Donnie Chapman
From Homestar Runner Wiki
Donnie Chapman (born September 28, 1966) is the elder brother to The Brothers Chaps and oldest child of Don and Harriet Chapman. In the DVD commentary for high school, Matt appreciatively describes Donnie as "the reason we're funny at all", and his influence on his younger brothers can be seen throughout the Homestar Runner body of work.
Donnie first appeared on the site in monster truck, as all four members of Limozeen; the photo of the band is a collage of several pictures taken when he dressed up as Vince Neil of Mötley Crüe for Halloween in 1987. These photographs made a reappearance on a Limozeen poster in the liner booklet of the Strong Bad Sings and Other Type Hits CD; this poster was once again seen in Lappynapped!. Photos of Donnie alongside Mike and Matt were similarly used to portray sloshy in Record Store Day.
[edit] As creative influence
The Brothers Chaps have taken creative inspiration from several childhood memories with Donnie. In a 2018 lecture, Matt reflected that the ten-year age gap between him and Donnie meant that his eldest brother shared more '70s pop-culture with him than he would've encountered otherwise. The relationship between the three Chapman brothers has been compared to The Brothers Strong — with Matt noting some similarities between him and Strong Sad, Mike and Strong Bad, and Donnie and Strong Mad. In a 2017 interview with Gizmodo, Mike recalls Donnie introducing him to a snarky sense of humor: watching The Love Boat to make fun of it (in a manner similar to Mystery Science Theater 3000) or reading a picture book but adding his own comedic commentary (a pastime shared by Strong Bad).
- Super NES — This Mario Paint animation was made as a Christmas gift for Donnie.
- guitar (DVD commentary) — The brothers list many guitar magazines that Donnie read, forming the baseline for their interest in the instrument.
- mile (DVD commentary) — Beehan was a childhood friend of Donnie's; the Chapman mother would cheer "Kick it out, Beehan" as the two ran track.
- Peasant's Quest Preview — The tone of the video is inspired by early '80s video game ads that Donnie would read to his brothers.
- high school (DVD commentary) — The Mysfit-steries version of Homestar reminds Matt, Mike, and their sister Karen of the way Donnie looked in the '70s, down to his pair of stripèd pants.
- yes, wrestling (DVD commentary) — The Brothers Chaps recall watching professional wrestling with their brother as children.
