| “ | What's that, buddy? What plan? I'll tell em, buddy. Hey! Everybody! Plank's got a brainstorm! Give it to 'em straight, buddy! | „ |
| ~ Johnny informing the kids that Plank has a plan in "Boom Boom Out Goes the Ed" |
| “ | VENGEANCE | „ |
| ~ The "destination" signaled by the bus once Plank hijacks it to get to the Eds in Big Picture Show. |
Plank is a supporting character in the Cartoon Network animated series Ed, Edd n Eddy.
A literal plank of wood with a face crudely painted on it, he is the imaginary friend of the eccentric kid Johnny 2x4, and, generally, has to be the "voice of reason" out of the two, such as with the various scams the Eds pull, though he can still be the thrill-seeker behind Johnny's latest predicament.
Characterized as a snarker and a troublemaker, as well as cunning and manipulative, it is ambiguous whether Plank is sentient or not, as seen with the various episodes where the block of wood accomplishes and knows more than an imaginary friend would, though series creator Danny Antonucci has confirmed Plank is not a living being.
What Makes Him Magnificent?[]
- Despite most likely not being sentient, Plank still is characterized through what Johnny claims he says and does and, through Johnny, Plank even manages to be plot-relevant with some of his scheming, making him enough of a "character" to get a scaling of any kind, even if he is a complete though form.
- What further helps is the moments where Johnny repeats what Plank "told" him verbatim, thus we get to hear how Plank talks and it is colorful enough to give him a concrete personality, such as calling Eddy a "fatheaded no-neck chicken-livered geek" in "Gimme, Gimme Never Ed".
- Unlike every other character in the cast, who is characterized as far too childish, naive, petty, cowardly or some combination to count, Plank, while a snarker with some moments of being a jerk for the sake of it, is much more dignified and more often characterized as intelligent and capable. Matter of fact, a lot of comedy surrounding him is how competent he is, especially compared to his ditzy friend Johnny: among other things, he is able to attend school, became part of Rolf's Urban Rangers (something the Eds weren't able to do) and, when Sarah and Jimmy were playing pretend as airplane staff, they served Johnny just some peanuts, while Plank received a fancy lobster dish because he had "preordered".
- While not fully immune to the slapstick the show is famous for, such as being used as a pirate plank or a back-scratcher by the Kanker sisters, his brand of slapstick is much rarer, briefer and subdued compared to the other characters, and Johnny is usually the true butt-monkey when things go awry for him and Plank.
- He is often characterized as the voice of reason that has to guide the airheaded Johnny 2x4 through his daily life, having on more than one occasion tried to talk Johnny out of falling for a Eds scam. In this friendship, Plank is clearly the level-headed one as well as the one in control, as Johnny is constantly obeying him with at most some reluctance and, in "All Eds are Off", Johnny is shown to not be able to last a full day without Plank telling him what to do.
- Although the two do split up after a fight in "Dear Ed", they reunite at the end, thus Plank gets his friend (and pawn) back.
- In one visual gag, he's even seen reading a book called "Mind Control: a Prepubescents Guide", as a nod to Plank's undertones as a manipulator.
- If Plank has brief moments of being gullible or believing something outlandish (such as Mole Mutants), they are softened by the fact that all things indicate Plank is supposed to have the mentality of a kid.
- Plank is even more justified under this aspect if he is a complete thought form imagined by Johnny and, thus, the product of a child's mind.
- He is characterized as book-smart, being stated to be well-versed in Chinese literature and having tutored Johnny in the past.
- In "Who Let the Ed In?", Plank suggests Eddy defeats Ed's invisible imaginary friend Jib by trapping him in an invisible trap.
- In "Gimme, Gimme Never Ed", he has Johnny spend his allowance so that the Eds will make rides to satisfy Plank's thrill-seeking. Not satisfied with the Eds' efforts, he still keeps an aggravated Eddy trying by either talking payment (exploiting Eddy's greed) or using reverse psychology and mocking him (exploiting Eddy's ego). When Double D finally builds Requiem for a Whiplash, his most exciting but dangerous ride yet, Plank offers the Eds 5 whole dollars if they ride it with him but, when the trio gets on, Plank activates the ride, sending the Eds racing. In the end, the Eds are flung in the sky by the ride and all the money Johnny had payed falls off their pockets and into Johnny's hands, thus Plank ends the episode having gotten all the kicks he wanted for free.
- In "For the Ed, By the Ed", Plank "fights" the Kankers and defeats them, being one of the few characters in the show to have ever one-upped the sisters. Having saved Jimmy from their bullying in the process, Plank is hailed as a hero and, later, the kids elect him "King of the Cul-de-Sac" in spite of Eddy's efforts in beating him.
- In "Robbin' Ed", "Splinter the Wonderwood" is introduced: Plank's superhero alter ego and "Captain Melonhead" (Johnny)'s loyal sidekick and steed who helps him in defending the kids from the scams of Eddy (later "Professor Scam").
- In "Boom Boom Out Goes the Ed", when the kids are panicking because Ed told them stories of cannibalistic Mole Mutants living in the sewers, Plank comes up with a plan to flush all the toilets in the Cul-de-Sac at once, thus flooding the sewers and exterminating the mutants. The kids follow the plan and the sewers are indeed flooded. As the blackout that was occuring happened to end by that point, the cheering kids hail Plank as a hero once again.
- There's also the possibility (if Plank is sentient) that his actual plan was getting back at Rolf and Kevin, who were down in the sewers and had disrespectfully used Plank to open the manhole.
- In Big Picture Show, he is determined in his vengeful pursuit of the Eds, spurring Johnny when the latter's resolve falters. He then somehow manages to hijack a public bus and eventually track down the Eds at Mondo A-Go Go.
- The ambiguity behind his very nature makes him intriguingly mysterious, and a big reason why he's one of the characters in the show that is talked about the most to this day.
What Makes Him a Baddie?[]
- He is very controlling and sometimes borderline emotionally abusive towards Johnny. This is best seen in "All Eds are Off", where Johnny is shown to be so dependent on Plank that he can barely last a whole day without his imaginary friend there to tell him what to do, showing he made Johnny hopelessly subordinate to himself, and in Big Picture Show, where he is so determined to get the Eds he outright "corners" Johnny when the kid starts getting reluctant.
- He is mean-spirited and snarky, and most of the time Johnny says anything abrasive of mocking, it's preceded by "Plank says..."
- In "Gimme, Gimme Never Ed" he repeatedly endangers the Eds by making them go through dangerous thrill rides they organized such as the Log of No Return, which results in the Eds falling off a waterfall or Requiem for a Whiplash, which is almost lethal.
- Of course, this is very much made non-heinous by how this is a heavily slapstick show where the characters can survive this and worse.
- In "For the Ed, By the Ed", Eddy gets his hands on a photo of Plank committing some heinous crime that shocks the other kids, though the audience is never shown what it was.
- At the end of "Postcards from the Ed", he sends the "people he knows" (various wooden planks depicting thugs) after the Eds as revenge for his parents' "death" at the hands of Eddy's recklessness. While Eddy was at fault, Ed and Double D weren't.
- As stated earlier, there is a chance that Plank's plan to "get rid of the Mole Mutants in the sewer" in "Boom Boom Out Goes the Ed" was actually just a front for Plank to actually injure or even kill Rolf and Kevin, who were in the sewers. Kevin and (more successfully) Rolf had used Plank to open the manhole to the sewers, so Plank likely wanted revenge for how he was used by them.
- Regardless of his motivation, Plank knew Rolf, Kevin and even Double D (who hadn't wronged Plank and had actually retrieved him from the sewers) were in the sewers, so flooding them was still a conscious endangerment of all three.
- In Big Picture Show, Plank is unfettered in wanting to reach, capture and assault (or even kill) the Eds as revenge of their disastrous, unseen scam. In his pursuit of the trio, he imposes his determination on a reluctant Johnny and even hijacks a bus to get to them. At the end of the film, Johnny and Plank successfully reach the Eds and batter them up and, when the other kids (who had made up with the Eds and finally befriended them) beat up Johnny and Plank in retaliation, the duo become supervillains and remain unredeemed as the show ends for good.
Trivia[]
- Plank is the only Magnificent Baddie in Ed, Edd n Eddy.
- Due to his sentience being ambiguous at a generous best, Plank was rejected on this Wiki at first before being re-proposed once it was argued that, even if he was a complete thought form, he was still characterized and plot-relevant enough to qualify. He was then approved.
- Plank was originally planned to be unambiguously sentient and fully voiced before Danny Antonucci turned down the concept. If this take on Plank got in the final product, we don't know how much that would have helped or hindered his MB status. Considering that the show features a cast of petty, naive children, it's possible this version of Plank would have fit the mold and be unable to count.
- In a Special episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Plank made a cameo and was implied to have been a spy sent by aliens all along. If this was canon (which it likely isn't), this would have made Plank a stronger keeper in both being magnificent and deceptive, and evil enough.
External Links[]
- Plank at the Ed, Edd n Eddy wiki
[]
 Magnificent Baddies
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