Guybrush Threepwood

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Guybrush's mugshot from The Secret of Monkey Island

Guybrush Ulysses Marley-Threepwood (usually just Guybrush or Guybrush Threepwood) is the protagonist and playable character in all four Monkey Island games by LucasArts. In the first game, The Secret of Monkey Island, Guybrush's goal is to become a pirate. Though he achieves this goal (through the completion of the Three Trials) he never quite succeeds in his piratey activities (such as growing a beard in Monkey Island 2). Guybrush's arch-nemesis is the Undead Pirate LeChuck who attempts to compete for the love of Elaine Marley in all four games.

Name

Guybrush's first name was born by accident when his initial sprite was saved under the file-name "guy". The filetype attachment spelled the name "guy.brush", which became his name. The surname Threepwood was later decided on by popular vote amongst the game development crew.^[1] After his marriage to Elaine, Guybrush has legally changed his surname to Marley-Threepwood, though he still prefers being called Guybrush Threepwood. His middle name was introduced in the fourth game. Ulysses is the Latin name of Odysseus, the sailor of Greek mythology who got lost on his way from the Trojan War and had a series of adventures with his crewmates.

Role in games

MI1

The Secret of Monkey Island

In the first game Guybrush appears as a youthful, young man urging to become a pirate. He appears on top of Mêlée Island and scares the heck out of the Lookout, who then advises him to go to the Scumm Bar to talk with the Pirate Leaders. From them, Guybrush learns that in order to become a pirate, he must complete Three Trials which involve swordplay, thievery and Treasure Hunting. Meanwhile Guybrush is antagonised by Mêlée's sheriff Fester Shinetop, who tells him to get out of town when he still can. With the help of the Fettucini Brothers (a two-man Circus Act) Guybrush earns a handsome sum to start his quest.

Swordplay

Captain Smirk trains Guybrush in the art of Insult Swordfighting, which is fought in the principle that a sharp wit is as important as a sharp blade. The player, equipped with a few starter insults must fight the pirates on Mêlée and eventually challenge the Swordmaster in order to beat the quest.

Thievery

Guybrush must steal the Idol of Many Hands from the Governor's Mansion. Guybrush drugs the ferocious Piranha Poodles and makes his way in, but is caught off-guard by Fester, who he fights and knocks out momentarily. With the help of Otis Guybrush receives the file he needs to steal the idol and is almost arrested by Shinetop, who is stopped by Elaine. Guybrush at this point is too shy to talk (comprehensively) and Elaine takes this to mean he doesn't like her. As Guybrush is about to leave, Fester stops him, ties his leg to the idol and knocks it into the sea. Guybrush soon escapes and meets again with Elaine. The two profess their love, but Elaine tells Guybrush to finish his trials before they can meet up.

Treasure Hunt

With the help of a shady character, Guybrush buys a map to the Legendary Treasure of Mêlée Island. He uses the map to find the treasure and dig it up.

After Guybrush completes the trials, LeChuck kidnaps Elaine and takes her away to Monkey Island. Guybrush convinces Otis, Carla and Meathook to join his crew on board the Sea Monkey, which Guybrush purchases from Stan. After sailing off, Guybrush's crew mutinies and he is forced to get to Monkey Island on his own. Searching the ship he finds a Voodoo Recipe which he cooks, he then passes out and awakens just off the coast of Monkey Island. Guybrush uses the cannon to get on the island where he encounters Herman Toothrot.

Herman has the key to the Giant Monkey Head which leads to the Caverns of Meat, which in turn lead to LeChuck's ship. Through a myriad of circumstances Guybrush reaches the bowels of Monkey Island, returns Herman's Banana-picker, sinks the Sea Monkey, returns a Voodoo Anti-Root to be made into a Ghost Repellent and returns to the ship, only to find it has left for Mêlée, where LeChuck intends to marry Elaine at the church. Guybrush borrows Herman's boat and Guybrush, Herman and Bob escape Monkey Island together.

Guybrush stops the ceremony but finds out Elaine has escaped of her own accord. A rather one-sided fight between LeChuck and Guybrush ensues which Guybrush is able to win, using a bottle of Root Beer to blow LeChuck up. His body explodes in a series of fireworks and Guybrush and Elaine look upon them in awe.

Guybrush in MI2

Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge

Note: The following description is only for the full game, not the Lite-version.

Guybrush has set off to find the legendary treasure of Big Whoop, but instead finds himself stranded on Scabb Island, which is terrorized by LeChuck's right-hand man Largo LaGrande. With the help of the Voodoo Lady, Guybrush makes a Voodoo Doll of Largo and drives him off the island. However, Largo manages to swipe LeChuck's ghostly beard that Guybrush has kept as a souvenir. With it, LeChuck is resurrected and now seeks his revenge.

Guybrush must now find Big Whoop in order to defeat LeChuck again. He sets out to find the Four Split Map Pieces of an expedition to Big Whoop led by the late Captain Marley. Enlisting the help of Captain Dread, Guybrush must make his way to two other islands in order to find the map-pieces, each entrusted to a former crew-member of Marley.

Marley's Piece

Elaine holds her grandfather's map-piece at her mansion on Booty Island. She is not on good terms with Guybrush after their breakup, and Elaine becomes insulted when Guybrush asks for the map-piece, throwing it out the window. It winds up stuck on a twig off a cliff, and when Guybrush attempts to grab it a bird flies by and takes it to the Booty Island treehouse. Guybrush's first attempt at getting up the tree results in him hitting his head and seeing an apparition of his parents who turn into skeletons and begin to sing The Bone Song. After waking up and some trouble Guybrush finally gets up the treehouse and finds it is full of maps. He must then use Elaine's dog (also named Guybrush) to find it.

Rum Rogers' Piece

Rum Rogers, Jr. now lives in his father's old house on Phatt Island, and challenges Guybrush to a drinking contest (which he wins by replacing his own grog with a 1/8 Grog from Kate Capsize). Using an elaborate light-mechanism he discovers a secret room where Rum's skeleton lies in a bathtub with a toaster, still clinging on to the map-piece.

Rapp Scallion's Piece

Guybrush must resurrect Rapp (with Ash-2-Life), who was killed in a gas-explosion. After turning the gas off at his weenie hut, The Steamin' Weenie, Rapp's mind is at rest, he gives Guybrush the map-piece and goes into the light.

Lindy's Piece

Lindy's piece is on sale at the Antique Store on Booty Island. The player can't buy it so instead Guybrush has to locate the figurehead of the sunken ship, the Mad Monkey. With the help of Kate and a library book he succeeds.

Unable to read the map Guybrush takes it to Wally, who makes Guybrush run an errand for him while he figures out what the map represents. While Guybrush is off, LeChuck captures Wally. Guybrush hitches a ride to his fortress in a delivery crate and makes his way through the maze that is the fortress (with the help of the Bone Song lyrics). He finds the key to unlock Wally's cell but is captured and confronted by LeChuck.

LeChuck plans to kill Guybrush with an amazing death-trap, but he and Wally escape. Unfortunately Guybrush blows up LeChuck's dynamite storage as well as his fortress and winds up on Dinky Island, where Big Whoop supposedly is. After a brief run-in with Herman, Guybrush makes his way through the thick jungle of Dinky (with the help of Marley's old parrot) and finds the X which marks the spot. Guybrush digs down to find cement and blows it up with dynamite. He finds a chest but as he swings to grab it, the platforms beneath himself and the chest break away and Guybrush is left hanging.

Eventually Elaine arrives and Guybrush tells him his whole story (this happens at the beginning of the game), and Elaine is about to help him when Guybrush's rope snaps and he falls down. Here he faces LeChuck, who has constructed a Voodoo Doll of Guybrush. After torturing him, he intends to send him to another dimension of infinite pain, but is only able to send him to the next room. A game of cat-and-mouse ensues in the tunnels beneath Dinky where Guybrush manages to make a Voodoo Doll of LeChuck and defeat him.

However, LeChuck hexes Guybrush to believe he is a kid at a carnival with his parents and brother, but as they walk away LeChuck looks evilly at the camera.

The Curse of Monkey Island

Guybrush in his more cartoony appearance in the third game

After an undisclosed period of time, Guybrush somehow manages to escape the carnival and drifts off to Plunder Island, where LeChuck is currently engaging Elaine in battle. LeChuck captures Guybrush, who is reunited with Wally, now calling himself Bloodnose the Pirate. Guybrush is able to use his cannon to sink LeChuck's longboats and cause him to drop his Voodoo Cannonball, which destroys him and causes his ship to capsize.

Guybrush escapes through LeChuck's treasure hold with a huge diamond engagement ring, and swims to the beach, where he proposes to Elaine. However, the ring turns out to be cursed and turns Elaine into a solid, gold statue. The Voodoo lady, who has relocated her place of business to Plunder Island, tells Guybrush that he must replace the cursed ring with a pure one in order to break the curse. Said ring is located on Blood Island, and according to her will be the place where Guybrush will die.

Aside from having to gather a map, a ship and a crew, Guybrush must rescue Elaine who, in his absence, is stolen by the meddling Pirates of Danjer Cove. Guybrush enlists the help of the three pirates of the Barbery Coast hair salon, Haggis McMutton, Cutthroat Bill and Edward van Helgen, after proving to each member that he is worthy to be their captain. The map is retrieved from the back of Palido Domingo.

Upon realising that the pirates of Danjer are a group of monkeys, led by the deranged Mister Fossey, who believes their captain to be a large gorilla by the name of Captain LeChimp, he uses a book on ventriloquism to trick Mister Fossey and his crew into leaving their ship, The Sea Cucumber. With a map of dubious instructions he finds Elaine buried on the stage of the Plunder Island theatre.

Just as Guybrush is ready to set sail, his ship is boarded and his map seized by René Rottingham. Through ship-to-ship combat and Insult Swordfighting, as well as upgrading his cannons at Kenny Falmouth's emporium, Guybrush challenges Rottingham to a swordfight, beating him and finally making his way to Blood Island.

His ship is wrecked when it arrives and his men arrange a non-hostile mutiny, beginning to repair the ship for the voyage back home. On the island Guybrush learns that the aforementioned diamond ring has been split into two parts. Guybrush must first prove to Griswold Goodsoup of his connection to the family-line and fake his own death (in effect carrying out the Voodoo Lady's prediction) in order to get into the Goodsoup Family Crypt. Here he meets the ghost of Minnie Goodsoup and has to unite her with the dead Charles DeGoulash, who professes his love to Minnie; they kiss and go into the light. Guybrush then gains the wedding band.

The diamond, however, is located on nearby Skull Island, but is dangerous to sail to due to the thick mist that perpetually surrounds the island. Fixing the Blood Island Lighthouse, Guybrush enlists the help of a ghostly ferryman: The Lost Welshman. On the island he faces the pirate lord King Andre and his assistant Cruff. Guybrush challenges them to a game of poker (with the life insurance money he got from Stan), and beats them (with the five-of-a-kind Death Cards he received from Madam Xima). The pirates however intend to kill Guybrush, but the clumsy assistant LaFoot barges in on the right moment, accidentally blowing out the Smuggler's Cave's candles. In the darkness Guybrush grabs the diamond and escapes.

Guybrush revives Elaine, but the two are seized by LeChuck's Skeleton Pirates and taken to Monkey Island. LeChuck tells the background to Marley's discovery of Big Whoop and his nefarious plan for the Carnival. He intends to tell more horrible tales to Guybrush, but when he annoys him by not listening Guybrush is turned into a child. Guybrush is luckily able to transform back (using the Hangover Remedy of Griswold Goodsoup) and make his way to the Rollercoaster of Death. Here Guybrush sets an elaborate trap for LeChuck, burying him beneath a mountain of ice.

With LeChuck defeated, Elaine and Guybrush can finally marry and sail off for their honeymoon.

Guybrush from Escape from Monkey Island

Escape from Monkey Island

Returning from their honeymoon Guybrush and Elaine find out that Elaine has been declared dead, and that the governor's mansion is under a demolition order. After disposing of the demolitionist's catapult Guybrush also learns that a new election for the office of governor is to be held, with Elaine being opposed by a strange character called Charles L. Charles. Amidst these events a mysterious Australian land developer is buying up the real estate around Mêlée and other islands.

Guybrush enlists the help of his former crew members Carla and Otis (who after many trials it seems managed to Escape from Monkey Island), as well as the help of the navigator (and owner of the Scumm Bar), Ignatius Cheese. Together they sail to Lucre Island aboard The Dainty Lady to meet with Elaine's lawyers and to secure a restraining order against the demolitionist. Guybrush receives a letter from H.T. Marley, which leads him to The Second Bank of Lucre, where the pieces of the mysterious ultimate insult are kept in a safe-deposit box.

Guybrush goes to the bank, but the Marley heirlooms are stolen by Pegnose Pete, who frames Guybrush for the robbery of the bank. Guybrush is arrested by Inspector Canard. Because this is Guybrush's first offense he is put under house-arrest. An enchanted Voodoo anklet of extreme discomfort is place on his ankle so that he can't leave the island. Through a myriad of circumstances Guybrush finds out that Pete planned the robbery along with Ozzie Mandrill, the notorious aforementioned Australian land developer. Guybrush captures Pegnose, discovers his Booty Showcase (by bluffing Ozzie) and proves his innocence by producing the prosthetic nose that Pete lost before the robbery, and its screw, found amongst the loot.

Guybrush returns to Mêlée with the deed and spends hours telling Elaine his story of what happened. Just then Charles bursts in and reveals himself to be LeChuck. With the help of the Voodoo Lady, Guybrush is able to find the Marley heirlooms that hold the key to the secret of discovering the pieces of the Ultimate Insult. These are also Marley's wedding gifts. A pair of earrings which bring the figurehead of the Dainty Lady alive (something old), a necklace (something new) and a bank-pen (something borrowed) that hangs from it and a painted map of the Tri-island area (something blue).

The enchanted pen points to the island and draws a diagram of what an Ultimate Insult looks like. With these clues, Guybrush and crew set off to Jambalaya Island. They find the island to be infested with tourists and tacky restaurants, with all the real pirates confined to the nearby Knuttin Atoll, guarded by the maniacal Admiral Casaba. Through another myriad of circumstances Guybrush is able to find all the pieces of the Ultimate Insult.

When he returns to Mêlée he finds that Elaine has lost the election and that Ozzie and LeChuck were working together. Ozzie takes the pieces of the Ultimate Insult and LeChuck strands Guybrush, once more, on Monkey Island.

On Monkey Island, Guybrush bumps into Herman Toothrot, who is suffering from amnesia and also realises that the island is now infested with monkeys, that the monkey head leads to a strange control room, and that the island is now divided by a flow of lava. During his stay on the island Guybrush beats Jojo Jr. in Monkey Kombat and returns Herman's memory, which leads him to reveal that he is none other than H.T. Marley. He also reveals that the Ultimate Insult doesn't work without the Gubernatorial Seal of Mêlée Island. As he says this, Elaine is captured and her seal falls into the villains' hands.

Guybrush constructs an Ultimate Insult talisman which powers a Giant Monkey Robot, and with the help of Jojo Jr., Herman, and the monkeys of Monkey Island, they set off to fight Ozzie and LeChuck. They stop on a nearby island where Ozzie has built an Ultimate Insult amplifier in order to infect a whole chain of islands with his Ultimate Insult talisman. Guybrush sabotages it and runs to the mansion to save Elaine but very nearly causes both of them to be submitted to the Insult's effect. LeChuck bursts into the scene in the form of a giant statue and grabs Elaine and Ozzie. He, however, succumbs to the Insult's effects, becoming Ozzie's pawn.

Guybrush and company fight LeChuck with the robot, and whilst fighting, LeChuck crushes Ozzie and the Insult by accident, destroying both with a powerful blast of voodoo energy. Guybrush and Elaine convince Marley to return to the office of governor (and to put some pants on), after which they are free to "go wherever they like and do whatever they like".

Guybrush from Monkey Island 3 (above) and 1

Appearance

Though Guybrush's attire has changed in each game there are certain aspects of his appearance that remain the same. In the first game he wears a white blouse (with rolled-up sleeves), black knee-long pants, white socks and black shoes. He wears the white blouse in all of his appearances in later games. In Curse of Monkey Island, his pants are now brown and he wears a red sash and a brown vest. In Escape from Monkey Island (while on Lucre and Jambalaya Islands) his attire is similar to the first game except he's wearing pants which are a light blue.

His appearance varies the most in Monkey Island 2, where he wears a long, blue coat, two belts (one across his chest) and brown boots. While on Mêlée Island in Escape from Monkey Island, Guybrush wears a red jacket and a large belt with a belt-buckle with his initials on it (a possible reference to Grim Fandango^[2]). He also wears brown boots and black pants. When he is left on Monkey Island in the game's third act his boots are gone, his jacket appears beat-up, and his pants are torn from the knee down.

Guybrush's hair has also changed colour on a few occasions. He had carrot-orange hair in the first game but appeared a brunette in Monkey Island 2. However, at the end of the game his hair is blonde. His hair remains as such in the two following games. The changing art-styles also have changed his appearance. The first two games had noticeably more realistic artwork, making Guybrush appear more like a young man. From the third game onward his appearance became more cartoony, with lanky limbs, an unusually long nose and face, tiny eyes and a tiny mouth.

Guybrush's hairstyle, a puffy pompadour and a ponytail, has remained consistent throughout the games. In Monkey Island 2 he was shown with facial hair.

Personality

In his first appearance, Guybrush appears youthful, excited and somewhat simple, mirroring the attitude of a child. Guybrush is however noted for his moments of self-assuredness which often backfire on him. He appears to have grown rather neurotic by the fourth game, where he is also prone to submitting to Elaine's whim due to them now being married.

In Monkey Island 2 Guybrush displays a noticeably nastier personality, performing morally wrong acts just to spite or to progress through the game, such as stealing Wally's monocle, sawing off the pegleg of another pirate in order to ransack a carpenter's workshop. This change in behaviour is commonly believed to result from Guybrush's attempt at acting like a real pirate.

Trivia

Guybrush's age is a matter of debate. He is suspected of being somewhere between the ages of 18-21 in all of his appearances. Since the time-gap between each game is noticeably ambiguous, it is impossible to say how much Guybrush ages throughout the series. When trying to get a library card in MI2 in one of the dialogue options he almost accidentally admits to being nineteen. The Scumm Actors' Guild membership card which Guybrush uses in the third game to prove his age, states that he is 20. These are the only occasions where Guybrush's age has been documented.
One of Guybrush's notable talents is that he can hold his breath for ten minutes. In Monkey Island 1 it is possible to kill him by staying underwater for too long.
Guybrush uses a rowboat a grand total of three times throughout the games.
In the third and fourth games Guybrush displays an unexplained phobia for porcelain. It is sometimes thought this joke originated from the first game, where Fester is assumed to have hit Guybrush over the head with a porcelain vase^[3], but this is not in line with the in-game events, as it is Guybrush who picks up the vase during the fight. Bill Tiller has this to say on the matter: "It is just a joke. It means nothing. I find it strange that a throw away line like that gets so much attention. It is just a joke. Why would anyone be afraid of porcelain?"^[4]
The ghost priest, Allegro Rasputin, of the First Church of LeChuck describes the "Anti-LeChuck" (Guybrush) as having the number 1138 tattooed on his head. This is a reference to George Lucas' first movie "THX 1138".
He is apparently a big fan of a comedy duo called Yongler and Muntz, who he mistakes Carla and Otis to be in MI4. He also mistakes them for the two original founding members of Keelhaul.

Past crew members

Discography

Bibliography

At the Phatt City Library the following books, written by Guybrush are seen.

Where I blew up LeChuck
How I blew up LeChuck
Why I blew up LeChuck

The excerpts from the following book are also used in the packaging of all four games.

The Memoirs of Guybrush Threepwood: The Monkey Island Years

Appeared in

Voiced by

Dominic Armato

Memorable quotes

"Ha-ha! Taste cold steel, feeble cannon restraint rope!"
"That shot may have come from the grassy knoll."
"Wow, a whole bucket full o' mud, AND IT'S MINE, ALL MINE!"
"That's the second biggest monkey head I've ever seen!"
"I can hold my breath for ten minutes!"
"I don't think he'd like that."
"I'm Guybrush Threepwood, a mighty pirate!"
"Peep."
"Word."
"We'll sure avoid scurvey if we all eat an orange."
"Aw man, the quicksand sucked out all of the cool stuff."
"Treasure, what treasure? Ow I'm fresh out."

Footnotes

↑ Reference needed
↑ In Grim Fandango Membrillo, the undertaker, mentions that you should wear a belt buckle with your name on it in order to be recognized more easily if you are sprouted.
↑ http://www.scummbar.com/resources/articles/index.php?article=1011&newssniffer=readarticle
↑ http://www.scummbar.com/resources/articles/index.php?newssniffer=readarticle&article=1011

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Category: Characters