Puppets are recurring objects and motifs in Homestuck.
In Dave and Bro's house[]
Dave Strider's house is full of puppets and images of puppets belonging to his Bro. Many of the puppets are dressed in clothing reminiscent of stereotypical "gangsters" (or pimps
). Though Dave initially insists that “puppets are awesome” despite John's opinion, he later admits that John “might have been right about the puppets”, which are beginning to unnerve him.
Many of the house's puppets are placed in dangerous scenarios referencing the Saw franchise.
The house's living room is home to puppets resembling Mr. T and Chuck Norris chained together with a pair of handcuffs, “kept in the apartment with a sense of profound humorous irony”. A wizard puppet hangs beside the living room television, and a harlequin sits on a speaker beside Dave's Bro's computer.
Smuppets[]
PlushRump: your one stop go-to for the plumpest plushiest bare rumps this side of Jim Henson's most sordid fantasies.
The most common puppets in Dave's house are the smuppets, an apparently “multi-billion dollar a year enterprise” related to his Bro's PlushRump website. Smuppets are characterised by their phallic proboscises and pronounced rear ends, but otherwise come in a number of colors and with various Muppet-like hairstyles.
Shortly before the beginning of Sburb a group of four smuppets with colours loosely matching those of Dave and his friends were found stuffed within the apartment's microwave.
Lil Cal[]
- Main article: Lil Cal
The most prized puppet in Dave's Bro's collection is “the man” Lil Cal, which he displays around the house when he's not taking it on gigs with him.
In Dirk's house[]
Though decorated with less puppets than the room of his pre-Scratch counterpart, Lil Cal and a pile of smuppets can still be found in Dirk Strider's room, as well as some Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff characters manufactured in the same style. Dirk claims to love puppets (“holy SHIT”) and possess the extreme dexterity to operate them without being seen, but also the technological knowledge to make them move on their own. He is also proficient in their use in combat.
Other puppets and dolls[]
Jade gathers all of her dolls into a rather cozy looking pile.
Jade Harley's room is decorated with a series of plush toys in a similar style to Smuppets called “MANTHRO CHAPS”, combining aspects of animals with dapper gentlemen and each coming with formal attire, vaccination kit and slop trough accessories. Her collection also includes several plush squiddles.
Doc Scratch[]
- Main article: Doc Scratch
Due to being ectobiologically derived from Lil Cal, Doc Scratch shows several puppetlike qualities, including a white cotton filling. He appears to become “just a limp lifeless puppet” in Andrew Hussie's presence, “like a reverse Calvin and Hobbes kind of thing”.
The Felt[]
- Main article: The Felt
Akin to Scratch, Caliborn describes the members of the Felt as “PUPPET PEOPLE” due to their felt-like skin.
As a metaphor[]
Puppets and puppetry are frequently used as metaphors for manipulation in Homestuck.
Mindfang refers to her manipulation of Dualscar's slave as “puppeteering”, while Dirk uses the term “pulling the strings” as part of an “extensive puppet metaphor” regarding his control over the Sburb session. Jake English also once refers to Dirk's brain ghost as a “brain puppet”.
In Pesterquest (Dubiously Canon)[]
A mysterious set of marionette strings seemingly commanded by Doc Scratch assail the protagonist and Boldir Lamati in the Vriska route of Pesterquest: Volume 6.