#the destructess

Given that the show may or may not ever come back, I've been preparing a long list of some personal headcanons.

Gretel

Dave and Carolina eventually find out about their daughter's double life. I haven't really thought about how. I just want it to happen.

Gretel's secret identity is completely blown in high school. She had left school to go and stop a crisis down town. Gretel returned to campus discreetly and changed back into regular Gretel in a spot that she believed to be out of sight. Unfortunately, someone had been recording her. The video goes viral on social media over night. Gretel has no idea until she goes to her first period class the next day, and is greeted with thunderous applause from her classmates. Even her weird science teacher, whom Hamster swears is a vampire, bows down at Gretel's feet, to her abject mortification.

The revelation of her identity puts the Grant-Gomez family in significant danger, but not to worry. Gretel’s friends with a certain pair of brothers just one town over who can install the greatest security imaginable around their house. All it takes is one musical montage.

Gretel’s first boyfriend is Nordle. It wasn’t a serious relationship. It was an awkward, short-lived, middleschool romance. Both of them realize pretty quickly that they're better off just being friends. Somehow, despite Superhero Gretel's relationship status not being public knowledge, Professor Exclamation, who is serving a life sentence in prison, finds out about this relationship. All of his fellow inmates split their sides with laughter as Exclamation runs around his cell, flailing his short, stubby arms in the air, and howling with rage.

The first time Gretel gets into an actual relationship, Hamster didn't like the boy at all. Something just didn't sit right with him. Hamster tried warning Gretel about him, but considering Hamster's relationship advice was generally terrible, and because Gretel was a teenager, his words fell on deaf ears. It was his and Gretel’s first real fight with eachother and the latter refused to speak to him for 2 days.

Well, as it turned out, he was a teenage villain-in-training, with the goal of getting close to and destroying Gretel. Gretel was left with a shattered heart. When Lauren found out, The Destructress made a brief return to evil. Lauren and Hamster both paid the boy a little visit in jail. Okay, they didn't exactly "harm" him. He was technically a kid. They simply terrorized him in the next worst way, by making him listen to a 10 hour long Taylor Swift playlist on Lauren's phone. Each of the songs were about Swift's bad experiences with boys. The cops didn't do much to stop them. They all had a soft spot for Gretel, so this kid wasn't exactly in their good books.

The first time Gretel killed somebody, it tore at her conscience. She truly had no choice. The man somehow had an IND. He could have blown up the whole city. It had been one of those moments in which you've got to make a split second decision. Nobody faulted Gretel. Hamster, the police on the scene, her family, they all tried to reassure the girl that she'd made the right decision. The only person who faulted Gretel was herself.

Gretel has never told this to anybody, but the fiasco with Belle really affected her for a while. Just imagine being a kid and having someone publicly trashing and making up lies about you on live TV to the point that you were nearly arrested.

There are many nights that see Gretel wake up in cold sweat after dreaming about a past villain coming back to attack her and her family. It has never slipped her mind how many enemies she and Hamster have made.

Gretel ends up with the son of one of the random cops you see throughout the show. I may or may not have taken inspiration from The Amazing Spider-Man. I guess I had always wanted the dynamic of Spider-Man, Gwin and George Stacy to work out and saw this as an opportunity.

Gretel had two children, a pair of twins. They're names are Mason and Maya. These two are the next generation of superheroes. Mason is really flamboyant, charismatic and a class clown. He (not disrespectfully) flirts with female news reporters on air and turns battles into stand-up routines. Maya is rather shy and introverted, but highly intelligent. She's the brains of the duo. Maya will occasionally get exasperated by her brother's goofball antics. The twins have polar opposite personalities, but they're joined at the hip. Maya is the spitting image of Gretel but with dark hair. Mason carries Gretel's blonde hair but looks like whoever his father is.

I've actually had these two OCs in my head for a long time. If I ever get around to writing any fanfics, I'd definitely do something with them because this is only part of the dynamic I've built up and the two are so much fun to think about.

Hiromi

Kevin and Hiromi become a true couple and fall in love. The first thing Kevin does is to take her out on a real date. Their date goes great, and, for the most part, uninterrupted by supervillains. Sure, La Cebolla turns up at the restaurant and starts an onion riot in the kitchen, but eh, they still had a good time.

Some time after the events of season 2, the real Mrs. Knight comes in to start teaching Hiromi's journalism class. Mrs. Knight starts trying to take Hiromi under her wing, but Hiromi does not trust this lady one bit. But it turns out that the real Mrs. Knight has no ulterior motives, is a genuinely nice lady, and is just interested in being a mentor to aspiring journalists.

Sometimes when they're alone, Kevin and Hiromi will call eachother Super Guy and Miss Direct. One of the things Hiromi loves most about Kevin is his relationship with Gretel, how he's always there for her, that he's put himself in mortal danger for Gretel, time and time again. That right there is a man who she knows will look after his family. That's the kind of man she wants to be with.

Despite their rocky start, Hiromi and Gretel become really close, sister-like even. Kevin will occasionally joke that Hiromi likes Gretel more than him. In her late teens, Gretel sometimes stays the weekend at Kevin’s and Hiromi's place. Gretel doesn't knock, or even announce her visit. She just walks right in and makes herself cozy. The two will already have dinner for three prepared.

Hiromi becomes an investigative journalist and a reporter for Action News. She ends up striking a friendship with Veronica Hill (though, unlike Veronica, Hiromi doesn't have a habit of airing her personal issues on the news). As a reporter, Hiromi frequently covers the heroics of Hamster & Gretel. Sometimes it puzzled people as to why Superhero Gretel always struggled to not laugh whenever Hiromi interviewed her. For her part though, Hiromi Grant-Gomez never let on that she knows who's behind the mask.

After Gretel's secret identity is blown, Hiromi, with Hamster and Gretel's blessing, authors the first canonical comic book series of Hamster & Gretel's adventures, detailing the events of the show. The comic series becomes an instant bestseller. I suppose Hiromi would alter or omit the identities of FistPuncher and The Destructress. What Hiromi does not omit however, is the fiasco of Miss Direct, a rather embarrassing chapter that she's brave enough to release. Also, Kevin becomes a fan-favorite character and is finally recognized as a hero.

Lauren and Lyle

Lauren is more or less an older sister to Gretel and Bailey. Even long after the girls are too old for a babysitter, she enjoys spending time with them. She doesn't do hero work very frequently, but she's always willing to lend a hand to the team when they need her. Also, the first time Gretel gets a boyfriend, Lauren puts the fear of God in him. "You hurt her and I'll hurt you! And trust me. I have a track record!"

It wasn't really clear if Lyle was actually a "good guy" by the end of season 2, but I feel like he would go straight back to villainy as soon as the finale ended. Maybe he turns good eventually, or maybe he continues down a path of villainy. It would be an interesting idea to follow.

Lauren becomes an occasional semi-part time superhero. She kind of just wants to be a regular teenager. She mostly jumps in when things get really bad. She refuses to battle Lyle.

At first, nobody trusts that The Destructress is reformed. Gretel vouching for her carries a lot of weight, but Lauren's got to earn that trust. There's also the problem that she and her brother are extremely high on the FBI's wanted list.

Lauren does prove herself reformed to many people, but there will always be those who don't trust her. That will never change, and that's okay.

Nordle

After a strange system update, Tobor develops free will and is able to experience real human emotions. Now freed to make his own choices, Tobor is ready to pursue his true calling... as a stand up comedian. His first attempts at making jokes are not very funny. In fact, they sound like an AI wrote them (which I suppose would be an accurate statement), but the sheer absurdity makes everyone burst into uncontrollable laughter.

Professor Exclamation had never felt quite as degraded as the time he found Tobor on the comedy channel, making fun of him.

Gaining free will and genuine emotions enables Tobor to become a proper parent-figure to Nordle. Sure, Tobor had taken care of Nordle, provided for him, and even felt affection for the boy, but he had also been his servant. Now, Tobor can properly raise Nordle, steer him in the right direction when needed, being their to listen whenever Nordle needs to vent his emotions, and give him real advice and not just statistical analysis.

The first time Nordle called Tobor "Dad," it had been an accident, a slip of the tongue, but it had revealed the way Nordle really saw Tobor. The robot would have cried if he had tear ducts. The day Tobor legally adopted Nordle as his own son was the happiest moment of each of their lives.

Nordle and Bailey end up together. I haven't exactly spared this much of a thought, but I guess I could see it. They've both got that fiery personality and both are really smart.

Hamster

Carolina would never forget the day that she sat down to watch one of her telenovelas, reached a sad scene, and to her surprise, turned to see Hamster sitting beside her, sobbing into a tissue bigger than his body. "No Consuela, no! *sniff* Oh this part gets me every time!" Watching Spanish rom-coms became something the two of them did together all the time.

Hamster never told Gretel this, but he often frequented bars and clubs at night. He's got a rather high alcohol tolerance for someone who's smaller than the glass.

Hamster fell in love once. She was the most gorgeous hamster he'd ever laid eyes on. She couldn't speak, fly, or punch though walls, but Hamster loved her with the entirety of his overdramatic heart.

None of Hamster's children inherited his powers. Not his strength. Not his voice..... and not his longevity.

Nothing had ever torn him apart as badly as outliving each and every one of his kids. Hamster was deeply depressed for a long time, and for a few days after his last one went, he didn't speak at all. During this season, Gretel, Kevin, Fred, Dave and Carolina were always there for him, and for several weeks, wouldn't leave him alone for a second. Their love got Hamster through this darkness (also, the grief counselor who specialized in rodents helped).

Hamster lived long enough to see Gretel's children become superheroes. He was referred to as Uncle Hamster, but sometimes, when he was being a "cranky ol' geezer," as Gretel put it, the kids called him their Grumpy Uncle earning him the title "Grunkle Ham."

The day Hamster died was the hardest day of Gretel's life. Hamster's funeral received global coverage. People from all over the world came to say goodbye, everyone from family and friends to world leaders. Even a few villains showed up to pay their respects. Gretel tried to get through the eulogy without breaking down, but it was impossible. He touched and rescued millions of lives. The world would never forget Hamster Grant-Gomez.

Alternative Headconons

These are some headcanons that I previously had but have dropped for one reason or another.

Hiromi becomes the owner of the comic book shop and gives Gretel her first job. The staff there is all one big work-family. Hiromi is the cool boss that everyone wants to work for. All of Gretel's colleagues are Hamster & Gretel superfans. There are debates over which of the duo is the better. Gretel argues vehemently for Hamster. None of them, save for Hiromi, know that they're working with Superhero Gretel every day. When Gretel's secret identity is blown, the shop becomes a huge hit. Where else to buy superhero merchandise than from a shop where a real superhero works?

If you cut out the commercial break, you've got about 7 and a half minutes for additional content. What else can we add.

Gretel and Hiromi have a heart to heart. Let's be honest. Hiromi and Gretel both kind of owe eachother an apology.

The aliens speak to the heroes one last time and congratulate them for their victory. During this scene, the question of how Hiromi and Kevin becoming an item exponentially decreased their odds of victory is addressed. The aliens had better have a good reason, because let's be honest. It made no sense, seeing as how Gretel likely would have been pulled into the rift without her.

In addition, now that Kevin’s need to be powerless is fulfilled, the aliens offer to give him powers, only for Kevin to decline, putting a capstone on his character arc.

I'd like for Lauren to have realized that Gretel the superhero was the same Gretel that she's been babysitting. I have a headcanon that she had already figured it out a while back (see my last post), but still, whether this discovery is newfound, or old news, I'd like for it to be acknowledged.

It wasn't really clear if Lyle was actually giving up evil. I want a clear answer. I'd actually okay with him still finding villainy fun.

Kevin and Hiromi kiss.

This isn't really one of my predictions, so much as a wishlist of things I want to happen, assuming season 3 isn't going to happen.

Hiromi and Kevin become official. I'm 99% sure it's going to happen, but I'm adding this anyway.

Lauren and Lyle reconcile. That ending in Awkwardly Ever After was hardly a reconciliation. That was nothing more than Lyle being forced to admit that his sister wasn't into villainy anymore. If they're not in the finale, I'm going to be seriously annoyed. (Unless, of course, we do get a season 3). Doesn't necessarily mean that I need Lyle to turn good. It'd honestly be more interesting if Lyle stayed being a villain. I just need the twins to reconcile.

Lauren learns who Gretel is. Two reasons I want to see this. One, her reaction to finding out that she's been babysitting her nemesis would be funny, especially if she discovered that Gretel knew who she was from day 1. Second reason is that I like imagining Gretel and Lauren forming a sister-like bond with eachother. If I'm honest with myself, that's probably why I shipped Lauren and Kevin.

Dave and Carolina find out about H&G. I seriously, seriously doubt that this happens. Next to no chance (unless it happens during Gran Slam). I want this both because Dave and Carolina frankly deserve to know more than anybody else, and because I really want to see them involved in Gretel’s superhero life. "Gretel Keeps it Reel" has become one of my favorite episodes, purely because I so loved seeing Gretel and her Dad spending time together and it'd be great if she didn’t have to keep this part of her life from her parents.

Something to do with Nordle. Unless we get a 3rd season, this won't happen. None of the remaining season 2 episodes revolve around him at all. Nordle’s just a fun and complex character.

Kevin is offered powers at the end, but he declines. It'd be peak character growth. Kevin goes from being refused powers to being offer powers but realizes that he doesn't need them. Not to mention it'd mean the aliens acknowledging how important Kevin is to the team.

So. This was quite the episode. Where do I begin? By concocting a crazy conspiracy concerning children's cartoon characters, of course. Perhaps I should start off by saying that I'm surprised. The Destructress is no longer into evil. Now, I've been hoping to get a villain redemption arc for The Destructress. What surprised me is how early it happened. I had suspected that if The Destructress was to have a change of heart, it would either happen near the end of the season, or in a future season. This turn also felt out of the blue. The last I saw, The Destructress relished her villainy. All of the sudden, it makes her feel bad. What could've caused this inexplicable heel-faced turn? Well, I should point out that FistPuncher has definitely displayed more evil tendencies than The Destructress. Surface-level, they seem to be equally villainous, but look closer. Think of her hesitancy to attack a powerless Gretel in Exclamation Strikes Back, whereas Lyle showed no qualms. This doesn't show that she's a good person, but it does show that she has at least some moral dilemmas.

Now, allow me to turn your attention to this very telling line from "The Great Pillow War": "I actually have a ton of aggression to get out." Perhaps this is the answer. The main reason Lauren commits crimes is her blowing off steam. She clearly has some deep internal issues and she lashes out by causing chaos and destruction. What about how she gleefully livestreams all her misdeeds to her morally questionable fans? That my friends, is her seeking validation. She wants to feel good about what she's doing, and it works for a while, but as we see in Evil Upheaval, it's lost its fun.

Whatever the issue is, teenage angst, bad home life, etc, The Destructress has a very unhealthy coping mechanism. In truth however, she knows that what she's doing is wrong, and I imagine that she's been inwardly struggling for a while. I hope her seeing a therapist (who I just realized was Bailey's mom) isn't a one time thing. She needs it. Actually, both of them need it.

I use the word "penultimate" in the title, both because I will most likely modify my projection shortly before the finale, and because I absolutely adore artful alliteration. Anyways, I promised you guys a season 2 finale prediction. Here I am to deliver. I'm actually rather sad knowing that this may well be my last theory for the show. I spent a very long time putting all this together. I'd like to see your thoughts below.

So, has anybody noticed a little trend here? Each of the mid-season finales and the season 1 finale has something in common: Gretel loses her powers. In “U. F. Uh Oh,” Gretel has her powers drained by being next to that purple rock. In “Exclamation Strikes Back,” both Gretel and Hamster have their powers stolen by Exclamation via the same mysterious rock. In “The New Adventures of Super Kevin,” Gretel's powers are transferred over to Kevin via a pendant (that just happened to be in Exclamation's house). If we continue the trend, It may stand to reason that we'll see a powerless Gretel once more in “Who's Afraid of Mordros the Annihilator.” I've been considering this possibility for some time now, but I didn't think this was enough basis for my theory. However, the title and synopsis for the next episode was recently revealed.

“No Powers Day” “Kevin's plan to teach Gretel not to rely on her powers is interrupted when he's taken captive by hill people.”

At first, I was a bit disappointed by the title. Not only was I expecting something more interesting, but as I just pointed out, we've already had episodes where Gretel has had to go with no superpowers. Gretel’s already proven adept without her powers, so what is the point of this… unless the episode is foreshadowing and she, for some reason, will not have her powers in the final battle.

Let me also talk about something in the episode “Hamster Ex Machina.” In this episode, Mordros the Annihilator has created robotic replicas of Hamster, Gretel and Kevin. Mordros, at first glance, struck me as a very smart and analytical villain. He's done his homework and has learned exactly how his enemy fights. HOWEVER, while he seems to have studied Kevin enough to make a replica of him, Mordros disregards him almost entirely. “We could not determine the random teenage boy's function, so we assumed that he was a trash receptacle.” -Robot Gretel.

Hold on… Wasn’t disregarding and underestimating Kevin Professor Exclamation's big mistake in the pilot episode?

Circling back to the mysterious rock from season 1, what was its purpose? Why did the aliens have a rock that could nullify Gretel’s powers? My friends, it's the same purpose the aliens had for creating all the villains. They were testing Gretel. They were testing to see how she performed without superpowers. But why was this necessary?

I'd also like to discuss the little pendant from the Super Kevin episode, the one that transfers powers to another person. The pendant clearly came from the power-granting aliens. Why did Professor Exclamation, who seemingly had no connection to the aliens, have this in his possession. I think that Exclamation found and swiped the pendant from the wreckage of the UFO when he secured the power draining rock. It may have been a backup plan for him to take Gretel’s powers. Now, if the aliens meant for the rock to be found and exploited, they probably meant for the pendant to be found as well. I believe that we will be seeing the return of Super Guy.

I think that Mordros can actually steal superpowers and take them for himself. This is how he became so powerful. Some time in the past, the power-granting aliens granted people on another world superpowers for whatever reason, and Mordros came and stole them.

In fact, I think the aliens meant for Super Kevin to happen, but he needed to be out of the limelight, out of Mordros's crosshairs, only ready to emerge when the time was right. He's somebody that Mordros won't see coming and will be unprepared to face.

Okay, maybe that's a bit convoluted. It's entirely possible that Kevin truly never was meant to have powers at all and the whole power-switch was never their intention. Maybe I'm totally off about Mordros being able to steal powers. Bottom-line of this prediction is that I truly believe that Super Guy is making his big comeback.

Here's how I think the final battle will go down: Hamster and Gretel try to fight Mordros (I'd like to see them team up with Lauren and Lyle). Mordros is able to steal most of the characters’ powers. Just before Mordros can steal Gretel’s powers, she is able to give them to Kevin. Super Guy makes his big comeback. Mordros, having never considered Kevin a threat and having never bothered to study him, is unprepared to fight Super Guy. Kevin ultimately saves the day. Who knows, when all is said and done, the aliens may finally grant Kevin his own powers.

Obviously, there are a lot of gaps to fill in, such as how and why Gretel ends up giving Kevin her powers again. I'm not sure of all the details. I feel like we'll get a bit more information in the next few episodes. If so, I may adjust my theory.

Now, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention a few miscellaneous things I'd really like to see before the show ends:

1. Lauren learns of H&G's identity and becomes a member of the group. Even if she doesn't become a full-time superhero, it'll be great seeing her fighting alongside H&G.

2. Lauren and Lyle reconcile (that little scene in “Awkwardly Ever After” was hardly a reconciliation).

3. Kevin and Hiromi become a couple. I say this as someone who shipped Kevin and Lauren. This will require Hiromi learning about Hamster and Gretel, something I believe will happen either in "Art of Deception," or in the season 2 finale.

I know I've done this several times, and I'm almost always wrong, but let's do another episode prediction blog.

“No Powers Day”

Originally titled "Gretel's Day Off," Gretel doesn't do any superhero work for a day. Maybe she's sick. Maybe she's just tired... Or, Picture this. Lauren is babysitting Gretel that day, and so the latter can't go and do any superhero work, otherwise Lauren might learn about Gretel's double life, which I really hope she does. Instead, it's down to Hamster to fight solo.”

“Everybody Loves Main Computer”

Something to do with Main Computer (Obviously) from the meteor episode. I believe we'll be getting some more information on Mordros the Annihilator. If my prediction of Lauren being let in on H&G comes true, then maybe this can be a continuation.

“Gretel Keeps it Reel”

The title was originally “Gretel Keeps it Real.” The phrase "Keep it real" means to be authentic and true to yourself, but in the new title, the spelling of "real” is “reel.” The word reel has several meanings. It can mean a revolvable object on which something is would, like a fishing line, or a film tape. It could also mean behaving in a violent or disorderly manner. Shoot, there are even dances called reels. A lot of possibilities for what the term means, but going by the beta title, I believe that Gretel will be tested in some way that requires her to stick to who she is as a person. How a reel fits into this, I don't really know

“Squeaky Friday” "Freaky Friday" plots involve two characters switching bodies. It typically happens after said characters have somel sort of falling out. The term "squeaky" suggests that Hamster may be one of the characters. I believe that Hamster and Gretel will have some sort of argument or falling out. Interestingly, @arendalphaeagle pointed out in a post on the fandom wiki, that there were a few clips in the January promo that weren't used in that batch of episodes. “No, my name comes first. It's in the title.” “You're more of a comic relief.” The two clips are played for comedy in the promo, but they could set up the narrative for H&G getting into a fight. Hamster feels overshadowed, and has to remind Gretel that he's her partner, not just a secondary hero, and Gretel seems to be getting a bit big-headed. There's also a clip I saw a while back of Meli recording for Gretel. She says something along the lines of "Dude, I literally carry you around in a baby carrier." Probably comes from the same episode. If this goes like Freaky Friday tropes usually do, H&G will somehow switch bodies and the two gain an understanding of the other.

“Gran Slam”

Originally titled "A Tale of Two Grannies,” I see this episode involving Abuelita and another character's grandmother competing against eachother. I think they did something like this in Phineas and Ferb with Jeremy's grandmother and the Flynn-Fletchers grandma.”

“The Art of Deception”

It's either an art-based villain who's very deceitful, or, someone's on the brink of learning H&G's secret identity, and the heroes have to cover their tracks. (I'm thinking of the Hiromi and Mrs. Knight debacle). I also think it's important to point out that The Art of Deception" is also the title of a book about social engineering.

“Miss Direct”

Miss Direct, likely the bad guy's (excuse me, bad gal's) name. Maybe a villain who gives out terrible advice. lol. I've got nothing better.

“Trading Faces”

"I have no real knowledge of the show" "Kim Possible," But while doing a search for the term "trading faces," I discovered that this was an episode title in the aforementioned show (apparently, the same is true for Jimmy Neutron). Anyways, based on the wiki page for the Kim Possible episode, there's a villain who can take on the appearance of any character she wants and commits crimes under the victim's name. This suggests to me that the Impostor villain is coming back. My prediction, The Impostor takes on Gretel’s appearance and does bad things. Just like the Belle episode, this casts doubt on Gretel’s reputation.”

"Who's Afraid of Mordros the Annihilator”