J is for Janitor – Ah, the janitor. Traditionally seen as one of the lowest occupations you can have, the janitor serves as a perfect analogy for the poor, downtrodden, and forgotten. As a result, elevating the janitor to superhuman levels is a great story arc. Maybe that’s why the lowly janitor is a common trope in sci-fi. Here are seven of the greatest janitors of all time.
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| Melvin Ferd III (“The Toxic Avenger”) via horrornews.com |
1. Melvin Ferd III (The Toxic Avenger) – Melvin was just your average 98-pound weakling who worked as a janitor at a health club in Tromaville, New Jersey. Bullied and abused, he gets chased out of a second story window and lands in a drum of toxic waste that turns into a hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength. But he still relies on his trusty mop to get the job done.
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| Buddy Blank (“Batman: Brave and the Bold”) via behindthevoiceactors.com |
2. Buddy Blank (Batman: The Brave and the Bold) – Buddy Blank thinks he’s just a lowly janitor for the Global Peace Agency. Blank is unaware that in reality, GPA can transform him via satellite into the super-powered One-Man Army Corps (OMAC). Instead of cleaning floors, Blank helps clean up crime.
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| Joel Robinson (MST3K) via MST3K.wikia |
3. Joel Robinson (MST3K) – In the not-too-distant future (next Sunday A.D.), there was a guy named Joel. Not too different from you or me. He worked at Gizmonic Institute, just another face in a red jumpsuit. He did a good job cleaning up the place, but the bosses didn’t like him, so they shot him into space. There, he found a home, built some loveable robots, and watched really bad movies. And became awesome. La-la-la
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| Moses (“The Hudsucker Proxy”) via anyclip.com |
4. Moses (Hudsucker Proxy) – Moses seems to be a regular janitor, maintaining the huge clock of Hudsucker Industries, and dispensing wisdom to people who need it. Then he literally stops time. Who is this mysterious janitor? Is he even human? Is he an angel or God or the personification of Order? We may never know, but we know one thing: he’s awesome.
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| Robert (“The Outer Limits”) via Hulu |
5. Robert (The Outer Limits) – In the episode “The Message,” a deaf woman’s implant intended to help her hear seems to be malfunctioning. It causes searing pain, and forces her to write a strange series of numbers. Fortunately, she meets a janitor at the hospital name Robert. Robert happens to be a former astrophysicist who is able to translate the numbers into a binary code from extraterrestrials.
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| Scruffy (Futurama) via infosphere |
6. Scruffy (Futurama) – He works at the futuristic delivery service, Planet Express, but is rarely seen. He’s a man of few words, and when he does speak, he often refers to himself in the third person. He reads dirty magazines, and owns more stock in Planet Express than anyone else. He loves his mop bucket, perhaps too much. He’s Scruffy…the janitor.
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| Hong Kong Phooey (“Hong Kong Phooey”) |
7. Penrod “Penry” Pooch (Hong Kong Phooey) – Penry works as a janitor at a police station, where no one knows his secret identity. When he jumps into a filing cabinet, he turns into one of the most racially insensitive superheroes ever, Hong Kong Phooey. Chika-chong, chika-chong…
Which is your favorite janitor? Do you know any others?
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<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="38019 ">12 Comments
Of those I'd go with Joel Robinson. MST3K was awesome.
Yay Joel Robinson! I grew up watching MST3K!
Is it scary I don't need to see the lyrics to sing the MST3K song? Best janitor, although Mike was funnier.
And LG growing up watching the show makes me feel really old..
I guess I'd go with Moses. Loved that movie. J is for Janitor? Good one! That's a title I didn't encounter anywhere else for Letter J. Well done!
I'm not sure I remember any. However, in the movie Goodwill Hunting, didn't the main character play a janitor?
I loved this J is for Janitor post. I've always made it mandatory to know the janitor wherever I worked or played. They have the keys and all the supplies. My plan has always paid off. Plus janitors have a whole other way of looking at how things run. I prefer to know them than the CEOs.
I'm putting a janitor in my next book, thanks to you.
Janitor. Nice.I wouldn't have thought of that one. 🙂 They do play an important role in our loves. Haven't watched The Toxic Avenger but it sounds pretty cool. Hudsucker Proxy sounds great as well. Thanks for stopping by my blog! 🙂
Me, too, Alex. Sadly
Thanks, took a while
You're welcome, great blog
Favorite show
Agreed, Pat