Richard Anderson

**Richard Anderson** is a side character, and rarely, very rarely, a temporary antagonist in The Adventures of Matt Midway. He's a student at Oakville Public School, obsessed fan/collector of Shape Man comics and on-and-off nemesis of Matt Midway.

## Appearance

He's an African-American boy with black glasses and a slightly chubby face. He has a round belly, normal-sized arms, and thunder-thighs he hides under his pants. Speaking of which, he's always seen wearing a yellows polo shirt, black school pants, grey socks and vintage Shape Man shoes.

He'll never wash his clothes when he needs too, unless "a huge splat ruins his entire image". This is why either a food/drink stain or dried-up sweat spot will be seen on his shirt.

In hot climates, his shirt gets sweatier; his armpits, neck, stomach and chest is seen showing sweat. In colder climates, he's known for wearing the same furry jacket he wore once a man in a Shape Man costume gave it to him, as well as having frozen icicles made of snot hanging under his nose whenever it's freezing.

On very special days, he'll wear either Shape Man merch or an entire Shape Man costume. He'll also do it for an entire day if dared to, which would often lead to him thinking he could fly, shoot oval-beams and burst through walls.

During embarrassing moments, he can be seen wearing a pair of underwear with Shape Man on it, or even one that just says "Richard Is Super Cool".

## Backstory

Richard was born to a bald dad who always loses track of time and a mother who has her naivety get the best of her. Like so, whenever he demanded something to him, he always got it, which shaped him into the brat he is today.

## Personality

Richard is a huge nerd, and this is expressed throughout the entire series. For example, he's always reading Shape Man comic books, researching a superhero's abilities, roleplaying with others, organize his LEGOs in matching order, or making landmarks out of cardboard. This can cause him to be disregarded by multiple people at school.

He's socially awkward, unmannerly, lazy, selfish, curious, untactful, attentive and quirky. This has summed him up to be a boy who always hides in his room to isolate himself from his oblivious parents, rather hiding his dirty dishes under his bed than actually clean them.

He has shown to be rather attached to his belongings, as shown in Origin Story, where he only worries about his vintage Shape Man shoes being dirtied.

On most occasions, Richard is shown to be rather egotistical, viewing himself as "the #1 Shape Man fan" or "the most intelligent, important individual". He puts himself and his possessions before others, constantly boasts about his "greatness", and will go to ridiculous lengths to prove his worth, even if it's the littlest thing.

His hatred for Matt Midway grows per episode, and it's mostly due to jealousy. Because of it, he'll often be seen manipulating Matt into making a fool out of himself or having him fall into his poorly-made traps, but these attempts backfire each time. He'll also be challenging him to see who is better at something, and most likely lose as well.

He'll always demand for things to be brought to him, and use manipulation to get his way. However, his efficiency in smarts is mediocre, with people easily seeing through his lies.

## Trivia

* A constant gag throughout the show is how he's always coughing up mucus during his speeches.
	+ This is due to him swallowing his own snot.
	+ He doesn't seem to be infected by it either, in spite of how much he does so.
* His parents always exploit his most embarrassing traits, such as his baby photos or disabilities due to their old, oblivious nature. He almost never shows kindness to them because of this, and is only put in his place when his Aunt Phillis is around.
* The inspiration for him was Bubble Bass from *SpongeBob SquarePants*, and partially Melvin from *Captain Underpants*.
	+ For Bubble Bass, both are fat, glasses-wearing geeks with dry, annoying voices who have no respect for others or their personal health, and are repeatedly at odds with the optimistic protagonist.
	+ For Melvin, both are nerds who not only wear glasses, but have a burning hatred for the main protagonists, either calling them clever names or using their inventions to get back at them. They also have opposite thoughts on the comic book-centered superhero (Shape Man and Captain Underpants) which take over their whole character (Richard being obsessed with Shape Man and Melvin despising Captain Underpants).
* Richard is mostly known for his horrid odor, which is one to the most common reasons for girls not liking him. He never uses arm deodorant, always forgets to washes his clothes, and refuses to brush his teeth because "they've already been brushed by gods".
* His room is what he describes as his "actual house", but the basement serves as his "secret lair". Like so, he dug all the way down to build a tunnel to get there, of which started with a slide opened by a lever, then a nice walk down a hall that has the name 'Richard' all over it and a door that opens to a poorly-made lair.
	+ His basement is never used, and since the original door to it was barricaded by dry dirt, he had to go there from his room.
	+ He calls the basement specifically "Domain of Dynasty", and has a large computer he uses to communicate with his Alexa system. His lair is filled to the brim with cardboard, furniture, and much more things he got from the local Oakville Dump.
		- He hides his Shape Man merch down in a secret chute, and keeps the posters for him beside his "costumes". On the walls, it's just large papers with his face on them, saying things like "You can't be awesome unless you're me" and "All will worship the name Richard Anderson".
		- His costumes are just random pajamas he had throughout childhood and/or got from his neighbor's trash that he decorated for his liking. The #1 costume he has however would have to be his superhero onesie called "The Most Special". Once he dawns it, he goes by the name of 'Rotund Man'.
			* However, after the debut episode of said costume, he became a villain and renamed himself 'The Tubby Terror', taking on a more gray-colored look.
* When in fights, he's more than likely to crush his opponent under his weight or use brute force and toss you around. When they have the advantage, though, he'll run like a big coward.