-old Indonesian girls as Huey reveals and Ed confirms in "The Block Is Hot", demonstrating his ruthless manner.
He often schemes for his own benefit, such as in "The Red Ball", in which he traumatized Huey from playing kickball so Huey wouldn't defeat his team. Ironically, Wuncler had Huey join his team in that same episode to win a bet with a Chinese Communist. Another time, he had his grandson and Gin Rummy plan a false terrorist attack on Woodcrest, so he could make a lone victim, Dan the security guard, a national icon and profit from his image. The Central Terrorist Agency, after falsely acuseing and arresting Huey, catch wind of the plan and prepare to hunt him down, but are immediately called off as Wuncler is above the law. Jack Flowers teams up with Huey to take Wuncler down. After stopping the attack, Wuncler avoids arrest and death due to Barack Obama's intervention.
Trivia
- Ed Wuncler, Sr. is voiced by veteran actor Edward Asner.
- Wuncler's last name originates from Dr. Seuss's book The Lorax where the antagonist is a faceless business owner called the Once-ler.
- Ed Wuncler Sr. forced Jazmine to sell lemonade if she wanted "Sammy Davis Jr." the pony in "The Block is Hot."
- Ed Wuncler, Sr.'s personality and appearance may be based off of David Rockefeller, Sr. , a famous American businessman and entrepreneur.