Dr. Horrible
From Horrible Wiki
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| Dr. Horrible | |
|---|---|
| General Information | |
| Also known as: | Billy |
| Affiliation(s): | Evil League of Evil |
| Other Information | |
| Appears in: | Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (Act I, Act II, Act III), Be Like Me! (Captain Hammer, Nemesis of Dr. Horrible), Moist: Humidity Rising |
| Songs Performed: | Freeze Ray, A Man's Gotta Do, A Man's Gotta Do (reprise), On the Rise, Brand New Day, So They Say, Slipping, Everything You Ever. |
| Qualifications: | Ph.D. in Horribleness |
Dr. Horrible (played by Neil Patrick Harris) is the anti-hero main character of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog who aspires to join the Evil League of Evil. Dr. Horrible, the name by which he is commonly known (especially by the public), is the alter-ego of Billy (his actual name). Billy is primarily motivated by a desire to make a drastic social change in the world by putting the power in his own hands. His image opens and closes the show, in both instances, showing him sitting in front of a web-cam recording content for his blog, where he talks both of his villainous exploits and of his experiences with Penny. Dr. Horrible has a friend and henchman, Moist, with whom he discusses his evil plans, and his crush on the girl from the laundromat, Penny, who he has yet to even say hello to. Dr. Horrible's nemesis is Captain Hammer, a vain, prideful superhero, described by Dr. Horrible as a "corporate tool". Dr. Horrible has many inventions to help enact his plans, including a Transmatter Ray, a Horrible Van Remote, Freeze Ray, and Stun Ray that is later upgraded into a Death Ray. His costume consists of a white lab coat, khaki pants, white boots, white gloves, and welding goggles. When Dr. Horrible eventually joins the Evil League of Evil, he changes to a red lab coat and black gloves.
In the start of the film Dr. Horrible is given a letter from Bad Horse himself, the leader of the Evil League of Evil, who indicates that his application for this year is under consideration. In the meantime, the League is watching his actions, and Bad Horse suggests that a committing a major crime would help his application. However, due to his earlier failed applications for entry, this will be his final chance for entry into the League. Dr. Horrible comments that he will be stealing Wonderflonium from a poorly guarded courier van soon, and this is the perfect opportunity to show off for the League.
During an attempt to steal a case of Wonderflonium for his Freeze Ray, he meets Penny by coincidence and the two are properly introduced, though he is preoccupied with his heist and cannot pay much attention to her. He wonders why she chose to talk to him at that moment, and briefly debates following her to continue the conversation, until he resolves to follow through with his plan. The heist goes well at first, until Captain Hammer arrives, and crushes the receiver for the van remote. Dr. Horrible is unable to control the van, and it runs wild through the city. The van closes in on Penny, who does not see it approaching. Dr. Horrible manages to re-establish control and stop the van from hitting Penny. Emerging from hiding, Dr. Horrible furiously scolds Captain Hammer for putting Penny's life in danger. Hammer responds by shifting blame back to Dr. Horrible, and briefly strangling him. Penny (who was pushed into a pile of garbage by Captain Hammer before the van stopped), assumed that Captain Hammer saved her and begins to fall in love with him. With Captain Hammer distracted by Penny, Dr. Horrible angrily makes off with the Wonderflonium, lamenting over the romance that he is indirectly responsible for.
Dr. Horrible later manages to perfect the Freeze Ray with the Wonderflonium and talks in his blog about his next crime, at the Superhero Memorial Bridge. This fails however, due to the fact that his Freeze Ray takes some time to charge up, and also because Captain Hammer and the LAPD are watching his blog. This earns him a phone call from Bad Horse who tells him that he must now either kill to gain entry to the Evil League of Evil or else be killed for his failure and public humiliation. Dr. Horrible has difficulty with this, as he personally dislikes murder. Moist suggests that he kill someone easy, such as a child or someone very elderly, but Dr. Horrible is even more disgusted with this idea.
At the same time, as Billy, he has become close to Penny, with the two bonding with each other over conversations in the laundromat. Captain Hammer unfortunately meets him in his identity as Billy, who reveals that he knows that he is Dr. Horrible and he plans to sleep with Penny just to humiliate him. Hearing this, Dr. Horrible loses his aversion to killing and resolves to murder Captain Hammer to secure his entry into the Evil League of Evil. Dr. Horrible throws himself into perfecting his Freeze Ray, and using his Wonderflonium to turn his Stun Ray into a Death Ray.
As Penny's relationship with Captain Hammer grows, Dr. Horrible is busy in his lab working to perfect his Death Ray and planning how he is going to kill Captain Hamer. Penny sits in the laundromat with two frozen yogurts, watching the door as she waits for Billy to show up. This foreshadows and reveals that, had Billy focused less on getting into the Evil League of Evil and killing Captain Hammer and more time with Penny, he could have dated her and things would have ended differently.
During the opening ceremony of Penny's new homeless shelter, Dr. Horrible interrupts a speech by Captain Hammer by shooting him with his Freeze Ray. Emboldened by his iminent victory, Dr. Horrible begins to gloat and taunt the audience while firing madly with his Death Ray. As he approaches Captain Hammer, he hesitates to fire, which gives the Freeze Ray time to power down (something Dr. Horrible was not aware could happen). Captain Hammer is unfrozen and punches Dr. Horrible. Dr. Horrible is knocked down by the blow, and loses grip on the Death Ray, which bounces onto the floor. Captain Hammer picks up the Death Ray, and decides to use it on Dr. Horrible. Dr. Horrible tries to warn that it is now broken, as Wonderflonium must not be bounced, under any circumstances, but Captain Hammer ignores him, causing a massive explosion as he fires. Captain Hammer is launched across the room, and runs off crying in pain. Dr. Horrible is unscratched, but he discovers that two stray pieces of shrapnel have impaled Penny, the handle of the death ray below her ribs and a piece of the barrel in her chest. Penny dies in Dr. Horrible's arms and, with her last breath, she tells him that Captain Hammer will save them. The media assumes that Dr. Horrible defeated Captain Hammer and killed Penny intentionally, and he is lauded as the most feared supervillain in the world. With Captain Hammer in seclusion after Penny's death, Dr. Horrible and Moist are able to go on a crime spree. On the strength of these crimes, Dr. Horrible is invited to join the Evil League of Evil, giving him everything he ever wanted though he is left emotionally crushed by Penny's death.
[edit] Superhuman Abilities
While physically unimposing, Dr. Horrible possesses a genius-level intellect and an understanding of technology that far surpasses that of most of the world, enabling him to invent seemingly impossible items like the transmatter device, freeze ray, stun ray, death ray, and remote control device (which allows him to operate a vehicle from a handheld device), however all of his inventions have failed, or not worked completely to the end, with the exception of the transmatter device (it DID transfer matter) and the possible exclusion of the death ray, which might have worked had it not fallen to the ground and broken.
