The Gangreen Gang



The Gangreen Gang are supporting antagonists of the original series. They are a group of trouble-making hoodlums and thugs who live at the Townsville city dump. Their members include Ace, Snake, Lil' Arturo, Grubber, and Big Billy. They are lesser recurring villains in The Powerpuff Girls, described by Blossom as "... not even a criminal element—just a nuisance." The boys are mostly known for committing petty crimes, such as vandalism and harassment of the young or elderly. Their gang name is a play on the term "gangrene", a skin condition.

The Gang are characterized by their green skin, and all the gang members have black hair, except for Big Billy, who has red hair. They appear to be teenagers, but vary widely in height and body type.

They originally appeared in the intro for Whoopass Stew as the villains The Powerpuff Girls are shown fighting, alongside the Amoeba Boys, making them and the Amoeba Boys the oldest recurring villains in the series. They also appear in The Powerpuff Girls Movie as the tertiary antagonists.

The Gangreen Gang are a tribute to the works of cartoonist Ed Roth, particularly Rat Fink. They also bear a slight resemblance to Gorillaz (which Ace became a member of in 2018) and Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.They also appear to have been based on the hip hop and pop band Black eyed peas and in Toon Patrol, the weasels from Who framed Roger Rabbit.

Ace
Ace (voiced by Jeff Bennett) is the Gang's leader, and a mean-spirited, bullying, greedy opportunistic rogue. Ace's height is 6'1". He sports a long, straight, greasy, slick-back hairdo, a scraggly mustache, an orange, cobalt-blue vest-jacket, a pair of black shades, and even fangs. He looks somewhat vampiric. When he speaks, he sounds like the typical juvenile delinquent—mean and disrespectful. He has a nasally Italian New Yorker accent and he sounds similar to Joe Pesci. As the Gang's smartest member, Ace is the instigator of most of their antisocial activities, and he does possess a certain charismatic charm that allows him to sweet-talk people who ought to know better, such as Ms. Keane and even Buttercup in the episode Buttercrush. In Power Lunch, Ace has cryokinesis, the ability to generate ice and snow (gained from eating popsicles and Slurpees), similar to Blossom's ice breath but a lot more powerful. In the anime, he uses cards as weapons hurling them at his opponents. He is considered to be the best looking one of the gang. In the book "Buttercup and the Mind-Reading Juice" it is revealed that he is aquaphobic, although in Powerpuff Girls Z episode 50 ("Him's Big Plan: Part 2") he is seen sitting in a hot tub. Ace is of Italian descent.

Style updates:
 * In the earlier episodes (1998-2002), Ace was shown to have his shirt tucked in. However, in the later episodes he was shown with his shirt out to give him a more "thuggish" look and possibly to help with the rump issue - the outline of his buttocks was shown in Buttercrush, Slave the Day, and See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey (although that scene was recycled footage from Buttercrush). Some people say this style update makes him appear as if he is wearing tights with a one-piece.


 * His skin was a more yellowish shade of green, his hair and features were more rounded, he had a few spots or "moles" on his face (these three changes also applied to the other members), and only his upper canines were fangs (similar to a vampire). From 2002 onward, his skin was a darker shade of green, he had a more angular look, the moles disappeared, and all of his teeth were fangs. Sometimes his fangs aren't visible and look more like normal teeth (particularly in the earlier episodes). Also, sometimes only one of his canine fangs is visible, but in some newer episodes (such as Aspirations) he had two visible canine fangs (again, making him look vampiric). His canine fangs almost always protrude from his upper lip.
 * In Buttercrush, Schoolhouse Rocked, and Bought and Scold, Ace has pink eyes. However, they are orange in The Powerpuff Girls Rule!!! and yellow in the Powerpuff Girls Z series. In every other episode, they are either left white or hidden by his sunglasses the whole time.
 * In The Powerpuff Girls Movie, The Powerpuff Girls Rule!!!, and Telephonies (as well as in certain Powerpuff Girls Z episodes), it is revealed that he has pointy ears.
 * The only times that Ace is ever shown without his sunglasses are in the episode Buttercrush after Buttercup knocks his sunglasses off (they also get knocked off in the episode Sweet 'N Sour) and in the video game Chemical X-Traction where Ace takes his sunglasses off and throws them like a boomerang.
 * In the Whoopass Stew pilot, Ace had crooked teeth and Snake had sharp teeth. In the series, Ace's teeth became sharp.

Ace's clothes:
 * White baseball shirt with purple sleeves
 * Blue and orange ski vest (always shown opened over the shirt)
 * Black boots
 * Beige-yellow tattered bellbottom pants
 * Red white and blue striped wristbands
 * Black shades

In the anime series, he wears a tattered white t-shirt, yellow and orange wristbands, and a red and purple vest.

In Fusionfall, he wears a white shirt, ripped blue jeans, a black leather jacket with a green skull on the back that resembles his face, and one of his wristbands is replaced by an orange bracelet.

In the reboot, he has a short shirt, longer hair, and no mustache or wristbands.

In 2018, Ace became a member of the virtual band Gorillaz, as the bassist for their upcoming studio album 'The Now Now', temporarily replacing their original bassist Murdoc Niccals while he is in jail.

In Gorillaz, Ace is more detailed and realistic with less exaggerated features than in The Powerpuff Girls. One such example is his chin, which is less curvy and shorter, but still maintains its sharp end. Ace’s ears are also sometimes visible as opposed to always being covered up by his hair, and his nose is slightly pointer. He is also visibly older in Gorillaz, having wrinkles and a receding hairline. Ace’s wardrobe in Gorillaz is also more varied, as Ace is shown in a different outfit in each picture and music video. Gorillaz' design for Ace is also loosely based off the actor John Cazale’s character Sal from the 1975 crime drama film Dog Day Afternoon.

Snake
Snake (voiced by Tom Kenny) is a slippery, serpentine character who appears very sycophantic with a forked tongue, a long, sharply pointed nose, pink slitted eyes, black lips, a skinny body, a Kangol hat turned backward, always pronounced hiss and a snake-like voice. He is the Gang's second-in-command, but mostly this means that he is reduced to a yes-man to Ace. He does have some personality of his own, but it is usually silenced due to Ace punching him when he speaks out of line. This could imply that Snake is more loyal to his friend Ace than he is independently evil, which makes sense since he can be quite insecure. It is revealed in Schoolhouse Rocked that his real name is Sanford D. Ingleberry. In Power Lunch, his superpower is elasticity, the ability to stretch himself (gained from chewing gumballs). In the Powerpuff Girls Z episodes, Snake is known as Znake (Ivy in English) and possesses the ability to put people to sleep by rubbing their legs penetrating their nerve endings although he has some problems with Buttercup as she has a lot of protein in her fibers. In the English dub of Powerpuff Girls Z, Ivy changes from male to female as a scene would be considered unsuitable if Ivy continued to be male. Due to his face being pointed, he is always shown facing sideways. In the book "Smashing Lumpkins" it is revealed that he weighs ninety pounds.

Also in Powerpuff Girls Z, he apparently comes from a wealthy family.

Style Updates: (2002 onwards): Lips are thicker, eyes are a darker shade of pink, the voice sounds more snake-like and sinister, hairs on the neck are gone.

Snake's clothes:
 * Brown Kangol hat (always worn backwards)
 * Striped white guinea tank top
 * Striped yellow shorts
 * Black hi-top sneakers
 * Black and yellow striped wristbands (sometimes shown as yellow and white)

In the anime, he has wavy blue hair covering one eye, a sailor outfit, black and pink hi-tops, and the colors on his wristbands are switched. He is of Scottish-Japanese descent.

Grubber
Grubber (voiced by Jeff Bennett) is the Gang's most physically grotesque member- untidy hair, enormous chin, ragged, grubby clothes, a long tongue hanging out, and protruding eyes, resembling an Ed "Big Daddy" Roth cartoon and looks as if he has been living in a cave all his life. He also appears to be mostly mute, communicating instead through blowing a raspberry. He does, however, occasionally demonstrate unexpected talents, such as playing the violin, speaking eloquently or performing impersonations (at first, they were so obvious it was a wonder how he fooled anyone, but later he was able to do them perfectly). In Power Lunch, he can do loud, supersonic belches (gained from drinking fizzy beverages). In the anime, he has the ability to morph into anyone he wants (although he still retains green skin and purple eyes.)

Grubber is of British descent.

Style Update: Shirt changed from brown to purple.

Grubber wears a tattered shirt and pants with a rope for a belt. His anime clothes look similar except he now wears black boots. His father resembles him and has the same speech pattern.

Big Billy
Big Billy (voiced by Jeff Bennett) is a hulking, fat cyclops with a shock of red hair covering the top half of his face with a single big blue eye underneath. Billy acts as the Gang's muscle. Big Billy's height is 6'11" tall.

Big Billy weights 1014.1 pounds. Though he does at times display a childlike innocence, he mostly just does the bidding of his more savvy and vindictive friends. In the episode Schoolhouse Rocked, it is revealed that his real name is William W. Williams and that he is a Cyclops. Big Billy loves to eat and will gobble more junk than the rest of the gang. In Slave the Day, he was saved by the Powerpuff Girls and began following them everywhere out of sheer gratitude, but eventually, he became more of a hindrance than a help. He's the same age as Snake and Grubber, the middle-aged members of the Gang. In Power Lunch, he is just a rock (gained from eating hard candy). In the anime, he possesses super strength (although he is not as strong as Buttercup as he requires both hands to lift a car and she can lift the Professor's van with only one hand).

Clothes:
 * Green shirt with yellow stripes on the sleeves
 * Blue cuffed jeans with a belt
 * Black sneakers.

In the anime, he wears a white one-shoulder shirt and spiked wristbands and still wears blue jeans.

Lil' Arturo
Lil' Arturo (voiced by Tom Kenny and by Carlos Alazraqui in Buttercrush) is a malevolent Mexican dwarf with straight hair swept forward over one eye who looks as if he just jumped out of a Picasso painting, Lil' Arturo seems to take the most amusement from the Gang's activities. He appears to be a reference to the 1970 George Akiyama manga "Zeni Geba," and sounds very much like Señor Wences. Lil' Arturo carries around a switchblade-style comb he refers to as "Maria Conchita Teresa Rosalita." He has a rather prominent underbite. His full name is Arturo de la Guerra. ('De la Guerra' is Spanish for "of War." This could imply that, since 'Arturo' is so close to the word "Art" and the equivalent Spanish word, "Arte," his name may be a reference to Sun Tzu's The Art of War.) In Power Lunch, his superpower is super speed (gained from drinking coffee). He possesses this ability as well in the anime but is not very good at using his powers. His accent had to be changed in later episodes because the producers feared complaints of Latino stereotypes.

Clothes:
 * Red-maroon shirt with a white shirt underneath
 * Black pants
 * Black shoes

In the anime, 'he' is a girl (even though he is a boy in the English dub). He wears a frilly pink dress with matching shoes.

Episode appearances

 * The Kick Butt Girls (Debut; title sequence only)
 * Buttercrush (Lil' Arturo was voiced by Carlos Alazraqui in this episode)
 * Telephonies (Lil' Arturo is voiced by Tom Kenny for the first time)
 * Schoolhouse Rocked
 * Slave the Day
 * Daylight Savings (cameo)
 * Twisted Sister (cameo)
 * Criss Cross Crisis (with teenage girl voices)
 * Bought and Scold (non-speaking, although Arturo can be heard laughing with Mitch)
 * Power Lunch
 * Moral Decay (non-speaking)
 * Film Flam (cameo)
 * Shotgun Wedding (picture cameo)
 * The Boys are Back in Town (cameo)
 * See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey (Ace has the only clearly-heard lines)
 * Bang For Your Buck
 * Documentary (cameo)
 * Girls Gone Mild (cameo)
 * Sweet 'N Sour (cameo)
 * Live and Let Dynamo (in the Girls' imaginations)
 * A Made Up Story (cameo)
 * Aspirations
 * West in Pieces (as Gang Verde)
 * Roughing It Up (cameo by Ace, Snake, and Big Billy only)
 * The Powerpuff Girls Rule! (Ace is the only one with any lines)
 * The Powerpuff Girls Movie (Ace has the only speaking lines)

Book Appearances:
 * Smashing Lumpkins
 * Bought and Scold (based on the episode)
 * DC Comics series (for some reason, the colors on Ace's vest are usually messed up. Also, in one issue where the Gang was stealing socks, Grubber actually spoke.)
 * Buttercup and the Mind-Reading Juice
 * No Girls Allowed
 * Where Is Chicken Pox
 * The Valentine's Day Mix-Up
 * The Powerpuff Girls Movie: A Novelization
 * Party Savers
 * Scary Princess
 * Teeth Thief (based on the Moral Decay episode)
 * Mojo Mayhem

Game Appearances: Ace appears in the online game FusionFall, where he and the Gang are in a rock band. He is also older and is dating Buttercup (known as Belladonna in the game after she gets amnesia due to a fight with Mojo Jojo. Ace took her in under this name and she now uses it as a stage name.) In the game, Ace is about 25 and Buttercup is about 13 since the Girls are now in middle school. Their couple name, according to the fans, is Acecuppo or Acecuppa. Also known as Acercup. Also, Ace has a barely noticeable goatee instead of a mustache.
 * Paint the Townsville Green (Gameboy Color)
 * Chemical X-Traction (Ace and Big Billy only) (N64)
 * Him and Seek (Gameboy Advance)
 * Relish Rampage (Gamecube)
 * Gamesville (PC)
 * Cartoon Network's FusionFall (Ace only, although Lil' Arturo is mentioned, and jackets for all the gang members are available) (Online)
 * Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosion XL (Ace makes a cameo) (Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)

In the English dub of the anime series, Ivy has a crush on Ace.

In the video game Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosion XL (Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3), Ace is shown in the "tips" screen along with other Cartoon Network characters who do not appear in-game, such as Johnny Bravo's mother, etc.

As of his Gorillaz debut, Ace is now 33 years old.

Gallery
Click here to view the Gangreen Gang's Gallery

In Powerpuff Girls Z
This version of the Gangreen Gang is similar to the original with a few exceptions:
 * In the original series, the Gangreen Gang had white teeth and their tongues would be either green or pink (with the exception of Grubber). In the anime, they had yellow teeth and their tongues were always pink. Also, their skin is a darker shade of green and they have no "moles."Also, each member comes from a family like them, only without the green skin.
 * Ace is known as Ace Haramatsu, however in the English dub, he is renamed Bobby Green (by the 50th episode). He is voiced by Andrew Francis. Unlike the original, he does not have a New York accent and his hair has tints of green in it. Otherwise, he looks very similar to the original Ace.
 * Snake is a girl named Ivy in the English dub and is referred to as Znake (being male in the original Japanese dub) by other fans. He looks similar to the original Snake facially but has blue wavy hair covering one eye and a sailor outfit. Ivy apparently has a crush on Ace, as seen in episode 14 (Attack of the Gangreen Gang). Ivy comes from a wealthy family and loves the computer. In fact, he once told his father, "Relax, Pops. I've only been on for like 16 hours today" to which his 'pops' responded, "16 hours? No wonder he's turning green." Ivy was voiced by Tabitha St. Germain in the American version.
 * Lil Arturo is a girl in the Japanese version and is known as Weevil. She perhaps resembles her American counterpart the least. In the English dub, she is supposedly a boy, but still wears a pink dress and pink scarf. Unlike the original, she does not have a Mexican accent. She has green hair and no nose. He is voiced by Maryke Hendrikse.
 * Grubber is known as Lunk in the English dub (after the 50th episode). He is voiced by Peter New. Lunk looks very similar to the original Grubber, but he doesn't have a nose, he doesn't communicate with blowing raspberries, and his eyes don't pop out of his head. He can shapeshift by twisting his hair but keeps his green skin and purple eyes, (the only time this trick worked successfully was when he turned into Ace, who also have green skin like him, despite his sunglasses lens were purple. Bubbles, however, still fell for it).
 * Big Billy is known as Big Boy in the English dub (after the 50th episode). He is voiced by Richard Ian Cox. He looks very similar to the original Big Billy except he has brown hair and one eye mostly shown. He is also much smarter.
 * All of the members (except Ivy) had their original names from the original Powerpuff Girls series in their first appearances (Ace, Grubber, etc.) but were later changed (Bobby Green, Lunk, etc.).
 * This version of the Gang has their hideout as an abandoned apartment in the city, unlike the originals who hung out in a shack at the city dump. Also, this version actually spends time with their respective families, while the originals did not seem to even have families.