Pom Pom

Pom Pom is a character from the Homestar Runner website. He is round, orange, and sports several short yet equally round and orange appendages. The end result makes him look something like a Bumble Ball.

Pom Pom is originally from the Isle of Pom, where he lived with his 27 girlfriends. Residents of Pom are blessed with extraordinarily high IQ's and skin which can absorb large items (including Pom Pom's trusty Pom Pilot). Poms communicate in a highly sophisticated language, which, to humans, sounds quite similar to blowing bubbles in a glass of milk.

Pom Pom is best friends with Homestar Runner, which is quite beneficial since Homestar's comparitively low IQ is famous for getting him into difficult situations.

The Pom Pom is also a World War II-era nickname for a then-common type of anti-aircraft automatic gun, manufactured by Vickers. It was deployed in huge numbers aboard ships in the Allied navies, as it was relatively powerful, could be mounted anywhere there was a flat deck spot, and only took a maximum of two crewmen to operate (although one could do so in a pinch, loading for himself).

The pompom (or pom-pom, pom pom, etc.) was a 40.5mm automatic cannon that fired 2-lb. (2pdr) ammunition. It was essentially a last-ditch anti-aircraft tactic - these were cheap and plentiful, so when under attack, a ship or convoy could throw enormous amounts of metal into the air at (one hopes) the attacking aircraft (see Big Sky Theory of Navigation and Golden BB).

'Pom-pom', no doubt, refers to the noise made by the weapon. Due to its larger shot, and heavy construction, the gun did not cycle fast enough to make the 'chattering' or rattling noise associated with automatic weapons. Instead, each of the powerful (for a gun) shells would be heard in sequence, with a continuous series of reports: pom-pom-pom-pom.

This weapon was first manufactured by the Maxim-Nordenfelt Gun and Ammunition company (I believe) in Crayford, England in 1888. Naturally, it wasn't used against aircraft originally; rather, the bursting shells were seen as highly effective against massed troops or cavalry.

There remains, to this day, a pub near where the factory used to lie, named after it (the Nordenfelt) and nicknamed after it as well (the pompom). Eventually, this firm changed monikers to Vickers, Sons and Maxim Ltd. Under the name 'Vickers', it continues to manufacture arms up to today, selling them to the British government and approved end-users. The company has moved up from the little 2pdr pompom, though; it now makes aircraft, submarines, ships, armored vehicles, and, of course, heavy firearms.

In the Kick the Can timeline, Pom Pom's counterpart is Fat Dudley. Whereas Pom Pom has limbs but no extremities (arms and legs but no hands and feet), Fat Dudley has the reverse: hands and feet but no arms or legs. In addition, Fat Dudley actually wears clothes, including a hat, whereas Pom Pom rarely wears clothing.

The most striking difference, however, is in speech patterns. Where Pom Pom only speaks in bubble-blowing sounds, Fat Dudley appears to sing. This doesn't make him any more comprehensible to viewers, however, since he only knows one syllable; the end result sounds like the adults from the Peanuts cartoons.

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In the Stinko Man 20X6 timeline, Pom Pom's counterpart is Pan-Pan. Pan-Pan is supposed to be a panda (though he looks more like a black bear wearing briefs), and as such, does not speak at all. Thus far, he has only been sighted bouncing around and eating; evidently Pan-Pan wields a mean set of chopsticks. He seems somewhat clumsier than his counterparts, given his proclivity to fall onto other characters, much to Stinko Man's delight.