A Henchman's static idle pose with pink and yellow shading.
The Henchman driving the limousine's static idle sprite.
The Henchmen's sprite sheet with pink and yellow shading.
The background of Week 4 featuring the Henchmen.
Henchmen
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The Henchmen are background characters who appear during Week 4. Most of them are dancing in the background on a separate limousine, while another one of them drives the limousine Mommy Mearest and Boyfriend stand on during their sing-off. The Henchmen work under Mommy Mearest and Daddy Dearest, who own them in droves.[2]
Appearances
The Henchmen all appear alike with light pink skin, a flattop haircut with a pair of horns and a deviously large grin that reveals a blue tongue. They also dress the same in mostly medium-dark cyan-blue clothing: open jackets with large, pointed shoulder pads, somewhat baggy pants, sneakers with white laces and a pair of much darker blue sunglasses. Their in-game sprites have a pink and yellow shader, though this does not apply to the one driving the limousine.
During Week 4, the ones standing on the limousine all perform a synchronized dance.
Personalities
The Henchmen are unintelligent[3] demons who are skilled at dancing and driving limousines. They are very obedient to Mommy Mearest, seemingly doing whatever they are told. They also seem to be quite upbeat, as they constantly wear a large, devious smile and enjoy grooving to the music in Week 4.
Relationships
Mommy Mearest
Mommy Mearest is the boss of the Henchmen. The Henchmen are very loyal to her, but she seems to treat them as disposable and only gives them one dollar to purchase a drink from a vending machine.[4] She also assaults them by tearing their fingernails and eyelashes off after they get stuck driving her Porsche.[5]
Daddy Dearest
It seems that the Henchmen additionally work under Daddy Dearest, as one of them drives a limousine with a hood ornament of his head.
Girlfriend
In artwork found in the art booklet that comes with the CD of Friday Night Funkin' - The Official Soundtrack Vol. 1, Henchmen can be seen purchasing alcohol and snacks for Girlfriend.
Trivia
General
- PhantomArcade has confirmed that the Henchmen are supposed to die every few seconds from being hit and chopped up by lampposts that they're too unintelligent to duck under, but this feature has not been added yet.[3]
- After a batch of Henchmen die, more will appear. They are described as "disposable" by PhantomArcade.[2]
- The Henchmen's scrapped appearance has a lighter shade of pink and a zigzaggy forelock on the flattop instead of their horns. Their tongue is also a pink color instead of blue. Additionally, they wear much darker blue clothing, and the top and sides of the tongue of their right shoe are medium-dark pink.
Lore
- The Henchmen like to snowball Sprite into each other's mouths. They can only afford one Sprite from the vending machine because Mommy Mearest only gives them a dollar, but they all want a taste of it, so they all have to share it between each other's mouths and drink parts of it.[4]
- When Boyfriend and Girlfriend crash a driver's license test vehicle into trees and run away, the Henchmen are stuck driving Mommy Mearest's Porsche back, and she ends up tearing their fingernails and eyelashes off.[5]
- During one of PhantomArcade's streams, he stated that the Henchmen are grown in bottles.[6]
Inspirations
- The Henchmen's design and appearance are a composition inspired by individuals and characters from several different pieces of media:[7]
- Bobby Brown and his appearance from his 1989 song "Every Little Step" is reflected through the Henchmen's clothing style and dance.[8] According to PhantomArcade, this inspiration came from Kawai Sprite's "genre choice of music for Week 4."
- Mac Tonight, a McDonald's mascot who appeared in several ads for the restaurant, is reflected by his sunglasses. This inspiration was due to Mac Tonight making PhantomArcade smile and laugh upon seeing the former, as well as the character looking creepy, which PhantomArcade found to be perfect for a demon character.[1]
- Powerline from A Goofy Movie is reflected by his flattop hairstyle and toothy grin. The Henchmen's angular shoulder-padded jackets may have also been inspired by Powerline's physique, as he possesses stocky shoulders. The Henchmen's scrapped appearance, among other changes, had a hairstyle that matched even closer to Powerline's own, with a similar zigzaggy forelock on their flattop.
- Dabura from Dragon Ball is reflected through his overall demonic appearance, specifically his skin tone and horns. His face may have also helped shape the Henchmen's facial features, such as their long, angular jawline.
Gallery
A Henchman's idle sprite without pink and yellow shading.
Ditto, but static.
The Henchmen's original scrapped design.
A currently unused animation showing several dancing Henchmen being brutally chopped up by a lamp post.
The Henchmen's sprite sheet without pink and yellow shading.
Assets for the currently unused lamp post that hits the Henchmen.
Assets for the Henchmen's deaths.
Headshot of a Henchman by PhantomArcade.
A Henchman in Spooky Month's style, made by Sr Pelo.
Sketch of Girlfriend and one of the Henchmen buying alcohol for her (with Boyfriend in the background) from PhantomArcade's Twitch stream.
A drawing featuring the Henchmen, Mommy Mearest, Boyfriend and Girlfriend from PhantomArcade's Twitch stream.
Unfinished sketch of the Henchmen made by PhantomArcade, via Twitter.
Artwork from the Friday Night Funkin' volume 1 CD art booklet of a Henchman buying alcohol for Girlfriend.
Artwork from the Friday Night Funkin' volume 1 CD art booklet of the album cover for Mommy Mearest's album ...Would You?, with one of the Henchmen getting a nosebleed by looking at Mommy Mearest.
The Henchmen as they appear in the Newgrounds New Year's 2025 skin by Stradomyre.
Girlfriend is sad her dad shot Santa (1/4)
Girlfriend is sad her dad shot Santa (2/4)
Girlfriend is sad her dad shot Santa (3/4)
Girlfriend is sad her dad shot Santa (4/4)
Girlfriend is sad her dad shot Santa (bonus panels)
