| “ | I was chosen to protect my school from the forces of evil. I am the Ninja. I am Randy Cunningham! | ” |
–Randy Cunningham , Main Theme | ||
| Species | Human |
| Age | 14-15 |
| Hair color | Tyrian purple |
| Eye color | Sapphire blue |
| Affiliations | Good Norrisville Ninja 30 Seconds to Math (band) Catfish Booray The Sorceress Evil Julian |
| Occupation | Norrisville Ninja 9th grade student |
| Residence | Norrisville |
| Aliases | Cunningham (by Howard) Andy, Sandy, Mandy, Rudy, Tandy (by Heidi) RC (by Buttermaker and Howard) Ranginald Bagel (by Catfish Booray) Randall (by Julian) |
| Friends | Howard Weinerman (best friend) Theresa Fowler First Ninja Plop Plop |
| Enemies | Hannibal McFist, Willem Viceroy, Bash Johnson, the Sorcerer, the Sorceress, Catfish Booray, Evil Julian |
| Love Interests | Theresa Fowler (possibly) |
| Interests | Playing Grave Puncher Being the Ninja Hanging out with Howard |
| Parents | Mrs. Cunningham Mr. Cunningham |
| First Episode | Last Stall on the Left |
| Voiced by | Ben Schwartz |
Randall "Randy" Cunningham is a 9th grade student, Norrisville Ninja at Norrisville High, and the protagonist of Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja.
Personality
Randy is an average high school kid who tries to fit in with the popular crowd and be cool. There are many times where he engages in dubious acts that could possibly get him into a lot of trouble, like crashing Bash's party ("House of 1,000 Boogers"), spitting into a volcano ("Monster Dump"), and using the Ninja powers to fix a science project ("Dawn of the Driscoll"). Often he forgets that his actions have consequences which can result in major problems for himself and the people around him. As time goes on, though, he realizes when the situation is his fault, and takes responsibility to fix it as much as possible.
He is apparently not very smart, as seen in especially science class, or he could just be lazy (it is also possible he has ADD or ADHD as those are referenced in the first 30 Seconds to Math song). Despite his ignorance, he is quick-witted in ninja situations, creating techniques, and normal life situations.
He can be inconsiderate, impatient, and a bit bossy in his attitude with the NinjaNomicon, but is a loyal friend and has the heart of a hero, the perfect ideals of a Ninja. He also keeps his promises, for example, when Howard asked him to promise to stay in the locker for ten seconds after Howard leaves and he did even though Howard farted and closed the locker door on him. Howard can be troublesome and rude, but fortunately Randy is usually forgiving toward Howard's actions. He can treat Howard unfairly or neglectfully at times, as when he said Howard didn't have any understanding of having a duty, but he does his best to make it up, and works hard at balancing their friendship and his vocation as the Ninja.
When Randy gained the mask and became the Ninja, he thought the position would be all butt-kicking and hitting, but discovers it is very hard fighting against robots and monsters, and soon gets used to it. He becomes quite serious at his profession, which strains and sometimes nearly breaks his friendship with Howard. Ever since becoming the Ninja, he grows more mature bit by bit in each episode as a result of the lessons he learns and understands from the Nomicon.
Appearance
Physical Appearance
Randy is very trimly built, in contrast to his best friend Howard. Randy is also somewhat taller. He has naturally Tyrian purple hair and sapphire blue eyes. Comparing his shirtless physique as shown first in "Got Stank" and later in "Ninja Camp," he seems to have gained some muscle, probably because of his ninja duties.
Clothing
Randy is always (except as the Ninja) seen wearing a red McTop with a white stripe that angles up to form the same "Greek key" symbol which is found on the cover of the NinjaNomicon and the Ninja Suit. He also has a grey McHoodie that has wavy sleeves and pockets. He wears black McSkinnies that fit very well with the rest of his outfit. He is seen wearing purple zip-up McKicks.
In winter he also wears a dark teal, fur-lined hooded jacket, though in "Debbie Meddle" he was imprudent enough to wear a black jacket with red piping and a red scarf, with the Ninja mask worn on his head like a stocking cap.
Notable Possessions
Ninja Suit
The Ninja Suit is the suit that possesses all the power that Randy uses to defeat robots and stanked students. Before Randy relieved the suit by the previous Ninja, he knew almost everything about it because he was a big fan of the ninja.
NinjaNomicon
The NinjaNomicon is Randy's guide to everything about being the ninja. When he first received it he was unsure of its worth, but he quickly learned always to trust and respect it. The only disagreement Randy has with it is regarding Howard. The NinjaNomicon suggests that the ninja should not have a friend. When it glows or when Randy is in a situation, The NinjaNomicon offers advice or proverbs which Randy usually does not understand immediately, but later see what it means.
McFist Industries' Products
As Randy states, "We are McFist men from head to toe." Randy may be such a big fan of the products either because it's just popular, or that he finds that there's something good about it. In "McFists of Fury," he stated that as the Ninja, he is boycotting the merchandise, but as Randy, he will be first in line to buy it.
Grave Puncher Series
Randy is a big fan of the Grave Puncher video-game series, and of its various accessories and spin-offs. He has posters of it covering all of the walls in his room. He and Howard completed the first three games together and were working on the fourth.
Schooling
English Language Arts
Not much is known about his relationship to writing. His ELA teacher is Mr. Bannister, who is a rather lackadaisical teacher; in "Last Stall on the Left" he gives Randy a "B" for a torn-up essay which he described as a metaphor. Randy is later seen in "To Smell and Back" refusing to let Howard copy off his paper because he is angry, which implies A) that in ordinary circumstances he does let Howard copy, and B) that he is at least marginally better at writing than Howard is.
Science
Randy is said to be failing science in the episode "Attack of the Killer Potatoes." He seems to be getting bad science grades in all the different projects he does with Howard. Mrs. Driscoll, their science teacher, also sees him as a student which may lower his effort grade. He does not actually seem to have a hard time with the material, but he is just too lazy to work hard for a good grade.
Physical Education
Randy may not have too much trouble with gym, but his gym teacher Coach Green has a harsh and crazed way of teaching which certainly scares him.
Spanish
Randy does not do very well in Spanish because the only words he knows are foods such as agua ("water"), frijoles ("beans"), taco, quesadilla, salsa, habanero, burrito, and tortilla; even of those he seems to know only that they are Spanish words, not the actual meaning of them.
Thoughts
Dreams
Randy dreams about normal things like being popular, everyone knowing his name, and looking brave.
Opinions
Toward School
Randy finds himself bored in class, but most likely enjoys the social aspects and field trips.
Toward Being the Ninja
Randy thinks of it as awesome in the beginning, but quickly learns that it is not an easy task. It is hard for Randy still to be friends with Howard because of his task.
Towards Bullying
Randy does not show signs of any form of hatred towards it, but simply takes it as a normal thing that happens all the time. He thinks Bash is a "schoob," but takes no particular steps to stop him from bullying other students like Bucky.
Toward Romance
Randy doesn't seem to think much about romance, probably due in part to being busy as a best friend, a student, and the Ninja. In "Sorcerer in Love," he pretends to be concerned that he and Howard didn't have dates, which ends with them laughing about it. Sometimes, he even finds the idea of romance horrific. For example, in "Stank'd to the Future," when Dickie and Miss Zingwald kissed, Randy shows disgust (likely due to their age) and leaves. Mrs. Driscoll's displays of affection towards the bones of Mr. Driscoll also creep him out.
However, Randy has shown interest in a number girls so far. He has flirted with girls like the trio of girls he passed by in the hallway in "Viva El Nomicon." During "Sorcerer in Love," he was, like the other boys in the school, attracted to Amanda Levay because of her beauty, though, of course, he later discovers she's the Sorceress and had been using magic to control the boys of the school. He admits to Howard that he has, on occasion, found his sister Heidi "spicy." Whenever Theresa is around, Randy shows signs of having feelings for her, as in "Night of the Living McFizzles" (in which he flirts with her and Debbie Kang shamelessly), in "Der Monster Klub" and in "The Ninja Identity." He thinks she's attractive and good-smelling, and rarely treats her badly. In "Sorcerer in Love 2: The Sorceress's Revenge," he blushes when she grabs his hand and allows her to hold it for a some time. In "Shloomp! There It Is!," Randy is shown to be well aware of the fact that Theresa likes him, as evidenced by the fact that he immediately knows how to destank her by apologizing and giving her bouquet of roses (indirectly as the Ninja). Besides that moment, he hasn't done anything else with his crush on her yet.
Habits
Talking
While talking, he uses a lot of supposed slang (made up for the show), some of which include "wonk," "What the juice?" "bruce," "the cheese," "shnasty," etc.
Diet
For breakfast he eats McFistios and for lunch he eats the cafeteria food at Norrisville High.
McIndustries Merchandise
He often uses MicFist's products from McIndustries like McKicks, McTighties, McTops, McSkinnies, McHoodies and even McFistios.
Fighting Style as the Ninja
Not much about Randy's fighting style is known, but there are clues hinting that he might be a free style fighter, using almost everything around for his own advantage in battle, like using a shovel to hit the robot and using the force of a new robot to counter the killer potatoes in "Attack of the Killer Potatoes." He also use bells to fight Bucky Hensletter in "Got Stank." He heated a Robo-Ape using a convenient microwave option for Robo-Apes in "Gossip Boy."
Randy also has many Ninja weapons in his arsenal, including the Ninja Sword, smoke-bombs, chain sickles, and many others. His scarf has proven to be a helpful object as well, good for grabbing objects. Although ninjas are known to use stealth for their advantage, Randy doesn't seem to use this skill much, but has proven to be able to do it. The Nomicon holds a section of "Forbidden Knowledge of the Shadow Warrior," which holds the ability of the art of healing, which Randy learned in "Dawn of the Driscoll," and possible future skills like the art of flying, the art of telepathy, and the art of invisibility. After Randy threw the Ninja Mask in a fire to save Howard from the Tengu, he gained Ninja Rage, which he can now use fire-based powers like the Tengu Fireball. The online game Punchocalypse also has a Cold Ninja Rage, so it can be assumed that Randy might earn this skill eventually.
Intelligence
Randy is at least intelligent and clever enough to figure out what meaning lies behind the advice of the Nomicon, in part to his ability to figure out riddles. Many times, though, he has proven to think of plans and actions on his own whether he's fighting or trying to achieve something, like defeating the Blob Monster with lava from a volcano, stopping zombies by starting a vomit chain reaction, and even shooting a clock with a pencil eraser to change the time. Not always are his choices and actions the wisest, however, and sometimes he can cause greater problems, varying from on accident to on purpose. His grades in school are not very high, but it may be because he is lazy and doesn't care, or just not good in those subjects.