| Colonel Bud Manstrong | |
|---|---|
| The Venture Bros. character | |
 | |
| First appearance |
Careers in Science |
| Voiced by | Mark Gagliardi (young version) |
| Information | |
| Occupation | Astronaut |
| Relatives | Mrs. Manstrong (mother) |
Colonel Bud Manstrong was the former leader of the two-man crew of the space station Gargantua-1 on The Venture Bros.
Personality
Despite his military standing, Bud Manstrong is shown to be highly naive and childish, having a very black and white view of the world. He often attempts to flourish his speeches with colorful metaphor and drama, most of which falls completely flat towards others.
Manstrong takes a strong moral stance on most issues, and is strictly sexually abstinent, which his mother attributes to his similarly-abstinent father having been a larger influence on the young Bud than her. Although he is very willful in most situations, he wilts under attention from his often inebriated and oversexed mother. His forbearance of sex puts a great deal of strain on his relationship with cosmonaut Lieutenant Anna Baldavitch, his love interest and fellow crew member on Gargantua-1.
Character History
In his teenage years, Bud Manstrong was a "paperboy" aboard Gargantua-1. He was one of the few survivors of the Movie Night Massacre, which claimed the lives of most of the space station's crew.
When Team Venture were invited to Gargantua-1 for repairs, Manstrong became jealous of Baldavitch's attraction to Brock Samson, despite the fact after six years his adolescent-like attempts to woo her had left her emotionally and physically unfulfilled. Manstrong's was shown to be deeply incompetent in manning Gargantua-1, more focused on his relationship with Baldavitch than noticing Brock was being sucked out into the vacuum of space. Manstrong's continued ignorance of his surroundings eventually left him confronting Brock out of jealousy, which left him stranded in space with a broken arm. Manstrong begged to be let back inside, only for an irate Baldavitch to refuse to bring him in until he apologized.
Gargantua-1 later suffered an accident, causing it to fall into Earth. Manstrong somehow managed to pilot the station and seemingly crash it into a wanted terrorist camp. Manstrong was the sole survivor and, for his actions, received a medal from the President. He and his mother were invited to the President's State Dinner, and Bud was offered a chance to run for the Vice Presidency. However, Manstrong turned down the offer in horror upon learning of the president's sexual indiscretions.
His mother convinced him to turn around and ask President Breyer to be his running mate, telling him that it would put him (and, by extension, her) in a politically favorable position. Bud did so with almost robotic compliance and eventually found himself trapped in the Oval Office along with the President and several other people when Dr. Venture's unscheduled forcefield demonstration went awry. While in this situation Bud had a flashback, revealing that he had been receiving a handjob from Lieutenant Baldavitch when Gargantua-1 went down, and taking out the terrorist camp had been a total accident.
Episode Appearances
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
- Now Museum-Now You Don't (background cameo)
Season 7
- Arrears in Science (flashback)
Trivia
- Bud Manstrong's name is a play on the name of astronauts Edwin "Buzz" E. Aldrin Jr. and Neil Armstrong. Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong were crewmates on the Apollo 11 space mission, which landed on the moon.
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