Courage is sometimes the most terrifying thing! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most frightening episodes of this beloved animated series featuring everyone’s favorite timid doggo. Be on the lookout for scares and spoilers.
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00:00 "Courage."
00:02 [Major Scream]
00:04 "Your hair."
00:06 [Major Scream]
00:08 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most frightening episodes of this beloved animated series featuring everyone's favorite timid doggo.
00:18 Be on the lookout for scares and spoilers.
00:21 "Then you will suffer the consequences."
00:27 Number 20. Queen of the Black Puddle.
00:30 The lengths Courage will go to to make his beloved owner Muriel happy is truly next level.
00:37 Especially if it involves going to save her cranky and mean-spirited husband from a watery grave.
00:43 "Come with me."
00:51 When a siren sets her sights on Eustace, Courage has to dive first into her domain, before she makes a meal out of him.
00:58 The Queen's hypnotic voice is disconcerting enough, but then she reveals her true form just as she's ready to take a bite out of her prey.
01:06 You'll think twice about ever taking a bath again.
01:09 [Muffled Screaming]
01:18 Number 19. The Shadow of Courage.
01:21 While a living shadow might not sound like the most intimidating of monsters, you'll be singing a different tune when you see just how far this episode pushed the body horror factor.
01:31 Tormented by the shape-shifted Spectre, Courage is forced to descend into the basement to try and save Muriel.
01:38 "Hey, Shadow! Are you down there?"
01:41 [Screaming]
01:43 Armed with only a flashlight, he and us are soon bombarded with some honestly freaky imagery as the Shadow puts on quite the show, displaying the numerous ways that Muriel could die.
01:54 "Okay, Shadow, where's Muriel?"
01:56 [Screaming]
01:59 It's all in shadow, of course, so the impact is lessened. But the implications go well beyond what you thought a cartoon could show.
02:07 Number 18. Evil Weevil.
02:10 Nowhere has a pest problem. Well, it has several, but one of the grossest would be that of Jeeves, a giant talking weevil that dresses like a dapper gentleman.
02:20 "I'm not used to such treatment."
02:22 "My dear lady, you should be primped, plumped, and pampered daily."
02:28 "Oh!"
02:29 Given that he knows how to turn a phrase, the anthropomorphic bug easily works his way into Eustace and Muriel's lives.
02:36 When he's not acting like the ideal butler, he's casually feasting on their fluids until they're husks of themselves.
02:43 It's every shade of disgusting. Hopefully, Courage invested in extra-large bug spray after this ordeal.
02:50 "Looks as if I'm staying, but I do feel that I have room for a little dessert."
02:58 Number 17. The Magic Tree of Nowhere.
03:01 What made Courage the Cowardly Dog such an incredible show was the various avenues it was willing to explore when it came to the strange and horrific.
03:10 At first, you'd think a tree with a giant humanoid face would be just another monster in need of defeating.
03:16 But it turns out the tree itself is a pretty sage and friendly entity.
03:20 "Do not be afraid. I have the cure you seek. It will take three days, and in three days, I will be cut down."
03:31 "Noooo!"
03:33 So naturally, Eustace wants to chop it down with an axe.
03:37 Honestly, what makes the conclusion so unsettling is that, despite it being hinted that the tree will one day return,
03:44 Eustace does go through with his plan and destroys something beautiful and unique.
03:49 Also, there's Courage's cry of anguish, "Chilling."
03:52 Number 16. Night of the Were-Mole.
04:06 Like we said, major pest problem.
04:08 "Little rabbit! Where did you go?"
04:13 "Oh!"
04:15 After Muriel is bitten by the world's scariest mole, she ends up infected and soon starts to transform into a hungry hybrid.
04:28 Naturally, Courage has to solve the problem before they all end up getting dragged six feet under.
04:33 While monster Muriel trying to take a bite out of Eustace could be seen as more comical,
04:38 Courage having to use himself as bait in order to attract the original were-mole for the sake of a curse has some real tension behind it.
04:46 "The things I do for love!"
04:49 "Ahhhh!"
04:55 Imagine finding one of these in your garden.
04:58 Number 15. The Clutching Foot.
05:01 Getting a fungal infection on your foot? That's unfortunate.
05:04 Having a fungal infection that starts to overtake your body? That's disgusting.
05:08 Having said fungus turn sentient and take the form of a bunch of archetypal gangsters? Only in nowhere.
05:15 "Have the big toe, see? Now, see? And when I say, go, see? Got me?"
05:21 Yeah, this is one of those gross-out episodes.
05:24 The premise is certainly out there, and we'll give it credit for creating a villain none of us saw coming.
05:29 "Okay, dog. It's like this. You drive us to the bank, or the fat lady gets it, see?"
05:35 "Yeah, the fat lady gets it!"
05:39 Though by far the scariest aspect of the episode is watching Courage have to defeat the big toe by licking them out of existence.
05:46 Number 14. The Quilt Club.
05:49 Muriel branching out and making new friends sounds like a great idea on paper,
05:54 but maybe creepy conniving conjoined twins with murder on their minds was an error in judgment.
05:59 "And we'll see if your quilt material, quilt club material, yes!"
06:07 [Laughter]
06:11 Turns out Elisa and Eliza's exclusive quilt club isn't so much about sewing.
06:17 "No!"
06:20 "You'll have to do better than that trifle!"
06:24 "Ahh!"
06:26 As it is trapping the souls of their victims and stitching them into fabric to extend their lives.
06:31 Something we get to see in eerie detail. It's a surprisingly haunting image.
06:36 Thankfully, Courage wasn't about to settle for Muriel becoming spiritual embroidery for eternity.
06:41 Number 13. Ball of Revenge.
06:44 The fear factor from this episode doesn't so much stem from a monster's appearance or antics.
06:50 It's the worry that Courage may legitimately be killed off.
06:53 Assembling six of the faithful hounds greatest enemies,
06:56 Eustace arranges for the rogues gallery to finish Courage once and for all.
07:00 "Remember us?"
07:02 "Yeah, remember us?"
07:04 [Crying]
07:07 "Oh no!"
07:08 Sure, it's via a game of dodgeball, but the level of violence they inflict is so intense it's almost hard to watch.
07:14 If not for Courage unleashing the biggest scream of his life, it could well have been curtains for him.
07:20 "Come on, Courage! What can you do?"
07:24 "Oh!"
07:26 [Screaming]
07:36 Seriously, Muriel, why are you still with Eustace after he pulled a stunt like this?
07:41 Number 12. Everyone Wants to Direct.
07:44 "Benton Tarantella?"
07:47 "The famous independent movie director?"
07:53 It was only a matter of time until we got zombies in a Courage the Cowardly Dog episode.
07:58 And naturally, they added a twist that somehow straddles the line between hammy and genuinely unnerving.
08:04 When an undead director rolls up into the middle of nowhere, he ropes Eustace and Muriel into starring in his next film,
08:11 which, to the surprise of no one, is just an excuse for him and his fellow zombie filmmaker to chow down on that sweet mortal flesh.
08:19 [Zombie growling]
08:23 "Great effect!"
08:24 The fact the director is also a parody of Quentin Tarantino is just another layer to the macabre fun of it all.
08:31 Number 11. The Great Fusilli.
08:33 This one is a double whammy.
08:35 "All your fears, they go. And then, oh then, you stay forever."
08:45 [Dramatic music]
08:51 [Zombie growling]
08:53 On the one hand, you've got a talking alligator who, via some manner of magical theater,
08:58 turns both Muriel and Eustace into puppets for his collection.
09:02 Spooky, supernatural stuff, but nothing we haven't seen Courage deal with before.
09:06 But that's not the most insidious part. This was planned as the series' original end.
09:11 Yep, Courage would have remained with puppet versions of his owners for the rest of his life, unable to fix them.
09:17 That is seriously dark. We're just happy the show continued and offered a happier future.
09:23 "The things I do for love!"
09:25 [Dramatic music]
09:28 Number 10. Courage in the Big Stinkin' City.
09:31 When Muriel wins a contest giving her a chance to perform her sitar live,
09:36 she, Eustace, and Courage travel to the Big Apple, only to be greeted by a giant criminal cockroach named Shwick.
09:44 "You bring that package back to me by curtain time, or it's curtains for the sitar lady."
09:49 This creepy crawly sends Courage out to get a mysterious package,
09:53 while keeping Muriel and Eustace hostage to some unseen monster.
09:57 Courage endures several terrifying experiences on his short journey,
10:02 including a trek into an abandoned house, home to a girl practicing her violin,
10:07 who turns around to be revealed as a horrific claymation monster.
10:11 [Claymation monster sounds]
10:15 [Claymation monster sounds]
10:20 Courage retrieves the package and makes his way back to Shwick,
10:24 only for the cockroach to be captured by the police.
10:27 Number 9. Car Broke, Phone Yes.
10:30 After Courage witnesses an asteroid crash near the farm,
10:33 a mysterious visitor who is very clearly an alien arrives, asking to use the phone.
10:39 "Hello? Can I help you?"
10:42 "Car broke? Phone? Yes?"
10:45 His eerie way of speaking and bulging eyes are scary enough,
10:48 but when the alien locks Courage in the closet and sucks the kindness out of Muriel
10:52 by sticking his tentacle arm up her nose, we'd say that took things to the next level.
10:57 [Alien sounds]
11:03 Muriel swiftly kicks the alien out of the farmhouse,
11:06 and Courage has to go get Muriel's kindness back.
11:09 That's when we see the alien for what it actually is,
11:12 a sentient brain with eyes who answers to an even larger sentient brain with eyes.
11:17 Yikes.
11:18 "Why, thank you."
11:20 [Alien sounds]
11:22 "Stupid brain, stupid brain."
11:24 [Alien sounds]
11:26 [Explosion]
11:28 [Heads of beef]
11:32 Number 8. Heads of Beef.
11:35 When Eustace and Courage venture out for some food,
11:38 Eustace stops at a restaurant advertising cheap hamburgers.
11:41 "I'm John Bonne. What's your pleasure?"
11:45 The diner, run by a pig man named John Bonne, is suspicious from the get-go,
11:50 as Courage witnesses a man enter the bathroom never to leave,
11:54 with John Bonne gathering the man's belongings.
11:57 [Screaming]
12:02 Courage then sees the man's face in his burger.
12:05 "It's my wife's special, the Heads of Beef. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha."
12:11 Eventually, Courage escapes, leaving Eustace behind.
12:14 It's revealed that the pig man isn't serving human meat after all,
12:18 and that the whole thing was a misunderstanding.
12:20 "That sure is one good-looking statue. When can we eat it?"
12:25 If you ask us, though, a giant pig running a diner that serves discount hamburgers
12:29 is horrifying enough as it is.
12:31 Number 7. The Mask.
12:33 This episode is scary in several different ways,
12:36 beginning with the arrival of a disturbing masked cat to the farm
12:39 who is violent towards Courage with no warning or reason.
12:43 [Screaming]
12:46 [Grunting]
12:50 The mask features a creepy, drawn-on face and is appropriately scary on its own,
12:55 but the level of violence towards Courage is what really got us.
12:58 [Grunting]
13:03 Courage believes the woman, called Kitty, to be evil,
13:06 so he attempts to get to the police,
13:08 only to get involved in the affairs of Kitty's friend Bunny
13:11 and her abusive dog boyfriend.
13:14 [Screaming]
13:17 [Gunshots]
13:19 It's a very adult episode for the series, and one that remains scary even today.
13:24 "Now we can be best friends forever."
13:28 [Giggling]
13:31 Number 6. A Night at the Cat's Motel.
13:34 Let's face it, motels can be pretty scary.
13:37 "My love, dinner has arrived."
13:41 When they're run by a murderous psychopath cat with a British accent
13:44 who keeps giant pet spiders, they're even worse.
13:48 In the show's series premiere, Muriel and Eustace settle in for a night at the Cat's Motel,
13:53 with Courage tied up outside due to the motel's strict no-dog policy.
13:57 [Laughing]
14:04 Cats is thankfully prevented from feeding Muriel and Eustace to his spiders
14:08 after chasing Courage through the motel and being inadvertently knocked out by Muriel,
14:13 with the family deciding to leave due to poor service.
14:16 The creepy cats and the heavy inclusion of spiders
14:19 makes this one of the more menacing Courage episodes we remember.
14:23 Number 5. The House of Discontent.
14:26 After neglecting their farm work and failing to successfully grow any plants before the harvest,
14:30 Eustace, Muriel, and Courage find themselves haunted by the spirit of the Harvest Moon.
14:35 [Screaming]
14:40 The spirit, represented by a terrifying live-action black-and-white floating head,
14:44 commands the family to leave the farm.
14:46 "Get out!"
14:51 "That's not very polite."
14:53 And when they refuse, challenges Eustace to grow a plant in 10 minutes,
14:57 calling into question his farming abilities.
15:00 "You're no farmer."
15:03 "And two!"
15:04 "Are not."
15:06 "Stubborn is what you are."
15:07 Eustace refuses, but Courage succeeds in growing a plant
15:11 after the visage shows off his power by raising the heat and causing Eustace to sweat.
15:17 The spirit leaves the family, but not without leaving a lasting impression on the show's young viewers.
15:22 Number 4. The Demon in the Mattress.
15:25 After ordering a mattress over the phone,
15:27 Muriel is delivered her new bed by two ghoulish rats riding in an eerie horse-drawn carriage.
15:33 [Groaning]
15:35 Despite these glaring warning signs, Muriel sleeps on the mattress and is promptly possessed.
15:41 [Groaning]
15:45 The rest of the episode plays out in a clever parody of The Exorcist,
15:49 delivering all kinds of chills to us as children.
15:52 [Evil laughter]
15:59 Muriel develops green skin, red hair, a deep voice,
16:03 and begins spinning her head around before it falls off completely.
16:06 Um, excuse us? This is still a kid show, right?
16:09 The episode ends with the demon possessing Eustace,
16:12 who Courage wraps up in the mattress and returns.
16:15 Goodbye, we guess.
16:17 Number 3. Perfect.
16:19 Overall, this final episode is relatively light on scares compared to the others on our list.
16:23 However, it does contain one of the most iconic and ominous moments of the entire series.
16:28 After making several mistakes around the farm, an old woman appears to Courage,
16:32 with Muriel and Eustace unable to see her.
16:35 [Gasping]
16:37 You are a disgrace.
16:39 [Screaming]
16:41 The woman, appearing to be a schoolteacher, chastises Courage for his mistakes,
16:45 attempting to correct all his imperfections.
16:48 Now repeat after me, and do it perfectly.
16:52 The turkey in Albuquerque is positively perky.
16:56 The real kicker comes during a dream Courage has that evening,
16:59 featuring a CGI animated fetus creature that delivers a disturbing warning to Courage.
17:05 You're not perfect.
17:08 This brief moment has stuck out for fans of the series over the years,
17:15 earning the episode a spot on our list.
17:17 Number 2. Freaky Fred
17:19 When Muriel's nephew Fred arrives in Nowhere,
17:22 we aren't quite sure what it is about him, but something is definitely off.
17:26 D-O-G is what he spelled, and that's how I spell naughty.
17:34 [Whining]
17:36 When Eustace locks Courage in the bathroom with Fred, we find out what that is.
17:40 He's some sort of weird barber.
17:42 It doesn't sound too frightening,
17:44 but when Freaky Fred starts reciting his poetry detailing the beginnings of his haircutting obsession,
17:49 that's when things get out of hand.
17:51 [Buzzing]
17:52 And oh, such fuzz, such fuzz, it does demand that I be naughty.
18:01 From there, the guy starts shaving Courage,
18:04 talking about how he shaved his pet hamster and his ex-girlfriend bald.
18:08 The look upon my young love's face was sweet as lace.
18:12 But in this case, I realized she...
18:17 [Buzzing]
18:20 ...needed space.
18:23 He eventually gets Courage shaved down to everything but his tail,
18:27 stating that that would be too weird even for him.
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18:45 #1 King Ramsay's Curse
18:48 It's pretty well agreed upon by this point that King Ramsay's Curse is the series' most memorable episode,
18:54 with its crowning achievement of scares.
18:56 After finding the hidden loot of a pair of robbers,
18:59 Courage comes into possession of a cursed Egyptian slab once owned by the Pharaoh Ramses.
19:05 -But the big story today, million dollar slab stolen from the tomb of King Ramses.
19:12 -Eh?
19:14 -I'm rich!
19:15 The slab is quickly taken by Eustace when he finds out its value,
19:18 and Ramses soon arrives to enact his curse.
19:21 -Return the slab.
19:24 -What?
19:26 -Return the slab, or suffer my curse.
19:32 King Ramsay's CGI animation stands in stark contrast to the rest of the show,
19:37 and it works to great effect.
19:39 The character, with his terrifying chant and out of place animation, remains the show's best scare.
19:45 -Return the slab.
19:50 -Ahh!
19:52 Which episode had you screaming along with Courage?
19:55 Let us know in the comments.
19:57 -With all your imperfections, you can do anything.
20:03 -Ahh!
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20:13 [music]
20:23 [BLANK_AUDIO]